Appreciation …

… Daniel Patrick Moynihan: A polymath in a profession of intellectual pygmies – manwithoutqualities. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

There was something old-fashioned about Mr Moynihan–a throwback to an earlier age when politicians championed causes, not parties. His cause was the poor. One reason why he so disliked McGovernite leftists was that he thought that they were middle-class brats, intent on hijacking the party of his birthright. And one reason why he was so interested in conservative intellectuals was that he thought that their ideas on the primacy of the family and the organic nature of society might be able to revitalise his party.