Straussian “Patriotism”

On Monday, I wrote about an article by Lafayette Lee that defined “patriotism” as a defense of people and place, not some ideological commitment to “natural rights” or some mythical founding expressed by Abraham Lincoln in the Gettysburg Address.

Predictably, Straussian Glenn Ellmers found fault with it.

You see, if you take on St. Abraham, the Straussians are going to lose their minds.

How dare you claim that the Lincoln Myth isn’t the real America?

Ellmers condescendingly wagged his finger at Lee, and insisted that he get on board with Straussian mythmaking or lose his conservative man card.

I would say the same thing to Glenn Ellmers.

Why should we, the real conservatives, jump on the Lincoln myth?

We shouldn’t, particularly when that myth is built on a fairy tale.

Ellmers and the Jaffaite Straussians should be joining our side, that is if they were real conservatives and not just discarded nineteenth century leftists.

To Ellmers, the Founding Fathers all believed in the “proposition” that all men are created equal and forged a government based on that Enlightenment theory.

Except they didn’t. Actions speak louder than words, and while many Northern States began the process of abolishing slavery in the late 18th century, they certainly weren’t committed to racial equality. But they were committed to keeping the North white.

So much for natural rights and “equality.”

The Straussians’ major flaw–other than being historical ignoramuses–is that they think they get to decide when “equality” stops. In other words, equality should go to point B and no further. But the Left insists on taking it to point Z, and why not? There is nothing to stop them. Equality is a loaded term, and why would a bunch of book worms get to decide when we’ve achieved the goal of full equality?

The Revolution is always going forward, even when the guillotine stops lopping off heads.

I know a lot of conservatives have jumped on the Struassian bandwagon after they supported Trump in 2016. They have also embraced “nationalism” as a counterweight to “globalism.” I get emails from these people all the time.

But what kind of “nationalism”? Are Southern conservatives invited to this party? Not unless they repent and join the Lincoln mythmakers in their quest to achieved proposition nation glory.

No thanks.

You see, the cultural divide in America is real, and it’s not based on race. Instead of Hectoring to Southern conservatives about how they should drop any reverence for John C. Calhoun, perhaps the Straussians could figure out why men like Russell Kirk admired the man and why he thought Southern conservatism was so important for the United States.

That might be too much to ask for these worn out leftists disguised as “conservatives.”

But it does make for good Podcast fodder. I take down Ellmers on Episode 730 of The Brion McClanahan Show.