Justin Katz
I wish I were confident that we will soon reach a time when sentiments the likes of this, from Mark Steyn, can safely be ignored as repetitive: Many of us think about the long-term shifts necessary to win this struggle: euthanizing the United Nations and overhauling other malign and anachronistic institutions. Fat chance. Mustaf Jama’s…
Twice in the past few weeks, I’ve felt compelled to write to the Providence Journal regarding letters that appeared on its opinion page. Both letters dealt with the abstinence versus contraception education debate, and both cited specific “scientific” studies for the pro-contraception side. And in each case, my letter specifically addressed the study in question,…
Perhaps it’s fanciful of me to wonder, but could Joe Scott’s jumping parties be an indication that Republican “double agents” and Democrats-at-heart sense change in the minority air? When the Big Bad Right-Wing Extremists knock on the door, Republican liberals may feel more comfortable departing the straw house that is the RI GOP. Little RINO,…
In a comment to my post on sex education, Rhody points to another of those differences of understanding between conservatives and liberals that seem nigh impossible to resolve: I think the best way to discourage sex before marriage is building kids’ self-esteem and letting them know they don’t have to give it up to feel…
As it happened, the Monday following a weekend during which my interest was piqued by a study making claims about, as the title states, “Explaining Recent Declines in Adolescent Pregnancy in the United States: The Contribution of Abstinence and Improved Contraceptive Use,” Rhode Island Education Commissioner Peter McWalters announced that a particular abstinence-only curriculum had…
Among the qualities that I love about Rhode Island is its size. For some Americans, for example, attending an event across their state requires a plane and a hotel. Rhode Islanders can traverse theirs without even stopping for gas. One can get to know this state; it’s manageable. Of course, its manageability is also its…
Jonah Goldberg
Earlier today, Marc noted the “neat little trick” whereby “moderates” and those to their left claim to tolerate everybody except the intolerant and then define as intolerant anybody with whom they disagree. To my ear, there’s something similar in the recently vogue usage of the term “mandate,” as in: “The election did show that there’s…
I don’t want the previous post to remain long untempered by a statement of my substantial admiration for Rocco, particularly now that he’s come out as Rhode Island’s blogger in Baghdad, D. Alighieri. I do not stand where he stands, nor would I declare myself in possession of the courage that he has shown. Still,…
Over on Autonomist, my friend Rocco DiPippo — to whom I am tremendously indebted for non-blog-related reasons — writes: …politically speaking it was idiotic for Republicans to showboat over the Foley matter. And incredibly, after the Foley revelations, Republican pundits lined up to publish a self-flagellating stream of articles saying how it might be “good”…