Politics & Power 484
Blasphemers, Terrorists, and Liberals in Your Neighborhood
[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] Would I read Charlie Hebdo? (Assuming I could read French, that is.) Would I want anyone in my family to read it? Would I want…
Phenomenal Ben Carson and the Consequential Richard Weaver
“Ben Carson: Political Phenomenon.” That gushing headline, at CNN.com of all virtual places, was followed by a puff piece of epic proportions. Of course, with a Horatio Alger worthy biography…
Christmas Greetings from Mordor
As I'm sitting in an office on K Street, emptied for Christmas, wondering how to introduce myself to you all, it occurs to me that I owe you an explanation. It…
Local Dynasties Only, Please
[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] With former Florida Governor Jeb Bush's announcement on Tuesday that he's "actively explore the possibility of running for President of the United States"--a move which,…
The Monday Morning Brass Spittoon: Roundtable on Immigration
Our panel discusses immigration policy from a localist perspective.
Thanksgiving Reflections I
[Editor's note] President Washington, in his original Thanksgiving Day proclamation, insisted it the "duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God," and to be "grateful for His benefits."…
The Market Made Me Do It (Part II)
Malibu, CA Where does Catholic Social Thought come down on this question? Not surprisingly, Catholic thought often emphasizes solutions taken at the level of the economic and political system: government-provided…
Marginalizing Care: What Happens when Healthcare and Education become Industries
Spring Arbor, MI In our age of austerity and cost-cutting, the two industries currently under the microscope are healthcare and education. The gains in productivity that have transformed other parts…
What, Then, Are We Fighting For?
Owen Sound, ONT While in Italy last month, I learned that my nation was under attack. On waking, I found myself being told by Wolf Blitzer, redfaced and breathlessly (his only…
The Polls of Nowhere
Nowhere, America Today, the subjects of the Assimilated Provinces of Megalomerica will go to the polls to vote. It's mostly a formality, since the polls have already come to them,…
The Monday Morning Brass Spittoon: Roundtable on the Elections
While most of our writers are self-described conservatives, FPR has been, for the most part, a non-partisan enterprise. This is in no small part due to our shared conviction that…
Conservatism, Localism, and the Mittelpolitan Problem
[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] This morning, I completed a series of lectures and discussions with a local civic group here in Wichita. The topic for this morning was the…
What Will $100 Million Buy You?
When $100 million is being spent on the governor and senate campaigns in their state, Michiganders might want to sit up and take notice.
The Monday Morning Brass Spittoon: Roundtable on The Synod on the Family
The idea of the family has, since our inception, been one Porchers are particularly keen to defend. The family is a natural, integral, and inviolable unit whose very existence…
News from Nowhere
Providence, RI There are in these recent days at least three matters of great importance confronting my beloved land, The Assimilated Provinces of Megalomerica. They are related to one another.…
The Loss of a Culture of Personhood and the End of Limited Government
Philadelphia, PA The idea and practice of limited government begins with Christianity. Pagan antiquity could not imagine such a thing, because there was no distinction between religion and governance. …
Seeing Our (Non-Cosmopolitan) Selves
[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] Some years ago, some of the folks behind F5, an alternative weekly newspaper here in Wichita, started a different (and, as it turned out, short-lived)…
What Would the Father of Nationalism Say About Scottish Independence?
[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] On Thursday, voters in Scotland will go to the polls and either choose "Yes," meaning that they want Scotland to become an independent state, or…
Why I Won’t Participate in the Ice-Bucket Challenge
Holland, MI I can’t say I’m overly conversant with the history of charitable giving in America, but I can’t recall something taking off quite like this “ice bucket challenge.” In…
The Limits of the Language of Limits
Holland, MI Over at the Postmodern Conservative, Peter Lawler has been writing quite a bit about Robin Williams, and specifically the movie Dead Poets Society (which, Peter and I agree, isn’t…
Libertarianism, Paternalism, and Pot
[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] From 2003 to 2005, we lived in Craighead County, Arkansas, while I taught at Arkansas State University. Craighead was a dry county, having voted many…
Trust, Community Ties, and Letting Your Children Play
[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] The story has exploded all over the internet : Debra Harrell, a Georgia woman, dropped her 9-year-old child off at a park–not an isolated and…
Accreditation to the Rescue (for real?)
Hillsdale, Michigan. I am a little late to the surge of 1s and 0s in response to Peter Conn's less than tepid essay about faith and higher education. The gist…
An Alternative to Cosmopolitanism
[This post is adapted with permission from “Making Places: The Cosmopolitan Temptation,” an essay in the anthology Why Place Matters: Geography, Identity, and Civic Life in Modern America, edited by…
