Author: Thomas Fleming

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Fleming / On the House

14 Dec, 2016

Dealing with Putin

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Andrei Navrozov has posted a very timely remark on my piece “Donald and the Russians”: “Indeed, let us not “build an even more costly, inefficient, and tyrannical intelligence apparatus.” Let us instead rebuild a military decimated by 30 years of wishful thinking, fraudulent arms control treaties, and suicidal unilateral disarmament.” I agree with my Russian friend, with this proviso: that we take an honest look at who has gained the most since the death of Brezhnev. Where once the West confronted the Soviet Empire in Germany, we now enter into contests of subversion and electioneering in Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, et...

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Feature / Fleming / From Under The Rubble

12 Dec, 2016

Donald and the Russians

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The Russians are coming!  The Russians are coming! Or rather, if we are to believe President Obama’s CIA, they are already here, manipulating presidential elections in favor of their own particular spetznaz, Donald Trump.  Before we decide to ramp up the Second Cold War or build an even more costly, inefficient, and tyrannical intelligence apparatus, Americans might consider, for just a moment, three aspects of this question–simple facts, really– that are receiving scant attention. The first and most obvious fact should be obvious and, if we were listening to the radio, we’d probably hear it from Sean and Alex:  The...

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Diary of a Jerk-Hunter / Feature / Fleming

9 Dec, 2016

Jerks 2, Part C: The Virtue of Being a Selfish Jerk

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The Rugged Individualist   “Who is John Galt?” I don’t know and couldn’t care less, but lots of disgruntled young people waste time on the internet asking this question, as pointless as it is pretentious.  John Galt was, of course, the fictional protagonist of Ayn Rand’s bloated novel, Atlas Shrugged, in which he leads a work-stoppage of the competent and innovative against a world of egalitarian consumers who do not appreciate what the geniuses of the world have done for them.  He is, in other words, the rugged individualist that is supposedly America’s greatest contribution to world civilization.  He is also...

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A Life / Feature / Fleming

8 Dec, 2016

A Life in Shreds and Patches, Chapter 1: In Search of a Vocation, Part D

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By the time I was in school, history had virtually disappeared from the curriculum, displaced by “social studies” units on how Juan and Maria lived on a coffee farm in Brazil and road a donkey to school.  Geography, which before my time meant learning to read a map and name the principle features of the terrain, now meant reading morality plays about the more interesting people who lived in distant lands.  Although I have tried to remedy it, my ignorance of geography has plagued me all my life.  Lately, I have been reading through Momsen’s History of Rome.  I thought...

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Feature / FF

7 Dec, 2016

Roger McGrath Remembers Pearl Harbor, UPDATE 2

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Roger McGrath, US Marine and illustrious historian of the American West, is also an authority on the Second World War.  In this ongoing interview, he sheds some light on the event that drew the United States into war 75 years ago. TFF:  Prof. McGrath: This week marks the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor. When you and I were growing up, “Remember Pearl Harbor” was a common phrase, something like “Remember the Alamo in 19th century America. I’d like to explore with you why this event was so significant to two generations of Americans and why these days it seems to be...

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Fleming / Free Content

6 Dec, 2016

California Nightmare

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Meet Derick Almena, model Californian and prototype for the next generation of Americans.  Derick—in his world we dispense with formalities—is “manager” of a warehouse in Oakland California, where he sublets space to various artistes.  At this for-profit arts collective, which he named the Ghost Ship, Derick and his rentors throw parties.  At a dance party last Friday night, a fire started and raced through the rabbit warren, killing at least 36 people.  Derick’s first reaction, posted on Facebook, expressed no sorrow for the victims—much less remorse: “”Everything I worked so hard for is gone.  Blessed that my children and Micah...

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A Life / Fleming

3 Dec, 2016

A Life in Shreds and Patches, I: In Search of a Vocation, Part C

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Friend Harry had not always known he wanted to teach classics, but he had enjoyed his Latin courses at Yale, and it seemed a reasonable decision.  He was not a strong-willed person in any obvious sense of being stubborn or overbearing, but when he made up his mind, in his own quiet way, he stuck things out.  He was,  as the saying used to go, steady as the tortoise who won the race, and it was no surprise when it went on, unobtrusively of course, to a solid career.  I never aspired to steadiness and always found it unfair that...

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A Life / Fleming

1 Dec, 2016

A Life in Shreds and Patches, I: In Search of a Vocation, Part B

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Even my birthdate used to be a source of confusion, especially when it came time to celebrate my birthday.  My mother always claimed April 26, while my father held out for the 27th.  Mothers being mothers, my party was celebrated on the 26th until I was perhaps 15, when they got hold of a birth certificate that said in black and white: April 27.  Both of them immediately declared, “You see, I was right!” What was the name of your first pet? is another favorite question to inflict on failing memories.  I vaguely remember a cat, when I was very...

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Fleming / Free Content

1 Dec, 2016

Jerks 2: Taxonomy, Part B

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Let’s begin with the basics.  Rather than breaking down Jerks into categories of severity—rating them from one to ten—we can agree to divide them broadly into what I am calling Boors and Louts.  The boor is someone who does not know how to behave.  He constantly makes a fool of himself by using the wrong fork or insisting upon steak in a seafood restaurant.  He will pay embarrassing compliments to women he has just met and make himself the life of every party by telling anecdotes about his not very interesting life—anecdotes in which he inevitably plays the hero.  Most...

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Fleming / Free Content

29 Nov, 2016

A Homegrown Buckeye Terrorist

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Another surprise.  The homicidal maniac who went on a rampage at Ohio State turns out to be one Abdul Razak Ali Artan, an 18-year-old Somali Muslim.  No one knows why he did it.  NBC has informed us that “a senior law enforcement official said authorities are a “long way” from pinpointing a motive for the Monday morning attack, which sent 11 people to the hospital.  Apparently irrelevant are the the young man’s complaints against America for the persecution of Muslims in Burma.  Yes, Burma.  Why didn’t he go to Burma to kill the enemies of his religion?  Perhaps because that would have required...