1. So the whole discussion of "intellectual dark web," conservatives in liberal media etc. confuses two issues: should non-conservatives read right-wing authors (yes) & should liberal magazines publish right-wing authors (it depends).
2. People should read right-wing authors, definitely. Why? Because there are a lot of right-wingers out there (Trump is president, duh) and it's important to understand what they think (to understand the world & to fight against him).
3. But in terms of reading the right, it's often most valuable to read the worst & least persuasive writers. Since 1980s, most valuable writers for understanding right have been Pat Buchanan & Sam T. Francis.
4. Buchanan & Francis are & were (Francis died in 2005) undeniably bigots but they also had a finger on pulse of where the American right was going.
5. Should liberal (or mainstream/centrist) publications give space to writers like Buchanan & Francis? Hard to how, since even right found them unpalatable (Buckley denounced Buchanan's anti-Semitism, Washington Times fired Francis).
6. Traditionally liberal (or mainstream/centrist) publications prefer to hire conservatives who are less rabid, saner, more palatable to wider audience (Will, Brooks, Douthat). Writers who most worth reading for ideas but not necessarily representative of the right.
7. Contra Douthat, these institutions are not ideological capacious. They range from center right to center left.
8. The problem all along is how do you represent the ideological divisions of polarizing & fraying America in institutions that really have a hard time processing ideas outside narrow center left & center right spectrum.
9. Unpopular opinion but I think @DouthatNYT has emerged as particularly valuable writer in Trump era because he can translate (so to speak) paleo-conservative impulses into language non-conservatives can understand.
10. Bari Weiss, viewed charitably, is trying to something similar to what @DouthatNYT does: act as translator/mediator between right-wing subcultures and NYT centrist/liberal subculture. But these translation/mediations are always fraught.
11. Douthat's notorious robot sex column can be seen as case where translation/mediation failed because readers took him as sympathizing with incels & trying to mainstream their concerns. That's usual danger of liminal figure; to be seen as representing other side.
