‘Responsible Conservatism Has a Voice and a Future’

I Remember Conservatism

In the January/February issue, David Brooks wrote about how the rich philosophical tradition he fell in love with has been reduced to Fox News and voter suppression.

David Brooks’s poignant essay reads like a breakup letter from a disappointed lover. But his disappointment may result from his having held unrealistic expectations of his paramour. Burkean conservatism has always looked better in the wood-paneled offices of elite periodicals and think tanks than on the gritty streets of the real world. The moral sentiments and manners extolled by Burke and Brooks were always relative, obligatory for dealings with other members of the club