between putting the baby to bed and watching the Twilight Zone marathon: 1. I saw Romney’s stump speech on television. It is pretty obviously a response to Obama’s Osawatomie speech on inequality by talking about opportunity etc.. I thought Romney’s speech needed . . . . Continue Reading »
1. I don’t want this to be true, but, from watching several of Gingrich’s appearances (on television) over the last several days, Gingrich seems to have found a groove on the stump. I don’t like him, but I still found him likeable. I’m not sure it . . . . Continue Reading »
In the latest issue of the NYRB , Mark Lilla takes apart Corey Robin’s recent The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Sarah Palin . Lilla quotes this from Robin: “Conservatism is the theoretical voice of this animus against the agency of the subordinate classes. It . . . . Continue Reading »
I offer a few simple thoughts about how to think about empires today at http://www.firstthings.com/ . . . . Continue Reading »
1. Well that was quick. Perry is already putting out a hit on Santorum as a congressional porker. At this point, Perry probably needs to finish ahead of Santorum in Iowa or he becomes a well funded spoiler candidate (and one that helps Romney to boot.) 2. So I went over to . . . . Continue Reading »
A new poll shows Santorum in third place in Iowa. Sure it is just one poll, but like Rich Lowry says, the strongest argument against Santorum for people who want to like him has been that he had no chance. When he looks like he is doing better, people will give themselves . . . . Continue Reading »
1. According to PPP, Romney and Paul are leading with a four car pile up for third place. Gingrich is closer to finishing sixth than first. The internal numbers are really bad for Gingrich. A lot more people dislike him than like him. 2. Any finish where Romney and . . . . Continue Reading »
On one level, I think Paul deserves all of the newsletter-related grief he is getting. The most plausible charitable explanation is that Paul and his associates looked at the most slanderous, incendiary, things liberals said about Republicans winning elections based on appeals to bigotry and . . . . Continue Reading »
Strayer argues that city-states and empires both had their problems, and that “The European states which emerged after 1100 combined, to some extent, the strengths of both the empires and the city-states. They were large enough and powerful enough to have excellent changes for survival - some . . . . Continue Reading »
Gregory VII won his battle, but lost the war. Joseph Strayer ( On the Medieval Origins of the Modern State (Princeton Classic Editions) ) notes that “by separating itself so clearly from lay governments, the Church unwittingly sharpened concepts about the nature of secular authority. . . . . Continue Reading »
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