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Monday, August 11, 2014

Heather McDonald

Heather McDonald is a former liberal who, as she matured, evolved into an excellent conservative thinker who currently writes for the Manhatten Institute's City Journal. She is also, inexplicably in my view, an atheist, but never mind that. If she spoke in British accents she might be mistaken for an avatar of Margaret Thatcher in her prime.

McDonald was interviewed recently by Charles Kesler of the Claremont Institute for a series titled The American Mind. In the first segment she discusses her undergraduate infatuation with Paul de Man's deconstructionism and her subsequent disillusionment with critical theory. It's pretty interesting and might whet your appetite for the two segments which follow:
McDonald is especially good in the next segment of the interview where she expresses her disdain for liberal ideas on crime and immigration:
If you'd like to hear what she has to say about the contemporary university and its silly enthusiasms over race and gender, and why wouldn't you, watch this part of the interview:
Exit question: Why are so many highly intelligent, well-educated women conservative and so many of the opposite sort (Sheila Jackson Lee, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer, Maxine Waters, to mention just a few) liberals? On second thought, that may be an unfair question, comparing, as it does, thinkers with politicians, so feel free to disregard it.