Articles Archive
The Young and the Insurance-Less
Claremont, CA. In the current conversation on health care, we often hear that the crises of costs and coverage are problems that come with an aging population. OK. Fine. What’s…
… Neither Proud Nor Lonely
C.S. Lewis noted that “If you had asked Lazamon or Chaucer ‘Why do you not make up a brand-new story of your own?’ I think they might have replied (in…
Three Political Principles
Kearneysville, WV. This is a crucial moment in our nation’s history. People of all political stripes recognize that something is deeply amiss. Obama ran a successful campaign championing the idea…
Homo Economicus
On today’s campuses, the reigning principle on most academic matters is to avoid meddling in the affairs of others. Beyond very broad curricular requirements, we are to allow respective experts…
Make-Weight in the Making
Rod Dreher calls attention to The New York Times which has a piece describing a coalition of religious leaders who are pledging to defy the federal government. From the NYT:…
Ethos or Movement?
Overheard last night at the American Spectator Gala. "Conservatism must remain a movement. If it ceases to be a movement, it will become nothing more than an ethos." --R. Emmett…
Noted Without Comment
"People concerned with the rights of unborn fetuses should be more concerned with the needs of children. No child could possibly get what he or she needs in a two…
Save the pets!
In another example of how unadulterated joy can come from unexpected places, some enterprising Atheists have made a kind offer to their Christian brethren. My own view is that anyone…
Iron Mountain
Hillsdale, MI. Today the folks at NPR are having a grand old time remembering the Fall of the Wall. German rockers, Hungarian revolutionaries, Romanian artists--many stories of suffering and heroism,…
A Global Mea Culpa
I screwed up but I don’t know how to apologize to the parties involved. In this age of global communication, highspeed networks, and outsourcing, the people who I offended are…
False Economics and Malignant Growth
Patrick Deneen's excellent post this morning on populism, directly invoking Kansas, gives me the occassion to repost a short essay I wrote last year for my on again off again (more off…
What’s Not the Matter With Kansas
Tonight I happened to attend a pair of extremely interesting, and strikingly juxtaposed, events. The first was a Bradley Lecture at AEI delivered by Peter Berkowitz entited "The New Progressivism."…
Dreher Reviews Palin
Quote: Palin positions herself as a populist, but her populism is entirely cultural. She never misses an opportunity to tell us how weepy she gets when she thinks about our…
The Fall of the Wall
In my misspent youth, I was a politician. And in my role as a politician, I did all the things that politicians do. Well, not all the things; I say…
Ah, Let the Courts Do it
In the continuing argument over what should or shouldn't be the responsibility of the government--and what government, whether local or state or national, should be responsible for it--there is, I…
McCarthy, Nash, and the Story of the American Right
The narrative that the American Right tells about itself springs from the careful, groundbreaking historical work of George H. Nash. Unfortunately, as Dan McCarthy points out in a review of…
Diversity Industry
This week I received a directive (the precise source of the directive is not clear nor is the intent) to demonstrate that in my classes I teach my students to…
Same-Sex Marriage, Abortion, and the Limits of Localism
Kearneysville, WV. Last week I published a piece suggesting ten positions that might serve to constitute a platform for those who are disillusioned by both major political parties and who…
The Romance of Conservatism
Moorpark, CA. This is the main body of a lecture I delivered at the ISI Spring Leadership Conference, Indianapolis, Indiana, April 14, 2007. This conference focused on the work of Russell…
The Agenda: Political or Economic?
Irving, TX. The Front Porch Republic has been graced by two contributions from Mark Mitchell and Caleb Stegall on the political agenda for front-porchers. And while one may quibble with…
Woods on Fox
State's rights, state legislatures, repeal of 16th and 17th, constitutional convention, and even nullification, coming back into the so-called mainstream discussion.
Under the Mogollon Rim
Washington Park, Arizona. It used to take seven hours to get here by car, even though the journey was only some 90 miles from Phoenix. R. J. and the family…
Localism with Teeth
“I never saw an instance of one of two disputants convincing one another by argument. I have seen many, on their getting warm, becoming rude, and shooting one another.” --Thomas…
