Boston.com: A exam of the history of American conservatism By Mickey Edwards

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Boston.com: A wide-ranging and clear-eyed examination of the history of American conservatism By Mickey Edwards July 12, 2009

http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2009/07/12/a_wide_ranging_and_clear_eyed_examination_of_the_history_of_american_conservatism/

For more than half a century, historians, sociologists, journalists, psychologists, political scientists, and philosophers have studied, probed, analyzed, pondered, attacked, lauded, and attempted to explain that force that is American political conservatism. Sometimes this avalanche of books, articles, and op-eds has veered weirdly into the realms of psychobabble (once a group of left-leaning psychiatrists, without ever meeting or talking to him, diagnosed conservative Senator Barry Goldwater, the 1964 Republican nominee for president, as a megalomaniac); at other times books focused on relatively minor pieces of the conservative mosaic, creating straw men against whom they proceeded to rail. Occasionally, conservative insiders have attempted to put their own spin on defining what conservatism is, or at least what it once was.

Now comes Patrick Allitt. The accepted norm in academia is for praise of conservatism to be left to the practitioners while others, more “objective,’’ more “scholarly,’’ denounce conservatives as morally and intellectually inferior. That’s the game and them’s the rules.

[…]

Read the rest here: Boston.com: A wide-ranging and clear-eyed examination of the history of American conservatism By Mickey Edwards July 12, 2009

http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2009/07/12/a_wide_ranging_and_clear_eyed_examination_of_the_history_of_american_conservatism/

http://tinyurl.com/mb5cat

20090712 sdosm A exam of the history of American conservatism

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20080531 “Is McCain the new Goldwater” by Delmarva Dealings

Is McCain the new Goldwater by Delmarva Dealings

June 6^th, 2008

As I was trying to do some file maintenance – and put away everything from last week’s columns and get ready for another Sisyphisian exercise in writing another three columns for next week – I was once again taken by a post by Cato, May 31, 2008, over at Delmarva Dealings: Is John McCain the New Goldwater?

I have done a good bit of research on Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater and I’m not inclined to see Arizona Sen. John McCain as the next “Goldwater,” with one caveat – Senator McCain, like Senator Goldwater, is well known as a principled public servant who has had very few, if any, “election campaign conversions.”

Nevertheless, it is my view, whether or not Senator McCain is our next president – and I certainly hope that he is – history will be very kind to him as it has been with Mr. Buckley, President Reagan, and Senator Goldwater.

Senator McCain, who is the presumptive Republican candidate for president in this fall’s election, certainly has earned the adjective, “maverick,” and has no concept of political expediency.

And he is certainly not running for President George W. Bush’s third term.

As an aside, I appreciated a recent AP article which quoted Senator McCain:

“You will hear from my opponent's campaign in every speech, every interview, every press release that I'm running for President Bush's third term," McCain said. "You will hear every policy of the president described as the Bush-McCain policy. Why does Senator Obama believe it's so important to repeat that idea over and over again? Because he knows it's very difficult to get Americans to believe something they know is false."

For the younger readers in our midst, Senator Goldwater was first elected to the U. S. Senate in 1952. History may know him best by way of his 1964 campaign for the presidency against the political juggernaut, known as Lyndon Johnson.

Although he lost the election, he is remembered by history, as are William F. Buckley and President Ronald Reagan, as the gold standard for advocating less government, strong national defense, disciplined federal spending and reigning-in federal social welfare programs that do not facilitate personal responsibility or empowerment. Senator Goldwater retired in 1986.

I well understood “Cato’s” comment:

In Quin Hillyer’s excellent piece in the American Spectator, we are treated to a rare objective piece on McCain from a conservative POV. As I have previously noted, just not as eloquently, McCain has been a principled politician most, if not all, of his career.

I certainly don’t agree with the Senator on everything…

[…]

He’s right on a great many more issues. He also appears to be an honorable man.

Read (or hopefully re-read) Goldwater’s Conscience of a Conservative.

While McCain may be weak on excessive government regulation, his record AND rhetoric are much in line with this true blue print of American conservative thought. Rather than risk someone without a true record, but instead one who panders to a philosophy in which they do no believe, McCain can be the bridge that we need from the Bush years back to that shining city.

Read Delmarva Dealings’ entire post here: Is John McCain the New Goldwater?

Thanks for calling “Quin Hillyer’s excellent piece in the American Spectator,” to our attention. And suggesting that we (re) read Goldwater’s Conscience of a Conservative.

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20080531 “Is McCain the new Goldwater” by Delmarva Dealings

20070422 Baltimore Premiere of “Mr. Conservative: Goldwater on Goldwater” at the Charles

Cinema Sundays Spring 2007 Series 39 at the Charles Theatre

Baltimore Premiere of “Mr. Conservative: Goldwater on Goldwater”

Sunday, April 22, 2007

The other day I called Jonathan Palevsky at the Charles Theatre ever so slightly too late…

He had called and left a message asking me to be the presenter this Sunday for the “Baltimore Premiere of Mr. Conservative: Goldwater on Goldwater. Directed by Julie Anderson. Starring Barry Goldwater, James Carville, Walter Cronkite, John Dean, John McCain, the Goldwater Family, and almost every other figure who was ever involved in American politics.”

I would have loved to do it as I have done a great deal of research on the incredible career of Barry Goldwater.

Nevertheless, the person who called Mr. Palevsky back before I did is probably much more eminently qualified to speak on the topic of Senator Goldwater – Barry Rascovar, the pre-eminent Gazette columnist.

Mr. Rascovar, retired from the Baltimore Sun in August 2001 in one the many awkward decisions made by the paper since it was purchased by Tribune a number of years ago. Moves which many of us feel has caused the paper to shift precipitously to the left as nowadays, the paper is often considered to be the unofficial web site for the liberal point of view and the Maryland Democratic Party…

But I guess that matter is well beyond the scope of this post. And, after-all, it all worked out as Mr. Rascovar was quickly picked up by Gazette…

Meanwhile, Mr. Palevsky e-mailed me the following information…

Cinema Sundays at the Charles Continues its 39th series on April 22nd with the Baltimore Premiere of Mr. Conservative: Goldwater on Goldwater. Directed by Julie Anderson. Starring Barry Goldwater, James Carville, Walter Cronkite, John Dean, John McCain, the Goldwater Family, and almost every other figure who was ever involved in American politics.

2007 USA Rated R for Republican. 90 minutes.

Synopsis

Barry M. Goldwater, rose from being a local businessman in Arizona (which was not yet a state when he was born) to become a hugely influential U.S. Senator whose 30-year career reached a crescendo with his ill-fated run for President in 1964.

The film follows that tumultuous year, as well as others in a career that encompassed numerous political and ideological triumphs. Though he never achieved the ultimate prize, the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 vindicated the conservative agenda Goldwater had long championed.

Ironically, in later years, Goldwater's support of issues like abortion and gay rights were diametrically opposed to those of the "new conservative" leadership, underscoring both the distance the country has traveled in the last 40 years, as well as the dogged independence Goldwater embodied up to his death in 1998.

At the height of his power, Goldwater was the symbol of conservatism, denouncing Liberals and Communists while advocating limited government, free enterprise, separation of church and state, and a strong defense.

But because of his unequivocal opinions, Goldwater was vulnerable to attacks that labeled him pro-war and anti-Civil Rights. Those perceptions, coupled with JFK's death a year before the election, undermined Goldwater's presidential hopes, though he remained a strong and influential Senate voice for 23 more years.

In addition to detailing Goldwater's rise in politics, Mr. Conservative: Goldwater on Goldwater includes a myriad of anecdotes and insights about Goldwater's private and public life. Identified as much with his home state of Arizona as JFK was with Massachusetts, Goldwater was, according to George Will, "not just from Arizona .... he looked like Arizona."

In an era when JFK became the first Catholic ever to be elected President, Goldwater was in fact half Jewish. Remembers Robert MacNeil, "He often told the story about being born of a Jewish father and an Episcopalian mother. He would say things like, 'I went to a golf club where they wouldn't let Jews play, and I said, "I'm only half Jewish. Can I play nine holes?'"

Mr. Conservative: Goldwater on Goldwater includes interviews with Senators Edward Kennedy, Hillary Rodham Clinton (a onetime "Goldwater Girl") and John McCain (who succeeded Goldwater in Arizona); former TV anchorman Walter Cronkite; humorist Al Franken; TV correspondent Robert MacNeil; former Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee; author George Will; 60 Minutes' And y Rooney; CBS News' Bob Schieffer; White House reporter Helen Thomas; political consultant James Carville; former White House Counsel John Dean; Goldwater's brother, Bob; sons Barry, Jr. (a onetime House Representative from California) and Michael; daughters Joanne and Peggy; and others.

Click here for official site and trailer!

http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/mrconservative/index.html

Ladies and gentlemen. I promised you a documentary and by gosh we have one. I was hoping to book The Romance of the 7 Tractor Drivers…a seven hour epic about life on the collective farm but sadly the 14mm print wasn’t available from Belarus films. Instead we have what should be a fascinating look at one of the most interesting and enduring figures of American political life.

Our speaker for this week is Barry Rascovar who writes for The Gazette, is featured on WYPR’s Inside Maryland Politics and is also a political commentator for WBAL TV. His own persona l take on Barry Goldwater should prove most interesting.

I want to thank our speaker from last week Joseph Schaub for his work on Fracture, I know we all appreciated his insights.

I am so looking forward to seeing you on Sunday.

Jonathan Palevsky Jpalevsky AT aol.com

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If you’ve never been to Cinema Sundays before, see below for our stimulating yet official description.

So what exactly happens at Cinema Sundays…Well, Here’s everything you’ve always wanted to know about Cinema Sundays but were afraid to ask.

Doors open at 9:45 There’s hot coffee, fresh bagels, (including my favorite the crunchy sunflower) and a discreetly hidden penguin in the post modernist ecologically vegan friendly industrial lobby of the Charles. Moderate bagel consumption takes place until 10:30 (after which we adjourn to the Dada era screening room for some introductory remarks by the host and the guest speaker. After the movie is screened (completely devoid of rude people talking during th e film or using their cell phones) the post screening discussion, will be moderated by the guest speaker, with Jonathan and Jerry on the mics fielding questions from YOU, the audience.

Please feel free to visit us at… Http://www.cinemasundays.com

Tickets: $15 at the door.

Or buy a mini-membership.

1711 N. Charles St.

410-727-3464

info: Karen AT cinemasundays.com