Andrew Sullivan

From All Things Considered comes this interview with iconoclastic social critic and blogger Andrew Sullivan (10/12/2006 - 8:49). Sullivan is perhaps best known as an openly gay, Catholic, conservative--a position that has him defending himself often in the media. In his new book, The Conservative Soul, Sullivan calls into question the "conservatism" of the current Republican Party, arguing that many of the party's current positions are not necessarily "conservative."

What Sullivan wants is to get back to the "conservative" principles of limited government, balanced budgets, individual liberty, and the rule of law.

"I am asking for a conservatism … that gets back to understanding that we have to restrain government, not empower it, and that faith and politics need to be kept apart for the sake not only of politics, but also of religion, which is being poisoned by partisan politics," he says.

Musings

• One question that Robert Siegel's interview with Sullivan raises is just what it means to be a conservative. Here's a link to the Wikipedia article on the term.
  
• Blogs are becoming a big part of American political culture. Take a look at Sullivan's, The Daily Dish, now published in partnership with CNN.

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