Pete Spiliakos

They think the way you solve things is by electing the right people. It’s nice to elect the right people, but that isn’t how you solve things. The way you solve things is by making it politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right thing. -Milton FriedmanLet me share some . . . . Continue Reading »

 Most of the talk about the Robert Gates memoir has been about his criticism of Obama and Clinton. Fair enough, but it is striking that Gates is much more harshly critical of Congress and yet these attacks on Congress have not produced much surprise, outrage, or even pushback.  Our . . . . Continue Reading »

I can’t figure out what is the worst thing to come out of this Washington Post article on the new book by former Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Let me mention several candidates for worst news:1. It basically confirms Carl Scott’s suspicion (in this long-ago No Left Turns thread). . . . . Continue Reading »

While I try to organize some other thoughts,1.  William Devane’s most villainous role is the one where he tries to scare old people into converting their assets into gold coins by using fears of an inflation that isn’t happening.2.  Kevin Williamson is reason enough to subscribe to . . . . Continue Reading »

The Republican party of 2012 found itself lacking a relevant issue agenda, modern media strategy, and state of the art party organization. Right-leaning policy intellectuals have made some progress on the first problem. Whether it is Michael Strain on employment, James Capretta on health care . . . . Continue Reading »

Thinking of the divisions within the center-right as a conflict between the Republican establishment and Tea Party insurgents is problematic for understanding what is wrong (and what is right) in contemporary conservative politics. The Republican establishment and the Tea Party insurgents each have . . . . Continue Reading »

I’m not a product of the digital world that everyone under thirty seems to take for granted. When I started watching television, we had seven channels. Three of them had bad reception some of the time, and the other four had bad reception most of the time. There was no remote control and the . . . . Continue Reading »

I’m still away from home and still having my linking issues, so here is the link for a Wall Street Journal article on attempts by the Republican establishment to strengthen its position within the party. Read it and come back to me.  I’ll wait. . . . . Continue Reading »

The Republican establishment hung Ken Cuccinelli out to dry.  They deserve criticism for this, but where were the insurgent conservatives to come to his rescue?  Ever since the Dean campaign of 2003-2004, grassroots liberals have developed an infrastructure (and even more a culture) that . . . . Continue Reading »

The Republican establishment relies on a consultant class whose gut instincts tell them how to win elections that happened thirty years ago, while the Tea Party insurgency has proven no better (and in some ways worse) at winning over the median voter… . Continue Reading »