David Marcus: The Periodic Table of the New American Right
Fox News
At a modest distance from the presidency of Donald Trump one thing has become entirely clear, the American conservative movement has irrevocably changed.
But before we can attain an understanding of where the conservative movement is going it is essential that we understand where it has been. It is certain that William F Buckley’s Brahmin accent and George Will’s bowtie are no longer avatars of Republican voters, if they ever were, and yet without them no clear picture of today’s raucous right can come into focus. Before we can know what the New Right is, we must know what it isn’t. Movement conservatism was born in the 1950s with Buckley as its very proud papa. It was a distinctly defensive political philosophy. Buckley’s most famous aphorism, that the conservative must stand athwart history yelling "stop" makes this obvious. It was not a call to advance, to fix bayonets and charge ahead, but rather an exercise in trench digging. This initial for form of modern conservatism can be called 1st Wave. It can also be referred to as Cold War conservatism. Its catch words were small government, big military, and traditional values.More Related News