Soul Brother

In an overheated column on what it means to be a conservative, Pat Buchanan says accepting Rudy Giuliani means the Right is selling its soul in exchange for power.

Buchanan, who has been fighting against the Republican party for quite a while now, may fancy himself a conservative, but, unlike Ronald Reagan, he apparently doesn't believe in that big a tent. Pat, who opposes free trade and has views on foreign affairs at odds with the majority of conservatives, better watch out or he might find himself on the wrong side of the flap. (In fact, it's rather arrogant he thinks he can judge who gets the conservative mantle).

The meaning of conservative and liberal has changed regularly through the years--even the core values aren't that easy to define. If Rudy can't be considered part of the Right, even as he moves to the center on some social issues, then I'd have to say that today's conservatism is so brittle perhaps it deserves to break.