Considering my deep and enduring antipathy toward “Crunchy Cons,” I am more than willing to believe that Whole Foods CEO John Mackey is a menace to society. But there’s a right way and a wrong way to demonize somebody, and Mackey’s enemies are making a botch of it. What else can we conclude from the ill-argued propaganda tracts that Reason magazine’s … [Read More]

What do washed-up celebrity bimbos Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan have in common? Both got their show-biz breaks in the Disney empire, Britney as a pre-teen member of the New Mousketeers and Lindsay in wholesome family films like the 1998 remake of The Parent Trap. The latest young starlet to roll off the Disney assembly line is 16-year-old Selena Gomez. After … [Read More]

“To live for the moment is the prevailing passion—to live for yourself, not for your predecessors or posterity. We are fast losing the sense of historical continuity, the sense of belonging to a succession of generations originating in the past and stretching into the future.”—Christopher Lasch, The Culture of Narcissism When he was 16, Bill McCain told his mother, “You won’t … [Read More]

My paleo friends must have laughed themselves silly at the sight of Mark Levin and David Frum going at each other like Tybalt and Benvolio in the streets of Verona. Ah, but what of Rod Dreher, who now sides with Frum against Levin? A spanner in the works for those whose rule is, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” … [Read More]

...and some other rumors too good to deny.  “Always mystify, mislead, and surprise the enemy, if possible. . . Such tactics will win every time.” ~Lt. Gen. Thomas Jackson My habit of citing such authorities explains a bit about why the diligent Googler can find me denounced as a “white supremacist,” a “segregationist,” et cetera. How often have I wished to … [Read More]

or Why Culture11 Sucked So Bad. Bob Barr was eating a chocolate-dipped soft-serve ice cream cone from Dairy Queen. I was driving him to Raleigh-Durham International Airport after his appearance at the North Carolina Libertarian Party state conference in Burlington. It was April 2008, and Barr’s entry into the LP presidential contest had made the former Republican congressman from Georgia the … [Read More]

Is John Ziegler a misogynist? So says blogger Fireweed, based on the dating-show video I posted a three weeks ago, in which the documentary filmmaker spoke of his “dream woman” thusly: Someone who is informed and rational, which I realize is kind of an oxymoron for women. . . . Ideally you find someone with a manageable degree of irrationality. From … [Read More]

Some just-published research suggests that the incontestable hotness of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin hurts her chances of becoming president, which is a sore disappointment to her admirers at Conservatives4Palin, and also to me. Never mind any discussion of Palin’s political leanings or qualifications. It just seems to me that if America is going to elect a woman president, she might as … [Read More]

“We’re adding a little something to this month’s sales contest. As you all know, first prize is a Cadillac Eldorado. . . . Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you’re fired.” —Blake (Alec Baldwin) in Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) Washington, it has been said, is Hollywood for the ugly, and, indeed, great beauties are a rarity … [Read More]

If you want to boost TV ratings, nothing does the trick like teen sex. Just think of poor Chris Hansen, who spent years building a respectable career as a TV newsman but since 2004 has become forever typecast as the guy who busts Internet perverts on NBC’s To Catch a Predator—with “What are you doing here?” as his “you’re busted” calling … [Read More]