Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values

Women on the Right have an invisibility problem.  It’s not that they’re nonexistent, it’s that they’re often overlooked by the Fox News stereotype of what is believed to constitute a conservative woman.  So says Leslie Loftis, longtime curator of publications from conservative women.

Leslie and Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis delve into the challenges women on the Right face and what unique strengths they might bring to the Republican party and conservatism in general if they were more visible.  Leslie also shares her thoughts on the role of feminism in advancing women’s concerns, what unifies conservative women, the challenges social media present to our civil discourse, and how we might ultimately improve our political dialogue across the ideological spectrum.

Leslie Loftis is a recovering lawyer and political writer.  She started writing back in the blog boom of the early 2000’s with an expat blog, An American Housewife in London.  By 2012, Leslie had moved back to Texas and was brought on to write for an expanding PJMedia.  Soon thereafter, she became one of the original Senior Contributors for The Federalist and published in local newspapers, The Conservative Woman UK, and US News and World Report, among others.

By mid-2017, Leslie was publishing exclusively at Arc Digital and for her own start-up magazine and newsletter, Iron Ladies.  When disillusionment and burnout after the Kavenaugh Hearings dampened any writing desires, Leslie took a temporary (as it turns out) break from writing to start a long-intended project, teaching life administration.  (Think household budgets and management, the kind of practical skills few seem to learn anymore until they already need them.)  She revived the Iron Ladies newsletter a year ago, which you can subscribe to here. https://mailchi.mp/b3a6caef7f85/ironladiescollectionsignup

Leslie lives in Houston with her husband and their four teenagers and four dogs.  You can find her on Twitter @LeslieLoftisTX

In this crossover episode friend of the podcast Justin Stapley invites Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis onto his show Self-Evident to discuss self-evident truths and what it means to hold truth in tension.

The conversation includes thoughts on whether or not our inalienable rights are “self-evident”, the genius of American founders, Jeffersonian, Lockean liberalism vs. Hamiltonian, Burkean conservatism, why John Adams didn’t make a good president, whether the 1619 Project or 1776 Project is “right” or if the truth is somewhere in-between, whether America’s founding perfect or problematic, whether truth is to be found in reason or prescription, can Burkean conservatism be found in Burke alone or is he only the starting-point for conservative thought, the challenges conservative fusionism faces today, and a surprisingly lengthy and unexpected conversation about American slavery.

This conversation was originally released on the Self-Evident show.  Self-Evident is a weekly newsletter and intermittent podcast where Justin Stapley discusses both timely political topics as well as the timeless values and first principles of limited government and free society.

Justin Stapley has been writing politically since 2016.  His writing has been featured by ALEC, The Federalist Coalition, and the personal blogs and platforms he has operated over the years, which include Never Tyranny, The Millennial Federalist, and The Liberty Hawk.

Justin considers himself a liberty-minded conservative with principles and beliefs grounded in the idea of ordered liberty as expressed in the traditions of classical liberalism, federalism, and modern conservatism.

Justin currently studies Political Science at Utah Valley University with an emphasis in Political Theory and Constitutional Studies.  He is a staunchly independent voice and is unafraid to call balls and strikes as he sees them.  His calm but pointed writing style is often flavored with humor as he analyzes and discusses both news cycle driven topics as well as deeper philosophical considerations.

Justin appeared previously on Saving Elephants on the following episodes:

Episode 30 - Fusionism with Justin Stapley

Episode 55 – The New Centrist with Justin Stapley

Bonus Episode – The 2020 Elections – Now What?

You can follow Justin on Twitter @JustinWStapley

The million-dollar question within conservatism these days is what happens now?  After the tumultuous years of the Trump administration and with a Republican party gearing up for civil war to determine who owns the heart and soul of the Right, to say nothing of looming questions of the role of nationalism and populism competing against conservatism, it’s difficult to predict how all of this will ultimately shake out.

Joining Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis to try to offer some clarity in our murky times is Cal Davenport, co-host of In The Trenches Podcast, a show of two young conservatives having conversations with people who are in the arena of ideas.  Josh and Cal discuss what a future coalition of the Right might consist of and what conservative giants of old taught that might benefit us in our present dilemma.  Cal offers three prescriptions for how our American political discourse might turn from its current dangerous trajectory and how conservatism might regain its footing.

Cal Davenport is co-founder and co-host of the In the Trenches Podcast  on conservative intellectual thought.  He has written for The Wasington Examiner, RedState, The Resurgent and more.  He has worked in Congress, for political campaigns, for think tanks, and in political consulting.  Cal received his M.A. in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Witten/Herdecke University.

Tomorrow Joe Biden will be sworn in as our 46th President.  Yet this inauguration will mark the first time in American history that the outgoing president refused to accept the results of the election and actively worked to overturn them.  And, for the first time in modern American history, we were deprived on a peaceful transfer of power.

On January 6, 2021 our country was attacked.  My country.  Your country.  Though the events took place several weeks ago, it is important to keep them fresh in our minds as we reflect on what it means to be Americans and to live in the greatest experiment in self-government in human history.

The assailants were not foreign combatants, Leftist provocateurs, or opportunistic criminals.  They were supporters of Donald Trump who, having been deceived into believing the election was stolen from them, committed acts of sedition against the United States by violently breaching barricades into the Capitol to stop the peaceful transfer of power by the duly elected representatives of the American people.

All of this happened precisely because Donald Trump has been spreading lies and misinformation for two months in hopes of overturning the results of the election and because he asked his supporters to come to Washington to “stop the steal” and incited mob violence.  Trump’s speech to the crowd that morning contained numerous unsubstantiated claims of a deep state effort led by the Left, big tech, weak Republicans, and other supposed enemies.  He (falsely) claimed Mike Pence had the constitutional authority to stop the certifying of votes and that his supporters will “never give up,” “not take it anymore,” and “stop the steal”.  He then told them to march to the Capitol and promised to join them there (yet another lie).

Trump—who isn’t exactly known for his reticence in expressing his views on Twitter—then watched in comfort and glee as the violence unfolded before the world.  Hours later, as blood stained the Capitol floors and rioters continued to wreak havoc, Trump delivered a brief address that focused far more on approval for his supporters’ loyalty than it did a call for peace.  Later that day Tweeter suspended his account when he tweeted such acts are to be expected when an election is stolen. 

It was Mike Pence—not Trump—who ultimately put an end to the violent incursion by ordering the deployment of the National Guard.  The condemnation Trump was unable to muster at the mob who stormed the Capitol was directed, instead, to Pence and to his top aide, Marc Short, who was denied entry into the White House that same night.

There are three groups responsible for this cowardly attack on our country: 1) the President and his closest allies, 2) willing accomplices in Congress, and 3) the protestors themselves.  It’s important we understand clearly what happened on January 6th so that nothing like this ever happens again.

One year ago today, on January 12, 2020, Sir Roger Scruton died at the age of 75.  Thus passed one of the greatest intellectual minds of the past century.  Scruton was an English philosopher and writer who specialized in aesthetics and political philosophy.  He wrote over 50 books on philosophy, art, music, politics, literature, culture, sexuality, and religion, as well as novels and two operas.  Yet his greatest achievement, according to Dr. Samuel Gregg with the Acton Institute, was to put into words and give form to conservatism as a philosophy beyond a mere disposition or attitude.

Joining Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis in remembering the life and works of Sir Roger Scruton is returning guest Bryan Baise, professor of philosophy and apologetics at Boyce College.  Bryan describes Scruton as a dear friend he’d never met who nonetheless had a rescuing influence on his life.  Bryan published several obituaries for Scruton last year to celebrate his life.  He wrote:

“I was sitting in Panera when I received a text message from a friend and colleague: ‘Roger Scruton has died.’  I was with my family and a widow from our church, holding back tears until I could get in the car.  A man that changed so many things about my world has now passed away.”

Bryan then recounted the many things Scruton had taught him, as discussed in the episode.  In another obituary Bryan wrote:

“It’s difficult to try to describe the various ways [Scruton] influenced individuals and movements…I’m afraid the loss of Scruton means the erosion of a kinder, gentler conservatism than what is currently on offer…The posture toward politics and culture that Scruton embodied is, I fear, being forgotten and will one day die out.”

Bryan Baise is a professor of philosophy and apologetics at Boyce College.  Bryan is the program director of philosophy, politics, and economics and the program director of the Christian worldview and apologetics.  He is currently working on two books, one about beauty and another about introducing the conservative worldview to a non-academic audience.  You can follow Bryan on Twitter @bryanbaise.

Bryan was a guest on two previous episodes:

Episode 41 - Why Beauty Matters with Bryan Baise

Episode 25 - Developing Your Worldview with Bryan Baise

What is the opposite of conservatism?  It’s liberalism, right?  Well…it’s not quite that simple.  Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis goes guestless in this episode to take a deep dive into the good, the bad, and the ugly of liberalism and to explain why liberalism, far from being the opposite of conservatism, is actually much of what conservatism is trying to conserve.

But to get there we first need to untangle what we mean by liberalism.  What is liberalism?  What is the goal of liberalism?  What are they “liberal” about?  What is the difference between modern-day or progressive liberals and the classical liberalism of the past?  What does liberalism and conservatism have in common?  How are they different?  Why are they always fighting?  And why would conservatives want to conserve liberalism?

Is liberalism the same as being on the Left and conservatism the same as being on the Right?  Is the Declaration of Independence a liberal or conservative document?  What is liberty?  How did the ancients understand liberty and how might that differ with how we understand it today?  What do we mean by rights?  Where do rights come from, and how are they protected?

What do classical to contemporary thinkers on the Right, such as John Locke, Russell Kirk, Roger Scruton, Patrick Deneen, Sohrab Ahmari, and David French, have to say about liberalism?  Is liberalism sufficient for liberty or does society require something more to maintain order?  Does liberalism contain the seeds of its own destruction?  What is the “myth” of liberalism and how is it different from traditional conservative myths?  And why can’t Woody Allen neck with William F. Buckley?  Learn all that and more in the episode.

Here are some links referenced in the show:

William F. Buckley on Woody Allen’s show

Blog post: French-ism and the Looming Conservative Civil War

Saving Elephants Episode 27 - What's so Positive about Negative Rights?

Saving Elephants Episode 59 – Podcasting Orphans with Andrew Heaton

Saving Elephants Episode 68 – Divided We Fall with David French

Last week cohosts Cal Davenport and Seth Root of the In The Trenches podcast invited Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis on their show for some no holds barred discourse around the topic of whether David French’s recommendations for addressing the growing political divide in the country are sufficient, achievable, and ideal or fail to go far enough.  Throughout the conversation Cal and Josh appeal to Burkean arguments while Seth holds his own defending a Straussian viewpoint.  What are the solutions to the nation’s political divide?  Are David French’s solutions too Frenchist?  Is nationalist populism a viable alternative to Frenchism?  Take a listen!

Among the legions of intellectuals and academics milling about Washington D.C., few commands more respect than Yuval Levin.  Yuval has worked in the nation’s capital for decades and has a surprisingly hopeful message for the prospects of conservatism’s future and the fate of the republic.  Yet he is soberminded about the challenges we face, chiefly the failure of our institutions to form us into the kind of people fit to live in a society of ordered liberty.

Yuval joins Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis to discuss why are institutions are important, why they’re failing us, and what we can do about it.  They also discuss the intellectual roots of the modern Left and Right and what Edmund Burke contributed to modern political thought.

Yuval Levin is a political analyst, public intellectual, academic, and journalist.  He is the founding editor of National Affairs, director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a contributing editor of National Review, and co-founder and a senior editor of The New Atlantis.  He also holds the Beth and Ravenel Curry Chair in Public Policy.

Yuval served as a member of the White House domestic policy staff under President George W. Bush.  He was also executive director of the President’s Council on Bioethics and a congressional staffer at the member, committee, and leadership levels.

Yuval’s essays and articles have appeared in numerous publications, among them, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Commentary.  He is the author of five books, two of which are discussed in detail in the episode: A Time to Build and The Great Debate.

About a year ago Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis and frequent guest Bob Burch did a series exploring the American Presidencies from a conservative perspective.  The discussion took place over three episodes:

Part 1 – George Washington through Abraham Lincoln

Part 2 – Andrew Johnson through Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Part 3 – Harry S. Truman through Jimmy Carter

The series ended with Jimmy Carter as he was the last president to serve before the oldest Millennials were born.  Now Josh and Bob pick things up where they left them and walk through the Millennial Presidents: Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.  Donald Trump is excluded as his term as president is ongoing and—quite frankly—he’s all most political podcasts have been talking about for some time.

What did our more recent presidents do well?  What were their shortcomings?  How does a conservative view their administration?  And what is their lasting impact on the nation?  Join Josh and Bob as they explore of this and more in Saving Elephant’s longest episode yet.

Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis participated in a panel discussion on the podcast Leading Questions with Calvin Moore to discuss the possible impact of a Biden presidency on the Republican and Democratic parties, the historic nature of Kamala Harris being the first female VP, and the future of American political discourse.  This is a rebroadcast of that panel discussion.  The panel also includes Leading Questions hosts Calvin, Kent, and Steve and guests Saeed Khan and Jennifer Moore.