[mojito]

A fine essay on one of the founders of modern conservatism and his most influential book by one of our finest scholars.

[sam_paine]

Reflections on Edmund Burke's Reflections, not to be confused with James Burke's Connections.

=)

[griswold3]

Excellent!
I laughed when Obama tried to claim moral authority by calling for the ‘end of anything goes’. That’s precisely what brought the fool to power!

[Publius]

Edmund Burke ping. A fine article by Bill Kristol’s mom.

[goldstategop]

Edmund Burke is often misunderstood. He admired and championed the American Revolution because it sought to maintain and uphold the rights and values of Englishmen. He would have no problems with the ideas contained in the Federalist Papers. The same Burke opposed and detested the French Revolution because it subverted all rights and values - which to him was the instrument of future tyranny. And he was subsequently proved right in his judgment about the later. Burke's philosophy insists the improvement of society is possible as long as the values and core beliefs that secure it are preserved. Any society that abandons them comes in the end, to meet the same fate as France in the throes of violent revolution. That is exactly where America is headed today, not necessarily in anarchy but in the loss of its moral armor that sustain its integrity and greatness. I cannot think of any other outcome that would have left Burke far more distressed than the loss of tradition, manners and habits that steady a state through the worst and the best times of its existence.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus