Airstrip One

Not of the left

This little article really says what I’ve been struggling to articulate about the proposed switch to the left for the national interest crowd, advocated by among others Justin Raimondo.

It is frustrating to see all those people who scoffed at unrealistic Clintonian global ambition (backed by Blair) suddenly believing that eliminating terrorism from the face of the earth (backed by Blair) is a practical goal. However, the conservatives (deliberately small c) do have a head start on the left when abandoning the idealistic babble of the special relationship, European unity or whatever crusade de jour tickles the fancy of fleet street opinion pages. Firstly the national interest is not dirty talk to them, asking “what’s in it for us” is viewed as obscene in certain sections of the left. Secondly conservatives do not like unnecessary change, something World Wars, Cold Wars and Wars on Terror supply in spades. Finally most of the right, somewhere deep in their being (and I admit that it is not too obvious at the moment) care about over powerful states, and what better way of making a state powerful than total war?

There are no problems with working together with the left in certain policy areas, state surveillance comes to mind. But damitall, we are conservatives, we've just had our label stolen.