Comments on: Liberal, thou Shalt Not… http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/postmodernconservative/2012/07/09/liberal-thou-shalt-not/ A First Things Blog Fri, 24 May 2013 23:57:02 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: The Party of Shrug » Postmodern Conservative | A First Things Blog http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/postmodernconservative/2012/07/09/liberal-thou-shalt-not/comment-page-1/#comment-21506 The Party of Shrug » Postmodern Conservative | A First Things Blog Tue, 14 Aug 2012 05:08:41 +0000 http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/postmodernconservative/?p=7739#comment-21506 [...] and Obama to abide by any sort of honor code? Who denounces the lying-and-incivility-recommending sophist George Lakoff for claiming to be an authority on “Talking Democratic”? Who scolds his university, his [...]

]]> By: Kate http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/postmodernconservative/2012/07/09/liberal-thou-shalt-not/comment-page-1/#comment-20563 Kate Wed, 11 Jul 2012 15:41:12 +0000 http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/postmodernconservative/?p=7739#comment-20563 It would also be possible to take Lakoff’s book as in ironic joke about both liberals and conservatives. It probably isn’t, but based on what I am reading in Zombie’s review, we conservatives have some principles of argument in common with liberals. I am particularly thonking about “2. All politics is moral, and morality trumps policy. Talk about moral bases of your policy positions openly and regularly.” Exactly! We do that all the time.

Iwas recenlty looking at David Mamet’s book about his conversion to conservatism which can be neatly summarized in this sentence: “Most of the countervailing ‘conservative’ arguments he seeks to suppress are rooted in inescapable economic, biological or physical reality that can’t be euphemized out of existence, no matter how hard you try.”

People can play with rhetoric all they like and eventually their listeners will be mugged by reality and know that rhetoric for what it is.

At least I hope that is true.

]]> By: John Lewis http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/postmodernconservative/2012/07/09/liberal-thou-shalt-not/comment-page-1/#comment-20547 John Lewis Tue, 10 Jul 2012 18:39:04 +0000 http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/postmodernconservative/?p=7739#comment-20547 In a twisted way this is interesting to me. I don’t think there is sufficent clarity as to how an idea or argument is conservative or liberal in the first place, or how conservatism or liberalism establish ownership of an idea. It would be possible to take Lakoff seriously and simply argue that the problem isn’t in the frameing or expression, but in the structuring of language as the property of a vague brand.

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