"paleoconservatism", a term which, like "Christianism" is used largely as a swear word rather than as something with any meaning.

One is tempted to call it a "Randian anti-concept."
K the C | 03.29.07 - 5:40 pm | #

"Paleocon" is hardly a meaningless swear word. There are plenty of people who self-identify as paleocons, and who have a fairly well defined set of political beliefs:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Pal...leoconservative

I will say this. If you think that "paleocon" is a meaningless swear word, then you pretty much have to say the same about "neocon."
Blackadder | 03.29.07 - 8:48 pm | #

I seldom use "neocon". I like more accurate terms like "secular messianist".
Mark P. Shea | Homepage | 03.29.07 - 9:10 pm | #

Neocon is not completely meaningless, but it's getting there because the intention of the users and accusers is usually meant to be negative. Plus it's dumb to call anything "NEW" because it doesn't stay that way.

The paleocon label probably is approaching the sell date as well. There was a comment thread over at Maclin's awhile back where someone, a self-identified "paleocon" insisted that Pat Buchanan (with whom I agree on sometimes when he's not baching Jews as I do here) is NOT a paleocon. So that wins a big whatever award. I self-identify politically as "center right", but that covers a lot of ground I suppose. If the liberals were pro-life and the conservatives pro-choice I'd most likely be "center left". That's the *trump issue* fer me.
Pauli | Homepage | 03.30.07 - 12:52 am | #

That last paragraph hit very close to home. One of those moments that put your blog at the top of my list any day. Thank you, Mark.
Claire | 03.30.07 - 3:53 am | #

The only reason paleocon isn't a swear word is that often people move right onto anti-semite, since in many people's minds the paleocon view that we should not be allied with Israel given that it doesn't serve a strategic interest is anathema.
M.Z. Forrest | Homepage | 03.30.07 - 10:50 am | #

One of my best friends is a self-described paleocon philo-semite, so I would never say that there's anything inherently anti-semitic about paleoconservativism. It is true, though, that several of the most prominent paleoconservatives have been anti-semitic, or at the very least have a strange obsession with the Jews. The idea, for example, that the Gulf War was the result of the Israel lobby, when it was Saudi Arabia, not Israel, who was really pushing for it, makes one wonder.
Blackadder | 03.30.07 - 3:22 pm | #