Politics
-
Here's a strange, amazing, and sad story of a Russian Old Believer family who fled from the Communists into not just any old wilderness but Siberia. And survived. Read about it at the Smithsonian's web site. I don't have a post category into which this fits very well. You can read about the Old Believers here.
-
…that we now have two incompatible versions of reality in America. In one of them, Joe Biden "represents an updated standard-bearer for the politics of joy." In the other, 2+2=4. You would think that the fact that even his admirers think the Vice-President of the United States is a buffoon (while his detractors think he…
-
…those who look to the Enlightenment as the primary source of their political views, and those who look to the entire history of Western civilization, generally with a strong emphasis on the Christian era. I think this is a better way of looking at the tension between what often gets called neo-conservatism and the various…
-
I've read two of Wendell Berry's novels, The Memory of Old Jack and Hannah Coulter, and consider the first one very good and the second very very good, maybe to be ranked with the best novels of our time. I've read a fair number of his essays on cultural and political topics and think very highly…
-
I've had a very pleasant three-day weekend (thanks to the Martin Luther King holiday). And I've made an effort to pay little attention to the inauguration, but of course whenever I look at the headlines online I'm reminded. And I did, out of curiosity, read Obama's address. Fine words, some of them. And mostly either…
-
I was wondering if I was overstating the growing progressive impatience with the Constitution in the previous post. A few hours later I read this. In good conscience, this Georgetown professor of constitutional law ought to find himself another job.
-
This will be the last Sunday Night Journal, at least in this form—I'm holding open the possibility of reviving it as a simple journal, not a weekly essay. I’ve kept it going for eight years, from 2004 through 2012, with a year off in 2009. And now I want to turn my attention to other…
-
A Litany of Election Complaints I have to do this, but when I'm done I plan to abstain from talking about politics at least until the turn of the year. I'm also going to limit, if I can, the amount of time I spend reading political news and commentary. And if I can't limit it,…
-
From Jonah Goldberg, writing in USA Today: The mere fact that presidential elections matter this much is not a sign of national health but of national dysfunction. The more the federal government gets involved in every aspect of our lives — for good or ill — the more people will feel that their livelihoods, lifestyles,…
-
Election Eve Thoughts: Which Is To Be Master? "The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things." "The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master — that's all." I really didn't want to write about politics again, but with election hysteria at its height I'm having difficulty putting…
Light On Dark Water 