Joseph Bottum

Mark it down, the time and place: At 1:13 this morning, there actually occurred a moment where all my email inboxes and to-do folders were empty—every email answered. It won’t last, of course, but isn’t that a great feeling? Now, on to all the unanswered paper mail. . . . . Continue Reading »

Cardinal Sodano has to go. The dean of the College of Cardinals, he has been found too often on the edges of scandal. Never quite charged, never quite blamed, he has had his name in too long a series of depositions and court records and news accounts”an ongoing embarrassment to the Church he serves… . Continue Reading »

Has Noah’s Ark Been Found? , asks the blaring headline of the press release from the PR firm Hamilton Strategies that just showed up in my inbox. And the answer? Ah, the italicized subhead explains, “Dr. Alex McFarland, President of Southern Evangelical Seminary, Says It Doesn’t . . . . Continue Reading »

I suppose it’s one way to solve the problem: CNN reported a few minutes ago that the Mojave Cross , which had been the cause of a recent Supreme Court decision, has disappeared—stolen by vandals. There is a strangeness in the land: a hatred of religion that’s sharp, palpable, and . . . . Continue Reading »

Yesterday, I took a swipe at President Obama for his big-think about how “information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation. ” I still think it’s not presidential to be a . . . . Continue Reading »

Matt Welch points out that President Obama seems to be working a theme—using three recent speeches to rail against the hyperconnection of our Internet age: a commencement address at the University of Michigan on May 1, a remark at the White House Correspondents’ dinner on May 2, and . . . . Continue Reading »

Mike Allen at Politico is reporting that President Obama is ready to nominate Elana Kagan to the Supreme Court, probably on Monday. Meanwhile, Paul Campos writes : Yesterday, I read everything Elena Kagan has ever published. It didn’t take long . . . . She’s published very little . . . . Continue Reading »

The inestimable law professor Todd Zywicki analyzes a study which suggests that the further left people are, the less they know about economics. I doubt it—mostly because I doubt all such studies, for the counter-examples are always overwhelming. Still, one’s intuition does move in a . . . . Continue Reading »

My goodness. In the course of its official editorial declining to endorse a candidate, Los Angeles Times says something nice about Mickey Kaus’ campaign for Senate in California: We appreciate the challenge brought by Robert “Mickey” Kaus, even though he’s not a realistic . . . . Continue Reading »

The libertarian gadfly Walter Olson notes a warning label : This book is a product of its time and does not reflect the same values as it would if it were written today. Parents might wish to discuss with their children how views on race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and interpersonal relations . . . . Continue Reading »