When my wife suggested that we go see Doubt, John Patrick Shanley’s film adaptation of his Tony-award winning play, I was skeptical. I never saw the play, but I knew that it was about a priest suspected by a nun of molesting a teenage boy at the parochial school she ran, and I didn’t want to waste two hours on the … [Read More]

When traditional conservatives, liberals and others argue that America’s hyper-interventionist foreign policy is the cause of many of our problems, that we would like to see the U.S. do less around the world is called “isolationist” or worse. But like it or not, Israel and the U.S. are seen as one-in-the-same in the Middle East, a fact that should make Americans … [Read More]

New York had Joe Dimaggio. Boston had Ted Williams         And Washington, D.C.? Well, we had Sammy Baugh, the greatest football player ever to pull on a jersey.         In 1943, Baugh led the NFL in pass completions, punting and interceptions as a defensive back with 11, calling forth the tribute of legendary sportswriter Grantland … [Read More]

In his new incarnation as a born-again peacenik, Andrew Sullivan—pictured here, scratching his ass on national television—is eager to play the same role he assumed when he was in the vanguard of the War Party – policeman. Back in the day, you’ll recall, he even called poets on the carpet for the political content of their verses – and now he’s … [Read More]

Why Israel Loses Asymmetric Wars I’ve been reluctant to write about Israel’s bombardment and invasion of Gaza this past two weeks for the simple reason that the ordeal has struck me as, to borrow a phrase from Bismarck, “some damn foolish thing” in the Hold Land—and one which, I hope, doesn’t precipitate a worldwide disaster like the original “damn foolish thing” … [Read More]

In December we lost two great men, Paul Weyrich and Samuel Huntington. Both became l’enfant terribles in the establishments they were part of. Paul Weyrich helped create, and remained at the center, of the modern conservative movement establishment. The dozens of obituaries and tributes to Weyrich noted his involvement in the founding of the Heritage Foundation and the Moral Majority. While … [Read More]

I don’t envy Barak Obama. Nor do I pity him. The man should have been more careful what he wished for. As a recent report makes clear, the incoming president’s vision of a warmier, fuzzier country where all life’s sharp edges are cushioned by Other People’s Money has vanished like the porn on a crashed computer. We have run out of … [Read More]

Just in case you hadn’t noticed, ladies, you are being oppressed, exploited, abused, beaten, enslaved, murdered and raped. This evil is being perpetrated by the patriarchy, and Barack Obama is part of it. Oh, also Dolce & Gabbana, Levis, Wrangler, Jimmy Choo, BMW, Corona beer, and Captain Morgan rum. This is the message of a remarkable video produced by the Gabriela … [Read More]

Israel can now safely be called the Bernie Madoff of countries, at it has lied to the world about its intentions, stolen Palestinian lands continuously since 1948, and managed to do all this with American tax payer’s money. Every American taxpayer, starting with George W. Bush, has Palestinian blood on their hands thanks to the butchers that run Israel.     … [Read More]

An earlier version of this essay was delivered at the H.L. Mencken Club’s Annual Meeting; November 21-23, 2008. Under the general topic of malevolence, wickedness, and evil, a vocabulary exists for self-imposed harm, for example, self-mutilation or self-abuse. But such words always denote individuals—not collectivities—inflicting harm. It is almost unthinkable that, say, an entire ethnic group would knowingly injure, let alone … [Read More]