archives :: western civ
childhood's end
Too tired to write tonight (well, this morning, now). So instead I'll share an image saved from the Spectator (UK) a couple of years ago. Perhaps I won't be alone in finding it both poignant and haunting. (Click for larger)... [read more]
intrigue
My thesis from last night—to wit, that Giuliana Sgrena's increasingly fantastic accounts of her encounter with US troops are aimed not so much at the United States as they are at Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi—remains speculative. It is what I... [read more]
red and black (redux)
[Earlier posts on this subject are here and here.] Last fall, 60s radical turned neocon David Horowitz published Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam and the American Left. One of the better reviews of the book was by Joshua Kurlantzick, in the... [read more]
King Arthur lives?
[Repost from 9 July 2004—because burning through a light fever isn't conducive to writing new stuff, and because there just hasn't been enough Tolkien-blogging around here.] Last week at Tech Central Station, Kenneth Silber offered thoughts on the Once and... [read more]
legal kill, redux
National Review: “Dead Reckoning” (1998) A quarter-century has passed since the Supreme Court struck down the laws of every state in the nation, in the name of a constitutional right to abortion it had just discovered. In Roe v. Wade,... [read more]
liberty
In America's ideal of freedom, the exercise of rights is ennobled by service, and mercy, and a heart for the weak. Liberty for all does not mean independence from one another. Our nation relies on men and women who... [read more]
legal kill
i only know what i believe / the rest is so absurd to me / i close my eyes so i can't see / but the picture just gets clearer everyday [read more]
Christmas meditation
From Mark D. Roberts' blog series on the birth of Jesus: As far as we know, the Apostle Paul, the great evangelist of the first century, didn’t have much to say about the virgin birth. And we know for sure... [read more]
context and subtext
That's Mark Steyn (who else?) in London's Sunday Telegraph—proving once again that the British press is nothing if not unrestrained. But perhaps our own should be so honest. Consider this NYT column from the same day: Can History Save the Democrats? [read more]
nous sommes tous Jacksoniens
The hell with it. Here's my victory post: “I'm George W. Bush, and I approved this message.” Congratulations, Mr. President. MORE, via Orrin Judd: One of America's leading conservative intellectuals, Professor Francis Fukuyama, said Mr Bush's victory foreshadowed an increasingly... [read more]
requiem for a dream
Not that there is anything wrong with idealism in principle, or with a desire to heal society’s ills: but on the left these are often coupled with an elitist hubris and a denial of fundamental human nature. [read more]
jihad chic
In early July I wrote: We are perilously close to a revival of domestic terrorism, and not from right-wing militia types. The Left—both domestic and international—is already making common cause with Islamists. It is only a matter of time before... [read more]
red and black
A few days ago, I wrote this cheery passage: The Left—both domestic and international—is already making common cause with Islamists. It is only a matter of time before some in those camps decide to cement that alignment with more than... [read more]
state of the war, in four movements
I. Lacrimosa “We know that Islam is the religion of peace and mercy.” The Philippines will withdraw its forces from Iraq “as soon as possible,” Philippine deputy foreign minister Rafael Seguis said on Monday in a statement he read out... [read more]
train wreck in progress
There is an infection in our body politic, one that is poisoning the Democratic Party to its core. There are honorable Democrats still—Joe Lieberman is one, although I disagree with him on many things. Yet it does not require an astute observer to see what faction is in ascendance. [read more]
an obscene pander
Does Kerry truly believe that religious convictions are illegitimate in the public square? How then does he view the overtly Christian motives of the Founders, or of those who opposed slavery, or of those who more recently labored for civil rights? [read more]
whitewashing
Earlier this week I railed against the postmodernist creed of social constructivism, which among other feats allows a traditional historical account to be replaced by another, ostensibly more enlightened and progressive than the first. This practice is not seen as... [read more]
and so it begins
On Monday alone, more than a thousand homosexual couples applied for marriage licenses in Massachusetts. The state's Supreme Judicial Court has successfully made an end run around the democratic process: Massachusetts voters will not be able to make their collective... [read more]
lost in translation
The latest cinematic version of the Iliad opens this Friday. Based on the cast—which includes Peter O'Toole, Brad Pitt, and Sean Bean, among other luminaries—and the price tag (some $200 million), Troy should be one astonishing spectacle. The operative word,... [read more]
"the professoriate and the truth"
After a week of following the news much less closely than is my wont, I am a little slow on getting back into a daily posting rhythm. So tonight I'll start with an easy one. Last week at the unfortunately... [read more]
Fallujah
This, perhaps, is the first time in history that one side in a major conflict has refused to publicly acknowledge the identity of its enemy. [read more]
primary sources
It has also been a month for statesmen, who are distinguished from mere politicians by an ability to see beyond the moment and to grasp what is at stake in this war. [read more]
another skirmish
Time will tell, but something that transpired in the Senate late this afternoon may prove to be of historic significance. The Senate passed the Unborn Victims of Violence Act on Thursday, following House passage last month of a bill that... [read more]
hoist the black flag
Evidence of Islamist involvement has grown steadily. Yesterday's El Pais reported that an Arabic document found on the internet suggested that al-Qa'eda was planning an attack before the elections. Spain was identified as “a weak link” in the US-led coalition... [read more]
cultural relevancy and the play-doh Jesus
There is something from my overlong post of Friday night that is worth revisiting. Here, again, is a portion of TNR literary critic Leon Wieseltier's screed against The Passion of the Christ. Gibson is under the impression that he has... [read more]
The Passion and the fury
If I can't yet comment on the movie proper, I can comment on the commentary, of which there is a lot. Let's start with the NYT review. [read more]
news of the world
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Two Dutch political parties called Wednesday for laws prohibiting sex with animals after a man suspected of having sex with a pony was set free. [read more]
forcing the contradictions
Neuhaus is correct: the Constitution will be amended, either by a democratic process as provided for in the document itself, or by judicial fiat. I submit that those who hope for the latter are abetting the rise of tyranny. [read more]
line in the sand
Even the most prescient of public intellectuals is wrong as often as right. The trick is that—if you're going to be wrong—just try not to be very, very wrong. As in (for instance) this assessment by Andrew Sullivan. [read more]
drive-by rant
The Third Reich is the perennial poster child for murderous regimes, but the twentieth century gave us so many others: the USSR of Lenin and Stalin, China during the Cultural Revolution, Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge. And horrifying human rights abuses continue, from Saudi Arabia to Zimbabwe to Cuba to...well, China (still). [read more]
true colors
Let's get one thing straight, and I will use tiny words for those like General Clark, whose consciences are so seared that they are not willing to acknowledge the bleeding obvious: There is no difference between a newborn child, and one about to be born. [read more]
the legacy of anti-Semitism
You declare, my friend, that you do not hate the Jews, you are merely “anti-Zionist.” And I say, let the truth ring forth from the high mountain tops, let it echo through the valleys of God's green earth; when people... [read more]
more Rhys-Davies
Back in October, when this blog was so very young, I posted this on John Rhys-Davies, actor, gentleman, and anti-idiotarian. He continues to impress; and considering the political orientation of certain of his LotR costars, these comments at an official... [read more]
if this is a religious war
…as so many Muslims clearly see it, then the Christian West is unilaterally disarming: Headwear in France, notices on libraries in Buckinghamshire: they speak of a permanent alteration in the way that Europeans must live. Moreover, other changes, unrelated to... [read more]
cowards
Were Dante alive today, the Inferno would undoubtedly have included a lower circle of Hell for Stalin's apologists. And Walter Duranty would be chief amongst the damned. But instead of Dante, we have the Pulitzer review board: The 1932 Pulitzer... [read more]
the anti-Viggo
Welsh actor John Rhys-Davies has been a favorite of mine since his portrayal of Sallah in Raiders of the Lost Ark. I've recently discovered a few more reasons to appreciate him, however. In July he and Sean Astin were guests... [read more]
