The freshman Democrats in Congress are behaving like the stars of a down-market reality TV show. Alexandria—like Cher and Madonna, she really doesn’t need a last name—has been dancing up a storm, though many of her supporters have been disappointed by her lumbering performance.
When asked to share my thoughts on the recent yellow vests protests, I initially demurred, stating that is was simply another case of the French being the French (about benefits) (about airbnb and/or uber) (about strikes in general). The French also lack the resolve and ability to fix problems, as seen by the “we are not afraid” and “Je suis Charlie” sentiments now long since forgotten (thankfully). But as I thought more on the matter, I realized that the Yellow Vests are simply a remake of an American film we’ve already seen (and forgotten): Occupy Wall Street. What Happened to Occupy? In September 2011, a...
Just after President Trump took office, on Fleming Foundation I recommended he not hire generals for his top national security positions. Trump did the opposite. But almost two years later, he finally has civilians in what should be civilian posts. Gen. Flynn didn’t last long as national security adviser and remains embroiled in the witch hunt against Trump, victim of yet another “Justice” Department and FBI perjury trap. Gen. Kelly recently resigned as chief of staff. And Gen. Mattis just resigned in protest as secretary of defense over Trump withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria. When Mattis said he wouldn’t leave...
In the bad old days of previous centuries and millennia, conquering nations trashed the civilizations they occupied for diverse reasons. (I am not now speaking of looting, which can sometimes be a back-handed token of esteem.) Some savages and barbarians just like breaking things. Since they cannot create, they can at least destroy. Sometimes it is to teach a lesson. “You think you Jews can play power-politics by making an alliance with the Egyptians? Watch this!” Sometimes, the point is to destroy symbols and traditions to which the conquerors object on moral grounds: Cortez was a ruthless man, but the...
Many people, embarking upon a serious study of a living foreign language, dream of acquiring fluency. While this is probably an impossible dream for most of us, so are a virtuous life, athletic prowess, and saintliness. The difficulty should be no deterrent to the determined, though we must always keep in mind the very remote chance that we could ever succeed. What do I mean by fluency? My second Greek teacher, Walton Morris, had a rigorous definition. In the 1950’s he had worked in Army intelligence along the French-German border, gathering information on Communist activities. One day, he would pose...
It may occur to the gentle reader to ask why a congenital rake like me should want to observe the minutiae of religious practices long vanished from most civilized places and enlightened minds. One possible answer lies in the psychology of Christian belief.
A few years back, from the safe perch of the Bushido in the waters of the Ionian Sea, Taki goaded me–suffering from an almost lethal hangover– to gloat over the Weekly Standard’s collapse. They were rescued for a time, but finally an entirely pointless exercise in ignorance and duplicity is coming to an end. National Review doesn’t actually need to quite printing since no one of any intelligence or discernment has picked it up for 20 years. The American Spectator was, at best, a college rag that poked fun in the right directions until its editor–a stage Irishman–was afflicted with...
Americans–especially the globalist liberals who call themselves “conservatives”–are not much impressed by the historical parallels of Nineveh and Tyre. Even those who do not join in the chorus of New Dealers, Neoconservatives, and Dittoheads who glorify this City On a Hill, cannot bring themselves to believe that we could go the way of the Carthaginians, leaving nothing impressive behind except for our wars of aggression and heaps of dead children. Even ruthless pragmatists like Don Rumsfeld insist on the point. When evidence emerged of American misbehavior at Abu Ghraib, Rumsfeld cracked, America is different: “We don’t do those things.” Ah,...
The French riots must have more behind them than a revolt against gas tax increases to fund climate programs. As we’re seeing in the revolts of common people against the rancid ruling elites throughout Europe, and with Trump’s election, large chunks of the population now longer want to go along with seeing their livelihoods reduced and their families destroyed to make the elites feel good about their absurd abstractions, such as Gaia worship. Yet the Main Sleaze Media continue to pump out Fake News and nothing but Fake News. A good example is the climate “reporting” in the Los Angeles...
Growing up, my only training in the martial arts was the experience of getting beaten up by older boys until I learned how to inflict pain even when losing a fight. It was a useful lesson, and just as useful was my intuitive understanding of the basic principle of judo, which (so I have been told) is to use your enemy’s strength against him. I was forced to apply this principle more than once in college, when my athletic friends, invigorated by the joy of youth and a fifth of Jack Daniels, would suddenly realize how pleasant it would be...
