Rich Lowry can't write stuff this good

"Even if they all put their heads together, it’s doubtful they could beat a carnival chicken at Tic-Tac-Toe."
-- Jonah Goldberg, National Review

OK, for several months, I've been compiling evidence for the prosecution in the continuing case of Why Rich Lowry Should Have Been Fired No Later Than 2001, arguing that Goldberg should replace him. And this latest article of Goldberg's is excellent:

British historian Arnold Toynbee argued that civilizations thrive when the lower classes aspire to be like the upper classes, and they decay when the upper classes try to be like the lower classes. Looked at through this prism, it's hard not to see America in a prolonged period of decay. . . .
As part of this transformation, society has embraced what social scientist Charles Murray calls "ecumenical niceness." A core tenet of ecumenical niceness is that harsh judgments of the underclass -- or people with underclass values -- are forbidden. A corollary: People with old-fashioned notions of decency are fair game.

Which is why Lowry has to go. His "old-fashioned notions of decency" make him utterly worthless in any engagement with the progressive Left. What conservatism needs now is brutal, fearless savagery, and Jonah Goldberg's got that red-in-tooth-and-claw thing down cold.