Conservative thought is always parasitic and mimetic, always reacting to left movements which are always original and liberatory? A rather rigid and self-regarding dualism, wouldn't you say? And one that is not convincing to me especially when Robin himself cites Edmund Burke as both the father of the conservative movement and a foundational theorist of Romanticism. Burke can lead to Hayek and the Hegelian Dialetic. The lineage of left and right political thought and action are a lot more promiscuous and messy than this argument appears to acknowledge. Also re: Thomas Frank. I'm a huge of fan of his "The Wrecking Crew".