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By Jonah Goldberg MEIR Y. SOLOVEICHIK ON SAVING AMERICAN NATIONALISM CommentaryOCTOBER 2018 From White Commentary Supremacy to Identity Politics ELI STEELE OCTOBER 2018 : VOLUME 146 NUMBER 3 146 : VOLUME 2018 OCTOBER How the O Radicals $5.95 US : $7.00 CANADAh tBecame the Technocrats BY JONAH SOHRAB GOLDBERG AHMARI Resistance Porn MATTHEW CONTINETTI October 2018 Cover copy.indd 1 9/14/18 2:24 PM Being first. It’s in her blood. Tehila Brezinger First Responder Tehila is one of our first responders who perform more than 500 resuscitations each month. When a call for help goes out, your support helps power the next-generation technology she relies on to arrive in minutes. We’re Israel’s emergency medical services organization, Magen David Adom. Saving lives. It’s in our blood — and it’s in yours, too. Save a life in Israel with a gift to support Magen David Adom. Donate on AFMDA.org/give or call 866.632.2763 October 2018 Cover copy.indd 2 9/14/18 2:00 PM CHANCE!LAST please join us for the ninth annual COMMENTARY ROAST monday, october 8, 2018, new york city CO-CHAIR TABLES: $25,000. BENEFACTOR TABLES: $12,500. PATRON TABLES: $7,500. INDIVIDUAL TICKETS: $750. All but $225 per person is tax-deductible as provided by law. the roast is a benefit to support commentary inc. the nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that publishes commentary magazine. for inquiries please contact stephanie roberts at 212-891-6729 or by email: [email protected]. Columns.indd 1 9/14/18 1:42 PM October 2018 Vol. 146 : No. 3 Articles Jonah Socialism Is So Hot Right Now 11 Goldberg An explanation for the enduring power of very bad ideas. Meir Y. Saving American Nationalism 22 Soloveichik from the Nationalists The creed of an “almost chosen people” is as vital today as it was in Lincoln’s time. Sohrab How the Radicals 30 Ahmari Became the Technocrats The true legacy of 1968. Eli From White Supremacy 35 Steele to Identity Politics The injustice of America’s newest racial order. Gary Saul Among the Disbelievers 39 Morson Why atheism was central to the great evil of the 20th century. Politics & Ideas Jay P. If I Forget Thee… 46 Lefkowitz The Zionist Ideas, Edited by Gil Troy Columns.indd 2 9/14/18 1:42 PM Politics & Ideas Jordan Welcome to the Jungle 50 Chandler Hirsch The Jungle Grows Back, by Robert Kagan Roberta Funny, You Don’t 53 Rosenthal Kwall Look Yeshivish Halakhah, by Chaim N. Saiman Karol The Choice is Hers 54 Markowicz Sex Matters, by Mona Charen Culture & Civilization Terry The Fat Lady Is Singing 57 Teachout Is American opera in terminal condition? Frederic By a Captain, He’s No Captain 60 Raphael Stanley Kubrick, by Nathan Abrams Monthly Commentaries Reader Commentary Washington Commentary 1 Letters Andrew Ferguson 9 on the July/August issue Lanny Tunes Social Commentary Media Commentary 7 Christine Rosen Matthew Continetti 64 The Identity Grift Resistance Porn Columns.indd 3 9/14/18 1:42 PM READER COMMENTARY Our Weak Congress To the Editor: in check. This is true even if abuses it seems to me that the Obama UVAL LEVIN has laid out thus far have been somewhat lim- era provided all the evidence we Y concisely the important but ited. might need of the problem she often-ignored subject of congres- The constitutional means by describes. President Trump has not sional authority and the problems which Congress may wrest back abused his power over Congress in plaguing our legislative branch power still exist, but there is the same way his predecessor did (“Congress Is Weak Because Its little incentive to use them, and mostly because he seems incapable Members Want It to Be Weak,” July/ Congress is now characterized by of the discipline and focus that August). widespread preference for partisan would require. That is hardly reas- Although I agree almost entirely politics over actual governance. If suring, as she notes. The structural, with Mr. Levin’s analysis, I disagree something doesn’t change soon, systemic problem remains. This slightly with how he frames the there is little assurance that a presi- president probably would not (or matter. The article’s description of dent with a tangible agenda who would not be able to) stand in the the current imbalance of power is more attuned to the weakness way of a congressional attempt to between the three branches lends of Congress and the power that af- address that problem, however, so credence to the idea that presi- fords him would be kept in check that in the Trump era, such reforms dential overreach is not so much should more serious abuses occur. are more imaginable than they overstated as it is not fully realized. Erica Krzywonski might be later. That means the time If the primary obstacle keeping the South Padre Island, Texas for action is now. But the missing current president from acting with ingredient is the will among mem- the same executive aggression as 1 bers of Congress to reassert the pre- his predecessor is his own incom- rogatives of their institution. The petence rather than the checks on Yuval Levin writes: first step toward helping Congress power afforded by the constitu- APPRECIATE Erica Krzywon- supply that missing ingredient is to tion, then we’ve reached a critical I ski’s thoughtful letter and cer- see that this is the problem—that point in keeping executive power tainly share her concern. In fact, is, that Congress is weak because 4 October 2018 Columns.indd 4 9/14/18 1:42 PM its members want it to be. That’s why my essay sought to shed light on this peculiar fact. But as Ms. Krzywonski wisely notes, this is only the first and easiest step in the effort to rescue the balance of pow- ers required for our constitutional October 2018 Vol. 146 : No. 3 system to function. 1 John Podhoretz, Editor Abe Greenwald, Senior Editor Noah C. Rothman, Associate Editor � Understanding Carol Moskot, Publisher the Shah Kejda Gjermani, Digital Publisher Leah Rahmani, Publishing Associate � To the Editor: Ilya Leyzerzon, Business Director OHRAB AHMARI’S “Game of Stephanie Roberts, Business Manager SPeacock Thrones” was very per- � ceptive in its analysis of the Iranian Sohrab Ahmari, Senior Writer mindset (July/August). Iranians of Terry Teachout, Critic-at-Large Shah Reza Pahlavi’s era desired � continuity with their own celebrat- Board of Directors ed ancient past, and Iranians today Daniel R. Benson, Chairman share their dreams of national- Meredith Berkman, Paul J. Isaac, ism, separate from the Ayatollahs’ Michael J. Leffell, Jay P. Lefkowitz, Velayat-e Faqih (rule of the juris- prudent). Steven Price, Gary L. Rosenthal, The shah continues to be misun- Michael W. Schwartz, Paul E. Singer derstood, as illustrated by scholar Ronald Wintrobe, who, in his book The Political Economy of Dictator- Cover Design: Carol Moskot ship, refers to the shah as a “tinpot” ruler and a vampire. According To send us a letter to the editor: [email protected] to Wintrobe, the shah was inter- We will edit letters for length and content. ested only in the accumulation of To make a tax-deductible donation: [email protected] personal wealth at his citizens’ For advertising inquiries: [email protected] expense. This is a misreading of For customer service: [email protected] the shah’s admittedly extravagant lifestyle. Always contradictory, the shah lived in a style he assumed normal or appropriate for a king, Commentary (ISSN 0010-2601) is published monthly (except for a combined July/ a planet apart from most Iranians, August issue) by Commentary, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization. Editorial and business offices: 561 Seventh Avenue, 16th Floor, New York, NY, 10018. Telephone: (212) 891-1400. Fax: (212) to be sure, yet he desired prosperity 891-6700. Customer Service: [email protected] or (212) 891-1400. for his nation most of all. Subscriptions: One year $45, two years $79, three years $109, USA only. To subscribe please go The shah sincerely loved his to www.commentarymagazine.com/subscribe-digital-print. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, people, but his paranoia and delu- and additional mailing offices. Subscribers will receive electronic announcements of forthcoming issues. Single copy: U.S. is $5.95; Canada is $7.00. All back issues are available in electronic sions accelerated his downfall. He form at commentarymagazine.com. Postmaster: Send address changes to Commentary, P.O. Box saw foreign conspiracies behind 420235, Palm Coast, FL, 32142. Unsolicited manuscripts must be accompanied by a stamped, ever occurrence; he even imagined self-addressed envelope. Letters intended for publication may be edited. Indexed in Reader’s Guide, Western support for the Ayatollah Book Review Digest, and elsewhere. U.S. Newsstand Distribution by COMAG Marketing Group, 155 Village Blvd, Princeton, NJ, 08540. Printed in the USA. Commentary was established in Khomeini. In truth, Khomeini suc- 1945 by the American Jewish Committee, which was the magazine’s publisher through 2006 and continues to support its role as an independent journal of thought and opinion. Copyright © 2018 by Commentary, Inc.; all rights reserved under International and Pan American Copyright Conventions. Columns.indd 5 9/14/18 1:42 PM cessfully used anti-Western senti- will also factor greatly in the Is- cannot recognize a bear hug when ment to galvanize opposition to lamic Republic’s ultimate demise. one is being administered right the shah and his principal ally, the Clinton L. Ervin in front of his eyes.” What’s more, United States. Thus nationalism Murfreesboro, Tennessee Roth didn’t hesitate to refer to him- played a key role in the regime self as “this Jewish writer.” change.
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