Reuters
Musing on Mitt Romney's loss, Jonah Goldberg makes several sensible points and one assertion that bears examining. "I have a different view from some about the coming wave of
recriminations: I welcome it. I don't know that things need to be
vicious or personal, but they do need to be honest," he writes. "This is one of the great and abiding strengths of the conservative
movement and the thing I love about it most. Contrary to the
conventional wisdom among liberals, conservatives are actually far more
willing to examine their dogma and their first principles than liberals
or 'centrists' are. This has been the source of conservatism's lasting
strength."It's something I've heard him say before.
My experience is different, Jonah, but let's not debate. Instead, help those of us unfamiliar with these vibrant conversation to find them. If these self-examinations of principle and dogma are a strength of the conservative movement, point us to five examples that are worthy of a wider audience.
I'll happily link them in a new item next week - and I do expect there are some good examples out there.
Readers are invited to join the fun in comments. I'm aware of dissident magazines like The American Conservative, and folks like David Frum and Bruce Bartlett who parted ways with conservative institutions over their critiques. But what debates within movement conservatism are worth noting?
And what debates aren't happening anywhere within the movement?
Stay tuned for more on this subject.
This article available online at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/11/jonah-goldbergs-chance-to-prove-critics-of-conservatism-wrong/265000/
