Bedwetter Brooks v. Real Conservatism

Rather than fisk Bedwetter/Crease-Admirer David Brooks (NYT, who else?) myself, I'll just lift Shapiro's nuclear bombing of the Bedwetter's mincing attack on Conservatives.

Bedwetter:  Basically, the party abandoned traditional conservatism for right-wing radicalism. Republicans came to see themselves as insurgents and revolutionaries, and every revolution tends toward anarchy and ends up devouring its own.

Shapiro:  Modern conservatives see the damage the left has wrought: an ever expanding government, an ever left-shifting social structure, the destruction of the foundations of Western civilizations. More importantly, they see what conservatives like Brooks have done in the face of such groundshifting change: virtually nothing.

Bedwetter:  By traditional definitions, conservatism stands for intellectual humility, a belief in steady, incremental change, a preference for reform rather than revolution, a respect for hierarchy, precedence, balance and order, and a tone of voice that is prudent, measured and responsible. Conservatives of this disposition can be dull, but they know how to nurture and run institutions. They also see the nation as one organic whole. Citizens may fall into different classes and political factions, but they are still joined by chains of affection that command ultimate loyalty and love....

Shapiro:   ...this is absolute horseshit. Traditional conservatism stands for principles, not just tactics. Conservatism prefers intellectual humility not because conservatives should politely demur in the face of civilization-destroying leftism, but because lack of intellectual humility leads to tyranny. Conservatism believes in incremental change only when the status quo is decent. It does not prefer incrementalism in rolling back the evils of radical leftism. The idiotic notion that establishment Republicans have done a wonderful job “nurturing and running institutions” has been disproved by years of useless establishment Republican governance. And as to the notion that the nation is “one organic whole…joined by chains of affection,” Brooks is living in a nation that no longer exists....

Bedwetter:   Civilization was always on the brink of collapse. Every setback, like the passage of Obamacare, became the ruination of the republic. Comparisons to Nazi Germany became a staple. This produced a radical mind-set....

Shapiro:   Perhaps conservatives fall into the trap of worrying about crisis too often. But conservatives should be on war footing given the radicalism and tyranny of Barack Obama and his ever-ascendant left. Brooks seems convinced that everything will be okay, if we just speak nicely. Conservatives wonder what he’s smoking. Brooks and his friends find comparisons to Nazi Germany uncouth, and believe it could never happen here, ever, under any circumstances. Most Germans thought the same thing....

In a graf which is ironic in the extreme, Bedwetter:

...People who don’t accept democracy will be bad at conversation. They won’t respect tradition, institutions or precedent. These figures are masters at destruction but incompetent at construction. These insurgents are incompetent at governing and unwilling to be governed. But they are not a spontaneous growth. It took a thousand small betrayals of conservatism to get to the dysfunction we see all around....

For that stinking pile of crap, I don't need Shapiro. 

"Bad at conversation" = calling everyone a racist, or homophobe, or 'denier'--which are the only utterances the Left uses in 'conversation.' 

"Won't respect tradition" = after 10,000 years of actual marriage across every civilization and religion in recorded history, we now have queer marriage. 

"Masters at destruction/incompetent at construction" = Shall we mention ObozoCare's continuing implosion?  Its state 'exchange' bankruptcies?

"Incompetent at governing and unwilling to be governed" =  ObozoCare again, not to mention SSDI and Clinton's hack-me!! hack-me!! email.  As to 'unwilling to be governed', how about blatant violations of Constitutional restrictions and flat-out re-writing of Federal laws?  IRS, EPA, anyone??

"It took a thousand small betrayals".....yes, it did.  Ask JFKennedy, or Harry Truman about 'betrayals' of Democrat Party principles.

The Bedwetter and his ilk should stick to fashion reviews of creased trousers and let actual Conservative men handle political crisis. 

We, after all, are well-armed and capable of thought, which is to say we can persevere no matter the scenario presented by the Left.