Back in the day, back in 1987, when the facts of what became known as the Iran-Contra scandal first hit the fan, wide-eyed Reaganite Andy Sullivan was appalled. Ronald Reagan’s White House secretly sold weapons to Iranian terrorists and used the money to finance Nicaraguan “freedom fighters” (aka “terrorists”), an activity specifically banned by the U.S. Congress! But what really shocked him was the reaction of fellow Burkean Charles Krauthammer: Way to go, Ronnie! It isn’t the Iranians who are the enemy! It’s the Democrats!
And so it goes, and so it has gone, for decades. For decades, the Park Avenue Republicans—the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal, the National Review, the Weekly Standard, the “class” columnists like Krauthammer, George Will, Bill Kristol. Peggy Noonan, et al.—have gleefully played the unscrupulous card against the Democrats, portraying them as pot-smoking homos and lesbos, traitors to America and all she holds dear and all that made her great. Throughout both the Clinton and Obama administrations, the Republican Party consistently sought to destroy America’s chief executive, without regard for truth, honor, or the country’s interest. Whatever hurt the Democrats must be good.
Well, corruption breeds corruption, and now the expropriators find themselves expropriated. The Republican establishment, which stood for free trade, unrestricted immigration, restrictions on entitlements, reduced taxes on wealth, and a compulsively aggressive foreign policy largely defined by a devotion to “regime change”, finds itself confronted by two candidates, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, who stand for none of these things. It will be “interesting” to see how “class conservatives” respond to adversaries as unscrupulous as themselves.
