A farewell to Lugar: The continuing erosion of the national security middle

The defeat
of Richard Lugar in the Indiana Republican Party primary for Senate last
night tells me two things. First, it says that the national security centrist
position continues to erode. Losing Lugar reminds me of the defeat a few years
back of Rep. Ike Skelton of Missouri, the patron saint of professional military
education. Second, it makes me wonder if the great Midwest is turning away from
internationalism and back to its pre-World War II isolationism.

I remember someone trying to sell
to me the materialistic view that the Midwest only turned away from
isolationism when grain exports became a big deal after World War II,
especially as we elbowed Argentina out of the European market. At the time I
didn't buy it. But I wonder -- now that grain is a corporate enterprise, employing
far fewer individuals, maybe Midwesterners don't see any reason to engage in
the world.  

Here's another, harsher take.