September 28, 2023
WE WERE, BRIEWFLY, ABLE TO FOCUS THEIR HATRED ON THE COMMIES...:
Conservatism and Identity Politics: A Review of George Hawley's Conservatism in a Divided America (Kody Wayne Cooper, 9/27/23, Public Discourse)
[F]usionist conservatism was quickly faced with internal tensions or contradictions and the prospect of disintegration after the defeat of the Soviet menace. The more traditionalist or "paleo" conservatives like Pat Buchanan lambasted the free trade and open border policies promoted by the classical liberals as economically and culturally destructive of America. And paleocons were increasingly critical of the next generation of neocons' apparent desire for American-led liberal hegemony. In this light, the election of Donald Trump represented not only a backlash against the cultural aggression of the Left, but also a resurgence of paleocon ideas, which have found new theoretical life and expression in national conservatism.
...but, having won that war, they naturally returned to "the others."
Posted by Orrin Judd at September 28, 2023 12:00 AM