Doug Jeffrey's opened a can of whup-ass on Crunchy Cons. Enjoy. The argument comes down to: Dreher seems well-intentioned, but he should read more. (Curtsy: No Left Turns.)
I could go off on two major tangents here. One would be how Calvin Coolidge is my third favorite president. (An extended quotation from him in Jeffrey's piece prompts that remark.)
The second would be that the reason Dreher so gets under my skin is that he reminds me of a certain prestigious Catholic scholar who is forever rebuking America when it's obvious from all he says that he's never seriously read any of the Founders. Fine: you can't be an expert in everything; but then don't presume to teach the founding to young people. Grrr.
Rather than vere off, however, I'll simply say the Jeffrey piece reminded me that Gilbert Meilaender also had an excellent review of Crunchy Cons in an old First Things issue. Should be on-line by now. Ah, yes: Hold the Granola.
And this from a woman who looks forward to organic home-grown tomatoes in mere days.
