Paul Wolfowitz

Fire of Liberty

Here's Christopher Hitchens' take on Secretary Wolfowitz and his nomination to the World Bank. It's very interesting coming from Hitchens who is a self-avowed liberal. Thank God he lacks the hateful vitriol that most people on the left reserve for Secretary Wolfowitz. One area that I'd beg to differ with Hitchens is his claim that The National Interest is the home publication of the neo-cons. I'd say that Commentary is probably a better place magazine to focus on. Yes, The National Interest was the foreign policy publication of most neo-cons but it's not the chief home. He's right that it's taken a realist turn more akin to Pat Buchanan's isolationistic magazine The American Conservative thus forcing me to cancel my subscription.

I guess it would be best if I described my conservative philosophy. In the field of foreign policy,I'd say that its more akin to Charles Krauthammer's Democratic- Realism. I believe we should conduct a foreign policy based on our own national interests and the spread of freedom and democracy is a key component. As for the economy and the function of government I'd say its "classic liberalism" mixed with supply-side economics mixed in which end up being very limited intervention via the government. You could say I'm a Ronald Reagan/Hayek devotee in this aspect. As for the rest of me, I'd say I'm a social conservative in the likes of C.S. Lewis or William Bennett or Marvin Olasky. It's a weird concoction that bumps into each other from time to time but it all works out in the long run.