NYT reviews CC
[Rod Dreher  03/11 02:09 PM]

Here's David Kirkpatrick's review of "Crunchy Cons" in the New York Times. I can't decide if this is a good review or not. It seems mostly descriptive, as if the writer, who covers the conservative movement for the Times, were describing an exotic species of bird. One of the few evaluative comments he made highlights, I think, one of the themes in the book: that traditionalist conservatives aren't a good fit with the mainstream Right — even as we are part of the broad conservative movement — not because we are closet liberals, but because of the kind of conservatives we are:

Are his crunchy cons really so conservative? They are conservative on traditional values, but less so on subjects like limited government or a muscular military. He speaks approvingly of government action to protect the environment, restrain big businesses and help out hard-pressed home-schooling parents — all of which sounds suspiciously like liberalism, rewound to before the sexual revolution.