He told Americans how beautiful they were, how generous and strong and brave, and even if everyone knew that some of this was blarney, it was still lovely to be loved and to try to live up to the image. So many years, so little to show for the struggle. Conservative godfather Paul Weyrich, who coined the term moral majority, doesn't think there is one anymore. Weyrich says the time has come for conservative Christians to admit that the culture war is lost and to try a new strategy. In fact, by so many measures, the state of the union is so sound that you have to wonder why conservatives don't just declare victory and go home.
Crime is down, divorce is down, likewise abortion, teen pregnancy, drunk driving and welfare rolls.
Prime time gives us angels and virgins as role models. We are more charitable and churchgoing than we were in the hallowed 1950s. Yes, there is sewage in the culture, but Bennett's books are best sellers too. Whether or not conservatives deserve the credit for all this, they surely have as much claim to it as Clinton does. In Weyrich's case, he isn't asking for thanks because he doesn't believe a word of it.