Posner jumps ship

A stunning admission from a conservative thinker

"...the intellectual decline of conservatism, and it is notable that the policies of the new conservatism are powered largely by emotion and religion and have for the most part weak intellectual groundings. That the policies are weak in conception, have largely failed in execution, and are political flops is therefore unsurprising. The major blows to conservatism, culminating in the election and programs of Obama, have been fourfold: the failure of military force to achieve U.S. foreign policy objectives; the inanity of trying to substitute will for intellect, as in the denial of global warming, the use of religious criteria in the selection of public officials, the neglect of management and expertise in government; a continued preoccupation with abortion; and fiscal incontinence in the form of massive budget deficits, the Medicare drug plan, excessive foreign borrowing, and asset-price inflation.

Posner is an amazingly accomplished guy, and you would think his critique would cause some pause in Republican circles. But, since most Republicans have no idea who he is, I doubt that you'll see much about this on Faux News.

UPDATE#1: As I should have predicted, Republicans are already saying that Posner was never really a conservative anyway. This is like Dick Cheney saying "Gee, is Colin Powell still a Republican?" It's an easy way to marginalize their argument without addressing it on the merits. Both sides in politics do this so much it makes me nauseous. Don't call something "right wing propaganda" and expect that to make your case. Use facts to prove something wrong. Don't dismiss something that comes from "lefty bloggers", especially when those bloggers turn out to be right, and may even be among the few real patriots left.