Liberalism

The phrase “useful idiot” comes to mind, and as disinclined as I am to further its reach, an op-ed by Ed Kinane in today’s Providence Journal — “The U.S., not Iran, is the terrorist nation” — is simply too stunning (if predictable) not to note: This drumbeat of war displays a grotesque double standard. Who…

This bit in Jay Nordlinger’s latest Impromptus brought to mind Marc’s recent comment that liberals do better at comedy: And I am reminded of one of the reasons I fled the Left, many years ago: Personally, they were so mean — so nasty, so indecent. So full of mockery, ridicule, and scorn. I had to…

One common bond connecting the different pieces of the liberal domestic agenda together is the belief that people must accept that they will be forever be paying more and more to the government to receive less and less. Consider the major domestic issues facing the United States right now…Education: Liberals see nothing odd when continuing…

David Frum makes some interesting points. First, about the resurrection about the ERA: Back in the 1970s, ERA was defeated by a grassroots organizing campaign led by Phyllis Schlafly. Schlafly deployed many arguments against the ERA, and one of the most effective was that ERA would authorize same-sex marriage. At the time, this argument drove…

Somehow, two aspects of this brief story seem related, in a cultural sense. In one respect, it’s notable that it should be newsworthy when prisoners depart unannounced from an “open prison.” In another, it’s notable that three robbers and a druggie should be declared “not dangerous” (with the caveat, of course, that “the public are…

I won’t address John St. Lawrence’s letter to the Providence Journal on the merits, because (frankly) finding them would require a creativity that I lack. I will, however, observe that such overt anti-Americanism seems to be in resurgence, lately. Is it that Democrats’ recent successes have signaled the end of obligatory “sensitiveness” post–September 11? Or…

Wilfred McClay has a fascinating essay in today’s OpinionJournal on the subject of the future of sociology. Despite the apparently wonkish subject matter, McClay makes several observations that cut right to the heart of America’s domestic policy debates. Here’s the most important…As Nathan Glazer has put it, [Seymour Martin Lipset] had a lifelong interest in…