Grace Elizabeth Hale: Why Are Today's Rebels Republicans?
[Grace Elizabeth Hale is an associate professor of history and American studies at the University of Virginia]
Not so long ago, rebels and radicals were reliably liberal. They were left activists and politicians like Tom Hayden, Ralph Nader and Bernie Sanders; popular icons of resistance like Bob Dylan or Pete Seeger or Bruce Springsteen; or maverick fictional characters like Holden Caulfield or Sal Paradise.
But today, arch conservative Sarah Palin proudly plays the rogue, Tea Party members declare themselves rebels, and bloggers like “Main Street Radical” and “Left Coast Rebel” write for the right. When did the rebel become a Republican?
In fact, politically conservative rebels are nothing new. Many revolutionary era patriots and Civil War rebels fought for conservative visions of property rights. In the last 50 years, rebels on the left championed social justice and freedom of expression, garnering media attention and positive reviews in the New York Times. Meanwhile, right-wing rebels from William F. Buckley to the Jesus People have been laying the ground for today’s Tea Party members.
No single figure did more to create the role of rebel on the right than Buckley, whose journal National Review and television program Firing Line popularized rebellious conservatism. Rich, Catholic, and white, Buckley’s political conservatism made him an outsider in the rich, white, Christian world of the Ivy League....
Read entire article at WaPo
Not so long ago, rebels and radicals were reliably liberal. They were left activists and politicians like Tom Hayden, Ralph Nader and Bernie Sanders; popular icons of resistance like Bob Dylan or Pete Seeger or Bruce Springsteen; or maverick fictional characters like Holden Caulfield or Sal Paradise.
But today, arch conservative Sarah Palin proudly plays the rogue, Tea Party members declare themselves rebels, and bloggers like “Main Street Radical” and “Left Coast Rebel” write for the right. When did the rebel become a Republican?
In fact, politically conservative rebels are nothing new. Many revolutionary era patriots and Civil War rebels fought for conservative visions of property rights. In the last 50 years, rebels on the left championed social justice and freedom of expression, garnering media attention and positive reviews in the New York Times. Meanwhile, right-wing rebels from William F. Buckley to the Jesus People have been laying the ground for today’s Tea Party members.
No single figure did more to create the role of rebel on the right than Buckley, whose journal National Review and television program Firing Line popularized rebellious conservatism. Rich, Catholic, and white, Buckley’s political conservatism made him an outsider in the rich, white, Christian world of the Ivy League....