On the other side of the ledger, Derbyshire is pro-gun, anti-amnesty, anti-racial quotas, anti-union, anti-Muslim immigration at home, pro-Israel, anti-Muslim Brotherhood, anti-crime, anti-welfare state, and so on. That makes him well to the right of most Republicans, and certainly to the right of most GOP primary voters.
And I have a suspicion that Derbyshire is a Freeper.
If so, and if he's the Freeper who I think he is, Derbyshire knows that politics requires getting to a majority of 50 percent plus one. That means when people agree with us on most but not all issues, though maybe not on the underlying rationale to get there, working with them where possible makes more sense than fighting on the points where we disagree.
I have some pretty strong disagreements with Derbyshire on some issues involving race and religion which are very, very important to me. Interestingly, however, both he and I have interracial marriages to Asians, and it is simplistic to dismiss Derbyshire, as National Review did, as a racial bigot.
If I had the opportunity, I'd love to sit down and talk with Derbyshire about how neither the “Church of England” establishment, nor American pre-1960s mainstream cultural Christianity, nor the classic Chinese blend of Buddhism and Confucianism can provide an adequate moral foundation for society. At most, they provide a cultural religion for the masses which can be swept away in an instant by highly committed ideologues, whether Maoists in the case of China or secular socialists in the case of Britain.
Religions and major political movements are founded by people who are absolutely convinced they are right and are willing to die for what they believe. Cultural mainline Christianity doesn't fit that description. Derbyshire needs to understand that nothing short of the Judeo-Christian principles on which America and most of the rest of Western civilization was founded can stand up to the fire of Islam, Communism, or Nazism. When confronting people who are absolutely certain they are right and are willing to die for what they believe, cultures with uncertain commitments do not prevail.
There's a time for disagreement, and obviously Derbyshire and I will disagree fundamentally on the role of religion in Western civilization.
But when people like Derbyshire are pro-gun, anti-racial quotas, anti-Muslim immigration at home, pro-Israel, anti-Muslim Brotherhood, anti-crime, and anti-welfare state, I'd like to work with them on those issues, even if they get to those positions by a different route from me.
Again, we don't get to govern if we don't get to 50 percent so our candidate wins.