How much intellectual steam did hte conservative movement ever have?

In response to Posner: Is the Conservative Movement Losing Steam? Brad Delong ponders...

Richard Posner sees things wrong with Bush era conservatism:

• fiscal incontinence
• the inanity of trying to substitute will for intellect
• cultural-conservative issues ("continued preoccupation with abortion" "religious criteria in the selection of public officials")
• the failure of military force as a first resort in attempting to achieve U.S. foreign-policy objectives

But weren't these also the key components of the Reagan administration. Ronald Reagan was the original fiscal incontinence. And the substitution of will for intellect--was it ever any greater than in the rush to cut taxes to raise revenues, or in Alexander Haig's belief that U.S. national security would be enhanced if the IDF gave the Syrian army a thrashing in Lebanon? We had to rely on the alliance of Nancy Reagan and her astrologer to get a sane policy toward Gorbachev, for God's sake. And cultural conservatives--if I understand Posner, his complaint is that Reagan paid them only lip service and they patiently sat in the back of the bus and were quiet, while Bush, Palin, and Joe the Plumber take them seriously.

And, of course, the piece of Reagan-era conservatism of which Posner was most proud--deregulation and the trimming-back of government--has either turned out to be (a) destructive, or (b) accomplished by Carter and Clinton.

How much intellectual steam did hte conservative movement ever have?

Posted via web from jimnichols's posterous