When Attorney General William Barr warned in a speech at Notre Dame on Oct. 11 that secular liberalism had unleashed “licentiousness — the unbridled pursuit of personal appetites at the expense of the common good,” there was a glaring incongruity.
How could Barr possibly fail to recognize that there is no better example of a man in unbridled pursuit of his own appetites than his boss?
Barr’s hypocrisy aside, his commentary — “the campaign to destroy the traditional moral order has brought with it immense suffering, wreckage and misery. And yet, the forces of secularism, ignoring these tragic results, press on with even greater militancy” — is part of a renewed drive by social conservatives to demonize liberal elites. …
I asked a range of scholars — left, right and center — about Barr’s attempt to link social breakdown to liberal values. CONT.
Thomas B. Edsall, New York Times