When it comes to right and wrong, let’s throw out the labels “conservative” and “liberal”. These terms have been denuded of meaning. Thanks to those pushy “neoconservatives” and their prominence in recent years, the average person is understandably confused as to what a genuine conservative is. The average person is apt to think that clowns such as Rush Limbaugh and Bill … [Read More]

I wonder how many of our readers saw last night’s discussion with Republican pollster Frank Luntz, a commentary that was absorbing enough so that I was able to watch FOX for more than thirty seconds. The Republicans who had come to the debate in Iowa were thrilled by the thumping, warlike rhetoric of Rudy and his clones but from all accounts … [Read More]

Alright, alright, enough already with the Hamburger Question, let’s get down the Really Important Things, i.e. mentions of me on the Internets. This is the Writer’s Vice of the cybernetic age: self-Googling, which is exactly what it sounds like. LOL. Anyway, whilst indulging this exercise in narcissism, I came upon this little biography of British neocon David Aaronovitch: “David Aaronovitch is … [Read More]

Justin confesses that he is “perplexed by this paleocon jihad against McDonald’s, Walmart, and other commercial venues.”  He shouldn’t be.  He admits that he prefers Johnny Rocket’s (a good choice) to McDonald’s.  And if the market is all about freedom of choice, shouldn’t we paleocons be free not only to choose not to patronize Wal-Mart, McDonald’s, and Microsoft, but also to … [Read More]

Scott is half-right—I suffer from a Syndrome having to do with restlessness, but it has nothing to do with my legs .... Moving right along, however: I am perplexed by this paleocon jihad against McDonald’s, Walmart, and other commercial venues. Of course, I’ve never actually been in one of these establishments—in San Francisco, where our paleocon Board of Stupidvisors reigns supreme, … [Read More]

My friend Justin Raimondo is the best of the paleolibertarians, but he occasionally suffers from Restless Leg Syndrome.  At least, I assume that’s what’s responsible for the knee-jerk reaction to my previous post. Justin writes: “Is Senor Richert proposing to nationalize the fast food business, in order to get the government to inject ‘meaning’ into McDonald’s hamburgers?”  Of course, I had … [Read More]

I have a solution to Scott Richert’s McDonald’s conundrum: if you don’t like McDonald’s, then don’t patronize them. I know that’s terribly complicated, but there you have it. Is Senor Richert proposing to nationalize the fast food business, in order to get the government to inject “meaning” into McDonald’s hamburgers? Richert says “of course” he doesn’t want the government to intervene—but, … [Read More]

It occurred to me recently that thirty years have elapsed since I first began earning money as a church organist. Perhaps in those thirty years, I may have learnt a few things of some general interest, worth passing on to others. I’ve played in many Catholic churches, and in quite a few Anglican [Episcopalian] churches. But I don’t know the first … [Read More]

Left undistorted by government, our libertarian friends tell us, the market will always work out to the advantage of all.  Those of us who express doubts are routinely derided as “statists” or “protectionists” or “authoritarians.” And we may even be called something worse if we dare to proclaim, with the social teaching of the Church, that the market is made for … [Read More]

Two days ago my frenzied attempt to “make sense of the American Right” came out as a book with Palgrave-Macmillan. My readers are urged to get hold of this slim volume, which Peter Brimelow describes as a “must read” for sudents of the American Right. Copies are available through Amazon.Com. Although it has not been my practice to use my blog … [Read More]