Jewish ultranationalist (and founder of the Jewish Defense League) Meir Kahane, whose Kach party was disqualified on grounds of racism from seeking seats in the Israel’s Knesset, used to say to his fellow Israelis “I say what you think.” After publishing this op-ed in . . . . Continue Reading »
Georgetown Law Professor Michael Seidman says in the New York Times that we should conclude, “the American system of government is broken” not because of political divisions, but because of the Constitution “with all its archaic, idiosyncratic and downright evil provisions.” . . . . Continue Reading »
1. I agree with Pete and Carl on the Seidman article. Nonetheless, it obviously has no legs. Here was (libertarian judicial activist) Randy Barnett’s reaction: Well, now we can get the income tax declared overturned if we can get five votes. 2. That reminds me of all the political lessons I . . . . Continue Reading »
About fifteen years ago Rush Limbaugh did a skit about Montana. The joke was that when you entered Montana they gave you a black robe, a shotgun, and a fill-in-the-blank copy of the Constitution. The skit ended with the narrator shooting a questioner and saying “I always knew he was a . . . . Continue Reading »
There is more fiction than non-fiction on this list, but that’s only because my non-fiction reading this year has been dominated by a succession of esoteric obsessions. I encountered some very good books that way, but the mini-reviews for all of them would have gone something like “A . . . . Continue Reading »
William Doino Jr. on rediscovering Paul VI : When the Vatican recently announced its new candidates for sainthood, there was a remarkable name on its list: Pope Paul VI. On December 20, 2012, Pope Benedict declared Paul a Christian of “heroic virtue,” granting him the title, . . . . Continue Reading »
Please, please, please, will someone at the next Obama press conference (surely there will be at least one of these before March Madness commences) ask him the following question? Imagine that after careful study a government official — say, the president or one of the party leaders in . . . . Continue Reading »
Detroit’s Archbishop Allen Vigneron recently spoke about the role of Catholic schools in the Church and the new evangelization—-an issue particularly urgent as many Catholic schools struggle to remain open and affordable. Archbishop Vigneron argues that schools are “an organic . . . . Continue Reading »
This was published last summer in the NYT, but it’s just now coming to my attention (via Luke Neff ): “Friends of a Certain Age: Why Is It Hard to Make Friends Over 30?” An excerpt: In studies of peer groups, Laura L. Carstensen, a psychology professor who is the . . . . Continue Reading »
Why do we say, “John goes to the pawn shop today,” but “John went to the pawn shop yesterday?” Where does that come from? German doesn’t have it. In the Krautic tongue, people say ich gehe, I go, and ich ginge, I went. The . . . . Continue Reading »
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