Jeff Flake’s “Conscience of a Conservative” — A Must Read!

johnmac13
johnmac13
Aug 25, 2017 · 3 min read
The Author (Who Stands By These Comments)

I just finished “Conscience of a Conservative: A Rejection Of Destructive Politics and A Return To Principle” by Senator Jeff Flake (R — Arizona) and it is obvious why President Trump is encouraging a primary challenge against him, a fellow Republican. I think that anyone reading the book would also come away with the feeling that, for the good of the Republican party and, more importantly, for the good of the country, that this challenge not succeed.

Right up front, I have to say that I disagree with some key points of Sen. Flake’s conservative agenda, most particularly in my desire for “Medicare fir All” national health service. I do, however emphatically agree with him on the importance of not backtracking on the Free Trade Agenda that has been supported by both Republican and Democratic administrations alike.

More important, however, than any policy differences to me is that Senator Blake, in this short 136-page book, brilliantly advocates the need for an adherence to principle — in his case, strong conservative principles in the tradition of William F. Buckley, Jr., Russell Kirk, Barry Goldwater, Milton Friedman, and Ronald Reagan. More importantly, he stresses throughout the book that both principle and the nation are more important than party. He looks for bipartisan consensus after strong (and respectful) intellectual debate on the important issues affecting the country.

This dedication to principle naturally leads him to skewer President Trump who he obviously sees as a charlatan and huckster (my words not his) devoid of intellectual depth or political principle. He further takes his Republican party to task for what he sees as selling out principle to obtain power. In the introduction to the book, he writes “In the election of 2016, it was as if we no longer had the courage of our convictions and so chose to abandon conviction altogether, taking up an unfamiliar banner and a new set of values that had never been our own.

I was an earlier subscriber to National Review, used to attend the National Review Forums at Hunter College in New York, chaired by Buckley and William Rusher, attended a talk by Barry Goldwater at Fordham University (long before his ascendancy — only about 30–50 people were there, if memory serves correct) and rarely missed a “Firing Line” telecast. While I strayed from the conservative political agenda, I never lost respect for the intellectual brilliance of Buckleys and Kirks and their pundit successors, such as George Will and David Brooks.

I yearn for the days when we had politicians on both sides, such as Robert Taft and Adlai Stevenson who would issue position papers on important issue that people would actually read or when Buckley would debate a James Farmer on Firing Line on the best way to achieve racial equality in the United States. I found it interesting that Flake quoted Will, Michael Gerson, and Charlie Sykes in the book — all respected and intellectually committed conservatives who broke with Trump very early (one can add the Atlantic’s David Frum to that list also).

I don’t know if Flake can survive a Trump inspired Republican primary next year; I certainly hope he does — if he does not, I see a complete devolution of the party of Abraham Lincoln into a complete intellectual mess. I applaud Senator Flake for this book and sincerely recommend it to every American vote, Republican and Democrat alike.

Copyright John F. McMullen 2017

)

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade