Quote of the Week (Well, So Far)

“American conservatism is at once absolutist and utopian, and reactive and aggrieved. Which state came first is a chicken-and-egg question, but they reinforce each other. Psychologically, conservatives want contradictory things--both pure freedom and an unchanging Golden Age. Pragmatically, they want things that are mutually exclusive--no social contract and an organic, connected community, untrammeled individual rights and a rigid moral code. The inevitable disappointment results in resentment. The reason that the American right always behaves as if it is an angry outsider, even when it controls all three branches of government, is that it is at war not with ‘liberalism’ but with social reality.”

-- Gary Kamiya, from “Is a New Conservatism Possible?” in Salon