The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Burke, Natural Right, and Free Speech

Hoo boy! This week's fiery episode takes up the argument leftover from last week about whether conservatism—and especially the new "national" variety that is sparking so much energy and enthusiasm right now—should conceive of its mission as Burkean in character, as "restorationist" or revolutionary. We cover a lot of ground, with Lucretia beating up on Steve for his suspicious Burkean sympathies, while John Yoo enjoyed an extra McRibb paired with his American bourbon.

We cover recent articles bearing on the subject from Michael Anton, Peter Berkowitz, and a forthcoming article from Chris DeMuth, with Steve unable to convince Lucretia (since when is this news?) that one needn't be a Burkean historicist to argue that the permanent principles of natural right are vindicated as a practical matter in history (which is not the same as of history—in other words, Hegel is thrown out of our whisky bar). By degrees we turn the discussion to a practical matter immediately in front of us—the controversy at Berkeley Law over student groups seeking to exclude Jewish speakers from campus. Is there a case that the right of free speech extends to groups that seek to deny the right of fee speech to others, or do the principles of natural right draw an intelligible boundary here? There's a surprising split among us on this question.

Finally, we take a brief look at the latest tidings of the upcoming election, and end with our usual "Kamalaism of the Week."

And while Lucretia thinks she beat down Steve again, he gets his revenge with this week's exit music, which features the brilliant Italian harpist Micol Picchioni covering the prog rock Genesis classic, "Firth of Fifth." Heh.