A reader writes:
Alex Massie wrote:
"It also demonstrates how far American popular conservatism has diverged from its counterparts in Britain and the rest of Europe." That gets it as wrong as it could.
What it actually demonstrates is how divergent American popular conservatism has always been from its counterparts.
THIS is the American popular conservatism that gave rise to Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, and Sinclair Lewis.
THIS is the American conservatism wherein comfortably lies Elmer Gantry.
I don't think you Brits have ever quite understood that. You have instead read the thoughtful writing of conservative intellectuals and assumed this was more or less what American conservatism was. NO!
Yes, the thoughtful ones exist, but they are a minority, and now they have lost control of the tiger they rode.