Clash of the titans

The burning question at NRO at the moment, posed by none other than John Podhoretz, is whether John Derbyshire is a genuine conservative. Derbyshire defends himself here. (Hat tip to Steve Sailer.)

Question: Are we supposed to take seriously the respective claims of being a genuine conservative made by, on one hand, the perpetual adolescent who has rejoiced at the idea that we can drop the culture war as a result of 9/11, and who engages in lengthy online discussions with his friend, the Animal House conservative, Jonah Goldberg, about such topics as the relative virtues of The Hulk and Spiderman 2; and, on the other hand, the self-described “metropolitan conservative” who says he’s more comfortable with New York City liberals than with red-state Christians, who engages in endless chummy online chats with his pal, the Animal House conservative, Jonah Goldberg, and who once said that his goal in life is to walk a fine line between seriousness and frivolity?

Posted by Lawrence Auster at June 18, 2005 04:55 PM | Send