Click on the link here for audio player: NET- Conservatism – 1970
Before the GOP succumbed to the lunatic fringe, becoming a burned out shell of its former self, there was something of a broader definition of who a conservative actually was – and it ran the gamut from staunch isolationist to downright left-leaning. The concept of “the big tent” seemed apt back then. But that was “back then”- 1970. Another entire lifetime ago. Even though the seeds of lunacy were being sown in abundance as early as 1958, they wouldn’t make their full-fledged appearance for a few more years.
In May of 1970, NET (forerunner of PBS) had a weekly program called NET Journal where they ran a panel discussion featuring several prominent conservatives of the day, M. Stanton Evans, Russell Kirk, William Rusher and Milton Friedman, a sort of sampling of the gamut. The talk was remarkably civil by today’s standards. But even so, you can tell where that freight train was eventually heading.
Another indication of just how far the wheels have fallen off.
