Politics on the Lincoln Highway

We spent a few days in Bethesda, visiting our son and his lovely wife for an extended weekend, taking advantage of the early Columbus Day official holiday.  (No wonder no one takes Columbus seriously, since his day of memorial wanders around the month like a boulevardier on a stroll.)  . . . . Continue Reading »

First Links — 10.10.12

U. S. No Longer Has Protestant Majority Wall Street Journal On John Henry Newman’s Feast Day Dawn Eden, Patheos The Purpose of Work Gene Edward Veith, The Gospel Coalition How Streets in America Get Their Names Jacqueline Shannon, Business Insider Annual Mass of the Catholic Artists Society . . . . Continue Reading »

Arrogance, Humility, and the President

1. I admit it. I’m more indulgent toward the president than many conservatives, including Carl. 2. So the president didn’t study for his debate, preferring to visit the Hoover Dam instead. Is that arrogant? Sure. But we can see how Romney tricked him into complacency with his rather . . . . Continue Reading »

Humility

The story here is a few days old, but alas, as we’ve come to expect, it’s been under-reported: Romney admits the “47%” remark was a mistake .  Was wrong. “Now and then, you’re going to say something that doesn’t come out right,” Romney said, . . . . Continue Reading »

Arrogance

So we now know, if this astounding story from the Daily Mail holds up (via Campaign Spot , which quotes the key stuff), that Jonathan Tobin and I were absolutely right about the reason for Obama’s stumble: he arrogantly believed his own B.S. about Romney, and shirked his prep on the assumption . . . . Continue Reading »

Fun With Polls!

1. So Romney is now .7% ahead of Obama in the RCP average. By way of comparison, John Kerry (who was running to unseat an incumbent of comparable job approval ratings) never led and never got closer than 1.7% to Bush in the post convention period. Bush ended up winning the popular vote by 2.4%. . . . . Continue Reading »

Today’s Polls

Fairly interpreted give Romney a very narrow but real lead. He also picked up Colorado on the no-tie chart. It goes without saying that I was mocking the dramatic Andrew S. below. The election is too close to call, and the Obama campaign remains the better campaign. But the big mo’ is with . . . . Continue Reading »

Goats Are Not Property

A story of old Irish hero Daniel O’Connell, quoted in Sean O’Faolain’s biography : I remember I was once counsel before Judge Day for a man who had stolen some goats. The fact was proved; whereupon I produced to old Day an old Act of Parliament, empowering the owners of . . . . Continue Reading »

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Are we all racists now? Ever since Barack Obama made his appearance in national politics, some of the good souls who have supported him have drawn red lines to remind any possible critics where their opposition veers into racism. Bill Maher, Chris Matthews, The New Yorker, E. J. Dionne, Michael . . . . Continue Reading »