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American conservatism was for too long under the spell of what might be called market fundamentalism: It mindlessly treated all private-sector action as good and all government action as bad. At worst, this fundamentalism gave rise to corporate boosterism and outright cronyism that repelled voters from the GOP.

But todays political realignment seems to be breaking the spell and not a moment too soon.

These days, a rising cohort of writers and intellectuals associated with the New Right seeks to recover the Two-Cheers-for-Capitalism ethos of Irving Kristol: that is, to allow for a greater governmentrole in channeling market efficiency toward the traditional conservative political ends of justice, human flourishing and the common good.

This shift isnt just a matter of academic theory, but is manifesting itself in the halls of US power. Witness the aftermath of corporate Americas boycott assault againstGeorgia over the states passage of a milquetoast election-reform law, which caused the simmering tension betweenGOP populists and the partysChamber of Commerce wing to boil over.

Last week, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) who has previously made realignment inroads with his advocacy of common-good capitalism and vocal support for unionization in Amazons Bessemer, Ala., plant took to these pages to decry how corporate America eagerly dumps woke, toxic nonsense into our culture.

Even more notably, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a political disciple of Reaganite conservatism, took to The Wall Street Journal to pronounce that starting today, he will no longer accept money from any corporate political action committee.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), meanwhile, is only ramping up his pushback against Big Tech oligarchs, most recently by unveiling hisTrust-Busting for the Twenty-First Century Act. On the House side, Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) is leading a campaign to foreswear all political donations from Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Twitter.

Those who came of political age in the days when the Republican Party championed the cause of big business might be taken aback by the ferocity of this anti-corporate response. Yet in truth,GOP resistance to big business has been a long time coming. The Tea Party had a decisively populist, anti-corporate hue, with its opposition to bailing out Wall Streetbanks and hostility toward Beltway-style corporate cronyism, such as the Export-Import Bank, which effectively amounts to a taxpayer-funded Boeing slush fund.

But the recent accelerant has been the emergence of woke capital as a destructive force tearing a grievously divided country ever-more asunder. As the cultural left nears completion of its Antonio Gramsci-style long march through the institutions, big business has joined the ranks of the academy, Hollywood and the mainstream media as a sprawling national edifice beholden to the illiberal woke ideology.

Whereas nine years ago, Wall Street donated to native son Mitt Romneys presidential campaign at a higher clip than it did to then-incumbent President Barack Obama, today corporate wokesters threaten boycotts of entire states over GOP-backed legislation on wedge issues such as abortion and transgenderism all while prostrating themselves before the (literally) genocidal commissars of the Chinese Communist Party.

Republicans are right to stand up and solemnly declare that enough is enough, already.

There is no compelling reason to suffer through the humiliating bromance with woke capitalists, battered woman syndrome-style, while corporate America makes itself clearer than ever before that it hates Republican voters guts. Whether it is on human sexuality, the right to life for unborn children, gun rights, immigration sanity or a host of other issues, woke capital treats the Republican Party as more of an enemy than it would ever dream of treating sadistic detention facility managers in Xinjiang, China.

Republicans should stop trying to prevent the unpreventable and permit its amicable divorce from corporate America to continue apace. Indeed, that divorce is a blessing, as The Posts op-ed editor, Sohrab Ahmari, argued in January. The GOPs brightest future lies inthe multiracial working-class political coalition not in the C-suite.

Josh Hammer is Newsweek opinion editor.

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There's no stopping the GOP's divorce from big business - New York Post

By Ada Wood, CNN

CNN I've been wanting to take my friend to my favorite tea shop for what seems like forever. Ever since we had to switch from having our tea in person to sipping over video calls during the pandemic, I've been looking forward to having a reunion at "Dr. Bombay's Underwater Tea Party."

It has been a tough year for both of us. I'm trying to stay optimistic that we can find a way to celebrate and that the reunion isn't just a solemn reminder of all the in-person tea outings we've missed out on.

I'm hoping she likes the place, since she's never been before. While she loves fruity herbal teas and I'm more a fan of black teas, I know we'll each be able to find something we like within the book-lined walls.

If we want to sit outdoors, I know there is a space at the back of the shop, but there isn't room for many people if we are social distancing. I've always ordered one pot of tea for two people and shared -- is sharing even an option anymore?

Although we'll both be fully vaccinated by the time we get together, I haven't felt free to enjoy myself in public without the fear of contributing to the spread of the virus since the pandemic began. I can't begin to imagine what it will feel like -- simply to get tea with an old friend.

I know I'm not the only one anxious about re-entering the world once I'm fully vaccinated. That's why I called Jane Webber, an assistant professor of counselor education and doctoral program coordinator at Kean University in New Jersey. While it may be challenging, Webber said there are ways you can prepare yourself as you reemerge into the world as a social being.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

CNN: Is it normal to be nervous about socializing right now?

Jane Webber: Yes, it's normal, because what we've just gone through is a completely abnormal situation. Pandemics are like something from another world, and it's not of any value to us to worry about whether it's normal. We just have to say, "Today is today and tomorrow is another day."

When we going through such an abnormal experience for so long, we forget what we know naturally as human beings -- that people do reach out, help each other and say hello.

Like any traumatic event, which we've been living every day, it's scary to step out and say, "Am I safe? Do I want to do this? Do I have the courage to go back to socializing?"

CNN: Where should we go for our first outings?

Webber: The first thing I thought is: Where would I like to go? And, for me, there is a wonderful restaurant just a few blocks from me that sells raw oysters. I am comfortable there. I know the staff. I know the location. I know where the exit is. I know where the ladies' room is. And boy, do I love oysters. I'd go with safety and comfort, because that tells me it's OK.

For someone else, they can dive into new experiences, but it's probably not the time for me to do that.

CNN: Who are the best people to reach out to?

Webber: Reconnect with the people you know first -- because you already have that sense of friendship. We might have to say: "Do I really want to do a blind date? Do I really want to join a new club? Or shall I start safely?" And sometimes, safety helps us build our confidence for going a step further.

Isolation is hard. What happens if you don't have someone you can meet up with? Try finding a small support group, like people who all want to speak Italian. It may even be less anxiety inducing for you to meet a new group of people with a common interest.

Seeing other people, even if you're technically alone, is still worthwhile. I have gone for the special on the raw oysters and sat alone, even though it took a great deal of courage to get out there by myself.

CNN: What do we do if we experience anxiety during a conversation?

Webber: It's that sudden stillness where you don't know what to do and suddenly: "Oh my God, what am I doing here? This is terrible."

Take a very quiet, deep breath in saying, "bring the calm in" and a deep breath out saying, "send my anxiety out." And just thinking of that -- not saying it out loud, because it definitely would be very strange -- brings your anxiety down.

My other secret is "tapping." I just tap my feet, one at a time, and my anxiety drops completely.

CNN: What topics are our safest bets to discuss?

Webber: I probably would avoid anything to do with the pandemic, except "I hope it's almost over." Break out into the things you used to talk about, and think of a few things to discuss before you get there, too.

For many of us, we may not have kept up with this person, or we haven't seen them for a long time. We may wonder, what did they do during the time that passed? How have they changed?

Now it might take some thinking from a year or so ago, but you will probably remember something you really enjoyed about them or a positive memory you shared with them.

CNN: What if a topic comes up that you aren't ready to talk about?

Webber: Especially after surviving a whole year of really difficult things, I'd just say, "Let's not do that today. Let's talk about something else." But make sure you have something else ready to talk about. And if they continue, maybe this just isn't the person you should be with right now.

CNN: Why should we go out into the world again?

Webber: Because we want to, because we are human beings who thrive only with social connections, and because our life is full and fresh when we're with other people. Isolation was not in any way fun; we survived it, but we still don't feel human. It's just scary to take that first step.

I'm grateful for the people in my life, even if we haven't reconnected in so long and I'm a little embarrassed about how that's going to go. When I finally see them, I'm going to take a breath; I'm going to smile and I'm going say "Glad to see you again."

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How to socialize for the first time again after a year of isolation - WRAL.com

President Bill Clintons strategy of triangulation was essentially an effort to lift pieces of Reaganism for Democratic gains. The era of big government is over, he famously declared in his 1996 State of the Union address.

Deeply aware of the role Mr. Reagan played in shifting American views on spending, President Barack Obama took office in 2009 believing that his administration could help end the countrys adherence to conservative economic policy.

Ronald Reagan changed the trajectory of America in a way that, you know, Richard Nixon did not, and in a way that Bill Clinton did not, Mr. Obama said during his 2008 campaign. He put us on a fundamentally different path because the country was ready for it. I think they felt like, you know, with all the excesses of the 60s and the 70s, and government had grown and grown, but there wasnt much sense of accountability in terms of how it was operating.

Yet Mr. Obama also struggled to escape that path, eventually moderating his agenda and spending months making fruitless efforts to get bipartisan support for his ideas. Even the health care law that would come to be named after him was a compromise between liberals, who wanted a single-payer system, and moderates, who feared the size of such a huge new program.

Theres some evidence that Mr. Biden may be able to accomplish what Mr. Obama could not. Since the start of the pandemic, polling has found Americans expressing more positive sentiments about their government over all. Nearly two-thirds of Americans supported Mr. Bidens relief bill, with similar numbers backing his infrastructure plans. The most recent NBC News polling found that 55 percent of Americans said government should do more, compared with 47 percent who said the same a dozen years ago.

Unlike in 2009, when the government response to the Great Recession helped ignite the Tea Party movement, theres been no backlash so far to the big spending in Washington. After Congress passed the $1.9 trillion relief bill, many Republican voters told me that they were supportive of the legislation. Republicans in Washington have struggled to find a cohesive line of attack against the policy. And some who voted against the bill now highlight its benefits, an implicit acknowledgment of public support.

Former President Donald Trump, too, helped hasten the death of limited government, undercutting Republican credibility for making the case against federal spending. He drove the national debt to the highest level since World War II, pushing through a $2 trillion tax cut that did little for middle-class families.

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Joe Biden, the Reverse Ronald Reagan - The New York Times

Progressives have a message for President Joe Biden, and Wednesday night they delivered it in a formal response to his first address to Congress.

"We've always said that the election of Joe Biden is the door but not the destination," said Maurice Mitchell, the national director of the Working Families Party.

The Working Families Party, a prominent left-leaning group, tapped Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-New York, to deliver its response.

The move is unusual because Bowman is a member of the president's own party. Traditionally, the opposition party offers a response when the president delivers a speech to Congress and it's usually critical.

But the point of Bowman's speech wasn't to criticize the president or open a rift in the Democratic Party. It's goal was to complement the president's speech and highlight the kinds of action the left wants to see from the White House moving forward.

"A combination of affirming the things that we hear Joe Biden say that we align with and then going a step further towards how we actually get there," Mitchell said.

For decades, the party without control of the White House has delivered a rebuttal of presidential addresses. When the president is a Democrat, the response is usually given by a Republican, and vice versa.

This year was no different, with Sen. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina, delivering the GOP's rebuttal.

The proliferation of social media has led other party leaders to jump in the game and offer their own responses via live-stream. The practice has been embraced by tea party groups to major political figures, like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont.

The Working Families Party, for one, started delivering its own response separate from the Democratic Party during the Trump administration. It decided to continue the tradition with the Biden administration.

"It's about inspiring everyday people to take up the mantle of change," Mitchell said.

Last year, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, R-Massachusetts, spoke on behalf of the Working Families Party. In 2019, it was delivered by Wisconsin's Lieutenant Governor, Mandela Barnes. And Donna Edwards, the former Maryland congresswoman, did it in 2018.

Top lawmakers and activists on the Left are generally happy with the Biden administration so far.

"President Biden has definitely exceeded expectations that progressives had," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, said of the president's relationship with progressives earlier this week.

But they credit some of that goodwill to their dedication to holding him accountable and making sure their voices are heard at the White House.

The Working Families Party says Bowman was the right person to convey that message.

"Congressman Bowman is a regular person," Mitchell said. "He's an educator that grew up in his district, that understands in a very real way the contradictions and challenges that everyday working class people are trying to deal with."

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Progressives respond to President Joe Biden's first address to Congress - KPAX-TV

Armadas of trucks heading southeast from three major interstate highways all come together in Cincinnati to traverse the four southbound lanes of the Brent Spence. The bridge is part of a corridor that, according to one study, contains the second-most congested truck bottleneck in the United States, ranking behind Fort Lee, N.J., home to a perennially clogged interchange leading to the George Washington Bridge into Manhattan.

Its all the trucks, said Al Bernstein, who lives in Covington, the smaller city on the Kentucky side of the bridge, and whose wife refuses to drive over it. The local citizens they get hurt. But its the trucks that cause it.

One proposal that has circulated for years would spend $2.6 billion to build a new, much wider bridge next to the Brent Spence, doubling the lanes.

The challenge of overhauling the bridge corridor is not new to political leaders in Kentucky, Ohio or Washington, where it has long been held out as a symbol of the nations backlogged infrastructure needs. President Barack Obama made a speech in front of the bridge in 2011 as he pitched a major jobs and public works plan. President Donald J. Trump promised to fix it, too.

I remember when McConnell started becoming a big person in Washington, we were like, Oh, this is great. Were going to get more federal money and were going to get the bridge done, said Paul Long, a resident of the Kentucky side of the river who would do anything I can to avoid driving across the bridge. Then we had Boehner, who was the speaker of the House at the same time, he added, referring to John A. Boehner, the retired 12-term congressman whose district sat just north of Cincinnati. People were thinking, Yes, definitely going to get it done now.

A conversation about a bridge that everyone wants to fix but no one ever does is a conversation about the dysfunction of modern politics itself. Debate over its fate quickly turns into a lament about how dogmatic philosophies like Republicans blanket aversion to tax increases, or Democrats insistence on including an ambitious federal safety-net expansion in their public works plan have supplanted the subtle art of the backroom deal.

Decades ago, such compromises were powered in large part by so-called earmarks, which lawmakers could insert in legislation to direct federal money toward their pet projects. But the practice came to be seen as a symbol of self-dealing and waste as the antispending Tea Party swept the Republican Party, and after a series of scandals including one that led to the imprisonment of the lobbyist Jack Abramoff Congress banned it in 2011.

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Bidens Expansive Infrastructure Plan Hits Close to Home for McConnell - The New York Times