Quit Whining!

Read all of the articles in Frum's Quit Whining! series here.

Read all of the articles in Frum's Quit Whining! series here: Quit Whining! July 27, 2009

The United States in 2009 is living through the fiercest challenge to market institutions and limited government since the mid-1970s. Defenders of free institutions will need the utmost energy, courage and perseverance for the work ahead. And yet at just this moment, the prevailing tone among those defenders is one of the most extreme despair.

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Quit Whining 2 July 28, 2009

In the last post, I noted how unreal it was for conservatives to lament the demise of liberty in the aftermath of the most beautiful efflorescence of liberty in a century. Pessimism is misplaced as a matter of fact. It’s a betrayal of conservatism’s own achievements.

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Quit Whining 3 July 28, 2009

I’ve addressed why the liberty v. tyranny trope self-betrays conservative history and why it corrodes America’s constitutional norms. But that’s not the bottom of it. Today’s conservative despair also sabotages our effectiveness in practical politics.

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Quit Whining 4 July 29, 2009

Perhaps – as some critics of this series have argued – I am too complacent in the face of an unprecedented attack on American liberties. To quote one passionate writer, who has sold many more books than I ever have or likely ever will: Our experiment in democracy could be closed down by a process of erosion. It is a mistake to think that early in a fascist shift you see the profile of barbed wire against the sky.

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"Moron" "Idiot" "Lardass" "Fraud": Mark Levin Replies July 29, 2009

My series on conservative despair mentions Mark Levin among others. Here the talk-show host responds with his familiar suavity of manner and elegance of language.