Another excellent piece, Mr. Wright. I love the “KKK” monkier, hope it sticks.
I agree, the democrat party and it’s media echo-chamber dictates the script, and for reasons unknown, the Republican candidates seem content to read their lines on cue and play their part in what obviously is the other side’s version of how things should be.
When, why, and how did this start? One point I think we can put our finger on is the “Saddam has WMDs” argument, Colin Powell et al, and the subsequent “Bush Lied” meme. Neither Bush nor the Republican Party did anything but lie down and take that nonsense, and maybe it was the tipping point, because they’ve gotten away with it ever since.
I might push back a bit on your claim that we can’t do anything about the educational system and the media. I’d maintain that we could, but we aren’t trying very hard. For example, we’re living in a visual/internet media world - yet were is the “Conservative Cable Channel”? If Bill Buckley were alive, I doubt he’d be limiting himself to writing books on dead trees. Talk radio is fine, but how many non-traditionalist, non-conservatives, and under age 40 listen to Rush or any of the others? And who could stand to listen to someone like Hannity, who seems to think that repeating the same words like a mantra to people who agree with him is somehow persuasive?
Education - today about 35 million kids are subject to public school indoctrination vs. about 4 million in private schools (grade 8 and under). That’s not a majority but it’s fairly significant, especially considering that private schools are 2-3 times more cost-efficient than unionized public schools. We could do more, I think.
But we don’t have a common view or strategy, much less a common and integrated approach to reversing the underlying problem that has led to the timidity you point out: ignorance of conservatism and the failures of liberalism, and the critical thinking skills needed to know the difference.
Thanks Bob - and to clarify, what I meant by not being able to change the media and educational establishments - is that we can’t do that within the confines of the messaging strategy of a campaign team. That’s the POV of this article....so you and I don’t really disagree at all...