Conservative Principles: First, Last ... and Always

A new review of Liberty and Tyranny and a quick look behind the scenes at Mark Levin in the Reagan Justice Department.

I first encountered Mark Levin when our respective bosses, Drew Lewis (mine) and Ed Meese (Levin’s), were leading figures and friends in the Reagan era. Meese was counselor to the president and later attorney general, the conservative Reagan’s champion of conservatism; Lewis was the secretary of transportation who recommended Reagan fire the striking air-traffic controllers. The issue at hand was a minor one, a mid-level job in the Justice Department for an ex-Lewis aide. My task was simple: call Mark Levin, my counterpart, and see if Meese couldn’t help move the process along. The conversation that resulted was memorable. It turned out the ex-Lewis aide had been a Bush supporter in 1980. And while it was true that George H. W. Bush was now Ronald Reagan’s vice president, Levin took pains to instruct me on the importance of the conservative principles behind the Reagan Revolution.

Clearly, the job applicant didn’t understand them, or he would never have been caught dead supporting Bush. So, as sweetly as possible, Levin told me that Ed Meese would not be pushing a candidate who was less than devoted to conservative principles for even a mid-level job in the Reagan Justice Department.

Comments

[Conor Friedersdorf]

So anyone who supported George HW Bush over Ronald Reagan in a 1980 primary is automatically insufficiently conservative to work in government, based merely on who they supported? That's not conservatism, its political patronage.

[IslamoLlama]

Yup

[WestWright]

Did Conor Friedersdorf support Bush over Reagan in 1980 also? Mark Levin knows that globalist GHW Bush hates Conservatives and is with few principles. Levin knows Conservatives need to stay out of da' bushes, including Jeb and the next generation!