The Death of Conservatism?

In his latest Derb Radio, NRO's John Derbyshire argues, among other things, that conservatism is dead.

I agree with him. In the end, it is the fault of us conservatives ourselves. Why? Because the GOP, which was supposed to be the standard bearer of conservatism, decided the K Street Project was more important than principles.

It is not all George Bush's fault. Yes, he threw money at everything and had a program for every ill. As for Iraq, he went to war without being serious about it. But it comes down really to us ourselves.

I have decided in the end I can be a Republican or a conservative, not both. So I have decided to be a conservative. The role of conservatives for the next 25 years or so will be to stand athwart history shouting stop, instead of trying for actual power itself.

Castro’s retirement

Fidel Castro "retired" as president of Cuba today. He stayed in power 49 years – that is easy when you do not have to worry about majority votes or term limits and the Constitution is what you say it is. Hearing the name Castro always reminds me of John Derbyshire's gloss on a George Orwell quote -- "Wherever there is a jackboot stomping on a human face there will be a well-heeled Western liberal to explain that the face does, after all, enjoy free health care and 100 percent literacy."

One side note, although Orwell is always quoted as "Jackboots", in actuality, he only mentioned boots. Not really that important, unless you are concerned about precision.