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But that is what has happened. In 2003, for example, to the delight of the Bush White House, William F. Buckley’s National Review published an article en led, “Unpatriotic Conservatives.” The piece, as one can deduce, attempted to strip away not only the patriotism but the conservative bona fides of anyone who opposed, or even raised uncomfortable questions, about the invasions of Afghanistan or Iraq. Notable conservatives such as Patrick Buchanan and Robert D. Novak among others were labeled defeatists who were “appeasing enemies” and “at war with America.” Ironically Mr. Buckley himself later questioned the wisdom of Bush’s “surge” into Iraq in 2007; in response, operatives in the Bush White House made efforts to ban the father of the modern conservative movement from talk radio programs. When the respected conservative columnist, George Will, argued in opposition to President Obama’s surge in Afghanistan, he too found himself at the wrong end of the Republican Party’s loyalty enforcers. Peter Wehner, the former Bush aide and designated henchman for that administration, attacked Will—once a confidante of Ronald Reagan—for a “loss of nerve,” drawing parallels to the defeated Japanese aboard the USS Missouri in World War II and, in perhaps the cruelest blow, to liberal activist Michael Moore. Even the chairman of the party has not been immune to having his loyalty questioned, as evidenced by Bill Kristol’s demand last year that he do the “patriotic” thing and resign his post once he criticized the deployment of more Americans into Afghanistan. Gov. Haley Barbour, a longtime Republican luminary, also met the sting of Kristol’s “you are with us or you are a coward” worldview for questioning our military goals in Afghanistan. The governor was denounced by Kristol as an “irresponsible” panderer lacking foreign policy “seriousness.” (Did I mention that Mr. Kristol was once a promoter of Alan Keyes?) A few weeks ago, Glenn Beck came under attack for questioning our goals in Egypt, at least as Mr. Kristol sees them. The attack on Beck was en led “Stand for Freedom,” the obvious implication being that if you don’t agree with Mr. Kristol you don’t believe in liberty, truth, justice, and the American way. Nice how that works, isn’t it? (I would not accuse Mr. Kristol of McCarthyite tactics, however, since that would be an insult to McCarthy.)
