Reply #27: A paleocon let us explore that term [View All]

[azurnoir]

Paleoconservatism (sometimes shortened to paleo or paleocon when the context is clear) is a term for an anti-communist and anti-imperialist right-wing political philosophy in the United States stressing tradition, civil society and along with religious, regional, national and Western identity.<1> Chilton Williamson, Jr. describes paleoconservatism as "the expression of rootedness: a sense of place and of history, a sense of self derived from forebears, kin, and culture—an identity that is both collective and personal."<2> Paleoconservatism is not expressed as an ideology and its adherents do not necessarily subscribe to any one party line.<3>

Paleoconservatives in the 21st century often highlight their points of disagreement with neoconservatives, especially on issues like immigration, affirmative action, U.S. funding of its allies abroad, foreign wars, and social welfare.<1> They also criticize social democracy, which some refer to as the "therapeutic managerial state,"<4> the "welfare-warfare state"<5> or "polite totalitarianism."<6> They see themselves as the legitimate heirs to the American conservative tradition.<7>

Paul Gottfried is credited with coining the term in the 1980s.<8> He says the term originally referred to various Americans, such as traditionalist Catholics and agrarian Southerners, who turned to anticommunism during the Cold War.<9>

Paleoconservative thought has developed within the pages of the Rockford Institute's Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture.<10> Pat Buchanan was heavily influenced by its articles<9> and helped create another paleocon publication, The American Conservative.<11> Its concerns overlap those of the Old Right that opposed the New Deal in the 1930s and 1940s,<12> as well as American social conservatism of the late 20th century expressed, for example, in the book Single Issues by Joseph Sobran.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleoconservatism

hmmm it would seem a paleocon would support the current status quo which makes the term a far more accurate descriptor of some here on this forum

don't you find it passing "odd" that Greenwald is constantly associated by some with a publication that he has written for or that published his writing only very occasionally rather than the publication that he is a columnist for?