Last year, George Will – the Washington Post’s conservative intellectual in residence – reviewed Alvin S. Felzenberg’s book, “A Man and His Presidents: The Political Odyssey of William F. Buckley Jr.” The piece lauded both the book and the historical figure it covered. Will said that Buckley, “infus[ed] conservatism with brio, bringing elegance in advocacy and altering the nation’s trajectory while having a grand time.” He contrasted Buckley against modern conservatism, which he found to be “soiled by scowling primitives whose irritable gestures lack mental ingredients.” A basket of deplorables, in other words. Will concluded that conservatism should make its...