As WFB recounts, conservatives' esteem for the different branches of government has gone up and down over the decades; at present, none of the three looked especially appealing. Mr. Eastland's book, subtitled The Case for the Strong Presidency, is the springboard for a discussion which, although polite in tone, goes in substance beyond the level of "quarrel" to total war. ML: "I find it rather disturbing that in recent decades conservatives, because they happen to control one branch of government, the Executive Branch, started recycling ... the anti-legislative arguments which the authoritarians in the Weimar Republic, for example, rehearsed. Their argument was: The Reichstag is nothing but a collection of special interests, it's completely corrupt, whereas the President, Hindenburg, or the Chancellor somehow stands above parties ..."