With Rush Limbaugh all over the mainstream news lately, John Derbyshire has an interesting article over at The American Conservative. In How the Radio Wrecks the Right, he makes the case for a new middle-brow conservatism, as opposed to the often low-brow version in evidence on talk radio.
"Did the Limbaughs, Hannitys, Savages, and Ingrahams lead us to this sorry state of affairs?
They surely did. At the very least, by yoking themselves to the clueless George W. Bush and his free-spending administration, they helped create the great debt bubble that has now burst so spectacularly.
Much as their blind loyalty discredited the Right, perhaps the worst effect of Limbaugh et al. has been their draining away of political energy from what might have been a much more worthwhile project: the fostering of a middlebrow conservatism. There is nothing wrong with lowbrow conservatism. It’s energizing and fun. What’s wrong is the impression fixed in the minds of too many Americans that conservatism is always lowbrow, an impression our enemies gleefully reinforce when the opportunity arises. Thus a liberal like E.J. Dionne can write, “The cause of Edmund Burke, Leo Strauss, Robert Nisbet and William F. Buckley Jr. is now in the hands of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity. … Reason has been overwhelmed by propaganda, ideas by slogans.” Talk radio has contributed mightily to this development."
This is an important idea if conservative want to make inroads in the Northeast and on the West Coast. ________________________________________________________________________
A popular item among bloggers and editorial pages alike has been the recent poll numbers showing President Obama's approval rating actually going lower than Bush at the same point in his presidincy. Over at The Washington Post David Broder writes about the apparent end of Obama's honeymoon.
"Two months into his presidency, it is far too soon to make any judgments about Barack Obama's prospects. All we really know is that he has assembled the rudiments of an administration and launched a batch of ambitious but unproven initiatives.
Meantime, on the main challenge -- fixing the economy -- the criticism has begun to infect the mainstream media, as well as the conservative wing. I was struck last week to read heartfelt pleas to Obama from David Ignatius of The Washington Post and David Brooks of The New York Times to get his priorities straight and concentrate on the crucial task of rescuing banking, credit, housing and jobs.
These are people who deeply admire and respect Obama and wish him nothing but success. But, like some thoughtful congressional Democrats with whom I have spoken, they worry that he has bitten off more than he can chew._______________________________________________________________________
New York Daily News columnist Michael Goodwin adds to the sobering opinion of the Obama administration in his article, More Than a Bad Day: Worries grow that Obama & Co. have a competency problem.
"Not long ago, after a string of especially bad days for the Obama administration, a veteran Democratic pol approached me with a pained look on his face and asked, "Do you think they know what they're doing?
The question caught me off guard because the man is a well-known Obama supporter. As we talked, I quickly realized his asking suggested his own considerable doubts
None other than Warren Buffet, an Obama supporter, has called the administration's message on the economy "muddled." Even China says it is worried about its investments in American Treasury bonds. Ouch. "
Conservatives can issue an I-told-you-so, but they have not offered a viable alternative yet either.
Post sponsored by Quality-Resumes.
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