Conservatism

UPDATED: John Derbyshire: “Dissidents and Doom”

By Justin Katz | April 17, 2011 |

John Derbyshire, writer for National Review and author of We Are Doomed spoke last night to the Providence College Republicans, displaying his erudition and low-key humor on the topic of the dissident personality. The upshot of Mr. Derbyshire’s lecture had a relevance that I didn’t expect to Rhode Island’s current predicament. He spoke of “a…

Human Nature and Unions

By Justin Katz | February 24, 2011 |

That was the topic Andrew introduced when he called in to the Matt Allen Show, last night. Stream by clicking here, or download it.

Not Your Father’s CPAC

By Marc Comtois | February 11, 2011 |

CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference, is held every year and serves as a sort of bellwether for the conservative movement. According to Roger L. Simon, there was a different twist this year: The party staged by Andrew Breitbart for GOProud — the gay Republican and conservative group — was as close to a game…

Glory Can Be Reclaimed

By Justin Katz | December 6, 2010 |

First Things Interim Editor James Nuechterlein cautions American conservatives against undue pessimism: As [First Things founder] Fr. [Richard] Neuhaus never tired of reminding us, the first thing to be said about public life is that public life is not the first thing. Which suggests that we should be as wary of dystopian despair as we…

A Moratorium on Controversy Requires Postponement of Change

By Justin Katz | November 16, 2010 |

So a group of gay conservatives and some Tea Party figures are urging the Republican Party to keep away from social issues while they’ve got a role in untangling our big-government mess. One particular comment highlights, in a humorous way, the strange assumptions that social liberals make about the universality of their causes: “When they…

Doing College the Right Way

By Justin Katz | September 13, 2010 |

Jonah Goldberg mentions something that is entirely accurate, to my experience: … a new study, “Conservative Critics and Conservative College Students: Variations in Discourses of Exclusion” by sociologists Amy Binder and Kate Wood at the University of California San Diego, confirms that many conservative students at an (unnamed) elite Eastern university, felt as if they…

Libertarian Totalitarianism

By Justin Katz | September 10, 2010 |

Wrapping up early on the Friday of a week of long days — and with an optimism that I haven’t had for quite some time, perhaps somewhat attributable to the sense of autumn’s onset… and the pumpkin beers now on liquor store shelves — the moment seems just right to jab at my libertarian (specifically,…

Bonds, Morals, and Conservatism

By Justin Katz | September 2, 2010 |

On last night’s Matt Allen Show, Andrew touched on the nature of conservatism and the trustworthiness of the General Assembly when it comes to moral obligations to pay debts. Stream by clicking here, or download it.

A Couple of Thoughts Upon Watching Sowell

By Justin Katz | August 21, 2010 |

A lunch break from Saturday activities is an excellent time to watch Peter Robinson’s Uncommon Knowledge interview with Thomas Sowell, not the least for Sowell’s one word of advice were the Obama administration to seek his counsel. Two individual points, though, sparked scribblings on my notepad. In segment 2, Robinson reads from U.S. District Judge…

From Within the Socialist Depths

By Justin Katz | July 21, 2010 |

Granted, he’s a sympathetic journalist, but Jay Nordlinger’s profile of Norway’s Progress Party (which aligns pretty closely with the American conservative movement) paints an interesting picture, with some notable moments: The next winter, Israel went into Gaza, to stop these rocket attacks. In Oslo, there were riots, as the Muslim community reacted. Jensen gave a…