Thread. Important new essay: "It seems to me Republicans are somewhat lost. And that may be, in part, because they are not exactly sure where they want to go. They do not think clearly enough about their purpose or mission." https://americanmind.org/essays/preserving-the-american-way-of-life/

"Republicans describe their mission as 'freedom.' But the word “freedom”...does not give us any guidance as to when freedom must be restricted, as it often must...we need a concept both more focused and more comprehensive than just freedom. We need a mission."

"Rs sometimes also say their purpose is 'constitutional government' (or limited govt). But this, too, is not a mission: it is a means to a mission...To frame the mission as “limited gov” fails to provide enough guidance as to what the govt should be doing at any particular time."

"If Republicans today conceived of their purpose as preserving this American way of life, then I think they would more easily see that that way of life is being attacked by proponents of another way of life (or regime). They would then be better equipped to repel it."

"If Republicans conceived of their mission as preserving the American way of life, they would pay more attention than they do to the institutions that nurture the foundations of that life—family, religion, education, and community. All else rests on those foundations."

"Today those foundations are giving way. Strengthening them should therefore be, I think, the top priority of the Republican party...when considering a policy of any sort, we should first ask ourselves: what is the proposed policy’s effect on the family?"

"The role of a politician is not only, or even primarily, to legislate but to build public sentiment in favor of decent laws and moral habits...If Republicans desire to reverse the decline in marriage, & all the rest of the multicultural agenda, they should scream bloody murder."

"They should declare war, identify the enemy, & give it a name...Republicans, however, tend to steer clear of arguments from justice, relying instead on various forms of economic arguments or, in the case of the Constitution, textualist arguments."

"He who does not argue from justice is not even in the ring. Republicans can scream until they are blue in the face about the need to follow the Constitution, but the multiculturalists will never comply because they reject the values the Constitution is designed to protect."

"Imagine a politician saying: the 1619 Project or 'Black Lives Matter' are racist; traditional marriage is far better than alternative arrangements; there are no hyphenated Americans; or America is a Christian country."

"Only a generation or so ago these would have been unremarkable claims of cultural distinctiveness; today they are considered seditious, with offenders put on the rack. If we cannot speak about who are we, we will not know who we are. If so, we shall not long endure."

"At 1 level Republicans are very much aware of political correctness. They are exquisitely sensitive to its commands. And yet they do not publicly identify political correctness as a problem, let alone the problem. I hear no Republican campaigning against political correctness."

"Conservatives...come to life when there is something important to conserve. This allows them to stake out a very distinctive & morally powerful position w/enough room to accommodate a broad coalition.

In this case, that really important 'something' is the American way of life."