Blue v. Red

Romney Speech: The Public Square Cannot Be Naked

By Donald B. Hawthorne | December 6, 2007 |

The Corner provides excerpts from Mitt Romney’s speech today, which suggest it will focus on the broader strategic question of what role religion should play in the American public square instead of the granularity of Mormon theology: There are some who may feel that religion is not a matter to be seriously considered in the…

Rhode Island’s Charitable Giving

By Carroll Andrew Morse | November 29, 2007 |

The discussion about the northeast’s charitable giving continues. Rhode Island, in particular, has traditionally done poorly in the Catalogue for Philanthropy‘s “Generosity index”, which uses “average adjusted gross income (AAGI) to the rank of each state’s average itemized charitable deductions”. Rhode Island ranked 47th in the Generosity Index compiled from 2005 data. The Catalogue for…

An Unworldly Association of Statistics

By Justin Katz | October 28, 2007 |

These are curious statistics to compare: To put the roughly one-third who believe in ghosts and UFOs in perspective, it’s about the same as, in recent AP-Ipsos polls, the 36 percent who said they are baseball fans; the 37 percent who said the U.S. made the right decision to invade Iraq; and the 31 percent…

The Left Comes ‘Round Right?

By Justin Katz | October 28, 2007 |

Perhaps owing to a natural affinity for arguments that put the United States in a stumbling-behemoth light, retired ABC leftist, Bristol photographer, and occasional Providence Journal op-ed contributor Jerry Landay makes some points with which I agree: … Breakdown, [social scientist Leopold Kohr] stated [in the 1950s], is the product of social organs that implode…

Just a Quick Shake of the Head

By Justin Katz | September 21, 2007 |

Reading Pat Crowley’s reaction in the comments section of my previous post, I find myself shaking my head at the inability of a certain type to comprehend that some people take an honest interest in the world around them and pursue and present knowledge with the intention of finding the truth. I meant it when…

“Shame!”

By Justin Katz | September 17, 2007 |

Mark Steyn solves the problem of our lack of general consensus about what to shout at speakers who deserve remonstration: This year I marked the anniversary of September 11th by driving through Massachusetts. It wasn’t exactly planned that way, just the way things panned out. So, heading toward Boston, I tuned to Bay State radio…

Another Take on Blue States

By Carroll Andrew Morse | August 29, 2007 |

Speaking of blue states, in his forthcoming book The Bluest State: How Democrats Created the Massachusetts Blueprint for American Political Disaster, Boston political analyst Jon Keller offers this short diagnosis of the problems with national-scale liberalism, all too evident in the state politics of our neighbor to the north (via Adam Reilly of the Boston…

Counteracting “Progressives”

By Justin Katz | August 8, 2007 |

As it happens, I agree with Jonah Goldberg’s response to conservatives who are concerned about the reemergence of the term “progressive” as a trick to maneuver opponents into the rhetorical position of “against progress”: Re: the need for conservatives to come up with their own label. No thanks. Sure, I’d like to have “liberal” back…

What’s in a Catch Phrase?

By Justin Katz | July 3, 2007 |

Kiersten Marek offers a rare opportunity to highlight — in productive, conversational terms — what liberals and conservatives see differently in one of the topics over which they wrangle: I know some at Anchorrising.com and the head of the Rhode Island Republican party, Giovanni Cicione, complain of the strong poverty advocacy lobby in the state,…

Re: The Confluence of Homosexuality and Abortion

By Justin Katz | April 11, 2007 |

Contra Ian Donnis, you can make this stuff up: Mohler began by summarizing some recent research into sexual orientation, and advising his Christian readership that they should brace for the possibility that a biological basis for homosexuality may be proven. Mohler wrote that such proof would not alter the Bible’s condemnation of homosexuality, but said…