Anton Calls Out the "Conservatives" and Has a Question

Michael Anton is probably on the FBI's "next-to-hit" list.  So read his essay; there may not be more.  Here's just a piece:

...I will tell you some of what I see. A giant, unaccountable, unelected fourth branch of government that does what it wants without input or supervision from the people, and that usurps executive, legislative, and judicial power. Rights are routinely trampled. Two-track justice—one standard for friends of the regime, another for its enemies—is now the norm. Just last week a man killed with his car a teenager for the “crime” of being Republican. He’s already out on bail. Meanwhile there are still dozens of January 6 protesters in pretrial detention for ridiculous noncrimes such as “parading.”

The Justice Department, FBI, CIA—all the security agencies—are out of control in attacking American citizens. The FBI is now doing SWAT raids for misdemeanors. Earlier this month, the president of the United States gave a speech calling half the American population enemies of the state. I could go on.

What is conservatism’s response to all this? What is the response of “the weasels, compromisers, mediocrities, and losers of the Republican-conservative-libertarian establishment”? Those are not my words, but I like them. They sum things up concisely, accurately, and vividly.

Conservatism’s response is to get angry. But not at any of these abuses or the people who commit them. No, rather it gets angry at people like Mollie Hemingway, Julie Kelly, and Heather Mac Donald (and others) who point out these outrageous abuses....

I especially like the part where he describes Scott Fitzgerald, Brian Steil, and Mike Gallagher--and their mentor, Paul Ryan, who shook the Janesville dust off his feet as fast as he could.

So where does that leave the "conservatives"?

 ...to the extent that the modern conservative takes his “principles” seriously, he must oppose the founding principles, which are not conceivable absent the American Revolution. But he must oppose the revolution—what with its friend-enemy distinction, its radicalism, its “instability” and “incivility,” its violence. Plus, of course, its racism, sexism, classism, lack of transgender bathrooms in Independence Hall (though, for all I know, they’re there now), and all the rest....

Can't have any of that, can we?  

He's getting to the point.

 ...So, returning again to the beginning: What do the founding principles require of us today?

First, they require an honest assessment of where we are, of the present regime, of how it operates, and toward what ends. Let’s do an honest reading of the 18 (or 27, depending on how you count) charges against George III in the Declaration of Independence and compare them to our situation....

... I have a question for the conservatives—actually several. Which I know they won’t answer. So, really, the questions are for you, the reader, to ponder.

Is the right of revolution ever justified? Was it justified only that one time, in 1776, but never again? If so, why was it justified then and what makes it unjustifiable ever again? Because of historicism? Because the American Revolution was somehow an irreversible leap forward?...

Nah.....Ben Domenech will NEVER ponder those questions.  He'll be too busy eating doughnuts with Megan McCain, his wife.  Sykes?  He's too old to think about these things.

... Now, we should all hope that this remains merely a theoretical discussion. And, in the terms of that theoretical discussion, I maintain it as axiomatic that you can’t have natural rights without a right of revolution, just as you can’t have the founding without an actual revolution, and since you can’t have the regime of the founders without natural rights, you can’t have the founding principles or the founders’ regime without a right of revolution. ...

Yes.

In the end, the question is "how much".  How much do we have to endure?  How much should we force our children and grandchildren to endure?  

“The war is actually begun!  The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?”  

Good question.   And Anton's not the only one who's curious.