Benazir Bhutto may have been ruthless, conniving, and a “puppet of Pakistan’s military and security services,” as Leon Hadar argues in the January 2008 issue of Chronicles, but make no mistake: Her assassination today will do nothing to bring peace and stability to Pakistan.  The suicide attack that killed her along with at least 20 others will be widely seen, on … [Read More]

The terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001 mark a very significant turning point in American history. The attacks took place near the beginning of a new American presidency, and the repercussions have defined that presidency, even self-defined it, one could say. I tried in The Unauthorized World Situation Report to come to grips with what happened on 9/11 and why it … [Read More]

Ladies and Gentlemen of the press; my fellow Americans.  Thank you for giving me the opportunity today to speak to you about matters of personal belief. Recently my religious convictions—those associated with Cthulhu Worship and the Esoteric Order of Dagon—have constituted themselves a campaign issue.  Although no other current candidate for a presidential party nomination has been asked to justify his … [Read More]

Ron Paul is a family man—and his numerous progeny are out there campaigning. Here’s his son, Rand Paul, speaking at Fanueil Hall, in Boston: A comment on the Youtube thread for this video is a study in contrasts: “Huckabee’s son reportedly knows how to string up a dog, slit its throat, and stone it to death. Just wait’ll he starts giving … [Read More]

I have long felt at a loss to do justice to how completely the Ron Paul revolution has blunted the force of the far-Left (and far-Right) I once knew. But fate has now intervened. The recent smearbund hysteria against Ron Paul, so brilliantly deconstructed by Justin Raimondo, has hit home to me. It mostly involves, in its absolutely sick ironic twist, … [Read More]

One hundred thirty five years ago, on Christmas Day, an aged and ailing Ralph Waldo Emerson disembarked at Alexandria, the cradle of Hellenistic Christendom, whence the Holy Family had fled Herod long centuries before. Emerson was one of the first Americans to be conscious of living in what seemed to be a post-Christian age, though it was more precisely the post-Puritan, … [Read More]

Christmas in Iraq—here‘s what it’s like: “A suicide truck bomb killed at least 20 people and wounded 80 in the northern Iraqi city of Baiji on Tuesday, the police and U.S. military said. In the province of Diyala north of Baghdad, a suicide bomber wearing a vest packed with explosives struck a funeral in the city of Baquba, killing 10 people … [Read More]

They Can’t Even Wait! Although I consider myself second to none in loathing the Democratic Party, as an ingathering of bureaucratic parasites and self-described victim groups (yelping for set-asides and public funding), there is one Democratic characteristic that Republicans would do well to emulate. Democrats do not exert themselves kissing up to constituencies that they have too much ideological self-respect to … [Read More]

To celebrate this holy day, we are posting two meditations on the Incarnation by the Jesuit poet and martyr Robert Southwell. Blessings upon all our readers in this Christmas season. New Prince, New Pomp         Behold, a seely tender babe   In freezing winter night In homely manger trembling lies,—   Alas, a piteous sight! The inns are … [Read More]

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert recently rejected overtures by Hamas for discussions about a temporary cease-fire. So what else is new? Israel’s ruling coalition wants peace as much as the neocons want it back in Washington. What I find surprising is that the Likudniks no longer care to even make a pretense towards peace. Take, for example, Annapolis and the US sponsored … [Read More]