Jonathan V. Last

Although the beginning of Lent calls us to more important matters, it’s worth spending a moment to consider some of the results from yesterday’s Super Tuesday voting. Everyone understands the big contours of the results: McCain the presumptive nominee, Romney in flames, Clinton a mild . . . . Continue Reading »

Barely a week goes by when I don’t recommend Jody’s “When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano” to someone—it’s one of my five favorite pieces ever to run in First Things. I did so at a dinner last night when the conversation turned to the divisions that still . . . . Continue Reading »

I wrote a short essay for The Weekly Standard that describes an encounter Barack Obama had with a group of anti-abortion protestors who disrupted one of his campaign events in New Hampshire. Obama was thoughtful and level-headed. He displayed admirable strength of character in defending the . . . . Continue Reading »

Driving around Las Vegas this morning and listening to the radio, I heard a news item on Bobby Fischer’s death, which reminded me why conservatives are so often infuriated by National Public Radio: The news reader noted Fischer’s death, called him the greatest chess player of all time, . . . . Continue Reading »

In case you missed it, the WSJ had an interesting item recently on China’s continuing enforcement of their one-child policy. It seems that many Chinese elite have been flouting it and the government has cracked down, revoking the scofflaws’ Communist Party membership. Don’t be . . . . Continue Reading »

You’ll recall that Mitt Romney was a socially liberal governor who realized that he was socially conservative just about the time he decided to run for president. He then campaigned as a movement conservative, until he lost the Iowa caucus. Looking around, Romney noticed that Barack Obama, . . . . Continue Reading »

Jody correctly notes that Mike Huckabee isn’t getting much credit for his win last night, but I think that’s an analytical mistake. Huckabee is still an underdog. If I had to bet $100 on who wins the nomination, I wouldn’t put it on him. But Huckabee has done something which . . . . Continue Reading »

So what really happened in Iowa? Candidates can’t win the nomination in Iowa, but they can lose it if they expose a colossal weakness (see: Dean, Howard). And the big loser in Iowa was Mitt Romney, whose campaign is now over. Let’s look at what happened to Romney in the Hawkeye State: . . . . Continue Reading »

At the risk of sullying First Things with a matter that wouldn’t make the category of Eleventh Things, I was struck by word this week that Jamie Lynn Spears, the sixteen-year-old kid sister of pop tartlet Britney Spears, is pregnant. Jamie Lynn announced the news on Tuesday and the . . . . Continue Reading »

Whatever else may be said about New Jersey and Gov. Jon Corzine, they should both be given credit for not only abolishing the death penalty but for doing so in the correct manner—through legislative action and not judicial or executive fiat. This small victory for the pro-life movement is also . . . . Continue Reading »