One other book-related note before we begin: my review of Matthew Parker’s Panama Fever, about the building of the Panama Canal, was in the Sunday New York Post (delayed from last week). As it happens, the next page had a review of a book about the 1950s Congressional hearings that were used to persecute […]
With a certain longshot libertarian Republican presidential candidate having, inevitably, failed to get the GOP nomination (and having been all-too-aptly skewered in this cartoon forwarded by Marcia Baczynski) and having said he won’t seek the Libertarian Party nomination (his Quixotic followers now turning their attention, I’m told, to organizing April anti-Fed and anti-IRS protests), it’s […]
Much as the left enjoys acting as if conservatives are persecuting them at every turn, it’s interesting that the conservative movement — with five and a half decades of work by Buckley and his associates, not to mention all that preceded them — can’t even get one of their men nominated by the Republican Party. […]
What was a typical day like for the common man in the year 1999 A.D.?
My notes suggest it entailed going to a party organized by Daily Show writer Jon Bines and hosted by Love Boat cast member turned Republican congressman Fred “Gopher” Grandy to benefit a comedy troupe, accompanied by bigtime media lawyer Stephanie Abrutyn […]
“Does Christian Rock Suck?” — with former rock singer Brian McCarter (yes) vs. Rapture Ready! author Daniel Radosh (no). Michel Evanchik moderates, and Todd Seavey hosts. Wed., April 2, at 8pm.
Just to keep things interesting, you’ll note we have a rocker and God-believer from South Carolina arguing yes, it does suck and arguing no, it […]
Effective as it might be to turn one of the larger political factions in a libertarian direction — either bringing conservatives to their government-limiting senses or, less plausibly, getting people to see libertarianism as the forgotten foundation of liberalism — it might be libertarianism’s (humbler, slower) fate to grow by serving as a neutral ground […]
Since I sounded pessimistic about conservatism in my last entry, since there are currently only two significant ideological factions in the U.S., and since people inevitably think that if you sound like you’re souring on one thing you must therefore embrace its rival, I should perhaps post a very-basic reminder of how deeply unacceptable liberalism […]
I mentioned the triumph over European Communism as a high point in human history yesterday — but on a more pessimistic note, it’s worth remembering how weak the cause of conservatism, particularly free-market fiscal conservatism, really is in Europe (though avoiding outright socialist totalitarianism is of course reason to rejoice). And I wonder: to what […]
If all goes as planned, my New York Post review of Matthew Parker’s Panama Fever, about the building of the Canal, will be printed today, and it will eventually be linked right here regardless of when it appears (if it does). But also read below for something more Easter-appropriate, of which Buckley no doubt […]
10. I’m out of town and likely doing some karaoke while I’m at, but other items on this list will certainly be on my mind while I’m at it.
9. I finally saw the drum set of my friend Hannah Meyers — who recently created the amusing New Wave-parodying song “Emoticons Turn Me Off” (which you […]
Late in the Year of Lewinsky (when the Republicans lost some seats in Congress and Newt Gingrich resigned, the impeaching of Bill Clinton having worked against them), I was reminded that Brown, from which I’d graduated, seemed to produce sexually adventurous people almost as frequently as Washington, DC does.
•Brown alum and fellow New York Press […]
You know, before I head off to tomorrow’s book-related speech by Al Regnery (noted in my prior entry), I just have to note that I love the fact that Buckley’s last book before his death has the defiant and in some sense unconservative title Cancel Your Own Goddam Subscription. The customer is not always […]
I perhaps hastily called Tim Carney libertarian in a recent entry, though he is in some ways paleoconservative. But the two can overlap, and yesterday’s entry concerned a topic, eminent domain, that sometimes brings those two philosophical strains together (as many strains must be if government is to be defeated in this uncertain, post-Buckley […]
Reading about former NY governor Spitzer’s prostitute, former NJ governor McGreevey’s group sex sessions with his wife and aide, and now new NY governor Paterson’s affair [UPDATE: make that affairs — awesome], it’s easy to laugh — and laugh and laugh — but it should never be forgotten that policy, not personality, is the important […]
Two thoughts on substance abuse for St. Patrick’s Day, traditionally alcohol-soaked as it is:
•William F. Buckley favored drug legalization and once sailed his yacht into international waters to smoke a joint with legal impunity, explaining National Review’s occasionally-mentioned anti-drug-war position, which is not, alas, the default position among conservative politicians.
Buckley, then, might have sympathized with […]
