Two columns by Quin Hillyer at the Washington Examiner;

Proud to be stuck in the 1980s:

Please, sir, spare a little sympathy for those of us who are prematurely obsolete.

I think I know what “woke” now means, but it’s still a bit hazy. I don’t know what “gaslighting” means. I insist that “impactful” is not a word, that “impact” is not a transitive verb, and that “concerning” is not an adjective meaning “disturbing” or “worrisome.” I don’t recognize a single song from the year’s top 40, and the only singer on the list whose name I’ve ever heard is Bruno Mars – and that was only because he did a Super Bowl halftime performance I considered unwatchable.

For that matter, I was already obsolete by the turn of the millennium: I know Mariah Carey is a singer, but can’t identify even one of her songs…. [Later:]

I’m obsolete if the zeitgeist accepts discussion of sex lives in public, or the videotaping of one’s sex acts, or the legitimacy of porn performers as “actors,” much less “stars” or, Lord forfend, serious cultural commentators.

Gratuitous insults? Falsehoods and lies spread with reckless abandon without social penalty? Refusal to listen to the other side? The assumption that disagreement with you can result only from dishonesty or bad motives? The idea that you have the right to squelch speech that makes you uncomfortable? The failure to distinguish a protest from a riot? The elevation of feelings over facts, of dogmatic assertions over reasoning, and of tribalism over community?

If all those things are now norms, as they seem to be, then I’m proud to be obsolete….

[Full column is here.]

Is the conservative movement in rigor mortis?: 

There once was a time when conservatives insisted that bills must be paid, and that public debt should be avoided or severely limited.

There once was a time when conservatives believed the state’s power within our own borders should be carefully circumscribed. We believed that government should not be allowed to seize private property without due process of law. We believed in free markets and free trade.

We said we believed in telling the truth. We said we supported investigations of public corruption and opposed the smearing of honest law enforcement personnel. We opposed smearing anybody, period. Honest debate and criticism were okay, but personal calumny wasn’t.

We opposed executive overreach. But we expected the president at least to try to unite us, rather than to inflame tribalist instincts. We expected a real effort for respect and civility in the public square. And we expected a degree of dignity in office.

We said character counts….

[Full column here.]

 

 

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