Paleoconservatism: Political Ideas Don't Die

I'm not much for the "Such and Such is dead" or "The death of that" type of headline. Nothing dies. Especially when it comes to ideas be it artistic or political. It can fall out of favor or may be forgotten but the dust always comes off at some point.

Is this the case of paleoconservatism? Perhaps it may never be feasible as a political entity, but ideas don't disappear. It was pronounced dead in 2000 with the arrival of George W. Bush's "compassionate conservatism." People forget but Bush did run on a largely "liberal" conservative platform and despite 9/11 and the ensuing wars, Bush II did find time to introduce his compassionate agenda. Nonetheless, in the civil war between the largely interventionist neocons (who had been an obscure group prior to 9/11 and ironically influenced by Wilsonian  and FDR principles*) and isolationist paleocons, Bush sided with the former.

As this article in Front Page Magazine revealed: 

"George W. Bush is a supporter of immigration, bilingual education, multicultural education, some forms of affirmative action, free trade, and a strong foreign policy. His spending proposals rivaled those of Al Gore and he even ordered a Confederate plaque taken down in Texas on the grounds that it was offensive to minorities. Indeed, "compassionate conservatism" was everything that paleoconservatives had been fighting against. But, this time, the battle was not even close."

And this differs from Obama how exactly? To me, it's blindingly illogical to be stark raving mad at Bush and not Obama.

In any event, elements of the the paleo outlook does live on in libertarian thought. Libertarianism has always found an ally in conservatism even though it often describes itself as "classical liberal."

All are wickedly misunderstood by the liberal left.

*Which lends more proof that necons were liberal democrats who were pissed off.