Cal  Thomas
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Does that mean Britain can learn nothing from Winston Churchill or Benjamin Disraeli (or the naivete of Neville Chamberlain)? This is the tyranny of the Internet generation that only "modern" ideas are worthy of consideration and anything before laptops is as old hat as a radio tube or Twiggy.

Perhaps Cameron would like to share with Britain's conservatives precisely which Thatcher policies have exceeded their "expiration date." A politics without an ideological foundation is a politics without purpose.

Margaret Thatcher's convictions are to be preferred over what appears to be David Cameron's pandering. She said, "I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left." Or, "Good Conservatives always pay their bills. And on time. Not like the Socialists who run up other people's bills" or, "Socialists have always spent much of their time seeking new titles for their beliefs, because the old versions so quickly become outdated and discredited."

The history of liberalism in Britain and America has mostly been about giving people what they want and convincing them they are victims and that only government can help them, while the history of conservatism has mostly been about telling people what they need and giving them opportunities to better their lives. As Lady Thatcher put it in her "outmoded" way, "When you hold back the successful, you penalize those who need help."

A brief letter to the editor of The Daily Telegraph from an E.D. Weaving of Carshalton, Surrey had it right: "Having read about Mr. Cameron's proposals for Conservative policies, I think we might as well vote New Labour."

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Cal Thomas
