Whether doing our best or worst, collectively we develop countless imperfect habits, customs and traditions - or “culture” - that give expression to our humanity. Usually by accident of geography, ethnicity or both, people share cuisine, art, technology, architecture and gods particular to their little corner of the world. The long-established cultural norms and attributes people share give their lives meaning … [Read More]

On the day after Ted Kennedy’s death, the American Spectator’s James Antle wrote the following concerning the late senator’s involvement in the 1969 drowning of Mary Jo Kopechne: “The man who would become a beloved father figure to the sons and daughters of his slain brother, left another family’s daughter to die in an incident that would have ended virtually any … [Read More]

In an interview with Philadelphia-based radio host Michael Smerconish, President Obama said the following about critics who called his healthcare proposal “socialist:” “FDR was called a socialist when he passed Social Security. JFK and Lyndon Johnson - they were both accused of a government takeover of health care when they passed Medicare. This is the process that we go through, because … [Read More]

Though most famous for coining the phrase “axis-of-evil” in President Bush’s 2002 State of the Union address, Frum’s second most famous act was to try to read antiwar conservatives out of the movement. In a 2003 cover story for National Review entitled “Unpatriotic Conservatives,” Frum gave right-wing dissenters from Bush’s foreign policy the Fredo treatment: “War is a great clarifier. It … [Read More]

New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd wrote last week of the town hall protesters: “Instead of a multicultural tableau of beaming young idealists on screen, we see ugly scenes of mostly older and white malcontents.” Fellow Times columnist Paul Krugman wrote of the protesters “they’re probably reacting less to what Mr. Obama is doing, or even to what they’ve heard about … [Read More]

In one sense, I halfway agree with Nancy Pelosi. Screaming or shouting down politicians or fellow citizens in a public forum isn’t exactly productive. Yet I also agree with Thomas Jefferson, who wrote that “When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.” In my lifetime, I can’t recall our politicians ever … [Read More]

While the dissident Left has curiously become mute under Obama, the dissident Right has turned up the volume in questioning a Democratic president whose agenda includes some of the most ambitious big government experiments in this nation’s history. Targeting Americans who have been vocally uneasy with such drastic government expansion, last week a few of my Left-leaning friends at the Charleston … [Read More]

I don’t have much faith in my fellow man. In fact, my own conservatism has much to do with the fact that I reject the entire notion of human improvement altogether. Grandiose liberal efforts do not work, not because they are simply led by the wrong kind of men, but because they are led by men, period. “Progressivism” is a great … [Read More]

While his party moves Right under Obama, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham remains the quintessential big government Republican. Six months into his presidency, the most significant difference between Obama and Bush seems to be that the new president is determined to spend more money than the last one. That Graham shows signs that he might be more willing than other Republicans … [Read More]

When it comes to conspiracy theorists, whether it be those who question the official report on the assassination of JFK, those who wonder whether the Apollo moon landing actually happened or even those who believe the U.S. was behind 9/11, I’m much more comfortable with Americans who believe their leaders are always up to no good than those who show eternal … [Read More]