When an Iraqi journalist threw his shoes at President George W. Bush during a press conference in Baghdad recently, pundits everywhere had fun replaying the footage, commenting on the president’s quick reflexes and some even noted that such an act of defiance was only possible due to the removal of Saddam Hussein. But few took the time to examine the journalist’s … [Read More]

Be prepared for a homosexual parody of Christmas when you take a stroll through Amsterdam these days. The Dutch city, the self-declared “Gay capital of the world,” is holding its first “Pink Christmas Festival.” From 18 until 28 December, the ten-day “Christmas Festival” for homosexuals will a “gay X-mas open-air market,” Gay nativity scenes—featuring Baby Jesus with either two Josephs or … [Read More]

She calls herself “Melissa Beech,” and if we take her thumbnail biography at face value, she’s a college senior, living in Philadelphia—and living in lavish style, thanks to her wealthy boyfriend. A successful media professional, he pays her rent, showers her with gifts, and takes her on expensive vacations. This “mutually beneficial arrangement” costs her beau something like $5,000 a month … [Read More]

Just two months after the twin towers fell, the armies of the Northern Alliance marched into Kabul. The Taliban fled. The triumph was total in the “splendid little war” that had cost one U.S. casualty. Or so it seemed. Yet, last month, the war against the Taliban entered its eighth year, the second longest war in our history, and America and … [Read More]

Paul Michael Weyrich, a founding father of the New Right, has died. Eternity has stolen from us a great man. I first met Paul (he insisted on being called by his first name; once, when I addressed him as “Mr. Weyrich,” Paul snapped back, “Mr. Weyrich was my father, and he’s dead; call me Paul!”) in 1996.  The occasion was the … [Read More]

We’ve had so much grim news since Christmas past, The flourishing of Takimag is one of the few bits of tangible good news to which I can cling as winter sets in. In my capacity as the site’s designated autobiographical humor columnist—every publication has one; NR’s is Ramesh Ponnuru— I give thanks to our noble patron, Taki for his generous … [Read More]

Another NATO conference, another example of geopolitical futility. At the alliance’s recent ministerial meeting, the Europeans rebuffed Washington’s push for speedy membership for Georgia and Ukraine. NATO is coming up on its 60th anniversary, and it is completely bereft of a raison d’être. The organization has changed from a military alliance directed at protecting U.S. security to the international equivalent of … [Read More]

Last week a federal judge decided that South Carolina’s plans to issue a cross featuring a cross and the words “I believe” amounted to government sponsorship of religion. If consistent, this judge will now spend her Christmas not at home with her family but challenging the legality of a national holiday that gives government preference to followers of the Christian faith. … [Read More]

In the latest issue of National Review, one finds a laudatory review of a new doorstop biography of Franklin Roosevelt. Among other things, the author of this review credits Roosevelt with reducing the unemployment rate between his first inauguration in 1933 and his reelection in 1936.  On the Conservativenet e-mail list for conservative and libertarian scholars recently, editor Richard Jensen offered … [Read More]

Yes, Virginia, Charles Dickens did invent Christmas, at least the Christmas spirit of giving to the poor as well as the presumption and posturing of the rich. As everyone knows, it was 1843 and Dickens had spent his hard-earned cash like an oil-rich camel driver. He was only 31, but he had a large family to feed and felt he was … [Read More]