In failing to mention Communism, the makers of a PBS documentary about William F. Buckley unintentionally remind viewers of why Buckley was needed in the first place—and why he still is.
Tag: Ronald Reagan
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Who Wants to Be House Speaker?
Weakening House committees had the paradoxical effect of concentrating power in leadership and making the speaker more important in setting the majority’s policy direction—which only turned the speaker into the focus of every member’s discontent and created stronger opposition to him within the party.
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Archie Bunker Back Stories
Carl Reiner’s son, Rob, takes part in a grand tradition on the left of demonizing normal, religious people after being advanced, personally, by powerful relationships. On the left, it’s all relative and “all in the family.”
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Great American Musical Artists in their Roaring Nineties
Great musical artists approach the coda, without the recognition they deserve. As the year closes, we’d do well to remember (or discover) their work.
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What Happened to Ron DeSantis?
When a politician stakes his campaign on a demonstration of how thorough, consistent and philosophically pure he is, he might impress conservative journalists and policy wonks, but they don't pick the nominee.
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Konstantin Chernenko Lives Here
The last thing Middle America needs is an American Chernenko. America cannot afford a dying leader at this time.
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The Missed GOP Debate Opportunity
The Republican Party keeps looking back at Reagan without considering what has changed since Reagan. This results in missed opportunities for the GOP.
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All the Conspiracy That’s Fit to Print
Conspiracy theories against the right don't need much proof to make it into the pages of The New York Times.
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Still Against the ‘Dead Consensus’
A return to the "dead consensus" status quo ante would be a disaster for the American Right and the Republican Party—and thus for the nation as a whole.
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Frank Meyer’s Fusionism and the Search for Consensus Among Conservatives
Frank Meyer’s attempt to codify a conservative consensus must be understood in the context of his day, when remnants of the Old Right were marginalized and conservatism was dominated by anti-Communism.
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How Can You Befriend a ‘Semi-Fascist’?
President Joe Biden recently accused Trump voters of embracing "semi-fascism." Friendships can be forged across partisan lines, but it's rather difficult to befriend a "semi-fascist," isn't it?
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Mikhail Gorbachev: Failed Politician
Mikhail Gorbachev was perhaps the most abject failure among late 20th-century leaders. He let a destructive genie out of the bottle that led to NATO’s eastward expansion and laid the groundwork for the war in Ukraine.
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How, When, Do We Come Together Again?
America suffers from a great divide that goes far beyond our clashing views of Jan. 6 and the Mar-a-Lago raid. Americans need to find common ground again.
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Is a US-Russia War Becoming Inevitable?
America is now in a military alliance with Finland—the newest member of NATO. No Cold War president would have risked the survival of our nation to defend a distant country that has never been a U.S. vital interest.
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The Roots of America’s Mentally Ill Homelessness Crisis
The deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill has intensified the homelessness crisis across American cities.