Nicholas Kristof did thoughtful Americans a favor in his Nov. 21 column in which he documented how conservatives were wrong about Social Security in 1935 and wrong about Medicare in 1965. He could have gone further.
Kristof could have added that conservatives were on the wrong side of the McCarthy Communist witch hunt, wrong on civil rights, wrong on women's rights, wrong on gay rights and are on the wrong side of protecting the environment. Conservatives have also taken up questionable positions on the separation of church and state, immigration, and teaching science and evolution in our schools.
Some conservative approaches are silly - remember President George W. Bush suggesting that we invest our Social Security retirement savings in the stock market? Some approaches are dangerous - not heeding documented warnings about Osama bin Laden and then invading the wrong country in response to 9/11.
