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The Corrosion of Conservatism: Why I Left the Right
As nativism, xenophobia, vile racism, and assaults on the rule of law threaten the very fabric of our nation, The Corrosion of Conservatism presents an urgent defense of American democracy.
Pronouncing Mexican immigrants to be “rapists,” Donald Trump announced his 2015 presidential bid, causing Max Boot to think he was watching a dystopian science-fiction movie. The respected conservative historian couldn’t fathom that the party of Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Reagan could endorse such an unqualified reality-TV star. Yet the Twilight Zone episode that Boot believed he was watching created an ideological dislocation so shattering that Boot’s transformation from Republican foreign policy adviser to celebrated anti-Trump columnist becomes the dramatic story of The Corrosion of Conservatism.
No longer a Republican, but also not a Democrat, Boot here records his ideological journey from a “movement” conservative to a man without a party, beginning with his political coming-of-age as a young émigré from the Soviet Union, enthralled with the National Review and the conservative intellectual tradition of Russell Kirk and F. A. Hayek. Against this personal odyssey, Boot simultaneously traces the evolution of modern American conservatism, jump-started by Barry Goldwater’s canonical The Conscience of a Conservative, to the rise of Trumpism and its gradual corrosion of what was once the Republican Party.
While 90 percent of his fellow Republicans became political “toadies” in the aftermath of the 2016 election, Boot stood his ground, enduring the vitriol of his erstwhile conservative colleagues, trolled on Twitter by a white supremacist who depicted his “execution” in a gas chamber by a smiling, Nazi-clad Trump. And yet, Boot nevertheless remains a villain to some partisan circles for his enduring commitment to conservative fiscal and national security principles. It is from this isolated position, then, that Boot launches this bold declaration of dissent and its urgent plea for true, bipartisan cooperation.
With uncompromising insights, The Corrosion of Conservatism evokes both a president who has traduced every norm and the rise of a nascent centrist movement to counter Trump’s assault on democracy.
Pronouncing Mexican immigrants to be “rapists,” Donald Trump announced his 2015 presidential bid, causing Max Boot to think he was watching a dystopian science-fiction movie. The respected conservative historian couldn’t fathom that the party of Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Reagan could endorse such an unqualified reality-TV star. Yet the Twilight Zone episode that Boot believed he was watching created an ideological dislocation so shattering that Boot’s transformation from Republican foreign policy adviser to celebrated anti-Trump columnist becomes the dramatic story of The Corrosion of Conservatism.
No longer a Republican, but also not a Democrat, Boot here records his ideological journey from a “movement” conservative to a man without a party, beginning with his political coming-of-age as a young émigré from the Soviet Union, enthralled with the National Review and the conservative intellectual tradition of Russell Kirk and F. A. Hayek. Against this personal odyssey, Boot simultaneously traces the evolution of modern American conservatism, jump-started by Barry Goldwater’s canonical The Conscience of a Conservative, to the rise of Trumpism and its gradual corrosion of what was once the Republican Party.
While 90 percent of his fellow Republicans became political “toadies” in the aftermath of the 2016 election, Boot stood his ground, enduring the vitriol of his erstwhile conservative colleagues, trolled on Twitter by a white supremacist who depicted his “execution” in a gas chamber by a smiling, Nazi-clad Trump. And yet, Boot nevertheless remains a villain to some partisan circles for his enduring commitment to conservative fiscal and national security principles. It is from this isolated position, then, that Boot launches this bold declaration of dissent and its urgent plea for true, bipartisan cooperation.
With uncompromising insights, The Corrosion of Conservatism evokes both a president who has traduced every norm and the rise of a nascent centrist movement to counter Trump’s assault on democracy.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published October 9, 2018
497 people are currently reading
1836 people want to read
About the author
Max Boot
13 books220 followersMax Boot is a historian and biographer, best-selling author, and foreign-policy analyst. He is the Jeane J. Kirkpatrick senior fellow for national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and a weekly columnist for The Washington Post.
Max Boot’s biography of Ronald Reagan, Reagan: His Life and Legend, is his third New York Times bestseller. It was named one of the Ten Best Books of 2024 by the New York Times, and also made best-of-the-year lists from The New Yorker, The Washington Post and The Economist. It has been acclaimed as a "landmark work" (The New York Times), the "definitive biography" (The New Yorker), “magisterial" (The Washington Post), and “enormously readable and scrupulously honest” (The Sunday Times). Max Boot’s previous biography, The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam, was also a New York Times bestseller and a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in biography.
Max Boot’s biography of Ronald Reagan, Reagan: His Life and Legend, is his third New York Times bestseller. It was named one of the Ten Best Books of 2024 by the New York Times, and also made best-of-the-year lists from The New Yorker, The Washington Post and The Economist. It has been acclaimed as a "landmark work" (The New York Times), the "definitive biography" (The New Yorker), “magisterial" (The Washington Post), and “enormously readable and scrupulously honest” (The Sunday Times). Max Boot’s previous biography, The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam, was also a New York Times bestseller and a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in biography.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 159 reviews
October 15, 2018
Therapy for the politically homeless.
November 19, 2018
A humble, lucid, remarkably thorough take on the evolution of conservatism in the U.S. The book is a delightful mix of personal and political. The history and policy discussion were straightforward, without ever feeling incomplete or condescending. This is a book full of urgency about the danger American democracy is facing, and yet it never feels angry or alarmist. It feels hopeful. I loved that. I feel well-informed and ready to face tomorrow.
October 17, 2018
I picked this up after hearing Max Boot on Preet Bharara's podcast, Stay Tuned with Preet. It was a very quick read. Boot writes well and is approachable, and I think he has a pretty sober and realistic view (after some deep reflection) about the state of conservatives and the Republican Party.
Reading through the book, I realized that I was really reading it for its final chapter. Called "The Origins of Trumpism," this is Boot's look back on the signs of the times that he missed or ignored, leading up to the 2016 election. It is where he reflects, for instance, about how he gave too little credit to arguments about the racism that motivated some (but not all) founders of the modern conservative movement, the willingness of the party to engage in dog-whistle tactics, the party's increasing extremism, the lived experience of racial minorities and women, etc. The other parts of the book were necessary set-up, but this is why I started reading the book to begin with. I could have done with two or three times as much content, here.
I think it is to Boot's credit that he did the kind of soul-searching he writes about. He notes that he got it from both sides when he started down this path: "the far right naturally mocked me for 'virtual signaling' and diagnosed me as suffering from 'Trump derangement syndrome'" while "the far left was also unimpressed, basically taking the attitude of 'What took you so long?'" Boot doesn't try to say seek praise, replying to former CNN anchor Soledad O'Brien's criticism of his earlier obliviousness as "pathetic" by writing "I don't expect any commendations for seeing what should have been obvious all along. All I can say in my own defense is that many never see it at all, even when what is in front of their noses is a president who evinces sympathy for neo-Nazis, dictators, alleged child molesters, and accused wife-beaters." He's right: many people never confront the stuff that would cause cognitive dissonance about members of their tribe or their deeply held beliefs. It is good that he has done so, and the fact that he has done so is what makes his account interesting.
Reading through the book, I realized that I was really reading it for its final chapter. Called "The Origins of Trumpism," this is Boot's look back on the signs of the times that he missed or ignored, leading up to the 2016 election. It is where he reflects, for instance, about how he gave too little credit to arguments about the racism that motivated some (but not all) founders of the modern conservative movement, the willingness of the party to engage in dog-whistle tactics, the party's increasing extremism, the lived experience of racial minorities and women, etc. The other parts of the book were necessary set-up, but this is why I started reading the book to begin with. I could have done with two or three times as much content, here.
I think it is to Boot's credit that he did the kind of soul-searching he writes about. He notes that he got it from both sides when he started down this path: "the far right naturally mocked me for 'virtual signaling' and diagnosed me as suffering from 'Trump derangement syndrome'" while "the far left was also unimpressed, basically taking the attitude of 'What took you so long?'" Boot doesn't try to say seek praise, replying to former CNN anchor Soledad O'Brien's criticism of his earlier obliviousness as "pathetic" by writing "I don't expect any commendations for seeing what should have been obvious all along. All I can say in my own defense is that many never see it at all, even when what is in front of their noses is a president who evinces sympathy for neo-Nazis, dictators, alleged child molesters, and accused wife-beaters." He's right: many people never confront the stuff that would cause cognitive dissonance about members of their tribe or their deeply held beliefs. It is good that he has done so, and the fact that he has done so is what makes his account interesting.
November 19, 2018
Well worth reading ... for many reasons.
It's a strange book - because it's both highly personal but extremely broad in its coverage. In parts, it's a journey of discovery, ritual self-cleansing ... purging ... catharsis, apologia, atonement ... self-flagellation, horror at peering behind the curtain, a call to arms, a plaintive scream into the void of Wake Up, America!, and more.
Full Disclosure: While I can't say I know the author, we periodically crossed paths a number of years ago on the media circuit, and my brief experiences (again, more than a decade ago) did not enamor me to him. OK, I found him arrogant, condescending, and stand-offish (which, in retrospect, may simply have been shyness, if the book accurately portrays his personality). But I've been reading his work for years, and, for the last couple of years, have found his voice to be one of the more important, genuine, and insightful in putting the nation's perilous position in context.
The book is both easy and painful to read. Easy, because Boot writes well (no surprise if you've been following him for years, and don't forget, he's a former Wall Street Journal opinion page guru). Painful, because, well, it is the nation and our fellow citizens and one of our political parties and our leadership and futures we're talking about here.
I'm guessing it was also incredibly difficult to write. Not many well-established professionals want to acknowledge that, for much of their professional careers, they were subject to or captured by group-think or drinking the Kool-Aid.
One just hopes that at least some long-standing/movement conservatives are willing to read the book and remain (at least somewhat) open to its message. It's hard to be optimistic on that score. Most Americans - or for that matter, people - don't want to be told they've been sold a bill of goods, duped for most of their lives, lied to by people they've trusted, deceived and played and manipulated, etc. Few will have warm reactions to Boot's explanation, for example, that "Republicans have long flirted with populism, conspiracy-mongering, and know-nothingism. This is why they became known as the 'stupid party.'"
But that's the whole point of the book. Often times, recovery begins with, and is spurred by, an intervention....
Reader's nit: Boot covers a lot of ground, and speaks to many critical issues. But I was both surprised and disappointed that he didn't address the pernicious issue of gerrymandering and voter suppression. Alas.
Will it change anything? Unlikely. Does its suggested road map offer the solution needed to reorient our national/societal/social world view? Probably not. But it still makes a valuable contribution.
Ultimately, rather than the fashionable knee-jerk critique: "what took you so long?," my reaction is to say: "thanks for your honesty" ... "better late than never" ... and I hope that people buy, read, and think about ... and share and discuss ... the book.
Minor addendum: I should have mentioned (initially) that, if you like this, you should also try David Frum's Trumpocracy. Between the two, Frum's book was first-to-market and, overall, is less personal/introspective and (slightly) more thematic. Conversely, while Frum's book is more Trump-centric, Boot takes aim at the enablers and the history of the conservative movement that brought us to this (rather distressing) point in time. Both of these guys can write - they're real pros - so, ultimately, I'm guessing it's a matter of style which you prefer.
It's a strange book - because it's both highly personal but extremely broad in its coverage. In parts, it's a journey of discovery, ritual self-cleansing ... purging ... catharsis, apologia, atonement ... self-flagellation, horror at peering behind the curtain, a call to arms, a plaintive scream into the void of Wake Up, America!, and more.
Full Disclosure: While I can't say I know the author, we periodically crossed paths a number of years ago on the media circuit, and my brief experiences (again, more than a decade ago) did not enamor me to him. OK, I found him arrogant, condescending, and stand-offish (which, in retrospect, may simply have been shyness, if the book accurately portrays his personality). But I've been reading his work for years, and, for the last couple of years, have found his voice to be one of the more important, genuine, and insightful in putting the nation's perilous position in context.
The book is both easy and painful to read. Easy, because Boot writes well (no surprise if you've been following him for years, and don't forget, he's a former Wall Street Journal opinion page guru). Painful, because, well, it is the nation and our fellow citizens and one of our political parties and our leadership and futures we're talking about here.
I'm guessing it was also incredibly difficult to write. Not many well-established professionals want to acknowledge that, for much of their professional careers, they were subject to or captured by group-think or drinking the Kool-Aid.
One just hopes that at least some long-standing/movement conservatives are willing to read the book and remain (at least somewhat) open to its message. It's hard to be optimistic on that score. Most Americans - or for that matter, people - don't want to be told they've been sold a bill of goods, duped for most of their lives, lied to by people they've trusted, deceived and played and manipulated, etc. Few will have warm reactions to Boot's explanation, for example, that "Republicans have long flirted with populism, conspiracy-mongering, and know-nothingism. This is why they became known as the 'stupid party.'"
But that's the whole point of the book. Often times, recovery begins with, and is spurred by, an intervention....
Reader's nit: Boot covers a lot of ground, and speaks to many critical issues. But I was both surprised and disappointed that he didn't address the pernicious issue of gerrymandering and voter suppression. Alas.
Will it change anything? Unlikely. Does its suggested road map offer the solution needed to reorient our national/societal/social world view? Probably not. But it still makes a valuable contribution.
Ultimately, rather than the fashionable knee-jerk critique: "what took you so long?," my reaction is to say: "thanks for your honesty" ... "better late than never" ... and I hope that people buy, read, and think about ... and share and discuss ... the book.
Minor addendum: I should have mentioned (initially) that, if you like this, you should also try David Frum's Trumpocracy. Between the two, Frum's book was first-to-market and, overall, is less personal/introspective and (slightly) more thematic. Conversely, while Frum's book is more Trump-centric, Boot takes aim at the enablers and the history of the conservative movement that brought us to this (rather distressing) point in time. Both of these guys can write - they're real pros - so, ultimately, I'm guessing it's a matter of style which you prefer.
March 13, 2020
A few years ago, I probably would have dismissed Max Boot as naive, short-sighted, and foolish. I know how arrogant that sounds coming from a 16 year old, but then again I was pretty arrogant at that time. Now, I see Max Boot as thoughtful, wise, and insightful. I still disagree with many of his views, but I certainly know the feeling of being isolated from the people that you are supposed to be allied with, it is why I left the mainstream libertarian movement as they began to peddle anti-semitic conspiracy theories and advocated genocide for political opponents, so I share Boot's designation as a 'political ronin' as he puts it. As Ronald Reagan once said 'I didn't leave the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party left me.'
Much like everyone else in the political field, I initially couldn't make heads or tails on what Donald Trump was doing, but also puzzled on how people could ever like such a man. Sure, Trump is most certainly entertaining and his odd brand has certainly shaken up the political establishment, it is his streak of being vindictive towards his enemies as well as his penchant for manipulation that has me worried. I don't believe that he is racist, rather that he uses these talking points that he espouses in order to take advantage of people's fear and resentment of the so called 'other' in order to slither his way into power, as most politicians tend to do. It was almost like Trump took a page from Machiavelli (or a Sparknotes, as Trump probably hasn't taken the time to read The Prince) and used them in practice, which of course worked in his favor. The man said it himself 'I could stand in the middle of Fifth avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters.'
Boot writes with a smooth, conversational tone and his prose never feels boring, even though I would doubt that he would win a Pulitzer for it. He never panders or sounds like he is attempting to get in with anyone or gain acceptance from a so called 'elite', as so many would gladly pronounce nowadays. He speaks modestly and honestly about what has happened to him and why he grew disenfranchised with the modern day Republican Party, which has proven itself cowardly and lacking any sort of standards whatsoever, it makes me question what's worse: the people who are fanatically devoted to him or the people who have phoned in support for the man. Boot asks these same questions, while also reiterating the same critiques and issues that I have with our current president, while doing it in a informative and well spoken manner, something our current Commander in Chief seems to lack.
Certainly there are problems that I have with the book, mainly some of the accusations of racism and nativism, there are certainly some things that could point to this, but the reasons I disagree with this are the points that I brought up before. However, there's some other things, such as Trump peddling anti-semitic conspiracy theories, that are utter nonsense and this is coming from an outspoken critic of Trump. This shouldn't be too hard to see why, considering his son in law and daughter are both Jewish and he has expressed his support for Israel several times, though again that could also play into the game of politics that is played, but there is no serious evidence that I have seen that points to Trump being an anti-semite.
I suppose that it is Boot's sticking to his principles is what I admire the most about him, I admire that he had the balls to put this out in an era that is so divisive and willing to screech and scream at each other when one disagrees with another. It is this strength of character that Boot has that I would like to emulate in my own life and beliefs, and in a way I find a kindred spirit in Max Boot. We're both in a 'political ronin' stage of our lives and it's nice to find someone who feels the same way that I do, though our experiences were rather different in coming to that conclusion. I usually like cathartic experiences, and this book is a 260 page catharsis. It's nice to find someone who you can relate to in a time that seems dour, and this book is one that doesn't seek to comfort, but it certainly understands the pain.
Much like everyone else in the political field, I initially couldn't make heads or tails on what Donald Trump was doing, but also puzzled on how people could ever like such a man. Sure, Trump is most certainly entertaining and his odd brand has certainly shaken up the political establishment, it is his streak of being vindictive towards his enemies as well as his penchant for manipulation that has me worried. I don't believe that he is racist, rather that he uses these talking points that he espouses in order to take advantage of people's fear and resentment of the so called 'other' in order to slither his way into power, as most politicians tend to do. It was almost like Trump took a page from Machiavelli (or a Sparknotes, as Trump probably hasn't taken the time to read The Prince) and used them in practice, which of course worked in his favor. The man said it himself 'I could stand in the middle of Fifth avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters.'
Boot writes with a smooth, conversational tone and his prose never feels boring, even though I would doubt that he would win a Pulitzer for it. He never panders or sounds like he is attempting to get in with anyone or gain acceptance from a so called 'elite', as so many would gladly pronounce nowadays. He speaks modestly and honestly about what has happened to him and why he grew disenfranchised with the modern day Republican Party, which has proven itself cowardly and lacking any sort of standards whatsoever, it makes me question what's worse: the people who are fanatically devoted to him or the people who have phoned in support for the man. Boot asks these same questions, while also reiterating the same critiques and issues that I have with our current president, while doing it in a informative and well spoken manner, something our current Commander in Chief seems to lack.
Certainly there are problems that I have with the book, mainly some of the accusations of racism and nativism, there are certainly some things that could point to this, but the reasons I disagree with this are the points that I brought up before. However, there's some other things, such as Trump peddling anti-semitic conspiracy theories, that are utter nonsense and this is coming from an outspoken critic of Trump. This shouldn't be too hard to see why, considering his son in law and daughter are both Jewish and he has expressed his support for Israel several times, though again that could also play into the game of politics that is played, but there is no serious evidence that I have seen that points to Trump being an anti-semite.
I suppose that it is Boot's sticking to his principles is what I admire the most about him, I admire that he had the balls to put this out in an era that is so divisive and willing to screech and scream at each other when one disagrees with another. It is this strength of character that Boot has that I would like to emulate in my own life and beliefs, and in a way I find a kindred spirit in Max Boot. We're both in a 'political ronin' stage of our lives and it's nice to find someone who feels the same way that I do, though our experiences were rather different in coming to that conclusion. I usually like cathartic experiences, and this book is a 260 page catharsis. It's nice to find someone who you can relate to in a time that seems dour, and this book is one that doesn't seek to comfort, but it certainly understands the pain.
November 19, 2018
“My ideology has come into conflict with reality, and reality is winning”
One of the more interesting side effects of the Donald Trump presidential campaign and presidency is the #nevertrump phenomenon. Made up of a large group of prominent conservatives pundits and politicians (such as Lindsay Graham who famously said choosing between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz is like “being shot or poisoned, what does it matter?”) who were aghast at the spectacle of Donald Trump’s campaign, the group has since seen its membership significantly decline as members seek to curry political favor with the man they once decried.
Max Boot however is still there. In his book “The Corrosion of Conservatism” he explains why he opposed Donald Trump then and now, as well as providing a timeline for his own history wth conservatism.
It’s difficult to read Boot and not have a great deal of admiration for him. Once a staunch defender of the Iraq war and with impeccable conservative bonafides, the rise of Donald Trump and his authoritarian tendencies shook him.
Looking around him at how many of his colleagues and conservative friends so quickly and readily abandoned their principles to throw in their lot with this president forced him to reexamine his own beliefs that had gone unquestioned for the entirety of his political life.
Make no mistake, Boot does not claim to be a Democrat now, nor does he abandon what he believes to be true conservative principles such as limited government, a strong national defense, and fiscal responsibility. However the advent of Donald Trump made him reconsider the importance of some forms of gun control, environmental protection, racism, police brutality, and other social issues that many conservatives would never touch.
It should also be said that for his trouble, Boot is now persona non grata on both the right and the left. The former considers him “crazy”, and someone so unprincipled that he will “say anything”, while the left sees his political awakening as too little too late as he was a prominent supporter of the second Iraq war which he now admits he was wrong (I think Boot should be applauded for admitting his error no matter how long it took him but his reason that over 70% of Americans agreed with him at the time is not a particularly valid or honorable one).
Personally, I feel like Boot has performed an important service with this book that amounts to an apology/memoir. Boot doesn’t break much new ground as far as listing some of the more egregious lapses of civility and democratic norms but this is a book about Boot’s journey and moral courage as much as it is about Donald Trump the man.
All too often we criticize cravenness in politics where politicians and pundits say whatever is necessary to preserve their access to power, irrespective of whether they truly believe what they say but we rarely give enough credit to those who do the opposite. I do not agree with some of Boot’s political positions but I admire his integrity and his willingness to allow the possibility that he was wrong. It takes an incredible amount of courage, something sadly in short supply in 2018, and it makes this book a truly fascinating read.
One of the more interesting side effects of the Donald Trump presidential campaign and presidency is the #nevertrump phenomenon. Made up of a large group of prominent conservatives pundits and politicians (such as Lindsay Graham who famously said choosing between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz is like “being shot or poisoned, what does it matter?”) who were aghast at the spectacle of Donald Trump’s campaign, the group has since seen its membership significantly decline as members seek to curry political favor with the man they once decried.
Max Boot however is still there. In his book “The Corrosion of Conservatism” he explains why he opposed Donald Trump then and now, as well as providing a timeline for his own history wth conservatism.
It’s difficult to read Boot and not have a great deal of admiration for him. Once a staunch defender of the Iraq war and with impeccable conservative bonafides, the rise of Donald Trump and his authoritarian tendencies shook him.
Looking around him at how many of his colleagues and conservative friends so quickly and readily abandoned their principles to throw in their lot with this president forced him to reexamine his own beliefs that had gone unquestioned for the entirety of his political life.
Make no mistake, Boot does not claim to be a Democrat now, nor does he abandon what he believes to be true conservative principles such as limited government, a strong national defense, and fiscal responsibility. However the advent of Donald Trump made him reconsider the importance of some forms of gun control, environmental protection, racism, police brutality, and other social issues that many conservatives would never touch.
It should also be said that for his trouble, Boot is now persona non grata on both the right and the left. The former considers him “crazy”, and someone so unprincipled that he will “say anything”, while the left sees his political awakening as too little too late as he was a prominent supporter of the second Iraq war which he now admits he was wrong (I think Boot should be applauded for admitting his error no matter how long it took him but his reason that over 70% of Americans agreed with him at the time is not a particularly valid or honorable one).
Personally, I feel like Boot has performed an important service with this book that amounts to an apology/memoir. Boot doesn’t break much new ground as far as listing some of the more egregious lapses of civility and democratic norms but this is a book about Boot’s journey and moral courage as much as it is about Donald Trump the man.
All too often we criticize cravenness in politics where politicians and pundits say whatever is necessary to preserve their access to power, irrespective of whether they truly believe what they say but we rarely give enough credit to those who do the opposite. I do not agree with some of Boot’s political positions but I admire his integrity and his willingness to allow the possibility that he was wrong. It takes an incredible amount of courage, something sadly in short supply in 2018, and it makes this book a truly fascinating read.
October 25, 2020
Max Boot—a (neo)conservative editorialist, foreign policy analyst, military historian, and self-described political rōnin—is among the most prominent of the “Never Trumpers”: a disappointingly small band of conservative holdouts who vocally opposed Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016 and who view his presidency as a disaster for American conservatism, American constitutional democracy, and American statecraft. The Corrosion of Conservatism is Boot’s attempt to sort out just how the party of Lincoln, Roosevelt, Eisenhower, and Reagan was conquered by a lewd, lecherous, vacuous, bloated, bloviating, perfidious, mountebanking, malignantly-narcissistic, badly-spray tanned, bigoted, bastardly son of a bitch—and to suggest a way forward for his fellow political vagrants.
Boot and I have followed a similar ideological trajectory, even though we’re from different generations and no one would pay money to read my opinion about anything. We were both enthusiasts of military history as children and came to conservative politics by way of that historical perspective. We were both immersed in partisan Republican circles during our college years, and idolized Ronald Reagan for his optimism, idealism, and moral courage (even though I was born after Reagan left office). We both largely agreed with various conservative orthodoxies—an appreciation of the Constitutional order, limited and decentralized government, free trade, free enterprise, economic opportunity, individual rights, and equality under the law—but were uncomfortable with the ideological zealotry, conspiratorial thinking, and underhanded appeals to racists and nativists undertaken by figures like Barry Goldwater and Pat Buchanan. We were both dismayed to watch the Republican establishment capitulate as Trump stormed the GOP in 2016, monopolizing media publicity in a crowded primary field by making a litany of outrageous, insane, and counterfactual statements. We both supported Clinton in the general election and left the GOP behind in wake of the Trump phenomenon (I have him beat in this regard: he left the party after Trump won the presidency, while I left it after he became the Republican nominee) and joined the ranks of the politically unaffiliated; resented by two militantly-polarized tribes in a political climate that resembles the plot of Lord of the Flies on a national scale.
To be sure, we have differences. Boot was, and remains, far more hawkish than I; which I think is largely explainable by the fact that Boot is the child of Soviet emigrants and associates neoconservative foreign policy with the rollback of communism, the disintegration of the Soviet Empire, and the liberation of eastern Europe, while I came home from high school every day and turned on the news to hear of more American soldiers killed by roadside bombs in Iraq in service of unclear, idealistic, and practically unobtainable objectives. I don’t fault him for supporting the war (along with about 70% of the American public and both houses of Congress), but I think that even while he astutely finds precursors to Trumpism in the law-and-order segregationists of the 1960s, the John Birch Society, and the Know-Nothing movement of the nineteenth century, he underappreciates the extent to which divisions between the foreign policy establishment and the American electorate were exacerbated by the military interventions of the Bush and Obama administrations, and the credibility this division lent to Trump’s pitting of the red-blooded American interior against coastal elites with questionable interests.
Boot faults Trump for never having visited a war zone, even though most Americans would find it to Trump’s credit that he hasn’t created any new war zones to visit—except maybe Portland and Charlottesville. Incredibly, Boot even expresses alarm at Trump’s questioning of “why America’s sons should fight for Montenegro” under the mutual-defense provision of Article V of the NATO charter. Only a very insulated foreign policy wonk would find this an unreasonable question to ask nearly thirty years after the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact.
Still, his indictments of Trump’s many personal and political malfeasances ring true; as does his realization that the extremist, racist, nativist element of American conservatism has been a feature of our politics for a very long time: hitherto being ignored, placated, or subtly encouraged by the party establishments. What party leaders said implicitly, Trump made explicit. Trump beat the populists at their own game, using his ruthless, amoral, and authoritarian personality to take positions more extreme than other candidates could match. In 2016, the Reaganite GOP establishment was finally overthrown by an extremist movement it had helped cultivate, and on which it had previously ridden to electoral success.
Boot thinks the only way to defeat Trumpism is to destroy the Republican Party. He encourages us to vote against every Republican candidate, in every election, at every level of government, until we have a center-right party—either a purged GOP or a new party—that is “free of any taint of Trumpism.” I don’t agree with this. I think such an approach implicitly gives Trump more authority than he actually has. We have three branches of government at the federal level, each one sovereign and independent, and our country is a union of states, each of which chooses its own government to fulfill its own needs. Congress “leads” the country just as much as the President does, even though the President gets more attention because he’s one person. It wouldn’t make any sense to vote against a congressional, gubernatorial, or state legislature candidate with whom your views align merely to “send a message” to the President. If you don’t like Trumpian rhetoric, take that into account, along with each candidate’s policy views and personal background, when deciding who to vote for. Don’t punish decent people for the wrongdoings of indecent people.
Senate Democrats made that mistake with the confirmation process of Supreme Court Nominee (now Supreme Court Justice) Brett Kavanaugh. With a nakedly-partisan media establishment at their backs, they propagated ludicrous and vicious lies about a man who had a moderately conservative legal philosophy and lived a relatively inoffensive personal life—all because he had committed the sacrilege of accepting a promotion from the President. If the results of yesterday’s Senate elections are any indication, this callousness backfired spectacularly.
The antidote to Trumpism is not a visceral, hysterical reaction against anything associated with Trump; it’s simple honesty and independence of thought.
Boot and I have followed a similar ideological trajectory, even though we’re from different generations and no one would pay money to read my opinion about anything. We were both enthusiasts of military history as children and came to conservative politics by way of that historical perspective. We were both immersed in partisan Republican circles during our college years, and idolized Ronald Reagan for his optimism, idealism, and moral courage (even though I was born after Reagan left office). We both largely agreed with various conservative orthodoxies—an appreciation of the Constitutional order, limited and decentralized government, free trade, free enterprise, economic opportunity, individual rights, and equality under the law—but were uncomfortable with the ideological zealotry, conspiratorial thinking, and underhanded appeals to racists and nativists undertaken by figures like Barry Goldwater and Pat Buchanan. We were both dismayed to watch the Republican establishment capitulate as Trump stormed the GOP in 2016, monopolizing media publicity in a crowded primary field by making a litany of outrageous, insane, and counterfactual statements. We both supported Clinton in the general election and left the GOP behind in wake of the Trump phenomenon (I have him beat in this regard: he left the party after Trump won the presidency, while I left it after he became the Republican nominee) and joined the ranks of the politically unaffiliated; resented by two militantly-polarized tribes in a political climate that resembles the plot of Lord of the Flies on a national scale.
To be sure, we have differences. Boot was, and remains, far more hawkish than I; which I think is largely explainable by the fact that Boot is the child of Soviet emigrants and associates neoconservative foreign policy with the rollback of communism, the disintegration of the Soviet Empire, and the liberation of eastern Europe, while I came home from high school every day and turned on the news to hear of more American soldiers killed by roadside bombs in Iraq in service of unclear, idealistic, and practically unobtainable objectives. I don’t fault him for supporting the war (along with about 70% of the American public and both houses of Congress), but I think that even while he astutely finds precursors to Trumpism in the law-and-order segregationists of the 1960s, the John Birch Society, and the Know-Nothing movement of the nineteenth century, he underappreciates the extent to which divisions between the foreign policy establishment and the American electorate were exacerbated by the military interventions of the Bush and Obama administrations, and the credibility this division lent to Trump’s pitting of the red-blooded American interior against coastal elites with questionable interests.
Boot faults Trump for never having visited a war zone, even though most Americans would find it to Trump’s credit that he hasn’t created any new war zones to visit—except maybe Portland and Charlottesville. Incredibly, Boot even expresses alarm at Trump’s questioning of “why America’s sons should fight for Montenegro” under the mutual-defense provision of Article V of the NATO charter. Only a very insulated foreign policy wonk would find this an unreasonable question to ask nearly thirty years after the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact.
Still, his indictments of Trump’s many personal and political malfeasances ring true; as does his realization that the extremist, racist, nativist element of American conservatism has been a feature of our politics for a very long time: hitherto being ignored, placated, or subtly encouraged by the party establishments. What party leaders said implicitly, Trump made explicit. Trump beat the populists at their own game, using his ruthless, amoral, and authoritarian personality to take positions more extreme than other candidates could match. In 2016, the Reaganite GOP establishment was finally overthrown by an extremist movement it had helped cultivate, and on which it had previously ridden to electoral success.
Boot thinks the only way to defeat Trumpism is to destroy the Republican Party. He encourages us to vote against every Republican candidate, in every election, at every level of government, until we have a center-right party—either a purged GOP or a new party—that is “free of any taint of Trumpism.” I don’t agree with this. I think such an approach implicitly gives Trump more authority than he actually has. We have three branches of government at the federal level, each one sovereign and independent, and our country is a union of states, each of which chooses its own government to fulfill its own needs. Congress “leads” the country just as much as the President does, even though the President gets more attention because he’s one person. It wouldn’t make any sense to vote against a congressional, gubernatorial, or state legislature candidate with whom your views align merely to “send a message” to the President. If you don’t like Trumpian rhetoric, take that into account, along with each candidate’s policy views and personal background, when deciding who to vote for. Don’t punish decent people for the wrongdoings of indecent people.
Senate Democrats made that mistake with the confirmation process of Supreme Court Nominee (now Supreme Court Justice) Brett Kavanaugh. With a nakedly-partisan media establishment at their backs, they propagated ludicrous and vicious lies about a man who had a moderately conservative legal philosophy and lived a relatively inoffensive personal life—all because he had committed the sacrilege of accepting a promotion from the President. If the results of yesterday’s Senate elections are any indication, this callousness backfired spectacularly.
The antidote to Trumpism is not a visceral, hysterical reaction against anything associated with Trump; it’s simple honesty and independence of thought.
October 25, 2018
A recent genre of political book is that of the disgusted conservative chastising his party for it's obvious sins, failures, and mistakes (primarily it's overwhelming embrace of the politics of Donald Trump).
I've read some of these books and have found some to be mostly good (David Frums wonderfully written "Trumpocracy") and others to be mostly bad (Jeff Flakes forgettable and weak "conscious of a Conservative"). I feel the main problem that these books can have is the degree of which the author is willing to pour gasoline on their connection to the Conservative political movement. If they hold back on the gas, their message will be weak and their criticism poor. Too much, and they will be ostracized by their party and friends (of course their book will also be a LOT better).
I'd say that Max Boot has few reservations about dousing the GOP in gasoline and lighting them on fire: he's already left the party. He's already been attacked by it's trolls and media personalitys. He's no longer welcome in it's media, invited to it's think tanks, or eligible for employment by it's political candidates.
In that respect, coming from a conservative and lifelong republican, this book is uniquely critical of the GOP. It urges all people disgusted by Donald Trump and the actions of the GOP to vote a solid blue ticket to break the Republican party so it can be either remade as a Center-Right party or replaced by a new Center-Right party.
It attacks not only Donald Trump and his sicophant followers, but the Conservative media that backed and empowered both him and his followers (Fox News is particularly singled out).
Most importantly, it attacks the modern conservative movement. It denouncing the father of the movement Barry Goldwater, and lamenting the loss of moderates like Eisenhower. He attacks it's embrace of conspiracy theories and pseudoscience. He also pushes for policy that has been flatly rejected by the Republican party: restrictions on gun ownership, environmental protection, preserving our social saftey net, and a recognition the global warming is an essential threat to our future.
He even admits that his support for the Iraq war was a mistake
It's all very inspiring, but it doesn't exactly suck me in. I found his criticism of Social Democracy and Progressives (like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren) to be weak. He does not give an alternative conservative model to fix our Healthcare system to reign in our excessive costs. He does not tackle the issue of income inequality whatsoever. And finally, he ignores that the Democratic establishment is anything but progressive: they are mostly moderates like him.
When it comes to Healthcare and economic policy, I have no doubt that Max and I heavily disagree. However, if his vision of a Center-Right party became a reality I feel that the kind of Social Democracy I advocate would be more possible..... Because I feel from this piece that Max is a person who is willing to hear out alternative arguments from the left.
That's not much, but I'll take it. Check this book out for a breath of fresh air from a conservative
4/5
I've read some of these books and have found some to be mostly good (David Frums wonderfully written "Trumpocracy") and others to be mostly bad (Jeff Flakes forgettable and weak "conscious of a Conservative"). I feel the main problem that these books can have is the degree of which the author is willing to pour gasoline on their connection to the Conservative political movement. If they hold back on the gas, their message will be weak and their criticism poor. Too much, and they will be ostracized by their party and friends (of course their book will also be a LOT better).
I'd say that Max Boot has few reservations about dousing the GOP in gasoline and lighting them on fire: he's already left the party. He's already been attacked by it's trolls and media personalitys. He's no longer welcome in it's media, invited to it's think tanks, or eligible for employment by it's political candidates.
In that respect, coming from a conservative and lifelong republican, this book is uniquely critical of the GOP. It urges all people disgusted by Donald Trump and the actions of the GOP to vote a solid blue ticket to break the Republican party so it can be either remade as a Center-Right party or replaced by a new Center-Right party.
It attacks not only Donald Trump and his sicophant followers, but the Conservative media that backed and empowered both him and his followers (Fox News is particularly singled out).
Most importantly, it attacks the modern conservative movement. It denouncing the father of the movement Barry Goldwater, and lamenting the loss of moderates like Eisenhower. He attacks it's embrace of conspiracy theories and pseudoscience. He also pushes for policy that has been flatly rejected by the Republican party: restrictions on gun ownership, environmental protection, preserving our social saftey net, and a recognition the global warming is an essential threat to our future.
He even admits that his support for the Iraq war was a mistake
It's all very inspiring, but it doesn't exactly suck me in. I found his criticism of Social Democracy and Progressives (like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren) to be weak. He does not give an alternative conservative model to fix our Healthcare system to reign in our excessive costs. He does not tackle the issue of income inequality whatsoever. And finally, he ignores that the Democratic establishment is anything but progressive: they are mostly moderates like him.
When it comes to Healthcare and economic policy, I have no doubt that Max and I heavily disagree. However, if his vision of a Center-Right party became a reality I feel that the kind of Social Democracy I advocate would be more possible..... Because I feel from this piece that Max is a person who is willing to hear out alternative arguments from the left.
That's not much, but I'll take it. Check this book out for a breath of fresh air from a conservative
4/5
December 2, 2018
Conservative apologia is its own sub-genre in the wake of the 2016 election and while these pieces have usually taken the form of tweet storms and hand wringing columns in the back pages of seemingly serious publications, Boot has turned his into an entire book. It's a quick tale, not terribly well written, with a penchant for Buckley's high minded wordishness, minus the verve.
The first few chapters are a breezy personal history about how a Russian, Jewish immigrant came to find himself under the thrall of a post-Watergate, Reagan-era Republican party. Then there's a few chapters cataloging the crimes of Trump and what Boot calls the "Toadies" who enabled him that will be familiar to anyone who's maintained even a passing familiarity with the news over the last few years.
The penultimate chapter, cataloging the rise of Trumpism, is easily the best in the book and worth a read for a clear eyed view of how the Republican party veered from right-leaning to full on batshit insane in the half century since Goldwater got crushed but ultimately redirected the course of American politics. It won't be new to anyone with a sense of 20th century American history but I appreciated at least how Boot was willing to examine just what's happened to his party. While he includes the right wing media in his catalog, he's silent on the equally pernicious rise of dark money and the toll its taken on our politics.
Unfortunately, reading his epilogue serves as an example of how frustrating the way forward will be for Boot and his fellow former Republicans and #neverTrumpers. Boot bemoans he's a man without a party now (along with folks like Bill Kristol, David Frum, and Tom Nichols) and then lists a set of positions from abortion to climate change to gun control to international conflict that seem to rest squarely within the center-right wing of the Democratic party. But Boot, like decades of Republicans, seems to have constructed a Democratic party that exists not in reality but in their own semi-paranoid imaginations. Count how many times he mentions Bernie Sanders who, last I checked, is not an actual Democrat.
The biggest problem for this small cadre of "centrists" or "independents" or "socially liberal, fiscally conservative" types isn't so much that they are men without a party but they are a party without a constituency. Trumpism (and its handmaid McConnellism) have laid bare that what's been accepted as conservative orthodoxy for decades is little more than talk, and mostly a lot of bullshit. Conservative intellectuals have convinced themselves their ideas of fiscal austerity, small government, personal liberty are what's been the engine of their party since the second world war when in reality Republicans have long since aligned on a platform that roughly boils down to white identity politics. The actual Republican party hasn't much cared for the policy goals espoused by conservative writers like Boot and are, in fact, more likely to be "socially conservative, fiscally liberal" -- so long as all that deficit spending isn't going to anyone who's not white.
As a bit of personal history, Boot's book is fine if not terribly interesting. As an upbraiding of the enablers who stand by Trump, a depressing reminder of what we have to dig out of. As a brief history of how Republicans brought themselves to this gaping maw, well at least they've started to pay attention. I can't say I find this hopeful, exactly, but I certainly wish comrade Boot will reconsider his self-exile and take a look at what Democrats actually stand for.
The first few chapters are a breezy personal history about how a Russian, Jewish immigrant came to find himself under the thrall of a post-Watergate, Reagan-era Republican party. Then there's a few chapters cataloging the crimes of Trump and what Boot calls the "Toadies" who enabled him that will be familiar to anyone who's maintained even a passing familiarity with the news over the last few years.
The penultimate chapter, cataloging the rise of Trumpism, is easily the best in the book and worth a read for a clear eyed view of how the Republican party veered from right-leaning to full on batshit insane in the half century since Goldwater got crushed but ultimately redirected the course of American politics. It won't be new to anyone with a sense of 20th century American history but I appreciated at least how Boot was willing to examine just what's happened to his party. While he includes the right wing media in his catalog, he's silent on the equally pernicious rise of dark money and the toll its taken on our politics.
Unfortunately, reading his epilogue serves as an example of how frustrating the way forward will be for Boot and his fellow former Republicans and #neverTrumpers. Boot bemoans he's a man without a party now (along with folks like Bill Kristol, David Frum, and Tom Nichols) and then lists a set of positions from abortion to climate change to gun control to international conflict that seem to rest squarely within the center-right wing of the Democratic party. But Boot, like decades of Republicans, seems to have constructed a Democratic party that exists not in reality but in their own semi-paranoid imaginations. Count how many times he mentions Bernie Sanders who, last I checked, is not an actual Democrat.
The biggest problem for this small cadre of "centrists" or "independents" or "socially liberal, fiscally conservative" types isn't so much that they are men without a party but they are a party without a constituency. Trumpism (and its handmaid McConnellism) have laid bare that what's been accepted as conservative orthodoxy for decades is little more than talk, and mostly a lot of bullshit. Conservative intellectuals have convinced themselves their ideas of fiscal austerity, small government, personal liberty are what's been the engine of their party since the second world war when in reality Republicans have long since aligned on a platform that roughly boils down to white identity politics. The actual Republican party hasn't much cared for the policy goals espoused by conservative writers like Boot and are, in fact, more likely to be "socially conservative, fiscally liberal" -- so long as all that deficit spending isn't going to anyone who's not white.
As a bit of personal history, Boot's book is fine if not terribly interesting. As an upbraiding of the enablers who stand by Trump, a depressing reminder of what we have to dig out of. As a brief history of how Republicans brought themselves to this gaping maw, well at least they've started to pay attention. I can't say I find this hopeful, exactly, but I certainly wish comrade Boot will reconsider his self-exile and take a look at what Democrats actually stand for.
October 13, 2018
Democrats Should Not Gloat
Careful with this one. Max lists his core principles towards the end, all fairly mainstream views, and each popular in its own right. I read it and thought - yes, these are all acceptable to the Democratic platform... but he’s not convinced of that. The more I think about it, neither am I.
I’m still sending a copy to my brother-in-law. Democrats shouldn’t gloat, but Republicans won’t exactly enjoy this either.
Careful with this one. Max lists his core principles towards the end, all fairly mainstream views, and each popular in its own right. I read it and thought - yes, these are all acceptable to the Democratic platform... but he’s not convinced of that. The more I think about it, neither am I.
I’m still sending a copy to my brother-in-law. Democrats shouldn’t gloat, but Republicans won’t exactly enjoy this either.
November 18, 2022
I am very interested in this sub-genre of book because even though I am politically liberal, I think it's incredibly important that the United States restore a center-right party. A democracy just can't function long-term with one center-left party and one radically far-right party, so it's vital that conservatives take a hard look at what has happened to their movement. WHile there are aspects of Boot's book that I disagree with, it is a genuinely tough reassessment of conservatism from a now "classical liberal" and vehement anti-Trumper.
Boot starts with an illuminating account of how he became a conservative in the first place. He was an immigrant kid from Russia who really fell in love with Reagan-era conservatism and ideological combat at an early age, working his way up through conservative institutions like the Wall Street Journal. Boot was attracted to a movement that defied communism, offered optimism and pride rather than Trumpian rage, and was slowly moving toward more inclusiveness. However, Boot acknowledges that there were always darker streams of intolerance, ignorance, and anger built into the conservative movement, something he missed during his youth. Reagan, for instance, announced his 1980 presidential campaign at an all-white fair in Neshoba county, MS, where he proclaimed the importance of states' rights. This was where 3 civil rights workers were murdered by the KKK in the early 1960s, so Reagan was signaling to white voters that he was not going to push a civil rights agenda. Boot thus admits that Trump didn't come out of nowhere but intensified existing strands in the movement, which then overwhelmed the more establishment Reaganism.
I was impressed also by Boot's reconsideration of gender, race, and sexuality issues. I'm not just saying this because he's drifted closer to my opinions but because it is hard to admit you are wrong, especially in a public way, and he's not a straight-up liberal like me either but more of a centrist. However, he admits that the colorblind conservatism he grew up with doesn't take enough account of the way that black people are treated in our society (cell phone videos of police shootings were huge for him), and the actual popularity of Trumpian racism showed just how alive and well racial hatred was in the US. He recognizes similar realities for gender and sexuality, and he declares himself pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, and pro mainstream feminism.
When someone bursts out of their ideological bubble like this, it's important to not smack them in the face with frustration. People grow and change; it's healthy, and Boot has changed in a positive direction. Trump clearly revealed to him the corrosion of his movement, as virtually the entire political establishment and most of the intellectuals of the movement either embraced him or caved in over time. However, I still would have liked to see more reflection about his pro-imperialism days and vehement support for the Iraq War. The backlash at the war's failure and unnecessary nature helped fuel the Trumpian revolt against the GOP establishment and the neo-isolationism of his admin, and if boot wants to make hte case that the US should remain the linchpin of the liberal int'l order, he needs to reckon with this reality. Moreover, it was odd to me that he says he's politically homeless now. A lot of his positions fit the moderate liberalism of someone like Biden. Boot disingenuously says that the energy has shifted to the Sanders-ite far left in the Democratic Party even though primary voters rejected Sanders twice in favor of mainstream liberals. The truth is that while polarization is happening, the right/GOP has become far more extreme than the Democrats, leaving them as the only real option for resisting the GOP. To be fair to boot, he does say at the end that it is justified to vote reflexively for the Democrats until the Trumpianism is beaten out of the Democratic Party.
This is a more ideas-focused version of Tim Miller or Stuart Stevens' books, which are both very good. Boot isn't as entertaining as those guys, who are political operatives with big personalities. I've read a lot of Boot for my research on ideas and USFP, and this book is interesting for those who want to unpack the intellectual evolution of neoconservatism, especially its continuing moderation in domestic politics.
Boot starts with an illuminating account of how he became a conservative in the first place. He was an immigrant kid from Russia who really fell in love with Reagan-era conservatism and ideological combat at an early age, working his way up through conservative institutions like the Wall Street Journal. Boot was attracted to a movement that defied communism, offered optimism and pride rather than Trumpian rage, and was slowly moving toward more inclusiveness. However, Boot acknowledges that there were always darker streams of intolerance, ignorance, and anger built into the conservative movement, something he missed during his youth. Reagan, for instance, announced his 1980 presidential campaign at an all-white fair in Neshoba county, MS, where he proclaimed the importance of states' rights. This was where 3 civil rights workers were murdered by the KKK in the early 1960s, so Reagan was signaling to white voters that he was not going to push a civil rights agenda. Boot thus admits that Trump didn't come out of nowhere but intensified existing strands in the movement, which then overwhelmed the more establishment Reaganism.
I was impressed also by Boot's reconsideration of gender, race, and sexuality issues. I'm not just saying this because he's drifted closer to my opinions but because it is hard to admit you are wrong, especially in a public way, and he's not a straight-up liberal like me either but more of a centrist. However, he admits that the colorblind conservatism he grew up with doesn't take enough account of the way that black people are treated in our society (cell phone videos of police shootings were huge for him), and the actual popularity of Trumpian racism showed just how alive and well racial hatred was in the US. He recognizes similar realities for gender and sexuality, and he declares himself pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, and pro mainstream feminism.
When someone bursts out of their ideological bubble like this, it's important to not smack them in the face with frustration. People grow and change; it's healthy, and Boot has changed in a positive direction. Trump clearly revealed to him the corrosion of his movement, as virtually the entire political establishment and most of the intellectuals of the movement either embraced him or caved in over time. However, I still would have liked to see more reflection about his pro-imperialism days and vehement support for the Iraq War. The backlash at the war's failure and unnecessary nature helped fuel the Trumpian revolt against the GOP establishment and the neo-isolationism of his admin, and if boot wants to make hte case that the US should remain the linchpin of the liberal int'l order, he needs to reckon with this reality. Moreover, it was odd to me that he says he's politically homeless now. A lot of his positions fit the moderate liberalism of someone like Biden. Boot disingenuously says that the energy has shifted to the Sanders-ite far left in the Democratic Party even though primary voters rejected Sanders twice in favor of mainstream liberals. The truth is that while polarization is happening, the right/GOP has become far more extreme than the Democrats, leaving them as the only real option for resisting the GOP. To be fair to boot, he does say at the end that it is justified to vote reflexively for the Democrats until the Trumpianism is beaten out of the Democratic Party.
This is a more ideas-focused version of Tim Miller or Stuart Stevens' books, which are both very good. Boot isn't as entertaining as those guys, who are political operatives with big personalities. I've read a lot of Boot for my research on ideas and USFP, and this book is interesting for those who want to unpack the intellectual evolution of neoconservatism, especially its continuing moderation in domestic politics.
April 17, 2024
I wasn't very impressed with this book. There are few new policy ideas and the personal narrative is not all that compelling. Jonah Goldberg's Suicide of the West provides a much better analysis of how Trump took over the Republican party and why traditional leaders were so powerless to stop him.
On the other hand, as a personal narrative about coming of age in America this book feels strangely lifeless. There are precious few first-person anecdotes and Max Boot seems guarded, reluctant to reveal too much of himself. The one person who really jumps off the page is Max Boot's father. Apparently the two of them never got along. Boot's father was a Russian immigrant, and young Max talks on and on (and on) about all the great opportunities his parents found in America. But evidently his father abandoned the family early on, and later found the "opportunity" for plenty of drinking, loafing about, and womanizing. Max Boot's hatred for Donald Trump appears in a different light when you read about his father. But this kind of self-analysis is beyond him. There are few personal insights in this book and the author lacks humor, perspective, and self-awareness.
Plenty of cheap shots at Sarah Palin, lots of fawning over big strong daddies like John McCain. Max Boot does not come across as particularly strong-willed or intelligent, and it's easy to see why he resents Donald Trump's popularity with the masses. He sneers at Trump for never wanting to make a sacrifice for anyone but himself, yet his own (fairly undistinguished) life, like Trump's, has been a miracle of white male privilege. It's impossible to imagine Donald Trump in the amputee wing of a VA hospital, sharing stories with young men shattered by the Iraq War. But Max Boot doesn't do that sort of thing either. Instead he keeps making excuses ("everyone supported the war . . . at the beginning") and longing for the return of nice white daddies like Ronald Reagan and Dwight D. Eisenhower.
What is it with this guy and daddies?
On the other hand, as a personal narrative about coming of age in America this book feels strangely lifeless. There are precious few first-person anecdotes and Max Boot seems guarded, reluctant to reveal too much of himself. The one person who really jumps off the page is Max Boot's father. Apparently the two of them never got along. Boot's father was a Russian immigrant, and young Max talks on and on (and on) about all the great opportunities his parents found in America. But evidently his father abandoned the family early on, and later found the "opportunity" for plenty of drinking, loafing about, and womanizing. Max Boot's hatred for Donald Trump appears in a different light when you read about his father. But this kind of self-analysis is beyond him. There are few personal insights in this book and the author lacks humor, perspective, and self-awareness.
Plenty of cheap shots at Sarah Palin, lots of fawning over big strong daddies like John McCain. Max Boot does not come across as particularly strong-willed or intelligent, and it's easy to see why he resents Donald Trump's popularity with the masses. He sneers at Trump for never wanting to make a sacrifice for anyone but himself, yet his own (fairly undistinguished) life, like Trump's, has been a miracle of white male privilege. It's impossible to imagine Donald Trump in the amputee wing of a VA hospital, sharing stories with young men shattered by the Iraq War. But Max Boot doesn't do that sort of thing either. Instead he keeps making excuses ("everyone supported the war . . . at the beginning") and longing for the return of nice white daddies like Ronald Reagan and Dwight D. Eisenhower.
What is it with this guy and daddies?
October 27, 2018
"I was and remain furious at what Trump is doing to our democracy and how he is demonizing the most vulnerable among us. And I'm angry with all those people who are *not* angry--who are, in fact, complacent in the face of his attack on our institutions or even serve as his willing accomplices."
February 23, 2019
It's so hard to feel sorry for them. I try. But I just can't. Conservatives are living their dream and finding it a nightmare. Boo freaking boo.
January 22, 2023
Good riddance. Max Boot is about as "conservative" as Leon Trotsky. Any movement that freezes out insane warmongers like him and his fellow neoconservative ilk and makes them feel unwelcome is an excellent development. It's also clear from this book that the only thing this "conservative" actually cares about conserving is Israel, and his only regard for the United States of America is how much it can be used as a vehicle to advance Israeli interests.
December 31, 2020
It’s an OK book. Max does his best “surprised Pikachu face” at the fact that the conservative party he loved and grew up with In the 60s and 70s is no longer the conservative party it is today. Max seems like a reasonable person, he’s very well read, and his writing is good, I just don’t think he says anything you can’t find in 100 other places. Trump bad, conservative party changed, here’s your wake up call.
May 5, 2021
This book summarizes my political beliefs as well as my journey from being conservative to becoming an independent-liberal. Trump is killing the party that I used to love and vote for, after what happened in the U.S. Capital on January 6th, the party, that I looked up to, set on the beliefs and principles of Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant. Were no more. Until the Republican Party kicks the Trumpists out, they will not get my vote.
May 8, 2019
I know that many people don't think Max Boot should get credit for realizing what everyone to the left of Attila the Hun has known for decades. I do give him credit because the number of people who have changed their minds on important things is about the number who know who Attila the Hun is.
November 20, 2018
This was an honest book. Max did not try to sanitise his history, he admitted past mistakes and showed how absurd the current state of the Republican party is, so absurd to necessitate his departure from being a life member to being an independent.
I read this not because of I like seeing Trump pilloried but because I was interested in seeing how Regan Republicans are coping with the take over of their party. True believers like Boot chose to leave and true politicians who are ever cognizant on where the wind is blowing chose to adjust their sails and kow tow to the Donald. It all boils down to your internal architecture I guess.
The best part of the book was towards the end where Max wrote what he believed in a series of points and challenged the reader to classify him. He would mostly fall in the center right or center left where the majority falls. Unfortunately America is now captive to extremists. Since Fukuyama's End of History, the benefits of democracy have been parroted the world over and everyone forgot it's soft underbelly; its prone to capture by salesmen. People who tell electorate what they want to hear and divorced from reality eventually lead them to a greased decline into bankruptcy and ruin. We are living in interesting times and are seeing a new era emerging to replace the post world war two structure, lets wait and see...
Ps; if you are also interested in seeing Trump's failings, they are cataloged extensively in this book, its just that I think we are all suffering from rage fatigue and when you come across the chapters, you are like, he did what? ok and then what? well... live and let live.
I read this not because of I like seeing Trump pilloried but because I was interested in seeing how Regan Republicans are coping with the take over of their party. True believers like Boot chose to leave and true politicians who are ever cognizant on where the wind is blowing chose to adjust their sails and kow tow to the Donald. It all boils down to your internal architecture I guess.
The best part of the book was towards the end where Max wrote what he believed in a series of points and challenged the reader to classify him. He would mostly fall in the center right or center left where the majority falls. Unfortunately America is now captive to extremists. Since Fukuyama's End of History, the benefits of democracy have been parroted the world over and everyone forgot it's soft underbelly; its prone to capture by salesmen. People who tell electorate what they want to hear and divorced from reality eventually lead them to a greased decline into bankruptcy and ruin. We are living in interesting times and are seeing a new era emerging to replace the post world war two structure, lets wait and see...
Ps; if you are also interested in seeing Trump's failings, they are cataloged extensively in this book, its just that I think we are all suffering from rage fatigue and when you come across the chapters, you are like, he did what? ok and then what? well... live and let live.
November 17, 2018
Cathartic read for this unaffiliated American voter who once identified as a conservative Republican. Max Boot has some serious conservative bona fides and in 2016 finds himself in the leadership of a movement that has made Donald Trump its king. This is the story of how and, more critically, why he abandoned conservatism. To a certain degree it is also his explanation for what took so long. That question was of great interest to me as someone who left the movement a couple of years before the Trump Ascendancy because I find myself asking it of myself with annoying frequency.
Great read. Cruises along quite smoothly with infrequent pauses to expound over-academically. It isn't preachy or smug. Quite the opposite. I've tried to read a few different books about the Trump administration and given up on all of them for various reasons. This one was different.
Great read. Cruises along quite smoothly with infrequent pauses to expound over-academically. It isn't preachy or smug. Quite the opposite. I've tried to read a few different books about the Trump administration and given up on all of them for various reasons. This one was different.
January 31, 2019
I appreciated the honesty the author expressed in confronting his own personal history and affiliation with the Republican Party.
Admitting ones own shortcomings is difficult by nature, but it’s necessary in moving forward. I think this would be a great book for those conservatives who look in fear at what the GOP has become under President Trump.
I’d also say it’s a good place for self-proclaimed Democrats to go as they struggle to understand “the other side”.
A good starting point and pulling ones’ self away from polarization and towards a place where mutual understanding can take place.
Admitting ones own shortcomings is difficult by nature, but it’s necessary in moving forward. I think this would be a great book for those conservatives who look in fear at what the GOP has become under President Trump.
I’d also say it’s a good place for self-proclaimed Democrats to go as they struggle to understand “the other side”.
A good starting point and pulling ones’ self away from polarization and towards a place where mutual understanding can take place.
December 22, 2019
I couldn't finish this book. Too many lies and too much hubris. The author seems to think conservatism is nothing more than American Imperialism and globalization. He felt the need to abandon conservatism when it was revealed to be a rejection of those very ideas. While he partly blames himself for the election of Trump for such things as supporting the Iraqi War, as is true for any narcissist his self reflection doesn't go deep enough. It's the constant lies, manipulations, distortions and arrogance that fills this book and represents the mainstream media so well that were also decisive factors. I stopped reading about halfway through because it was such a waste of time.
November 16, 2018
Smart. Timely. Informative. And deeply depressing.
January 7, 2019
In The Corrosion of Conservatism, the condemnation of the Grand Old Party continues, this time by one of their wayward own. The author is Max Boot: an immigrant and foreign policy wonk who, in the past three years, went from working for Marco Rubio throughout the 2016 primaries to abandoning the "R" voter affiliation altogether upon Trump's victory.
The book itself is part autobiography, and succeeds in its attempt to provide conciliatory insight into how a famous neoconservative journalist became a famous neoconservative journalist. Boot, a one-time Russian immigrant, describes his attraction to conservatism as a reaction to the oppressiveness and hostility that characterized socialist Russia. He talks about reading the core curriculum of conservatism of that era, to wit: National Review and The Conscience of a Conservative. He talks about adoring Reagan, particularly Reagan's inclusiveness, and also about his successful career stemming from appointments at conservative think tanks and newspapers. Unlike many other reviewers, I really enjoyed the autobiography. It demonstrates how reasonable politics ought to be. Just like how liberals aren't just liberal so they can kill fetuses and prop up an atheistic puppet regime, most conservatives aren't conservatives because they are overtly racist, AR-15 wielding Yosemite Sam caricatures. For most voting adults, our political beliefs are situational and deeply contextual. They are evidence of a subset of reasonable desires and beliefs about the good life, and they aren't necessarily wrong at face value.
In the third section, Boot transitions away from autobiography and writes at length about the ethical dubiousness of the Republican party. Though Trump is certainly his softest and most lucrative target, Boot makes it clear that he is not just arguing about Trump. He writes,
And he's not afraid to name names. He characterizes Paul Ryan as a quitter. He calls out his old boss Marco Rubio for his about face with respect to endorsing Trump. He calls out practically all of Fox News, with the exception of Ralph Peters, the author of the now-famous resignation letter from that same studio. He gives credit to the nevertrumpers who have remained steadfast, but it is a short list. What's more, he summarizes some very interesting historical points to argue that the Republican party, practically since Lincoln, has been a party of nervous bigots.
Boot fails in this book where he failed when he was a teenager: he's too quick to make big claims. I really disliked several of the following claims that he treats as axiomatic:
and
The #MeToo movement is rife with its own problems, namely the refusal of due process (i.e. the freaky power to destroy individual reputation at the click of an accusation) and that Women's March leader who may/may not be anti-Semitic. His diatribe about police violence wasn't any better, suggesting with emotive overtones that African American men were receiving "capital punishment" on the streets for innocuous crimes. This sort of resolute mentality about police violence, particularly when men of all colors are so violent towards each other anyway, is as unproductive as when some rural republican constituency believing that Trump was appointed by God. And the comment about Hillary? People aren't intimidated by her intelligence. Many people don't like her because of the pay she received for speaking in front of bailed out banks, because she secured those superdelegate votes before the primaries had begun, because she voted for the Iraq war, because the Benghazi stuff, etc. This establishment brown-nosing just comes off as disingenuous.
I liked Boot's introspection and his historical overview of some of the real problematic threads in Conservatism. I think he's a gifted writer, and the book was a pleasure to read. I understand that the book was not about the pitfalls of any liberal agenda, and, as such, I did not expect Boot to flush out why he supports gun control or why identity politics isn't a bigger problem. Still, some of his more aggressive contrarian claims rubbed me the wrong way, and I think his larger argument suffered as a result.
The book itself is part autobiography, and succeeds in its attempt to provide conciliatory insight into how a famous neoconservative journalist became a famous neoconservative journalist. Boot, a one-time Russian immigrant, describes his attraction to conservatism as a reaction to the oppressiveness and hostility that characterized socialist Russia. He talks about reading the core curriculum of conservatism of that era, to wit: National Review and The Conscience of a Conservative. He talks about adoring Reagan, particularly Reagan's inclusiveness, and also about his successful career stemming from appointments at conservative think tanks and newspapers. Unlike many other reviewers, I really enjoyed the autobiography. It demonstrates how reasonable politics ought to be. Just like how liberals aren't just liberal so they can kill fetuses and prop up an atheistic puppet regime, most conservatives aren't conservatives because they are overtly racist, AR-15 wielding Yosemite Sam caricatures. For most voting adults, our political beliefs are situational and deeply contextual. They are evidence of a subset of reasonable desires and beliefs about the good life, and they aren't necessarily wrong at face value.
In the third section, Boot transitions away from autobiography and writes at length about the ethical dubiousness of the Republican party. Though Trump is certainly his softest and most lucrative target, Boot makes it clear that he is not just arguing about Trump. He writes,
"And I'm angry with all those people who are not angry - who are, in fact, complacent in the face of his attack on our institutions or even serve as his willing accomplices."
And he's not afraid to name names. He characterizes Paul Ryan as a quitter. He calls out his old boss Marco Rubio for his about face with respect to endorsing Trump. He calls out practically all of Fox News, with the exception of Ralph Peters, the author of the now-famous resignation letter from that same studio. He gives credit to the nevertrumpers who have remained steadfast, but it is a short list. What's more, he summarizes some very interesting historical points to argue that the Republican party, practically since Lincoln, has been a party of nervous bigots.
Boot fails in this book where he failed when he was a teenager: he's too quick to make big claims. I really disliked several of the following claims that he treats as axiomatic:
"...my beliefs are shifting because of the rise of Trumpism and other contemporary developments such as the failure of the Iraq invasion, the Great Recession of 2008-2009, the #MeToo movement, and the spread of police videotapes revealing violent racism."
and
"Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, two of the most gifted orators in Modern American politics, had won at least some of them back; Hillary Clinton - a woman whose intimidating intelligence was not leavened by a common touch - had not."
The #MeToo movement is rife with its own problems, namely the refusal of due process (i.e. the freaky power to destroy individual reputation at the click of an accusation) and that Women's March leader who may/may not be anti-Semitic. His diatribe about police violence wasn't any better, suggesting with emotive overtones that African American men were receiving "capital punishment" on the streets for innocuous crimes. This sort of resolute mentality about police violence, particularly when men of all colors are so violent towards each other anyway, is as unproductive as when some rural republican constituency believing that Trump was appointed by God. And the comment about Hillary? People aren't intimidated by her intelligence. Many people don't like her because of the pay she received for speaking in front of bailed out banks, because she secured those superdelegate votes before the primaries had begun, because she voted for the Iraq war, because the Benghazi stuff, etc. This establishment brown-nosing just comes off as disingenuous.
I liked Boot's introspection and his historical overview of some of the real problematic threads in Conservatism. I think he's a gifted writer, and the book was a pleasure to read. I understand that the book was not about the pitfalls of any liberal agenda, and, as such, I did not expect Boot to flush out why he supports gun control or why identity politics isn't a bigger problem. Still, some of his more aggressive contrarian claims rubbed me the wrong way, and I think his larger argument suffered as a result.
May 1, 2025
Waste of time. I’ll save you the time. Max didn’t say anything at all against conservatism as a viewpoint. He only criticized the Republican Party, not conservatism itself. And, his sole criticism is that Trump is a terrible person and Republicans who said they’d never support him did betray that “NeverTrump” promise and ended up (almost all of them) supporting Trump. His criticism of Trump is pretty stereotypical, he’s said and done incredibly rude things, he’s crude, he’s ignorant, he’s a terrible orator, he’s not actually firm on traditional Republican issues, he’s populist, he’s fascist, etc. etc. There’s not really much support for most of these things. In fact, sometimes he seems to brush aside any need for supporting facts and just assume that the mere possibility that Trump might’ve done something or might do something in the future, is enough to condemn him and everyone who supports him.
I feel some sympathy for this author. In 2015-16 when Trump was first running for office, I withheld support for him. And, it seriously bothered me that so many who were direct descendants of the so-called “moral majority” who condemned Clinton for his moral failures, jumped that ship to jump on the Trumpet bandwagon. It disgusts me that Liberty University’s president Jerry Falwell Jr. has a(n) (in)famous photo with Trump in Trump’s office where a Playboy magazine is prominently displayed. That a prominent Christian leader of a giant Christian school would support a man with no (apparent) moral compass is disconcerting to say the least. But, again, that’s the Religious Right and the Republican Party that has compromised, not conservatism.
Max does take some potshots at typical conservative values like support for the second amendment. Sure, he doesn’t want it to be without restrictions, even though it’s written that way, but that’s only one issue within conservatism. The only way he can really impact that issue would be to push for a constitutional amendment, which would never pass. So, in the end that’s a moot point.
If you want to read a book-length complaint about Trump without much substance to it, then this book’s perfect for you. Otherwise, skip it.
One compliment though. Max has a very broad vocabulary. I’m fairly well educated and well read, but I still had to look up several words as I read.
I feel some sympathy for this author. In 2015-16 when Trump was first running for office, I withheld support for him. And, it seriously bothered me that so many who were direct descendants of the so-called “moral majority” who condemned Clinton for his moral failures, jumped that ship to jump on the Trumpet bandwagon. It disgusts me that Liberty University’s president Jerry Falwell Jr. has a(n) (in)famous photo with Trump in Trump’s office where a Playboy magazine is prominently displayed. That a prominent Christian leader of a giant Christian school would support a man with no (apparent) moral compass is disconcerting to say the least. But, again, that’s the Religious Right and the Republican Party that has compromised, not conservatism.
Max does take some potshots at typical conservative values like support for the second amendment. Sure, he doesn’t want it to be without restrictions, even though it’s written that way, but that’s only one issue within conservatism. The only way he can really impact that issue would be to push for a constitutional amendment, which would never pass. So, in the end that’s a moot point.
If you want to read a book-length complaint about Trump without much substance to it, then this book’s perfect for you. Otherwise, skip it.
One compliment though. Max has a very broad vocabulary. I’m fairly well educated and well read, but I still had to look up several words as I read.
April 19, 2019
Published in October of 2018 by Liveright.
2016 was a moment of reckoning for political writer Max Boot. Boot wrote for all of the well-known Conservative publications - The Weekly Standard, The Wall Street Journal, etc. He appeared on TV shows and radio shows and describes himself as a "movement conservative". But, the rise of Donald Trump and his subsequent election made him change his registration from Republican to Independent in protest.
Why? In his own words: "In March 2016, I had written that Trump was a 'character test' for the GOP: 'Do you believe in the open and inclusive party of Ronald Reagan? Or do you want a bigoted and extremist party in the image of Donald Trump?' To my growing horror, most Republicans were failing the test."
I picked up this book because I felt the same way. There is no point in laying out all of arguments against Trump - everyone has heard them. Like Boot, I was dismayed that "...most Republican leaders showed that they were willing to discard their principles as mindlessly as a Styrofoam fast-food container if by doing so they could enhance their own positions and avoid the wrath of a powerful and vindictive leader."
So, like Boot, I find myself a Republican "in exile" - I have left the party. Like the Cuban exiles, I find myself on the outside looking in and wondering what the hell happened.
Over the last two and half years Mr. Boot and I have come to a lot of the same conclusions. One of them is that President Trump has brought to life a strong nativist and racist strand that was always a part of the Conservative movement, but a part that we had always assumed was a tiny and shrinking part. Instead, he has exposed it to have been just hidden away out of politeness. Boot points out: "No, not all Trump supporters are racist. But virtually all racists, it seems, are Trump supporters."
Also: "It is hard to know who is worse: Trump or...
Read more at: https://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2019...
2016 was a moment of reckoning for political writer Max Boot. Boot wrote for all of the well-known Conservative publications - The Weekly Standard, The Wall Street Journal, etc. He appeared on TV shows and radio shows and describes himself as a "movement conservative". But, the rise of Donald Trump and his subsequent election made him change his registration from Republican to Independent in protest.
Why? In his own words: "In March 2016, I had written that Trump was a 'character test' for the GOP: 'Do you believe in the open and inclusive party of Ronald Reagan? Or do you want a bigoted and extremist party in the image of Donald Trump?' To my growing horror, most Republicans were failing the test."
I picked up this book because I felt the same way. There is no point in laying out all of arguments against Trump - everyone has heard them. Like Boot, I was dismayed that "...most Republican leaders showed that they were willing to discard their principles as mindlessly as a Styrofoam fast-food container if by doing so they could enhance their own positions and avoid the wrath of a powerful and vindictive leader."
So, like Boot, I find myself a Republican "in exile" - I have left the party. Like the Cuban exiles, I find myself on the outside looking in and wondering what the hell happened.
Over the last two and half years Mr. Boot and I have come to a lot of the same conclusions. One of them is that President Trump has brought to life a strong nativist and racist strand that was always a part of the Conservative movement, but a part that we had always assumed was a tiny and shrinking part. Instead, he has exposed it to have been just hidden away out of politeness. Boot points out: "No, not all Trump supporters are racist. But virtually all racists, it seems, are Trump supporters."
Also: "It is hard to know who is worse: Trump or...
Read more at: https://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2019...
July 10, 2019
Max Boot is an all-around decent guy, a fine intellectual, a serviceable writer -- I say all these things having met the man once and, after about a ten to fifteen minute conversation, found that I disagreed with him on almost every political matter we could conceivably discuss in that amount of time, but had a far more delightful time discovering these disagreements that I ever had in an agreeable discussion with most of my liberal friends. This is because Max is what you might call a "Big Brain," an old-fashioned intellectual who thrives on the sharing of ideas via verbal and written communication, a man who is ecstatic when engaged in conversation with allies and foes, as long as the conversation is honest and truthful, the participants respectful of these ideals as well as the intellectual autonomy of each. For such a man, the ascendance of an anti-intellectual President is a historic moral outrage, one to which partisan loyalty cannot force him to bend. In this personal polemic against "Trumpism," Max provides a brief biography and personal intellectual history as background. From his days at the National Review to his time at the Wall Street journal, Max describes the exciting years of the conservative movement in the 1970s and 1980s. The sense of belonging to a true political-intellectual movement conveyed in these pages is reminiscent of the biographies of American leftists in the 1920s and even later in the 1960s. This idealism reaches its peak with the election of George W. Bush and begins it decline when military failures in Iraq and Afghanistan lead to disillusionment among some conservatives. Max and his fellow intellectuals are shocked from their self-examining torpor by the rise of populist Trump. The right-wing bookworms scurry to find a reasonable intellectual alternative to the boisterous television personality but (as we know) to little avail. The lemon-haired buffoon rises about the fray and proves himself to be the "best man" in a room of lively mannequins. After the election, unlike the majority of other Republicans and right-wingers, Max Boot refuses to bend the knee to Trump. Instead he leaves the party and drives himself into political exile. This book is possibly his first waypoint out of the darkness. Liberals and anyone else who dislikes Trump will enjoy the book. Gen-X conservatives (former and current) may enjoy the walk down memory lane. There's nothing like a judicious literary assassination from a talented writer with a brain the size of Jupiter. Max Boot delivers a kick to Trump that may ultimately be meaningless but proves to be entertaining.
June 16, 2019
As a liberal Democrat, I will say that this book was an unexpected pleasure to read. Boot’s analysis of the Republican Party is spot on. I have the impression that he hopes the party will eventually regain its sanity, but I feel certain that the hard right ideology of his former party is so baked in that it will take a miracle to resurrect it.
I enjoyed reading about his youth, college and graduate school years, and his love of history. Boot was not your typical right-winger, although he was a true believer...until he wasn’t.
Boot emigrated from the USSR to America as a child. He grew up in Southern California (a State very unlike the Deep South State of Alabama where I was raised). In a sense, California is more of a bubble than Washington, DC. It is a true laboratory of Democracy, whereas Washington is and has been a massive contradiction of competing ideologies for years. This is not to say that there aren’t extremes in California, but it is difficult to to imagine that an immigrant child growing up in Reagan’s California would not have been awestruck by the Gipper. Max Boot did not witness the hate-mongering of George Wallace, Bull Connor, Ross Barnett, and Lester Maddox and apparently was never exposed to modern Southern History as part of his studies. This is less a criticism than a recognition that his revulsion to Soviet communism may have resulted in a natural tendency to conservatism and a youthful rejection of the Democratic Party.
Boot has left the Republican Party and now considers himself to be an independent. That is a nice position that a lot of people find themselves in. I don’t especially love today’s Democratic Party and agree with Will Rogers: “I belong to no organized party. I’m a Democrat.”
Boot’s book should be on everyone’s reading list. While I disagree with some/many of his positions, his analysis of our current situation is dead on.
I enjoyed reading about his youth, college and graduate school years, and his love of history. Boot was not your typical right-winger, although he was a true believer...until he wasn’t.
Boot emigrated from the USSR to America as a child. He grew up in Southern California (a State very unlike the Deep South State of Alabama where I was raised). In a sense, California is more of a bubble than Washington, DC. It is a true laboratory of Democracy, whereas Washington is and has been a massive contradiction of competing ideologies for years. This is not to say that there aren’t extremes in California, but it is difficult to to imagine that an immigrant child growing up in Reagan’s California would not have been awestruck by the Gipper. Max Boot did not witness the hate-mongering of George Wallace, Bull Connor, Ross Barnett, and Lester Maddox and apparently was never exposed to modern Southern History as part of his studies. This is less a criticism than a recognition that his revulsion to Soviet communism may have resulted in a natural tendency to conservatism and a youthful rejection of the Democratic Party.
Boot has left the Republican Party and now considers himself to be an independent. That is a nice position that a lot of people find themselves in. I don’t especially love today’s Democratic Party and agree with Will Rogers: “I belong to no organized party. I’m a Democrat.”
Boot’s book should be on everyone’s reading list. While I disagree with some/many of his positions, his analysis of our current situation is dead on.
March 9, 2019
This is a highly personal, and lucid, account of his life as a conservative activist and his breaking point with the advent of Donald Trump. Brought to America as a child, in a family fleeing the USSR, which, he tells us, promptly adopted anti-Communism, he grew up reading the National Review and following the Ronald Reagan movement. He would become a conservative journalist and author and would be in a position to see the movement shift from principles to indoctrination. He was still a conservative -- a supporter of the war of Iraq, then -- as late as the 2016 campaign. Then came Trump, and "I assumed that Donald Duck had as much chance of becoming President as Donald Trump."
Thus begins the second half of his book and to be fair, he regarded Trump as freakish, vulgar, not at all like the conservative movement Boot had inhabited all his life. Instead, Trump became a usurper and co-opted the movement and the GOP. Boot provides an itemized and lengthy denunciation. He does provide a retrospective -- hindsight -- as to how conservatism became ripe for something like Trumpism, notably with the rise of Fox. It's no spoiler to say that Max Boot is not a Democrat but seemingly estranged, adrift. The book is well worth reading, but Democrats and progressives should not take too much schadenfreude out of it. We're all in for it now, or as H. L. Mencken put it, "Democracy is the theory that the people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard."
Thus begins the second half of his book and to be fair, he regarded Trump as freakish, vulgar, not at all like the conservative movement Boot had inhabited all his life. Instead, Trump became a usurper and co-opted the movement and the GOP. Boot provides an itemized and lengthy denunciation. He does provide a retrospective -- hindsight -- as to how conservatism became ripe for something like Trumpism, notably with the rise of Fox. It's no spoiler to say that Max Boot is not a Democrat but seemingly estranged, adrift. The book is well worth reading, but Democrats and progressives should not take too much schadenfreude out of it. We're all in for it now, or as H. L. Mencken put it, "Democracy is the theory that the people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard."
December 28, 2018
I never thought I'd be able to agree with anything arch-conservative thinker and pundit Max Boot published, but with The Corrosion of Conservatism, he's proved me wrong.
This book is concrete proof that, contrary to my own belief and proven experience, adults are, however rarely, capable of changing their hearts, minds, opinions, & beliefs. Even on long-held, heartfelt, political opinions, beliefs, and policy.
I wish Mr. Boot all the support he needs on his continuing journey to cooperation and recovery, just as I hope America receives all it needs as well to recover from our 30-plus year descent into ideological tribalism and mutually-assured political assassination. This book gives me hope it's achievable.
This book is concrete proof that, contrary to my own belief and proven experience, adults are, however rarely, capable of changing their hearts, minds, opinions, & beliefs. Even on long-held, heartfelt, political opinions, beliefs, and policy.
I wish Mr. Boot all the support he needs on his continuing journey to cooperation and recovery, just as I hope America receives all it needs as well to recover from our 30-plus year descent into ideological tribalism and mutually-assured political assassination. This book gives me hope it's achievable.
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