ISO today's William F. Buckley
Gentle reader:
We aren't ever sure how many of you know the history of American conservatism. Most of you certainly don't know the history of the OKGOP, why things are done certain ways, and why reactionary passion does not override reason. But today we want to primarily talk about American conservatism.
William F. Buckley was a stalwart conservative leader in this country. He was unquestionably principled and fought vociferously for the cause. Before today's yelling match political shows, Buckley hosted Firing Line, a political debate show more in line with the tenor of the McLaughin Group (which Saturday Night Live used to hilariously poke fun at). Buckley's entry into public conservatism came through his 1951 book "God and Man at Yale." If you read it today, you would think that he's writing about how the school operates now, except it was talking about how the liberals there were trying to destroy our nation even back then.
But why Buckley specifically comes to mind today is the current state of conservatism as we grapple with nouveau anti-semitism. Yesterday Kevin Roberts, the head of the Heritage Foundation, stood up for, and echoed the anti-semitic approach of Tucker Carlson. This is not the Heritage Foundation that Ed Meese worked so hard to construct. This is something darker. Much darker.
William F. Buckley would not have tolerated this. One critic of Buckley wrote this about him at his passing:
Buckley was determined to rid the right of the wing nuts. He was, to his everlasting credit, the scourge of an anti-Semitism that once had a hold on significant parts of the right. He also blasted the strange conspiracy theories of the John Birch Society. But most important were Buckley's efforts during the 1950s to resolve conservatism's contradictions. These exertions made it possible for Barry Goldwater and then Ronald Reagan to turn the remnant into a mighty political force.
The comment is 100% fact. Donald Trump would not have been possible without Buckley paving a path for Goldwater and Reagan. But what Roberts and Carlson (and many others on the right like Nick Fuentes) are doing by pushing for isolationism and anti-semitism is why American-style conservatism does not exist in europe: European conservatism welcomed the bigots and anti-semites and isolationists to the table and because of it were relegated to secondary status. They didn't have anyone like William F. Buckley casting out the likes of Ayn Rand's godless form of libertarianism and the isolationism of the John Birch Society. He made our conservatism serious. (Maybe we need to be clear about our views on isolationism. Perhaps another time, but we will say now that even Trump has dismissed the isolationist thinking of VP Vance, and his status on foreign policy has waned.)
The modern left shows us what happens when we don't self-regulate our conservatism. Have you seen the angry leftist rhetoric Oklahoma blogger Jennifer Welch has been spewing? What about the text messages that Virginia AG candidate Jay Jones has admitted to. Democrats aren't batting an eye at them.
Please understand that without self-policing our particular political sides and setting standards for participation, it leads to moments like Charlie Kirk and President Trump taking bullets. It leads to Jay Jones texting a Republican legislator that he'd like to see the speaker's children die in their mother's arms because tragedy is the only way policy changes. He really said that! As a moment of clarity, no one should amp people up to that point or even think things like that.
If we are truly believers in Christ and the Bible is the word of God, then we understand that we are grafted to the vine of God's chosen (Jewish) people (don't come back at us with your replacement theory junk). Those that bless Israel will be blessed. The junk that Kevin Roberts and Tucker Carlson are spewing is idiotic and cannot be defended, or even tolerated. If we want a relevant conservatism, we must resist the pull of this siren call.
This is why we need a William F. Buckley among us now. A Saint Patrick, if you will, to cast the snakes out of conservatism. In support of the next Buckley, we will keep writing.
A new lawsuit
was filed in Wagoner County against Karin Hardin by former Tulsa County Vice Chair Jenifer Stevens for defamation. You can read the filings here, and make up your own mind. First, we'll say as non-attorneys that we'll wait for the responsive filing from Karin Hardin, but some of that looks very problematic for Karin. Second, why did Hardin hire a Democrat attorney from a notoriously Democrat firm? There is no dearth of Republican lawyers in Tulsa? Hardin has access to GOPDataCenter, she can look up the registration of anyone in the state with it. Seems weird for someone of such passion to on the fly to hire democrats?
We'll say that Karin has gone stone cold silent on social media and her emails have dried up. If nothing else, maybe Jenifer Stevens is doing her part to be a new William F. Buckley.
Enjoy your weekend!
CW/CM/SC/WB
