Not so hot on elites.

Prof. Lilla urges conservative intellectuals to “own up to their elite status and defend the need for elites.” The need for elites? Most of us nonelites are a little down on elites right now after the role they played in the current mortgage crisis and its resulting meltdown of the financial markets and global economy.

I believe William F. Buckley meant it when he said he’d prefer being governed by the first 2,000 people in the Boston telephone directory rather than the entire faculty of Harvard University. Surely those 2,000 people would include its fair share of plumbers, builders and Sarah Palins.

– Baltimore’s Robert W. Smith, in a letter to the Wall Street Journal.