What Is a Conservative?

Carl Frank, blogging under the pseudonym No Oil for Pacifists, says that liberals are "unable to understand" conservatives. Liberals "view Pat Buchanan as 'pillar' of the right rather than a pro-union, almost leftist, nativist," Frank opines.

This is just hogwash. First, smart liberals understand conservatives all too well; they just loathe them and yet cannot match their pragmatic, unprincipled approach to electoral politics. Second, Pat Buchanan -- he of the "culture war" in America -- is plainly even more conservative than most conservatives on the "moral values" questions that have dominated post-election debate in the U.S. Third, in 2000 Buchanan attacked George W. Bush, in a Blue Book his campaign published, arguing that Dubya was a closet liberal on such issues as abortion, muiltilateralism, and the like.

Indeed, just a glance at Buchanan's new book, titled Where the Right Went Wrong: How Neoconservatives Subverted the Reagan Revolution and Hijacked the Bush Presidency, is enough to show that he's way to the right of the folks in the White House today. To say that Buchanan is "almost leftist" is precisely what Frank insists the left does -- "abandon[ing] politics and morality. They're just a sick and sinister mob." Take your own medicine, Carl.

Update: I've turned off HTML entries in comments on this blog, so you can read Carl's responses at Letter to Blogger Turning Blue and You Can Have Him. And I view this characterization as the ultimate compliment a conservative can laud on one who does not share their politicial religiosity -- "Glenn's no far-left extremist." Backhanded, but I'll take it. Thanks, Carl!

 Posted by glenn