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This week on the podcast, Professor To The Stars Paul Rahe stops by for a little conversation on Greek classicalism and modern day politics, and later, Rick Wilson on the conservatives and weed, the inevitability of Hillary, and races we should be watching in 2014. And of course, we set the stage for our big 200th live show in Los Angeles on January 26th. Ricochet members, buy your tickets now!
Music from this week’s episode:
When Will I Be Loved by The Everly Brothers
The Ricochet Podcast opening theme was composed and produced by James Lileks.
Pass the dutchie, EJHill.
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Tsk, tsk. Centipede had a trackball, but Tempest did not. Tempest had a simple dial.
Great Job Troy!
It’s unfortunate that James appears to view the Steyn/Steorts tiff over at NRO as a public policy disagreement and an effort by Steyn’s supporters to enforce ideological purity on the site. It was not. It was a fight about the influence political correctness should have on NRO’s content. Most people who took Steyn’s side were not insisting that the opinions expressed on the site be ideologically pure; they were insisting that political correctness should not restrict what can or cannot be expressed. More variety of opinion, not less.
Its not just the democrats that hate social conservatives. I think Rick just told that section of the coalition to drop dead (figurativly speaking of course)
Rob, how highly principled could a person be if he didn’t resign when faced with having to implement terrible policy?
“Rick Wilson…one of Ricochet’s most popular contributors…” (36:59)
Is he really?
Ernest Cline is the author of Ready Player One, btw.
Is he really? ·5 minutes ago
And I thought Mike Murphy was number one!
Rick also assumes that once progressives start to win, we must fold. The Equal Rights (ERA) Amendment in the 1970’s was over 50% ratified, but Phyllis Schafly and others were able to kill it. SSM is like Abortion, in that Judicial Fiat has been responsible for its implementation. Abortion is much less accepted since 1973, and various laws are chipping away at unlimited availability. The Republican party shouldn’t dwell on social issues, but to ignore them removes one leg of the (Social, Military, Fiscal) conservative stool.
Rick Wilson oddly claims that SoCons want gay marriage to be front and center?
No – the left is the aggressor in the culture wars and some of us respond to that. We don’t demand it be front in center but Rick Wilson just wants us to roll over.
As he says – it’s a coalition. One in which SoCons are perennially told to stay in the back seat and shut our pie holes.
And in case Rick Wilson didn’t notice small and limited government and cutting spending isn’t popular either. The GOPs problem isn’t that it can’t get a head of social trends it’s what was talked about before he got on the show: The GOP is lousy at persuading people.
I consider myself a social conservative, although I don’t presume to speak for others. For me, the difficulty with Rick’s approach is that it skips over the role that Republican leaders have in shaping (or failing to shape) the forces that “lose” social issues.
The “tide” in favor of gay marriage was sustained, in no small way, by the rulings of the Supreme Court, and the political machinations of the Massachusetts legislature, the “courageous” breaking of the existing law by San Francisco’s Gavin Newsome … all of these were political maneuvers that accelerated gay marriage. I deny that gay marriage succeeded because people liked Will & Grace, or saw that Ellen deGeneres was a nice lady. As if one day, the American people just stood up and scratched their heads wondering how anyone could oppose love?
No. The tide toward gay marriage was pushed by political and legal liberals … and conservatives did nothing. Squat. The Republican politicians didn’t offer any rationale for traditional marriage, and like Obama, they swayed with the wind.
It’s absurdly simplistic to now say, gee whiz, tough luck about social values. Society’s changing, so don’t rock the boat.
Lileks et al don’t seem to understand the concern that people have about RINOs.
The way I think about it, we are a nation in a car driving at 50 MPH towards a cliff like the end of Thelma and Louise. The Dems want to have the foot planted on firmly on the accelerator, maximizing our speed towards the cliff. The squishy RINOs like Rob Long (I keed I keed) feel it’s a victory to only have the accelerator at half to three-quarters throttle.
It is not demanding ideological purity to say that we should be pressing on the brake to prevent the car from going over the cliff.
If pressing on the brake is courting electoral losses, then our country is doomed regardless, and abandoning any semblance of principle so we can win elections to fight and die for the right to lower the throttle position to three-quarters seems worthless.
Why is it everytime a paid consultant talks about why social conservatives should vote for Repbulicans it sounds like “they should vote for us because we don’t agree with them either, but we’re nicer about calling them troglodytes”?
Mitt Romney lost because of smart thinking like that.
Mitt Romney lost because of smart thinking like that. ·1 minute ago
The argument seems to be that the Democrats revile us and actively work to marginalize us in culture and politics and the Republicans are just merely content to let that happen so who you gonna vote for?
The argument forwarded by Rob that a RINO Senate is better than the current reality is fantastic! Of course, it would be even better if we had an actual example of a time when the GOP controlled both houses of the legislature and the POTUS. Then we could see in fact – not in theory – how they would roll back government.
If only we had that example. Then we wouldn’t have “No Child Left Behind.” We wouldn’t be saddled with Medicare Part D.
If only…
Having brunch on Sunday morning kind of cuts out those Richocheters who like to go to church. :)
When you asked “Who killed Homer?”, I just could not help myself. I immediately was worried that Bart had committed patricide. Doh! :)
The way I think about it, we are a nation in a car driving at 50 MPH towards a cliff like the end of Thelma and Louise. The Dems want to have the foot planted on firmly on the accelerator, maximizing our speed towards the cliff. The squishy RINOs like Rob Long (I keed I keed) feel it’s a victory to only have the accelerator at half to three-quarters throttle.
It is not demanding ideological purity to say that we should be pressing on the brake to prevent the car from going over the cliff.
Edited 3 hours ago
In your example, wouldn’t be better to get the other guys in the car to puch a little bit on the brake instead of a little bit on the gas? Sure that by itself doesn’t stop the car, but slows it down a bit and gives you chance. It seems like quite a few folks are insisting that allies be all in, or don’t bother.
In your example, wouldn’t be better to get the other guys in the car to puch a little bit on the brake instead of a little bit on the gas? Sure that by itself doesn’t stop the car, but slows it down a bit and gives you chance. It seems like quite a few folks are insisting that allies be all in, or don’t bother.
Yes, but I don’t see any republicans talking about pushing a little bit on the brake. And, as Vic pointed out, when the Rs held both houses of Congress and the White House, they pressed down just as hard on the accelerator as the Dems (although increasing peacetime Federal Spending by 5% of GDP as Obama did in his first year has to be an unbeatable record in annals of accelerator pushing).
FTR, I’m all for “Big Tent” politics and expanding the party by opening up on tangential issues, eg, social issues, but if we don’t stop government spending, we are just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
Basil has it exactly right.
My more visceral response as I listened to James on the podcast this afternoon was more like Spiccoli’s (NSFW): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ektZ_RC1VL8
Steorts tried to put Steyn outside the tent. When what we should be doing is hitting back twice as hard. Ht: Glenn Harlan Reynolds.
I suppose you calling Steorts a fruit was variety of opinion.
You all tried to put Steorts outside the tent. “Who is Jason Lee Steorts?” As if your ignorance of his existence were all the proof you needed that he should shut up.
Albert: “You all tried to put Steorts outside the tent. “Who is Jason Lee Steorts?” As if your ignorance of his existence were all the proof you needed that he should shut up.”
No. Mr. Arthur. Steyn said his piece, then his editor (Steorts) told him to shut up. That was the sequence.
That is the only reason that this issue resonates here.
I suppose you calling Steorts a fruit was variety of opinion. ·25 minutes ago
Albert, the puppy-like devotion you’ve exhibited to Mr. Steorts has probably done more damage to his he-manity than any poor jape of mine. Not, of course, that there’s anything wrong with that.
I suppose you calling Steorts a fruit was variety of opinion. ·25 minutes ago
Albert, the puppy-like devotion you’ve exhibited to Mr. Steorts has probably done more damage to his he-manity than any poor jape of mine. Not, of course, that there’s anything wrong with that. ·8 minutes ago
Oh, haha. So now, what, I’m gay, too? You are really mature.
No. Mr. Arthur. Steyn said his piece, then his editor (Steorts) told him to shut up. That was the sequence.
That is the only reason that this issue resonates here. ·31 minutes ago
Steyn said his peace, then a fellow Corner contributor responded. Then Steyn cried foul and you all jumped on the bandwagon.
http://kronykronicle.com/1968/BV4.html
Check it out. WFB was really immature!
“Steyn said his [piece], then a fellow Corner contributor responded. Then Steyn cried foul and you all jumped on the bandwagon.”
[The fellow Corner contributor]’s response was to say, “shut up.” That is the problem. It has nothing to do with gayness or tribalism. He said to shut up. That’s it. That’s what we care about.
I suppose you calling Steorts a fruit was variety of opinion. ·25 minutes ago
Albert, the puppy-like devotion you’ve exhibited to Mr. Steorts has probably done more damage to his he-manity than any poor jape of mine. Not, of course, that there’s anything wrong with that. ·8 minutes ago
Oh, haha. So now, what, I’m gay, too? You are really mature. ·6 minutes ago
Continuing this discussion is fruitless. There. Does that make you feel better?