When I went to first grade, I learned to print my name and hide under my desk in case of a nuclear blast. When I went to the movies, I saw news reels of U.S. above-ground atomic weapons tests in Nevada. (Nobody worried about fallout then.) In 1968, my parents could stand on their front…
Tag: conservatism
Yo, “conservatives”! Donald Trump is destroying the rule of law, and you didn’t even notice!
It is a long-running rap of Trump apologists that while the Donald may be a little rough around the edges, substantively (which is what counts, of course) he’s done little more than enact the standard Republican menu of tax cuts, increased defense spending, and, best of all, conservative judges! Well, we can pass over (for…
More short takes
Fred Hiatt wants to make sure you know he’s a COMPLETE idiot Well, he does. “We knew who Trump was but elected him anyway. We can’t impeach him for that.”, writes WashPost editorial page editor Fred, ignoring the fact that “we” didn’t elect Trump, the Electoral College did. I myself am opposed to impeaching Trump,…
Shorter National Review: OUR CIVILIZATION IS GOING TO HELL!!!! (Also, that Trump guy should probably take it down a notch)
Yes, our favorite band of anti-anti-Trumpers, proud if unknowing heirs of the anti-anti-communists1—are at it again, with a brand-new message, to wit: Yeah, sure, Trump isn’t the greatest, just like your favorite pal Bill Clintion!—but the big picture is, WE’RE ALL GOING TO HELL! The December 11 online issue of NR took the occasion to…
Max Boot’s The Corrosion of Conservatism: A major mea culpa just a few culpas shy of a load
Max Boot has written another “what happened to conservatism?” book, similar but superior to Charles How the Right Lost its Mind Sykes and Rick Everything Trump Touches Dies Wilson, because Boot, unlike both Sykes and Wilson, is willing to re-examine the historical record and discover, among other things, that, yes, the young William F. Buckley…
Paging Dr. Yeats! Paging Dr. Yeats!
Some time ago, I got so tired of reading about things “slouching towards Bethlehem”, or at least slouching somewheres, that I took upon myself to announce that no one, with the exception of Huckleberry Finn, would be allowed to use that verb, at once so affectedly literary and so uncouth that the poor word was…
Jay Nordlinger at the end of his tether
Back in the day, like the Eighties day, and even later, I used to check out the National Review, either at the newsstand or the library, because I don’t remember ever being dedicated enough to buy a copy, just to keep up with what the enemy was thinking. There were a few writers whom I…
“The Conservative Mind” turns sixty! (Sound of one hand clapping)
Actually, the sound of no hands clapping. From the perspective sheer scholarly effort, Russell Kirk’s 500-page tome, surveying Anglo-American conservative thought from Edmund Burke to T. S. Eliot, is an impressive work, examining dozens of both illustrious and obscure thinkers and arranging them in a coherent historical framework that shows considerable learning as well.1 So…