President Barack Obama’s reaction to the shellacking he and his policies received from the American people in the midterm elections surprised no one in its stubborn petulance. Along with some eye rolling and clearly perfunctory statements about how he would “cooperate” with the new Republican majority, President Obama made clear that he sees himself as [...]
Like all actual conservatives, I look on any increase in the powers of the Republican Party as an opportunity for disappointment. Its leaders would rather run a permanent minority than serve as part of a majority actually returning power to the states and the people. Better to be ruled by Democrats, “our” leaders believe, so [...]
Abroad, America’s greatest source of strength has always been our ideals. The same is true at home. We find unity in our incredible diversity, drawing on the promise enshrined in our Constitution: the notion that we are all created equal, that no matter who you are or what you look like, if you abide by [...]
“I may not agree with what you say, but I will fight to the death for your right to say it.” Yeah, right. There was a time when this saying, often attributed to the French philosophe Voltaire, was taken as a kind of American credo. Free and open debate, most of us thought, was essential [...]
Not long ago, The University Bookman (a fine online journal well worth the attention of imaginative conservatives) posted a review of an important book, The Culture of Immodesty in American Life and Politics, edited by Michael Federici, Richard Gamble, and Mark Mitchell. This volume collects essays addressing the pretensions of our public life, populated as [...]
A Church then I take to be a voluntary Society of men, joining themselves together of their own accord, in order to the publick worshipping of God, in such a manner as they judge acceptable to him, and effectual to the Salvation of their Souls. —John Locke, A Letter Concerning Toleration Religious Toleration-Edwin Howland [...]
New York City is a strange place in many, many ways. This is to be expected. After all, squeezing that many people into that small a space defies both logic and common sense. Then there is the economic absurdity of the place. The average annual income in New York City is $50,000, while the average [...]
The latest upsurge in Islamic extremism, carried out by “ISIS” or “the Islamic State,” should be deeply troubling for all Americans. I must admit that at the sight of innocents, including innocent Americans and Christians attempting to mind their own business, being beheaded, my first reaction was anger and a desire for revenge, followed by [...]
I have been told that in the world of professional wrestling, popular villains are known as “cool heels.” Professional wrestling hardly is on the cutting edge of moral theory or even trends in popular culture. But its inclusion of “cool” bad guys into its violent morality plays is an indication, I think, of how far [...]
Few Americans spend much time thinking about the vagaries of administrative law—the rules and procedures our government uses in formulating and enforcing regulations—let alone its effects on our lives and liberties. Anyone warning of the imminent demise of Americans’ liberties is likely to be dismissed as a kook. Anyone claiming to find such dangers in [...]
It seems only yesterday that the Supreme Court, in the Hobby Lobby case, held that the federal government cannot force Christian owners of closely held corporations to pay for employee health insurance coverage for abortion inducing drugs. After that case, some commentators predicted greater government respect for the rights of religious believers to refuse their [...]
President Obama has been taking a good deal of flak, lately, for all the time he is spending on the golf course. He famously “took a break” from his latest vacation to address the horrors of the beheading of an American journalist by an Islamic extremist group, and to say a few words about the [...]
As long as there have been “libertarians,” there has been hero worship of John Stuart Mill. This Nineteenth Century utilitarian author, most famously of On Liberty, has been looked to as a kind of fount of holy writ for individualism. And Mill was an individualist. Unfortunately, he was not a supporter of liberty in any [...]
In Yosemite Valley one can walk for miles through a meadow surrounded by granite monoliths, cliffs, and forested mountain peaks. The view changes every time one turns, but remains stunning. A relatively short distance away is a hike to Yosemite Falls—one of the world’s tallest—for views of water and mist tumbling over sheer walls of [...]