Conservatives must remember conservatism

As the Conservative Political Action Conference comes to town, the Right — conservative activists, commentators, talk-radio hosts and Republican politicians — should keep actual conservatism at the front and center of their minds.

The set of beliefs and principals that animate conservatism is at risk of being obscured — perhaps even displaced — by vulgar provocation, tribal rather than principled opposition to the Left, the demands of entertainment and partisan fealty to a Republican president.

If these elements take over and drown out conservative philosophy, ideas, and policies, they will inflict harm not only on conservatism but on the Right in general and on the Republican Party and President Trump in particular. And that would be bad for the country.

CPAC's agenda demonstrates the battle over the future of the movement. On one hand, there's Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke, the black Democrat and Fox News regular whose schtick is an almost comical law-and-order toughness. On another panel, Hillsdale College's erudite president, Larry Arnn, whose beliefs spring from serious philosophical soil and are nourished by constant intellectual inquiry, speaks on "the Roots of Conservatism."

One panel title discusses college "snowflakes," while another analyzes various indices that measure human flourishing. Milo Yiannopoulos, a libertine professional provocateur, was slated as a principal speaker to discuss campus free speech. But he was disinvited and now attorney Casey Mattox of the non-profit public-interest law firm, Alliance Defending Freedom, will speak on the topic.