Why are liberals so desperately attached to egalitarianism, of an extreme and entirely this-worldly variety? Why has it become an article of faith to which they cling against all evidence--to the point where they resist the use of epidemiological data that breaks down heart disease rates, for instance, by race? In his recent response to me, Richard takes this attachment as … [Read More]

As someone who wasted a few years of his life teaching in undistinguished academic institutions, I could never figure out why Hollywood would bother making movies about college professors and why anyone would want to spend his time or money watching for two hours a disheveled and grumpy middle aged man, portrayed as a misogynist and a misanthropic, trying to overcome … [Read More]

It seems everyone wanted to be on the side of progress in the Seventies, but today everyone’s a Burkean.  Gay marriage advocates, Barack Obama supporters, and defenders of the welfare state all identifiy themselves as the rightful heirs of Edmund Burke, the grandfather of conservative philosophy.  This is a strange development.  Burke and the conservatism he preached have long been relegated … [Read More]

The Ron Paul campaign, which crossed many ideological lines to draw together an inspiring coalition, was a great moment of hope for American politics. If all it did was to make a best-seller of a book that touts real conservative principles, the whole adventure might well have been worth it. I’m not sure if we’ve just been through a “Goldwater moment,” … [Read More]

To declare an interest, I should say that I have had some ancestors in this country, or more technically on this continent, for 370 years, one of whom helped found the town of Newburyport, Massachusetts, and most of the families I am descended from have been here longer than the Republic has existed, so when I read Kathleen Parker’s column about … [Read More]

So ladies and gentlemen, if I say I am an Americanist you will agree. ~There Will Be Blood (modified) A few days ago, I saw the original story that reported the remark of one Josh Fry of West Virginia, which has since been widely discussed: He would just be more comfortable with “someone who is a full-blooded American as president.” Now … [Read More]

Yglesias says: The crux of the matter is that while truly conservative foreign policy thought has a long history of wrongness in the United States it’s rarely genuinely held sway on the big issues. Presidents Eisenhower, Nixon, and Reagan all at key moments broke with elements of their conservative base to preserve containment, to initiate détente, to continue with the bilateral … [Read More]

The cultural contrast between intriguing guests and apparently brain dead yack TV hosts has John Derbyshire lamenting : “ It’s not the dumbing-down that bothers a lot of us fogeys so much, it’s the loss of interest in things and stuff.” I’ll say- gone are the days when Massachusetts and California overflowed with the not so wretched refuse of a domestic … [Read More]

For those who haven’t been keeping up with Caledonian affairs, Scottish independence has been brought onto the agenda by the victory of the anti-unionist, pro-independence Scottish National Party in the general election for the Scottish Parliament last year. The SNP victory comes after about half a century of solid domination of Scottish politics by the Labour party (now in regional opposition … [Read More]