Source: The Atlantic
by Jonathan Chait
“National conservatism, the post-liberal movement that theorized the use of state power to wage right-wing culture war, stands historically triumphant. And yet, as the natcons met last week in downtown Washington to celebrate their conquest and stomp on the face of liberal democracy, they encountered a nettlesome problem. It was the same one that has popped up recurrently in right-wing nationalist movements over the centuries: what to do about the Jews. … The big secret of intellectual right-wing authoritarianism is that it’s just not very intellectual. At the conference, opposing views appeared only as straw men. With one exception … I heard zero attempts to articulate liberal ideas, even if just to rebut them. Likewise, with one major exception, I heard no attempts to define any limiting principles to the natcons’ enthusiasm for crushing the opposition with any weapon available.” (09/09/25)