If there is anyone currently in the U.S. Senate of whom I would consider myself a fan, Jim DeMint of South Carolina would be on that short list. I understood where he was coming from but found it a little disconcerting when he said: "I would rather have 30 Republicans in the Senate who really believe in principles of limited government, free markets, free people, than to have 60 that don't have a set of beliefs." What a great relief then to see Senator DeMint's excellent column in yesterday's Wall Street Journal -- what I consider an opportunity to revise and extend his remark. His rhetoric is blunt, and his analysis is clear: … [Read more...]
Bon Voyage: Kathleen Parker Set Adrift from All Conservative Moorings?
I have had to defend my critical assessment of a Kathleen Parker post-election column sloppily aimed with disdain at social conservatives. Within that debate, even I have been inclined to see what she wrote as part of an internal squabble within the larger conservative Republican movement. But if Parker's most recent writing is any indication, it would seem she has no real conservative moorings on fiscal issues, either. You simply have to read it all, as no excerpt sufficiently captures the overtones wrapped insider her ambivalent - and sometimes confused - rhetoric. I agree with Michael: Many messengers of the conservative movement are stuck on old themes, when a newly-crafted message is what's needed. However, as Kathleen Parker … [Read more...]