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One of the nice things about being the Top Conservative Podcast is that we get to have the coolest and smartest people on the right stop by to chat. Case in point this week as we welcome two of the biggest brains on the right, Yuval Levin and Dr. Thomas Sowell. Yuval’s WSJ essay The Next Conservative Movement is a must read, and while you’re at it, order his forthcoming book The Fractured Republic: Renewing America’s Social Contract in the Age of Individualism. Re-building the party is topic of Yuval’s segment, and we welcome your suggestions in the comments below. With Thomas Sowell, things get a little more somber as he is no fan of the presumptive nominee of the party. The good doctor explains why he’s not a fan of The Donald, or of the voters who have propelled him to where he is today. Finally,we send out 90th birthday greetings to Jerry Lewis from a certain podcaster with a French brother-in-law. Guess who.
Music from this week’s episode:
Sweet Soul Music by Arthur Conley
The BRAND NEW opening sequence for the Ricochet Podcast was composed and produced by James Lileks.
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Levin talks in generalities of moral diversity, so let me put it into concrete terms.
A gay couple in California gets hitched under California law. That “married” couple then moves to Alabama, where they demand to be legally recognized as married. Alabama Christians are legally required to play along with the farce and teach their children that, “Well, it’s not what we would call marriage, but government calls it marriage and we can’t call it something different without getting sued.”
Not only will the Left certainly not let up on this winning battle, with many Republican voters at their side. Not only does the Left pursue normalization through the courts and national media regardless of legislative victories. Legal tradition requires that one state recognizes marriages from other states… and now this will be twisted so that non-marriages when incorrectly identified must be accepted and normalized as marriages, even if the traditional state remains free not to produce the fiction itself.
How, concretely, does Levin expect to dodge this fight? By what arrangement will traditional Christians and fellow travelers be legally tolerated to openly declare our disapproval and deny legal recognition of these fantasies in local communities?
Um, Rob…. Polaroid cameras are really popular with the kiddos. Get with it!
Jerry Lewis, born March 16, 1926…
Did we lose a month?
So true! See how out of it I am?
There are a couple of good Jerry Lewis movies. “The Bellboy” is pretty good. There are some good sequences in “The Errand Boy.”
Yuval makes the point that I’ve been hammering away on for weeks… It gets a little old to be referred to as pro-Hillary for being anti-Trump. As he says, it is kind of like asking me to pick which kind of torture to do on one of my family members. The answer is “no.”
Sowell is fantastic as usual.
Sowell says the character of a President is tremendously important. Presumably, he means that our foremost political leaders are, fortunately or not, cultural leaders who guide the thoughts and passions of citizens.
If so, I assume he would agree that the President is not the only such leader. It seems clear that leftwing voters across the country take guidance from figures like Pelosi and Reid, in no small part because these are the Democratic leaders who people see on TV constantly (or did when I still watched TV).
What sort of example did Boehner and McConnell provide? An equally influential example? Did they powerfully communicate rightwing philosophies? Did they instill confidence in Republican causes or strategies?
Does the GOP put its most persuasive personalities front and center before the media? Is Paul Ryan well fulfilling this role as the face of the party?
I admit, I was annoyed by Peter’s revision to refer to “Speaker” Gingrich. He’s not Speaker anymore, no matter what our corrupt laws say about permanent titles. I agree with Steyn that such traditions are unbecoming for a people who claim to be free of aristocracy.
You need to spend more time with the Yeti. He seems to know what’s up.
Casey is making America great again.
He’s got his ear to the ground and a finger on the pulse of America. (Which, when you think about it, seems to be an awfully vulnerable position.)
Aaron, you seem a little cranky tonight but I am on the same page as your comments.
Evening Aaron and PHCheese,
I am with you both. I don’t think Mr. Levin showed an understanding of how family breakdown occurred, how the economy and jobs may have been causes to this breakdown. Nor do I think, he offered a way toward restoration of the family. Concerning healthcare, the conservative answer to healthcare where the number of old patients is increasing and the number of young working people is declining population will be a difficult sell, if not impossible. The theatricality of Mr. Levin’s dilemma concerning the Clinton/Trump choice suggests Mr. Levin needs a safe space.
Universal suffrage is a terrible idea.
If the GOP has an open convention, can they nominate Thomas Sowell? Please?
I thought the exact same thing. The revision made me cringe. Also because I don’t think Newt has done much since leaving office to earn that respect Peter referred to. I respect people for who they are now, not for offices they once held.
And, call me silly, I think that style of respect overlooks people who do great things out of the spotlight, or good people who do little things every day but never get a second look.
I love Dr. Sowell. The world will lose a great warrior for liberty, and a good man whenever he leaves. His books are some of the best in the movement.
I wonder if it is unique to America. In the UK when ministers leave Her Majesty’s Government they can be elevated to a new title, either through a peerage or knighthood. We just don’t seem to know what to do with our “exes.”
I think “Mr.” works just fine.
Rob’s drive-by on Christians was super classy.
The more religious a person is (defined as church attendance) the less likely a person is to vote for Trump.
Meanwhile, squishy moderates (like Rob!) go hard for Trump.
Rob’s point was reductive, but it wasn’t completely off base. A lot of more traditional Christians who vote like SoCons rejected Trump, thereby undercutting Rob’s suggestion that they don’t matter to Trump opponents. But the Christians weirdly identified as Evangelicals by pollsters did help Trump.
Bottom line: There is a significant difference of political opinion among Christian Republicans. That’s not really new. A couple cycles ago, some preferred Huckabee and some preferred Santorum.
Agreed. As Sowell says, character is extremely important. I do not see Christians supporting Trump … The self-identification as evangelical (which is often presented on a poll as essentially meaning “non Catholic”) seems largely meaningless.
I think Rob was 100% wrong on that point. Trump is more the result of a rejection of SoCons than he is proof that we need to reject them further.
After King of Comedy, the best Jerry Lewis film is The Nutty Professor in which Lewis seems to be trying to mock Dean Martin, but more accurately skewers his own off screen personality.
(And let me add my annoyance with Rob’s snide remark about Christians. You are aware that there are more than a few Ricochet members that are Christians and not Trump supporters? Did that news reach the Coasts?)
The guys are right, of course. “King of Comedy” is fantastic. DeNiro does the affable, celebrity-obsessed loser Rupert Pupkin with such earnestness, we cheer for him as he commits felony kidnapping, and Jerry Lewis is a highlight of the movie.
And while I don’t have The Jetsons as my ringtone, I do have this:
Any non-iTunes users out there having problems updating episodes on the RSS feed? All my other RSS podcasts are updating normally (including Rob’s Martini Shot series).
On the podcast… “California doesn’t have a Republican Party anymore”.
Well gee Rob, why would that be? I mean, it wouldn’t have anything to do with California becoming a de facto state of Estados Unitos de Mexico? Demographics, Demographics, Demographics. Allow your country to be invaded, and you don’t have a country. California just went first. Other states are now befalling the same fate. Trump is a reaction of the failure of the country to prevent a California from happening nationwide.
This was a great podcast. Dr. Sowell (not Tom) was wonderful, agreed with every word. But the best moment was when Lileks, lamenting the destruction of yet another segue, perfectly channeled William Windom as Commodore Matt Decker in The Doomsday Machine: (that was a great segue . . . ) “Not any more.” Brilliant.
Knowing someone would get it was the reason I did it. Even if ONE member got it: totally worth it. Thanks, Eudaimon!
I think Casper mattresses needs to rethink the use of the word “inherently” in its promo. It’s just not the word they’re looking for.
Nobody said anything about the new opening. Which I didn’t much like. Mostly because my favorite line was missing: “and that would be disastrous.” I miss Marco Rubio!
It’s a work in progress. Thanks for the feedback!
Lileks’ quick Doomsday Machine reference was great.
Rob’s comment on Evangelicals being rendered irrelevant through supporting Trump is I fear exactly right. By running off with the stripper, casual Evangelical (and Catholic) conservative voters have sold their inheritance for a bowl of lentils. With Trump, we can kiss the political influence pro-life movement goodbye. He’s proven us irrelevant in the primaries.
“Letting me chose between forms of execution for a member of my family”- exactly right. Never Trump. Never Hillary.