Democracy Is Not About Protests. Democracy Is

We, As Conservative Intellectuals, Should Not Be In The Business Of Making Excuses For Bad Parliamentary Decisions By Republican Leaders In Congress.

World War Ii Proved A Hypothesis That Alexis De Tocqueville Advanced A Century Before: The War-fighting Potential Of A Democracy Is At Its Greatest When War Is Most Intense; At Its Weakest When War Is Most Limited. This Is A Lesson With Enduring Relevance To Our Own Times - And Our Own Wars.

Why Be Thrifty When Your Old Age And Health Care Are Provided For, No Matter How Profligate You Act In Your Youth? Why Be Prudent When The State Insures Your Bank Deposits, Replaces Your Flooded-out House, Buys All The Wheat You Can Grow? ... Why Be Diligent When Half Of Your Earnings Are Taken From You And Given To The Idle?

Elites Are Inevitable In Politics. That Is How Politics Is Going To Work. The Question Is, Are Your Elites Responsible, Public-spirited? Do They Think About The Interests Of Others, Not Just Themselves? And The Story Of Western Politics Since The Beginning Of The Century Is That As Elites Become More Separated, More Selfish, As They Leave Behind Their Populations And Don't Think About Them, They Become Discredited. And The People Look For Alternatives. But The Alternative Is Worse. Those Rules Of The Game Protect Us All. And They Are More Precious Than Almost Any Political Outcome.

Normally What Happens In A New Presidency Is The President Has A Big Agenda, And Congress Is Full Of People With Human Weaknesses. And So The President Indulges The Human Weaknesses Of Members Of Congress In Order To Pass His Agenda. This Time It's The Other Way Around. Donald Trump Does Not Have Much Of An Agenda. Congress Burns With This Intense Republican Agenda And So Does Congress That Has To Put Up With The Human Weaknesses Of The President In Order To Get A Signature On The Things It Desperately Wants To Pass.