Blue v. Red

Um. Huh.

By Justin Katz | January 25, 2005 |

Right.

Inaugural Schadenfreude

By Justin Katz | January 20, 2005 | Comments Off on Inaugural Schadenfreude

What can one do but marvel that Providence Journal page B.01 columnist Bob Kerr would commit this to print: It’s a day to be silly. We’re not just inaugurating a president; we’re inaugurating a whole new way of life in which the entire country becomes its own reality show. People watch us from other places,…

Respectful Competition: A Basic Requirement for a Healthy Democracy

By Donald B. Hawthorne | January 19, 2005 | Comments Off on Respectful Competition: A Basic Requirement for a Healthy Democracy

A previous posting highlighted how the coarsening of our public debate in America has resulted from the use of extreme language that only seeks to intimidate, not to persuade. Subsequently, there was the usual talk after the election about how the conservative winners should “moderate” their views, a code word suggesting that capitulating on key…

Cutting the Safety-Net Industry

By Justin Katz | January 14, 2005 | Comments Off on Cutting the Safety-Net Industry

The latest salvo in the long-running local discussion of the relationship between social workers and socialism comes from Richard Hill of Narragansett: Schools of social work offer little to no education on how to run a business. Thus, some social workers have no concept of how to succeed without getting a check from the government.…

It’s a Mad, Mad World — Eh, Liberals?

By Justin Katz | January 10, 2005 |

Questions of schadenfreude’s sinfulness aside, I have to thank Northeast Dilemma for pointing on New England Republican to an uplifting column by Katha Pollitt. I daresay that, with this paragraph, Pollitt opens wide the thickets that hide the secret path to a sunnier political perspective: Sometimes I think America is becoming another place, unrecognizable. David…

Stepping Out to Charge Back In

By Justin Katz | January 6, 2005 | Comments Off on Stepping Out to Charge Back In

Congrats to Will Ricci, of the NFRA of RI, for being named editor of the Rhode Island HQ pages of GOPUSA. The more conservatives in this state can reach beyond its borders, the better our chances of forcing change. Will’s got some blog-like posts of news from around Rhode Island, and he’s in the process…

And Never Shall They Meet

By Justin Katz | January 4, 2005 |

I share Bil Herron’s consternation at not making the cut for the latest local-media dip into the blogosphere. Unfortunately, neither Anchor Rising nor Dust in the Light nor The Ocean State Blogger has Bil’s obvious reasons to blame. No, in our case, it’s not a lack of effort; it’s just us — the price of…

The State of Literary Capitalism

By Justin Katz | January 2, 2005 |

On Friday, I went to Barnes & Noble in Middletown to see if the store had one or both of the magazines in which my work currently appears. I couldn’t find any copies of Newport Life, and the two copies of National Review on the rack were two-issues old. Well, I just called to ask…

The Meaning of “Tolerance”

By | December 26, 2004 |

Each of two recent articles on the troubles in the Netherlands contained interesting quotes on the long-term impact of multiculturism. There is a warning for America in these words as they highlight the ongoing confusion over the meaning of “tolerance.” A quote in the first article said: …tolerance became a pretext for not addressing problems……

Our Declaration of Independence

By | December 26, 2004 |

This posting relates to a previous posting on the American Founding and also relates to Liberal Fundamentalism and The Naked Public Square Revisited, Parts I, II, and III. Thanks to Power Line for referring to a 1926 speech by Calvin Coolidge on the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. If you ever have any…