I have been watching this bird since Autumn, when I caught a few interviews he gave.
Here is an interview of Rahe on his recent book
Soft Despotism, Democracy’s Drift:
http://www.hoover.org/multimedia/uk/72025472.htmlAt 40 minutes, it is long. But, there are much worse ways of spending one's time than familiarizing one's self with what America once was, what made us great, where & how we started to degenerate, and the possibilities for the future, both good & ill. Oh, also how this "soft despotism" truly
is despotism. <insert Stand_Waite's favorite line>.
Anyways, this guy sees reasons to believe the despotism can be checked and rolled back...dramatically, and soon. Rahe agrees with Mark Steyn an most everything that is occurring, but comes to the conclusion that this is an opportunity for a rebirth of liberty, rather than the last gasp of liberty.
I desperately hope he is correct, though I know that all good things(0) must come to an end. Perhaps, like the Israelis themselves, we can have another "come to Jesus"(1) moment and get a new lease on liberty before Pax Americana and its liberty falls into an orgy of *expletive deleted*it, blood, and despotism the way that Pax Romana did 1500 years ago.
Anyways, if hte above interview is too much to contemplate, here is a series of written works that explain his thesis and Steyn's rebuttal:
http://biggovernment.com/prahe/2010/04/03/a-new-birth-of-freedom/http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NTcxNDk5OTA2NGJmNWNkYTQ5NmY4MDNjMDAzODZlOTEhttp://biggovernment.com/prahe/2010/04/08/is-paul-rahe-right/(0) And America is a "good thing." William Bennett (& others) have called America the "Last, Best Hope" for liberty in this world. I think this is correct. I'd bet it would be another 1500 years of wading through muck, ignorance, and tyranny before another chance at liberty came about. Liberty is nto the natural stae, and it takes the cumulative efforts of generations to bring it into the light of day.
(1) Heh, more like "come to Yahweh," but I think y'all get the idea of the post-Jahus Hebrews waxing & waning.
