On Friday, the best written, most independent and liveliest conservative U.S. news magazine was closed by its owner, Clarity Media Group. The ending was abrupt, ungracious and unnecessary. Writers were told to leave by 5 p.m. that day. The employees will receive severance only upon signing a non-disparagement agreement.
Though editor-in-chief Stephen Hayes had been searching for a buyer, Clarity chose to shut it down instead—keeping its valuable subscriber list for another holding, the far more Trump-compliant Washington Examiner.
From February 2007 through January 2011, it was my privilege to write more than 20 pieces for the Weekly Standard—including my first published piece. That first story recounted the metamorphosis of Mitt Romney from moderate governor to conservative presidential candidate. (That one held up over time, I have to say.)
It’s difficult to separate my personal feelings and affections for those who worked there from the sadness I feel as my worst fears about the conservative movement have been realized. Too many on the right in the era of Trump are uninterested in either criticism of their own side or in reality-based reporting. They are even less interested in conservative ideas and reform, which have always been central to the Weekly Standard’s mission.
I hope that some benefactor scoops up the writers and editors from the Weekly Standard, gives a new publication an apt name (The New Standard?), and continues to publish the same lively material it has provided since the Clinton administration. More than ever, those on the right (and left) need to hear from principled conservatives who refuse to adopt positions simply because President Donald Trump holds them (however fleetingly), and who decline to throw overboard the essential elements of modern conservatism (free markets, federalism, humility in governance, gradualism in legislation, support for civil society, personal decency and U.S. values-based leadership in the world).
It remains to be seen whether conservatism as we have known it survives or whether, as founding editor Bill Kristol wrote in February, “the founders of American conservatism” dedicate themselves to “build other pillars that will uphold the temple of American liberty in the 21st century.”