Jared Taylor’s recent posting on Takimag has drawn a number of a responses, including from Paul Gottfried and Richard Spencer, both of which make some good points. I’m afraid, however, that neither really hits on the essential problem—although Gottfried does mention it in passing, almost as an afterthought—which is that Taylor’s call for whites to organize along lines of “racial solidarity” … [Read More]

It seems the national commentariat is obsessed with the subject of torture, and there is talk of a “truth commission” to investigate and hold the Bushies accountable, up to and including The Decider himself. This is nothing but a lot of posturing on the part of liberals who know nothing will come of it: it was clear from the beginning that … [Read More]

More years ago than I care to remember, Burt Blumert saved my life–with the sort of advice only a born wise man could proffer. During some crisis or other, perhaps personal, perhaps political or professional—I don’t recall the details—he told me just what I should do, and I promptly did it—with beneficent results all around. What was his advice? As I … [Read More]

The central insight of conservatism—that everything is always getting worse—is dramatically illustrated by the little hamlet I recently moved to. Rio Nido, California, is located in the wine country of Sonoma county, about five miles north of the infamous Bohemian Grove facility where the elites meet annually to plot the fate of the world and enjoy the scenic Russian River as … [Read More]

Metaphor of the month: Jack Shafer, in Slate, writes: “Nobody in TV news stir-fries his ideas and serves them to the audience faster than MSNBC’s Chris Matthews. Drawing from a larder filled with old anecdotes, unreliable metaphors, wacky intuition, and superficial observations, the always-animated Matthews steers whatever’s handy into the hot wok that is his brain. The sizzling free-associations skitter through … [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]

Editor Richard Spencer has asked me—and indeed all the Takimag gang—to record our predictions for the coming year, but I have to say that I take this to mean he wants us to get our fingers moving and write something–because all punditry is prediction, in an important sense. Every time one advocates a particular policy, or descries another, the author is … [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]

When the Soviet Union’s ramshackle empire imploded, and what Louis Bromfield called the “worldwide psychopathic cult” of Communism fell into an embarrassed quietude, it seemed the socialist dream was over. As it turned out, however, we should only have been so lucky. Socialism, the seizure of the means of production by the State, was by no means dead and buried: Indeed, … [Read More]

In writing my endorsement of Ralph Nader, I passed rather quickly over the question of the right-wing splinter parties, namely the Libertarian Party and the Constitution Party, so as not to get bogged down in an extended discussion. I see, however, from the reaction to my piece, that the bog is unavoidable. The question I quite consciously avoided is the one … [Read More]