It was the worst of times and it was the worst of times
By If you’re an old-style Bill Buckley paleo-conservative I would guess you’d have to go back to about November 1964 to find a worse month.
After a generation of your political party being in control of most or all branches of the federal government for the large majority of the time, whaddaya got?
(1) Massive bipartisan momentum for major government intervention in the financial markets, with upwards of a trillion taxpayer dollars already committed, and, worse yet, calls for serious regulatory oversight.
(2) Another trillion dollars lit on fire for idiotic foreign adventures combining the worst features of Teddy Roosevelt style imperialism and Wilsonian internationalism.
(3) Total defeat now practically a forgone conclusion in the culture wars, with the ongoing spread of teh gay through courts and legislatures across the land being a particularly sharp reminder of how time is not your side, no it’s not.
(4) A — what are they calling it these days — black? (no dear, I believe it’s “Africa-American”) man with a Muslim name is about to become president.
Talk about a total catastrophe. At least the libertarians and the neo-cons are seeing some stuff break their way. But if you’re the kind of person who loved National Review back when they were for “states’ rights” and weren’t playing footsy with the Commentary crowd yet, this is about the worst it’s ever been.