James Tyler

Caitlin Flanagan Derides “Nasty, Evil Conservatives”

On Tuesday's "On Point" host Tom Ashbrook and his two guests, Sandra Tsing Loh and Caitlin Flanagan, [caption id="" align="alignright" width="160" caption="Caitlin Flanagan, Idiot of the Week"][/caption] discussed whether or not marriage works anymore. Almost any columnist that NPR invites on their programming would probably agree that it doesn't, but a discussion of family values is for another article entirely. As the discussion progressed, eventually Mr. Ashbrook and his guests took up the topic of teenage mothers. On this point, Caitlin Flanagan had this to say: "They're not having these babies to get a welfare check, that's a nasty evil conservative thing to say." What a glib generalization of conservatism, Ms. Flanagan. Perhaps you can point me to the strain of conservatism that espouses this? Or a quote from someone who you feel collectively represents all strains of conservatism? Oh wait - you can't. That's ...