TPM Also Recommends The Fall of Conservatism

On Friday, I highlighted George Packer's terrific piece in the New Yorker, The Fall of Conservatism. And on Saturday,Josh Marshall, founder of Talking Points Memo,also commented.

As was I, Marshall was struck by the four decades of our lifetime as an era of conservative ascendence:

Nixon's resurgence began in those mid-sixties rumblings which we can now see from the perspective of history were the onset of the era of conservative ascendence that we've been living in now for the last four decades.

Marshall also recommends Nixonland:

Packer's piece is a loosely structured review of Rick Perlstein's new book Nixonland. (I just dipped into it for the first time a few nights ago and it was like eating some incredibly rich food. I can't wait to get back to it.)

Marshall sees the tide turning and concludes:

9/11 juiced President Bush's standing and massively reinforced the advantages Republicans have historically had on national security issues -- at least over the last forty years. And the Bush White House pressed that advantage mightily. But hidden underneath was the same ideological and electoral decay. Perhaps we will see the Republican party in this period as akin to the doped up athlete whose drugs enable him to achieve amazing feats in the short-run but also lead him to gravely exacerbate existing injuries because they inure him to the pain.

We can hope.