Irving Kristol: The man who put the 'con' into conservatism

The Wall Street Journal's hagiographic editorial limns the life and times of the late Irving Kristol ("Irving Kristol: the man who put 'neo' into neoconservativism" September 19, 2009)

Some excerpts:

Perhaps the greatest gift of the gifted Irving Kristol, who died yesterday at 89, was prescience. . . Irving Kristol is most often credited with leading the movement in American politics that came to be called neoconservatism. . . The Kristol critique helped shape the basis for many opposition ideas to the modern political left, in both domestic and foreign policy. . . To the extent that American politics today consists of two sides—one insisting that the state guide the country forward, the other that the private economy drive the country forward—it is in large part Irving Kristol and his thinkers who defined the order of battle. . . Where the next turn in history lies is beside the point. Irving Kristol's life and career are a compass for anyone who wants to know how ideas and honest inquiry can shape American politics.

You have to wonder, is it arrogance or stupidity impelling the author of this editorial to compose a soppy-eyed paean to an ideology discredited by its consequences at every turn? The signature trait of neocons is their ability to remain impervious to the reality of their folly. They seem afflicted by a terminal inability to connect the dots. Supply-side tax cuts followed by tidal waves of red ink? No connection. Unbridled laissez faire and ‘perpetual prosperity’ monetary policies followed by the worst financial meltdown and recession since the Great Depression? Who, moi? Invasion of the Middle East followed by quagmires of insurgency? What, me worry? Too bad all that prescience is for naught. Regrettably, the binnacle housing Kristol’s compass lacks the corrective magnets needed to make it point to true north. It would be more accurate to say Kristol put the con in conservatism.

The telling myopia of the piece, however, lies in the author’s inability to synthesize the false dichotomy between the state guiding and the private sector driving the country forward. Try a sports analogy. The state writes the rulebook, the private sector plays the game. Simple. However, it works only if the rules are sound and the players abide by them. However, in the world of the neocons, the players blindfold the umpires and make up the rules as they go along.