#jay nordlinger

[insidewarp]

For 50 years, William F. Buckley Jr. labored to separate conservatism from kookery. (He had to deal with a lot of kookery when he began his career, and throughout it.) Is that effort faltering? When young people today — who have never heard of WFB — look at TrumpWorld, do they think, “This is conservatism”? Pardon the nostalgia, but when I was coming of age, the major conservative politician was Ronald Reagan. Before him, it was Barry Goldwater. Before him, it was Robert A. Taft. The major conservative writers — the ones whom I drank in — were WFB, Irving Kristol, Thomas Sowell, Paul Johnson, Norman Podhoretz, George Will, et al. That was ConservativeWorld, at least as I saw it. It was very attractive, intellectually and stylistically. In its ideals as well. How about now? This is one of the things I wonder about, and worry about. If young Americans equate conservatism with Trump, Trumpism, and TrumpWorld, who can blame them?

Jay Nordlinger

[insidewarp]

With some regularity, my critics will say to me, “Today’s Russia is not the Soviet Union, you know!” I say, “I know. But does Putin? Are you sure?” He murders his critics, invades foreign countries, sows discord in the democracies … It’s as though a KGB man were presiding in the Kremlin. Today, we publish the final installment of my series on, and with, Vladimir Bukovsky, the great Soviet-era dissident. Here. One of my questions is, “How should the West deal with Putin?” Bukovsky says, in part: He engages in brinkmanship, just like his predecessors. He is an excellent bluffer. Don’t fall for it. People like to emphasize the discontinuity between the Soviet Union and modern Russia. But there are also continuities to consider. I find that I have not considered them enough. Twenty years ago, David Pryce-Jones and others told me that the tragedy of the formerly Communist nations was that they had not had Nuremberg trials. There had been no equivalent of denazification. Everyone wanted to “move on” and sweep under the rug.

Jay Nordlinger,  Vladimir Bukovsky

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/roots/

[nosferdoc]

[steveparkhurst]

Czechs and Others | National Review

A delegation to Taiwan, and a fault line.

[politicsnc]

Giving away the Grand Old Party

Giving away the Grand Old Party

Armed militia stormed the Michigan statehouse and a North Carolina Subway, threatening governors over stay-at-home orders designed to keep coronavirus from spreading. Donald Trump accused television personality Joe Scarborough of murder despite no evidence to back up his claim. Right-wing activists have declared wearing masks a threat to their freedom. In North Carolina, the husband of the leader…

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[erebusvincent]

A Certain Brashness | National Review

Thoughts and stories about America, Americans, and others.

I hate to tell you this, but I’m sort of proud of America’s role in Europe, and throughout the world. When I was a student in Italy, the teacher was saying something negative about America — I don’t remember what, and it may well have been true — and then he said, “And now Jay will defend America.” I said, “America has no need of a defense, especially on this continent.” Everyone went “Oooooh.”

Almost certainly, I would not say that today. But, hell, I was 20, and feelin’ it . . .

[insidewarp]

The rapper A$AP Rocky, as you may know, has been arrested in Sweden for assault. President Trump has made this a cause: "Very disappointed in Prime Minister Stefan Löfven for being unable to act. Sweden has let our African American Community down in the United States. I watched the tapes of A$AP Rocky, and he was being followed and harassed by troublemakers. Treat Americans fairly! #FreeRocky" Sweden’s ambassador to the United States, Karin Olofsdotter, responded as follows: Prime Minister Stefan Löfven ha[s] explained and emphasised the complete independence of the Swedish judicial system, prosecutors and courts. In Sweden everyone is equal before the law. The Government is not allowed, and will not attempt, to influence legal proceedings. In my observation, Western leaders often prefer to deal with dictators, rather than with fellow democratic leaders. Dictators can snap their fingers and get things done. They can bark orders. In a democracy, there is a system, a process — and the head guy’s rule is not absolute.

Jay Nordlinger

https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/07/trust-the-process-c/

[politicsnc]

A legacy of ignoring racism led to Trump, not mean liberals

A legacy of ignoring racism led to Trump, not mean liberals

First, if you don’t understand why the president’s tweets telling four brown-skinned Congresswomen to go back to where they came from and the chants of “Send her back” at the Trump rally are racist, you’re probably racist. If you don’t believe it, don’t worry, you’re not alone. Most people can’t recognize their own bigotry. It’s part of the problem.

More annoying than the racists in denial are…

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