So I appreciate a couple of criticisms I got of my semi-ironic presentation of Tocquevillian WAVISM below. That wavism, we can say, can be reduced to the proposition that democracy emotionally deconstructs LOVE. You can find a similar kind of wavism in Allan Bloom’s CLOSING, which is all . . . . Continue Reading »
Here are a few nuggets from the interview with Ben Sasse that Pete highlights below. I think most Americans believe in a basic social safety net. But if there are 3–5 million hard-to-insure people right now, why are we disrupting the 165 million persons in an employer-sponsored insurance . . . . Continue Reading »
You’ve heard of group-think, right? Terrible phenomenon, caused no one to stand up to LBJ when the fateful decisions that got us further entangled Vietnam were being “debated,” for example. Psychologists can tell you all about it. Today, Marc Thiessen , a pull-no-punches . . . . Continue Reading »
I mentioned the new biography on Duke Ellington in an earlier post, and this weekend NRO has an interview with its author Terry Teachout, titled Duke 101 . I can’t recommend the book enough—the interview highlights some of its contributions, and begins to suggest why Teachout is the . . . . Continue Reading »
“What we are witnessing is the dismantling of what will be remembered as the finest medical system in the world. It still is for now, but it won’t be for long.” This via Ricochet’s Jack Dunphy , recalling a recent conversation with a doctor friend. His personal doctor is very . . . . Continue Reading »
So on Wednesday, November 13, Ben Storey of Furman will talk at BERRY COLLEGE on TOCQUEVILLE AND BIOTECHNOLOGY. There will also be a seminar/light dinner featuring Ben, my TECHNOLOGY class, and some others after the lecture. If you want to be part of the seminar, please let me know. You can reach . . . . Continue Reading »
Much venom has been spent against the recently departed Lou Reed. He apparently was emblematic of all that was wrong in America. He was the poster boy of popular musical artists in terms of drug addiction and sexual deviance. And apparently it feels good to point out and condemn his deviance. I for . . . . Continue Reading »
It’s been a while since anyone’s been able to write that. But that’s the basic feel of this Jonathan Tobin post at Commentary , which Jim hipped me to, “Beating the Brotherhood Isn’t Impossible.” Here’s the most comforting sentence: The Arab spring may have . . . . Continue Reading »
You’ve heard it over, and over, and over again: The Citizens United decision empowered corporations! Enacted oligarchy! Or, let’s do an official one, from an HP writer : it “unleashed independent unlimited spending of unlimited contributions by corporations, including . . . . Continue Reading »
What happens when a whole people harden their hearts? Plagues. Back in my home state of California, the entrenchment of liberal governance, and the passive see-no-evil acceptance of it by broad majorities of the populace, is now directly threatening the safety of the people through a series of . . . . Continue Reading »
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