E. Christian Kopff

December 24, 2008

It?s been reported that at Taki?s New York soir?e last Friday, he announced to the assembled Takimag writers that he wants them to avoid the term “conservative? in their work, because, according to Taki, the second someone reads the C-word the mind jumps immediately to Dick Cheney and Paul Wolfowitz. In Taki’s words, ?Bush has done for American conservatism what Hitler did for the German variety?ruined it, ruined the very name!?

Without denying that Taki’s assessment is insightful, one might add that there was a magazine entitled “The American Conservative,” edited for most of the Bush years by a leftist obsessed with the Iraq war (when he wasn’t obsessed with what Obama might do for the Palestinians) and who?s full of equal measures of contempt for and ignorance of American and European conservatism.

Take this, for instance, from the TAC blog (Dec. 18, 2008):

Other candidates for Hillary?s seat

Nothing against Caroline Kennedy, who is a perfectly nice lady, good mom, etc. But is there any reason that New York?s appointed senator can?t be someone who just once has said something courageous and correct, or had an original idea on a public policy issue and expressed it? Why should she be chosen ahead of Jose Serrano, congressman from the Bronx and one of the steadiest and most eloquent critics of the Iraq war?

Or Harry Markopolos, who has infinitely more insight than other senators into Wall Street fraud? New York is full of talented and brave individuals. For the son of Basil Patterson to pass over the son of Mario Cuomo in order to pick the daughter of John F. Kennedy seems really lame.

Jose Serrano? Young Cuomo? “Nothing against Caroline Kennedy”?

Doesn’t TAC deserve a little credit for the fact that conservatism has become the political position that dares not speak its name?

Maybe Taki’s Magazine should carry the new tagline, ?Ashamed to admit we’re Conservative.? Oops! There’s that word. Perhaps this would be better: ?Taki’s Magazine: Flagship of a political movement that doesn’t exist anymore??