Another Reason to Like Webb

He’s not much inclined to take b.s. from Bush, reports Roll Call: At a private reception held at the White House with newly elected lawmakers shortly after the election, Bush asked Webb how his son, a Marine lance corporal serving in Iraq, was doing. Webb responded that he really wanted to see his son brought [...]

More Unpatriotic Conservatives

From The Political Principles of Robert A. Taft, by Russell Kirk and James McClellan: War, Taft perceived, was the enemy of constitution, liberty, economic security, and the cake of custom. His natural conservatism made him a man of peace. He never had served in the army himself, and he did not relish the prospect of [...]

Two Links

Over at the New Pantagruel’s Japery, Austin Bramwell responds to some of his traditionalist critics. Take a look as well at Jeff Taylor’s article on imperialism and isolationism at LRC (an excerpt from his highly recommended book on the Jeffersonian tradition, Where Did the Party Go?)

Wonder-Working Power

My Reason review of Damon Linker’s Theocons and Patrick Hynes’s In Defense of the Religious Right is now on-line here.

Time for a Heavier Footprint in Iraq

David Gordon brought this Weekly Standard story by Kagan and Kristol to my attention. When war doesn’t work, what’s a neocon to do? Why, just escalate, of course…

Changing of the Guard

Congratulations are in order for Michael Brendan Dougherty, who is The American Conservative‘s new assistant editor. He’ll be joined by another new face shortly. My own time on staff with the magazine, however, has come to an end. You should still find plenty of my work within TAC‘s pages, though: the new issue includes my [...]

Five Minutes With Two From TAC

David Weigel’s brief interview with Scott McConnell and me from the Webb rally the other day. (MP3)

On the Scene With Jim Webb

David Weigel reports on the Jim Webb victory rally, where he ran into me and TAC editor in chief Scott McConnell. Webb isn’t much of a public speaker, unfortunately, but what was worse than his delivery was the emphasis of his remarks. Atrios relates the bit that has me worried: There were a lot of [...]

Is Austin Bramwell the New Peter Viereck?

Daniel Larison wonders whatever became of my promised defense of Viereck. I’ll take a crack at that, and post some thoughts on the Austin Bramwell article that Larison discusses, sometime over the weekend. Meanwhile, TAC duties call: we’re scrambling to put together timely election coverage. By way of a sneak preview, I’ll mention that the [...]

2008 Wide Open

It’ll be the first year in my lifetime — and for some time before that — in which there’s no incumbent president or VP in the race for the White House and control of both the House and Senate will be at stake. Whatever the outcomes of the Senate races in Virginia and Missouri (it’s [...]