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Burst your bubble: five conservative articles to read during Trump's first week Burst your bubble: five conservative articles to read during Trump's first week
(35 minutes later)
The Guardian published an interview with Brian Eno the other day, in which he offered some political reflections. On Brexit and Trump, the legendary musician and composer said: “I thought that all those Ukip people and those National Front people were in a little bubble. Then I thought: ‘Fuck, it was us, we were in the bubble, we didn’t notice it.’ There was a revolution brewing and we didn’t spot it because we didn’t make it. We expected we were going to be the revolution.”The Guardian published an interview with Brian Eno the other day, in which he offered some political reflections. On Brexit and Trump, the legendary musician and composer said: “I thought that all those Ukip people and those National Front people were in a little bubble. Then I thought: ‘Fuck, it was us, we were in the bubble, we didn’t notice it.’ There was a revolution brewing and we didn’t spot it because we didn’t make it. We expected we were going to be the revolution.”
In the hope of avoiding this in future, here is this week’s roundup of the best from conservative blogs. As Trump climbs into the harness, conservative writers are worrying about foreign policy, spotting what’s new in Trump’s culture wars, and even questioning the 45th president of the United States’ mental health. In the hope of avoiding this in future, here is this week’s roundup of the best from conservative sites. As Trump climbs into the harness, conservative writers are worrying about foreign policy, spotting what’s new in Trump’s culture wars, and even questioning the 45th president of the United States’ mental health.
President Trump, Be Wary of a Mexican BacklashPresident Trump, Be Wary of a Mexican Backlash
Publication: National ReviewPublication: National Review
Author: José Cárdenas served in foreign policy positions in the Bush administration. Until recently, it was probably difficult for people on the left to imagine a worse recommendation. But he does know Latin America, and this article sounds a warning. Author: José Cárdenas served in foreign policy positions in the Bush administration. Until recently, it was probably difficult for people on the left to imagine a worse pedigree. But he does know Latin America, and this article sounds a warning.
Why you should read it: Almost nowhere in the mainstream press have we seen a discussion of the way that the election of Trump has had effects on his bete noire, Mexico. Cárdenas has an ideological revulsion for leftwing populists like André Manuel López Obrador, but his point still stands: Trump’s policies and posturing may have the unintended consequence of electing a government that is actively hostile to him, and US power. Why you should read it: Almost nowhere in the mainstream press have we seen a discussion of the way that the election of Trump has affected his bete noire, Mexico. Cárdenas has an ideological revulsion for leftwing populists such as André Manuel López Obrador, but his point still stands: Trump’s policies and posturing may have the unintended consequence of electing a government that is actively hostile to him, and to US power.
Extract: “An unfriendly government on our southern border could significantly complicate issues important to the US, on everything from border security, counterterrorism, and drug-war cooperation to deportations and restricting Central American migration – the main source of illegal border crossings – bound for the U.S. Continuing economic hardship, the likely result of AMLO’s state-centric approach, would also likely revive outward-migration pressures from Mexico to the United States, which have abated in recent years.” Extract: “An unfriendly government on our southern border could significantly complicate issues important to the US, on everything from border security, counterterrorism, and drug-war cooperation to deportations and restricting Central American migration – the main source of illegal border crossings – bound for the US. Continuing economic hardship, the likely result of AMLO’s state-centric approach, would also likely revive outward-migration pressures from Mexico to the United States, which have abated in recent years.”
Donald Trump’s New Culture WarDonald Trump’s New Culture War
Publication: National ReviewPublication: National Review
Author: Rich Lowry is the editor of National Review, which means he also gets ex officio spots on Fox News and a column with middle-of-the-road outlet Politico. “Movement Conservatism” has gotten a walloping recently at the hands of Trump-style populist nationalism, but Lowry has been around the right for a while, and his occasional insights are available to the left as well. Author: Rich Lowry is the editor of National Review, which means he also gets ex officio spots on Fox News and a column with the middle-of-the-road outlet Politico. “Movement conservatism” has gotten a walloping recently at the hands of Trump-style populist nationalism, but Lowry has been around the right for a while, and his occasional insights are available to the left as well.
Why you should read it: Lowry draws a diagram of the kind of culture war Trump is likely to fight, and how it differs from the Christian right-influenced version that Republicans are accustomed to. His focus will be more on stoking populist, nativist, inland anger against coastal elites, and less on matters of morality.Why you should read it: Lowry draws a diagram of the kind of culture war Trump is likely to fight, and how it differs from the Christian right-influenced version that Republicans are accustomed to. His focus will be more on stoking populist, nativist, inland anger against coastal elites, and less on matters of morality.
Extract: “There is no way Trump could be a credible combatant in the culture war as it existed for the past 40 years. But he has reoriented the main lines of battle away from issues related to religion and sexual morality onto the grounds of populism and nationalism. Trump’s culture war is fundamentally the people versus the elite, national sovereignty versus cosmopolitanism, and patriotism versus multiculturalism.”Extract: “There is no way Trump could be a credible combatant in the culture war as it existed for the past 40 years. But he has reoriented the main lines of battle away from issues related to religion and sexual morality onto the grounds of populism and nationalism. Trump’s culture war is fundamentally the people versus the elite, national sovereignty versus cosmopolitanism, and patriotism versus multiculturalism.”
Trump’s Inaugural AddressTrump’s Inaugural Address
Publication: The American ConservativePublication: The American Conservative
Author: Daniel Larison is a consistent voice for non-intervention and foreign policy restraint at paleocon redoubt the American Conservative, where he writes a feisty blog. His alarm at Trump’s foreign policy moves has only been escalating since the inauguration – lately, among other things, he’s been voicing some sensible concerns about the administration’s attitude to China. Author: Daniel Larison is a consistent voice for non-intervention and foreign policy restraint at the paleocon redoubt the American Conservative, where he writes a feisty blog. His alarm at Trump’s foreign policy moves has only been escalating since the inauguration – lately, among other things, he’s been voicing some sensible concerns about the administration’s attitude to China.
Why you should read it: This is one of a number of bad reviews which have come in from principled conservatives about Trump’s peculiar inaugural address. It’s a good idea to keep up with all of Larison’s output, but in this one he offers pointed questions about the strange and open-ended foreign policy implications of Trump’s first speech as president.Why you should read it: This is one of a number of bad reviews which have come in from principled conservatives about Trump’s peculiar inaugural address. It’s a good idea to keep up with all of Larison’s output, but in this one he offers pointed questions about the strange and open-ended foreign policy implications of Trump’s first speech as president.
Extract: “In addition to the many unrealistic or exorbitant promises contained in the speech, Trump presented everything in very broad strokes and gave us no sense of what he considers to be his priorities at the start of his presidency. If Trump and his advisers know what they are, they don’t seem to be interested in telling us about them.”Extract: “In addition to the many unrealistic or exorbitant promises contained in the speech, Trump presented everything in very broad strokes and gave us no sense of what he considers to be his priorities at the start of his presidency. If Trump and his advisers know what they are, they don’t seem to be interested in telling us about them.”
Maybe Trump isn’t ‘lying’Maybe Trump isn’t ‘lying’
Publication: The Washington PostPublication: The Washington Post
Author: Jennifer Rubin has written the Right Turn column for the Washington Post since 2010, before which time she worked at neocon bible the Weekly Standard. She’s a reliable hawk and a culture warrior, but right now she is also one of the last of a breed that has died off steeply since November: #nevertrump conservatives. Author: Jennifer Rubin has written the Right Turn column for the Washington Post since 2010, before which time she worked at the neocon bible the Weekly Standard. She’s a reliable hawk and a culture warrior, but right now she is also one of the last of a breed that has died off steeply since November: #nevertrump conservatives.
Why you should read it: The idea that one’s political opponents are simply insane is a seductive one – perhaps liberals, in particular, are given to pathologising their conservative interlocutors. But Rubin offers a diagnosis that is depressingly plausible: Trump lies in ways that are easy to disprove because he “cannot tell what is real and what is not”. Less than a week into his presidency, she raises the spectre of the president being relieved of his duties by the elected officials around him.Why you should read it: The idea that one’s political opponents are simply insane is a seductive one – perhaps liberals, in particular, are given to pathologising their conservative interlocutors. But Rubin offers a diagnosis that is depressingly plausible: Trump lies in ways that are easy to disprove because he “cannot tell what is real and what is not”. Less than a week into his presidency, she raises the spectre of the president being relieved of his duties by the elected officials around him.
Extract: “We are calling for someone, perhaps his children, to see if they can prevail upon him to stop behaving in this way, for if not, legitimate worries will mount about whether he is able to carry out his duties. We also are saying that Republicans need to be pressed to state their view: Is he lying or is he unable to separate what he wants to believe and what exists, literally, in front of his eyes? The first makes him morally unfit, and was the basis upon which many #NeverTrumpers refused to vote for him. If the latter, they – and we all – have a constitutional crisis the likes of which we have never seen. With Trump, however, we have learned the past provides no guarantees.” Extract: “We are calling for someone, perhaps his children, to see if they can prevail upon him to stop behaving in this way, for if not, legitimate worries will mount about whether he is able to carry out his duties. We also are saying that Republicans need to be pressed to state their view: is he lying or is he unable to separate what he wants to believe and what exists, literally, in front of his eyes? The first makes him morally unfit, and was the basis upon which many #NeverTrumpers refused to vote for him. If the latter, they – and we all – have a constitutional crisis the likes of which we have never seen. With Trump, however, we have learned the past provides no guarantees.”
Trump Should Shun the Iran HawksTrump Should Shun the Iran Hawks
Publication: The National InterestPublication: The National Interest
Author: Scott McConnell, an heir to the Avon fortune, is best known as a founding editor of the American Conservative. His personal journey has been idiosyncratic. Politically he has moved from supporting Eugene McCarthy, to neoconservatism, to paleoconservatism. Professionally, he has migrated from the New York Post, to the American Conservative, to free-floating anti-interventionist essayist. In recent years, his main concern has been avoiding war with Iran. Author: Scott McConnell, an heir to the Avon fortune, is best known as a founding editor of the American Conservative. His personal journey has been idiosyncratic. Politically he has moved from supporting Eugene McCarthy to neoconservatism to paleoconservatism. Professionally, he has migrated from the New York Post to the American Conservative to free-floating anti-interventionist essayist. In recent years, his main concern has been avoiding war with Iran.
Why you should read it: In this piece, McConnell worries that Trump’s national security appointments will edge him towards a disastrous war with Iran, and argues that this will only worsen the United States’ position in the region.Why you should read it: In this piece, McConnell worries that Trump’s national security appointments will edge him towards a disastrous war with Iran, and argues that this will only worsen the United States’ position in the region.
Extract: “The blunt fact is that Iran has not been behaving like much of an enemy. Unlike the period in the immediate aftermath of the Iranian revolution, when Iran to did seek to destabilize many of its neighbors, it is now become at least latently a fairly orderly power; indeed it may now be the most stable country in the Middle East. One need not minimize the oppressions of the mullahs’ rule to concede that their governance is not more brutal than that of the shah of Iran, who was much admired in Washington. With its hybrid democracy, Iran hardly compares unfavorably in the freedom department with American allies Egypt and Saudi Arabia.” Extract: “The blunt fact is that Iran has not been behaving like much of an enemy. Unlike the period in the immediate aftermath of the Iranian revolution, when Iran did seek to destabilize many of its neighbors, it is now become at least latently a fairly orderly power; indeed it may now be the most stable country in the Middle East. One need not minimize the oppressions of the mullahs’ rule to concede that their governance is not more brutal than that of the shah of Iran, who was much admired in Washington. With its hybrid democracy, Iran hardly compares unfavorably in the freedom department with American allies Egypt and Saudi Arabia.”