The Perils of 'Populist Chic'

Wall Street Journal by Mark Lilla | Nov. 8, 2008 (Opinion)

Finita la commedia. Many things ended on Tuesday evening when Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States, and depending on how you voted you are either celebrating or mourning this weekend. But no matter what our political affiliations, we should all -- Republicans and Democrats alike -- be toasting the return of Governor Sarah Palin to Juneau, Alaska.

The Palin farce is already the stuff of legend. For a generation at least ... Full Story »

Posted by Fabrice Florin

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Fabrice Florin
3.9
 by Fabrice Florin - Nov. 8, 2008

Great observations about how the elections impacted the conservative movement, by Mark Lilla, professor of humanities at Columbia University. He makes a good case that "the conservative intellectual tradition is dead" -- and that we're all "poorer for it."

There was a time when conservative intellectuals raised the level of American public debate and helped to keep it sober. Those days are gone. As for political judgment, the promotion of Sarah Palin as a possible world leader speaks for itself. The Republican Party and the political right will survive, but the conservative intellectual tradition is already dead. And all of us, even liberals like myself, are poorer for it.

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