[IronJack]

the hope for democracy lay in the survival of gentlemen, leaders of their communities, superior to vulgar impulses, able to withstand most forms of legislative or extra-legal intimidation.

And therein lies the germ of the charges of "elitism" leveled against conservatives. A charge to which I would most emphatically plead "Guilty."

Can it be mere snobbery to propose that one's community be run by the best and the most sterling of character? Can one not with good right demand that those accorded great power be made of purer stuff than those they rule? Are the rabble to be our overlords, the ignorant our teachers, and the dim our guidelights? Do we really want blind men on our watchtowers?

While I am not a great fan of Cooper, another author Kirk cites is Sir Walter Scott, whose noble prose inspired me in childhood, and still does to this day.

[William McKinley]

I also plead guilty to an amount of elitism; I want my country to be governed by the elite, just as I want my company to be run by the elite and I want my football team to have as many elite players as possible. Anything else is madness.