A long article on conservatism in the Anglosphere

This is well worth reading though it is long. John O'Sullivan who has made his appearance on this blog before here, here and here, has written a sort of end of term analysis of conservatism in the Anglosphere on NRO. Looking at the situation in the US, Australia, Canada and Britain (though not New Zealand, which would have been interesting) he comes to the unsurprising conclusion that conservatism is in worst shape of all in this country.

What is a conservative victory?

No, no, no, calm down. We are not talking about a conservative victory in this country but over the Pond where the Debt ceiling together with the conditions imposed by the Republicans has been signed into law.

The Wall Street Journal thinks this is John Boehner (Speaker of the House) victorious.

It's not just that Speaker of the House John Boehner succeeded in imposing some conditions in exchange for an increase in the debt ceiling. It's that the deal has Democrats, including the president, essentially signing on to the Republican framework for defining the Beltway's budget problem: spending that is too high rather than taxes that are too low.

For the moment, the press focus remains on the intra-conservative spat between Republicans who favor Mr. Boehner's deal and tea partiers who largely oppose it. These disagreements will fade, however. And come the 2012 elections this deal will help force the debate that all conservatives have wanted all along—about the size, scope, and proper mission of our federal government.

And that, dear reader, is what we are missing in Britain - a debate about the size scope, and proper function of the government. Until we do that all our political discussions remain pointless.