Fed up with the Trotskyite takeover of the Republican party, Americans hopefully elected scads of Democrats to Congress last session in order to upend that nonsense. But lo and behold, the Dems dutifully responded to the mandate first by allowing more American troops sent to Iraq, then by boldly agreeing that soon, maybe, unless it’s decided to invade Iran, or Syria, or some other difficulty pops up, why then they’ll favor deescalating, at least until American troops are back to the same number they were when those Dems got elected. Not that our elites don’t respond to the electorate’s concerns, … 
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The recent decision by the Catholic bishops of Connecticut to allow Catholic hospitals in the state to administer the “morning after pill” to rape victims has, quite rightly, been criticized by pro-lifers.  The criticisms, however, have largely been on technical grounds.  The pill works, in part, by preventing the implantation of a fertilized egg—in other words, it is an abortifacient.  A new state law prevents hospitals from taking the results of an ovulation test into account when deciding whether to administer the pill, and the bishops have declared that, in their judgment, a pregnancy test will suffice. The technical criticism is … 
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An international conference took place on June 22 at the Libera Università degli Studi “San Pio V” in Rome to consider the nature and evolution of “European political thought after 1989 between globalization and new humanism.” Among the issues discussed, the most important was an examination of how the various political and philosophical cultures have come back to questions about God or, at least, religions’ role in public sphere. Together with the problem of identity, this is the central intellectual question of our times. Major events during the last twenty years, such as the fall of Soviet Empire and the 9/11 … 
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Since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in his widely discussed address at Columbia University last week maintained that homosexuals do not exist in his country, the neocon-Republican war squad has gone into high gear stressing the persecution of gays under the Mullahs. Listening to the foaming Sean Hannity and reading indignant columns in the New York Post, one might believe that homosexuality is now a core “conservative” value. What is really happening is that the “conservative movement” has adopted Nietzsche’s daring maxim that “a good war may justify any cause.” As long as the neoconservatives can manage to get Bush II to blow up … 
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Robert D. Novak may have thought of him as a fraud, as did Jackie Onassis, who was an expert—after all, she did look at the mirror daily—but in my mind he was the real deal and a very good president to boot. Richard Nixon came to mind when reading about the pain certain Brooklynites are still going through fifty years after the Dodgers left town for the wide open spaces of Los Angeles. Here’s Rabbi Kushner talking to a hack in a Noo Yawk weekly: “There’s nothing uniting us now. When a traditional Jew dies, they sprinkle some soil from Jerusalem … 
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Sixteen months from now, when they sit upon the ground to tell sad stories of the death of kings, scores of Republican chieftains will no doubt take a deep sigh of relief at seeing the back of George W. Bush as he sallies off to a Crawford-bound retirement. Although dedicated partisans will forever remain grateful for his depriving Al Gore the presidency, GOP wise men will be left to ponder: What, ultimately, is the legacy Bush 43 leaves behind?   The answer, from a political and philosophical standpoint, should disturb them greatly.   Politically, Republicans are rudderless. Morale among activists is … 
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Hillary Clinton’s unsatisfactory explanation why she voted for Wolfowitz’s War is worth revisiting. “Operation Iraqi Freedom” must be an embarrassment to her and to all the other establishment politicos who “authorized” the war. As it is, she blames Bush and Cheney for mismanagement. For the Democrats, Bush has become a wonderful punching bag and a gift from the gods. Like John Kerry in 2004, Hillary has complained for years about “the way” the war has been prosecuted, but not about the real issue, which is “What are we doing there in the first place?” She avoids that issue. She does not … 
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Bill Sammon, the author of The Evangelical President: George Bush’s Struggle to Spread a Moral Democracy Throughout the World, cannot be labeled a critic of President Bush.  As both the senior White House correspondent for the Washington Examiner and a reporter for the Washington Times, he’s had greater access to the President than any other journalist.  And his book has been published by Regnery, which, under the leadership of its founder, Henry Regnery, would have opposed the errors of this presidency; today, however, it’s just another neocon publishing house, toeing the party line. Sammon’s impeccable pro-Bush Republican credentials make it all … 
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We’re coming up on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi (Oct. 4), and he is an easy saint to love—provided you are careful not to understand him. His story is full of romance, charm, and warmth. He was tender to wild animals—even wolves—and preached to little birds. He cared about the poor enough to join them, and organized a band of other well-meaning social workers devoted to serving them. Think of a genial, retired professor who has devoted his afternoons to saving wetlands and his weekends to Habitat for Humanity. Except that this “green” activist inspired painters such as Giotto … 
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Not very long ago I walked into my bedroom and found The Art and Science of Love at the foot of the bed. I dwell in a typical Manhattan apartment, where any book may turn up anywhere without notice. It happens. I didn’t actually recall buying this particular old paperback, but that happens too. Maybe it was a message. If so it had more to do with parapsychology than erotosophy, for a few hours later I was cruising around my neighborhood of cyberspace and found an obituary of bestselling sexologist and self-help guru Dr. Albert Ellis, author of Art and Science … 
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