There was a time when National Review featured writers who really were accomplished and literate. Writing for NR was just a sideline for them. None of them were “celebrity conservatives” except for WFB himself.
But for me that ended about the time that Reagan left office. The great writers whom I once enjoyed were either dying off or moving on from NR. It became a mouthpiece for Bush Republicans and other worthless establishment shills. Chronicles was where I found something worth reading.
There is no better face of the Republican Establishment than that sour-faced, chinless popinjay, George Will.