Stacy McCain and Phyllis Schlafly
I remember not liking Phyllis Schlafly when I was much younger. It was so long ago, I can't even remember why I didn't like her. But for quite a few years I have been following her and think she's one of the sharpest ladies around.
It appears Stacy McCain agrees with moi (making him one of the sharpest guys around.)
What is up with Blogger today? It just decides to double-space and do other kookie things.
7 comments:
She is a lion for conservatives, and has been ever since the Goldwater campaign. When I was younger I didn't much care for her either -- she just seemed, well, too "conservative" in her demeanor. As I have gotten a wee bit of age on me, I have come to realize that she is a brilliant and tenacious champion of both social and political conservatism. In many ways, she is the American version of Margaret Thatcher...
she just seemed, well, too "conservative" in her demeanor.
Yep! That was probably my reason, too.
Are you two sure you weren't just emerging from a long hibernation in our public schools?
We shouldn't be surprised that speaking the truth is called extremism; you are, after all, a racist if you disagree with them.
I've always thought Goldwater's acceptance speech quote was brilliant:
'I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!'
And by too "conservative," I mean too starchy and formal. She has a bearing that was common in another time -- not timid or weak (she's anything but that!) but proper. Its a kind of style that tells you this person would never be caught in public in shorts and flip-flops, chewing gum and yakking on a cell phone. Again, when I was a kid, I liked things to be a big more hip, a bit more ironic, a bit more Dennis Miller-like. But as I am getting older, I like the older formality better. Maybe that's why I've come to appreciate her more. That, and she is devastatingly smart.
Ken and Carol - I was a product of "old-school" Catholic schools all the way through 12th grade.
I was also a "wild-child" until my forties.
I am a big Goldwater fan. Slightly off topic, but Goldwater made it possible for the Chapel of the Holy Cross in Sedona to be built by helping with the permitting.
Mark - so true! She is what we used to call a "lady." Darn few of those around anymore (moi included!)
Goldwater was an amazing politician for his time. He drifted to the Left on social issues as he got older (unfortunately), but when he was in his prime -- the 1960's and 70's, he was a standard-bearer for responsible conservatism. And he made Reagan's rise to the presidency possible. I fear that the Goldwater-Reagan era was the high water mark for conservatism both within the GOP and the nation as a whole. But as T.S. Eliot once said, "there are not lost causes, because there are no gained ones." What once was, can be so again...
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