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On the Square Today

Elizabeth Scalia on Obamacare’s great gift : Recently we have learned that under Obamacare—that is, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act—employer insurance plans must provide free non-medical contraception, abortifacients, and sterilization for their employees. Free is as . . . . Continue Reading »

The End of Walker Percy’s THE MOVIEGOER

According to Ari Schulman: Because of Percy’s explicit engagement with Kierkegaard, we may justifiably interpret the ending as a representation of the ethical/aesthetic choice . . . .Binx, that is, begins the novel in the aesthetic mode, but by the end, he has given up moviegoing and committed . . . . Continue Reading »

First Links — 1.31.12

Charles Murray’s Values Inequality W. Bradford Wilcox, Wall Street Journal An Administration’s Against Civil Society Yuval Levin, National Review Catholic Colleges Consider Trustee Roles Libby A. Nelson, Inside Higher Ed Nature, Nurture, and Liberal Values Roger Scruton, Prospect . . . . Continue Reading »

The November Election Will Be Very Close

Here is a (characteristically) sensible article by Bill Galston in THE NEW REPUBLIC. I quote from its postscript: This morning, Gallup released the latest in its series of polls focused on twelve swing states—Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, . . . . Continue Reading »

Is Newt Gingrich the New Religious Right?

Thomas B. Edsall at the New York Times speculates about the future of the religious right in light of its current public representatives, citing an Clinton-era letter in which  Paul Weyrich despaired over whether or not there really was a “moral majority”: “I no longer believe . . . . Continue Reading »

In Praise of Rick Santorum

I say praise with the express acknowledgement that I think Rick would have had a hard time winning the Republican nomination, let alone winning a popular—or even an electoral majority—against the current president in the general election in the first place. His case for the presidency was . . . . Continue Reading »

Against Sex Subsidies

Today’s New York Times reminds us that the Jesuits haven’t gone entirely off the rails. Their exposé exposes the fact that Fordham has resisted compliance with a New York state law that requires insurance coverage that pays for birth control pills. Nice to know that on this . . . . Continue Reading »

Boxers or Briefs, Mr. Romney?

BuzzFeed responds to recent ribbing of Mitt Romney with a helpful primer on “garments,” the underclothes worn by Mormons: Though it’s common in Mormon-mocking rhetoric to use some variation on “magic Mormon undies” to describe the garment ( paging Bill Maher ), . . . . Continue Reading »

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