In one of the more grotesque episodes in the ongoing slide of “conservative” opinion into nonsense and ideology, Stephen Schwartz, in a commentary for National Review Online, offered a flattering depiction of onetime Soviet Communist leader Leon Trotsky (1879-1940). The loser in a power struggle with Stalin after the death of Lenin in 1924, Trotsky in exile, first in Norway and … [Read More]

A young friend of mine, Chris Preble of CATO Institute, recently recounted to me an incident in which Republican controversialist Ann Coulter made a statement on FOX (where else?) that Chris found “particularly disgusting.” When asked whether the U.S. should launch an attack on Iran, Ann, true to bad form, responded “Think how much fun it would be to blow up … [Read More]

The Smearbund is raging again; and as usual, its accusations against people whose views differ from its own tell more about the accuser than the targets of its defamation. On March 11, our college public relations office emailed me a feature story from the Las Vegas Journal, one that was receiving national online circulation. I, among others, was mentioned as someone … [Read More]

I am entirely against government bans on “cults.” Such a ban would be an instrument for public administrators trying to control undesirable social and cultural values. In all likelihood this law would be used in a discriminatory fashion, to go after politically incorrect Christians far more than to restrict orgiastic sun worshippers in Arizona or the sacrificers of screaming chickens in … [Read More]

Having already seen ample evidence that the neocon Evil Empire is wild about Rudy Giuliani and supports him enthusiastically for president, last week I encountered further proof courtesy of Jonah Goldberg, who is syndicated in the Lancaster New Era. Although our evening paper pretends to be on the center-right, in contrast to its equally narcoleptic morning counterpart, which is Democratic, most … [Read More]

Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan. This explains why so many of those who leapt on the bandwagon, or led the parade, that marched American soldiers off to war in Iraq are now disclaiming paternity, or screaming for blood tests. (No matter that many of these same folks are priming the pumps for yet another war with Iran, … [Read More]