I used to answer friends who told me something I’d said was tasteless (and they were right) with a quip like, “If you can’t joke about terrorism and cancer, what can you joke about?” I was mostly being an ass, but a tiny point nestled inside what I said. Laughter helps diffuse the visceral tension that comes with impending doom, and … [Read More]

Government and mainstream economists have erroneously concluded that the key to reversing the financial free fall can be found in stopping the plunge in home prices. (I would offer the corollary that the key to reducing injuries in auto accidents is to suspend the laws of inertia). But to accomplish the improbable task of re-inflating the housing bubble, the government appears … [Read More]

The following address was given to the H.L. Mencken Club’s Annual Meeting; November 21-23, 2008. On the evenings of October 10 and 11, 1999, the A&E cable network broadcast a list of “The 100 Most Influential People of the Past 1000 Years,” selected by a “Blue Ribbon Panel.” Some of the names on the bottom half of the list were rather … [Read More]

Having savaged each other for a year, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have now formed a rare partnership in power. Not since James Garfield chose James G. Blaine has a new president chosen his principal rival to be secretary of state. What does this tell us? First, don’t take campaign oratory all that seriously. Second, unlike Dennis Kucinich, Ted Kennedy, Ron … [Read More]

I’ve avoided reading, let alone commenting on, the various post-election analyses of “where is conservatism headed?” or “what went wrong?” symposiums, because in my old age I’m becoming more intolerant of people who know so little that they don’t even know that they know nothing of the subject they’re discussing. Of course, the post-election symposium over at National Review didn’t involve … [Read More]

NEW YORK—A funny thing happened to me on my way out from a party on November 17 in London. I was temporarily confused until I ran into Naomi Campbell in the Royal Hospital Gardens. She was carrying some packages into her car and offered me a ride . “Are you going on to Andrew’s?” she asked sweetly. “Hop in, I’ll take … [Read More]

Wait a second—might the terrorists in Mumbai have had actual political objectives? Are you suggesting that they don’t just hate freedom and wealth? Who has ever heard of such a thing?  [Read More]

Keeping track of the ever mutating bailout debate is becoming increasingly difficult. With the Federal money spigots now thrown wide open, and with no one of influence advising restraint, the only debate is where to direct the torrent. During the past week, the talk began with Detroit and Citigroup, but by Friday had shifted to a massive “stimulus package” to bail … [Read More]

Arguably the most successful act of revolutionary terror was the June 1914 assassination of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand in Sarajevo. Believing his mission to murder the heir to the Austrian throne had failed, Gavrilo Princip suddenly found himself standing a few feet away from the royal car. He fired twice, mortally wounding the archduke and his wife. Tactically, that act of … [Read More]

The concept of “culture” permeates many aspects of our lives.  A ‘culture’ search for recent articles on Google News returned no less than 70,000 hits.  One hears of high-brow culture (or used to), low-brow culture, American culture, black culture, white culture, gay culture, cultural homogeneity, cultural wars, and, more recently because of immigration, cultural assimilation. Historian Arthur Schlesinger wrote that without … [Read More]