The doctor shoved the syringe into the old man’s neck.  He collapsed in convulsions before lying still. The Grim Reaper cackled surprisingly loudly in the background, as President Obama (or at least someone with a mask that looked like him) danced in celebration at the macabre spectacle. “There goes the media,” said one of the protesters in disgust as the cameramen … [Read More]

And the impossibility of conservatism. It’s 1964. A stranger approaches and tells you two political movements will arise in the near future, the New Left and the New Right. One of these movements will dominate American politics for a good quarter century. Indeed, political scientists will define the entire period in terms of the ascendancy of this group; historians will write … [Read More]

Dave Weigel has a typically vivid piece about what the Knob Creek machine gun shoot was like this year, capturing the mix of gunnies, gawkers, conspiracy nuts, and folks looking for cheap ammo.  Arguably, the profile of the audience at Knob Creek is newsworthy because a good chunk of the people here form the Republican base.  The most revealing part of … [Read More]

Coming to an ostensibly stable and prosperous nation-state near you The annoying thing about tear gas is that it doesn’t hit you all at once. They had used a smoke grenade before that and so you assumed it was just another one. You cough slightly at first, so slightly you don’t think about it. Then you notice everyone else is doing … [Read More]

The Two Minutes of Hate began in Ballston before the movie even began, when the previews of Oliver Stone’s W. hit the screen.  My brief speculation as to the political leanings of the crowd dissipated, as the Republican faithful screamed in rage at Stone’s biopic. “Judas,” “Traitor,” and the ultimate insult from any National Review conservative, “Fascist,” echoed through the theater.  … [Read More]

My friend Dave Weigel has a revealing post at Reason’s “Hit & Run” blog about Ron Paul’s long-overdue endorsement of Chuck Baldwin. Weigel refers the scornful commentators at “Hit & Run” to some “unfiltered Chuck” detailing his opposition to the North American Union, multiculturalism, and abortion. In a second post, he quotes Chuck as stating, This MTV generation has lost its … [Read More]

Under Consideration: David Sirota, The Uprising: An Unauthorized Tour of the Populist Revolt Scaring Wall Street and Washington, Crown (2008), 400 pages.  David Sirota begins his tour of American populism by telling about how he hung around with leftists, got drunk, daydreamed for a while, and then threw up. Sirota’s The Uprising has ambitious aims—a no holds barred, behind-the-scenes look at … [Read More]

I reported to registration to receive my official totebag, T shirt, and condoms. In the bustle, I was only able to grab three packs, but luckily, Students for a Sensible Drug Policy and NARAL were handing out prophylactics in the display area (unfortunately labeled “Screw the Drug War”). The Campus Progress National Conference had begun. Campus Progress is the Left’s answer … [Read More]