The kind of conservatism I respect is the conservatism that says we should be careful about changing our institutions, because there’s risk in changing things. You sometimes wind up with something worse. This is why the conservative party in the UK is a strong defender of the socialized National Health Service. The conservative impulse is to preserve existing institutions.

So I liked this conservative question from Dan Drezner about Jon Stewart’s legendary Crossfire appearance:

Stewart’s appearance on Crossfire generated quite the navel-gazing among the commentariat, and played no small role in the eventual disappearance of Crossfire, The Capitol Gang, Hannity & Colmes, and shows of that ilk.

So, five years later, I have a half-assed blog question to ask — did Jon Stewart hurt America by driving these shows off the air?

I wish these were the types of questions the Republican opposition were asking in Congress, instead of doing whatever it is they’re doing.