Over at the Weekly Standard, William Kristol is musing about history, or at least pretending to. After muttering and mumbling about Ames and such, Billy posts his nut graph (three of them, actually, but they’re short) at the very end of his column:
Should Republicans yield to history, and resign themselves to a Romney-Perry choice? They could do worse. And it’s true that all experience has shown that Republicans are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
Or, here in the 21st century, is it Republicans’ right, and their duty, to throw off such precedent, and to welcome new champions for our future security and prosperity?
But they can only be welcomed if they step forward.
Eheu, huh? (That’s Latin for “Alas”) As a disappointed Democrat, few things can make me smile so easily as an unhappy Republican. I don’t know what exactly it is that the WS dudes can’t stand about Rick Perry—did he, perchance, ask them “What is the deal with all this Israel stuff, anyway?”—but they sure don’t like him. And that’s good news.
Afterwords
At the NYT, Ross Douthat is a-wishing and a-hoping that Chris Christie will run. Yes, the Republican Party is going to nominate a dude who appointed a Muslim judge. Can you spell “Shariah,” Ross? The plight of the Jane Austen Republicans* does make me chuckle.
*I guess that should be “Aston Martin Republicans” for the Weekly Standard crowd. Their website has an ad for the new A-M, with a low, low leasing rate of $1965 a month! (Discounts available if you’ve got a license to kill.)
