Book Review: The Conservative Soul -- Andrew Sullivan

I saw Andrew Sullivan on CNN one night and the man was simply inspirational. I had never heard of him. I found out that he is gay, is HIV-positive, is a Christian, a conservative, a published author, and wrote one of the most-read political blogs, "The Daily Dish", on the internet. I had a difficult time believing he was a conservative gay Christian Republican. I was under the impression from most members of the GOP that that sort of labeling would cause implosion.

Then I saw Sullivan a few more times. His well-mannered, even tone and his directness coupled with well-appointed facts gave me pause. Now, I have some conservative values. Andrew Sullivan resolidified those values. He also gave me hope for the conservative movement in the United States.

In The Conservative Soul: How We Lost It; How to Get It Back, Sullivan shows us where current conservatism in this country has veered off course, become a runaway mockery and sham of true conservative beliefs, using them as a guise to gain political power. He has no problem exposing the current Bush administration's lack of conservative values: invading another country, profligate spending, poor domestic policies, expanding the government, etc. Sullivan also has no problem with the separation of church and state. He advocates respect of religious values, but not at the cost of intolerance and good governance. He also believes that executive privilege and the role authoritarian government is playing in American lives needs to be thwarted, changed, and recentered on individualism and separation of powers.

Well-written and well-researched, The Conservative Soul is a winning account of where the basic ideas of conservatism emanated, how they were fostered, and how they came to fruition in the political system of America. He also tells how it has been corrupted in the last two decades. Finally, he has a few suggestions on how conservatives can not only take their Grand Old Party back but make it meaningful again, the most important being the reestablishment of a constant search for personal freedom, something current conservatives have all but given up to be led...