David Frum

And the world is on its own now without American guidance.

at the mercy of whoever looks like the second strongest candidate to guide the world.

Let's go back to these old books and essays.

And

Think about what are the lessons that in the age of Trumpism we need, whether we are broadly sympathetic to conservative projects or if we're broadly unsympathetic.

I mean, let's start with the other side.

If you're someone who's not a conservative and that you think of yourself as liberal or even a progressive, is there any value in any of these old ideas in the face of

An administration, as I said, where at best, we're looking at people who want to overthrow the separation of church and state with the church in charge.

And at worst, functional fascists and on the edge, outright Nazi sympathizers and apologists.

Why isn't the lesson for a person of liberal views or progressive views to say, you know what?

Conservatism was always a terrible idea.

I never liked any of these folks.

They're now even worse than before.

I have nothing to learn from any of them.

I am, like you, formed in many ways by this tradition.

I've got some critical distance from it.

I never really felt like I was a part of it.

I read the books.

I never felt like I was part of the social circle that was such an important aspect of the neoconservative world when it was a real thing.

So I knew these things through print rather than through personality.