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Conservatives getting off the universal democracy train
If the first part of the drama of American response to the Egypt crisis was Democracy Wars, and the second part was The Neocons Strike Back, then the third part is The Return of the Conservatives. The regular conservatives are not buying into the neoconservatives’ democracy craze, but are forcefully resisting it. Sean Hannity today was referencing Jeanne Kirkpatrick’s famous 1979 article in Commentary in which she argued that there’s a difference between authoritarian governments which are our friends, and totalitarian governments which are our enemies. Meaning we should not be pushing the authoritarian Mubarak to abdicate in order to achieve a democracy which could well result in an Islamic tyranny—a lesson the neocons, who once admired Kirkpatrick’s reasoning, are now incapable of grasping. Rush Limbaugh, I’ve heard, was making similar points today. And Michelle Malkin, appearing on Hannity’s program tonight, said with much urgency that the main danger in Egypt is the rise of an Islamic republic.
That the mainstream conservative leaders are talking this way is great news. Perhaps I’m drawing too large conclusions, but I’m feeling that regular conservatives are waking up, are recognizing that there is something seriously offbase about the neocons, and are refusing to be led or browbeaten by them. I think that are understanding that the neocons are not wise men who should be guiding our society, but loopy sectarians all gathered together in a strange room of their own. Email entry |