The Fleming Foundation Cultural Commentary
Bernie Sanders’ anti-Christian hissie fit the other day is overheating the Christian chattiverse. Sanders unloaded on Russell Vought the load of Christ-hating venom he had accumulated in a liftetime devoted to attacking all things normal, decent, and well-groomed, describing his faith as “insulting,” “hateful,” and indefensible.” Christians are drawing the obvious conclusion that for Sanders and his ilk—and, remember, their name is Legion—any form of orthodox Christian faith is a cause for exclusion from federal office. First it will be cabinet posts, then federal judgeships, then college scholarships. Unfortunately, too few Christians seem to understand that Sanders is only making explicit...
Now the alarmists call it “climate change,” which can mean anything from California enjoying even better weather than it already does to a meteor slamming into Los Angeles and extinguishing all life on earth (small “e,” please). But they really mean “global warming,” the phrase used to scare us until the late 2000s, when it became clear it wasn’t happening. I’ve been a skeptic – or denier, as the alarmists say – all along. I remember the 1970s global cooling scare. A 1975 Newsweek article warned of “The Cooling World”: “There are ominous signs that the earth’s weather patterns have...
10: AM CDT In the palatial headquarters of The Fleming Foundation, Founder and President Thomas Fleming, surrounded by popping flashbulbs and rolling movie cameras, made an official announcement that brought joy to the literally dozens of friends and readers who follow the work of the Foundation. (They actually number in the hundreds, but dozens sounds more poetic.) I am happy to report that we have struck an agreement with the beautiful Grand Hotel del Gianicolo to arrange TFF’s first convivial meeting in Italy: A one week meeting in Rome to explore “the grandeur that was Rome,” specifically, the height...
Though Jonson seems proudest of his tragedies on classical themes–Sejanjus and Catiline–neither was a hit. In fact Sejanus, which invited comparisons between the degenerate courtiers of Elizabeth and those of Tiberius–aroused hostility against the poet. Jonson was also one of a number of Elizabethan writers–Marston and Donne–who excoriated the evils of their time without necessarily correcting any of their own personal vices. As he grew older, however, Jonson’s satires increasingly took on the gentle ironic tone of Horace instead of the Juvenalian savagery affected by his rivals. It is significant that the 1590’s were the great years for English satire,...
It is true that the word “bastard” was not equally offensive in every period of history, as we know that William the Conqueror is called “William the Bastard” in some contemporary official screeds, but after Shakespeare, in King Lear, fashioned the underlying notion into the definitive metaphor of vice, the word was pretty much spoken for. The term’s origin, in the age of homosexual marriage and gender dysphoria, may seem rather innocuous, since etymologically it does not mean anything more shameful than “here today, gone tomorrow,” an approach to conduct regarded as perfectly legitimate at least since the great moral...
“I remember the days of long ago.” Psalm 143:5 If you haven’t chuckled at it yet, check out George Will’s attempt to resuscitate Bill Buckley. I’ve always been a conservative and started out long ago a great admirer of both men, later disillusioned. Buckley’s old National Review I discovered in the library of Franklin Junior High School around 1967, when I was 12. Will wrote for it then, but later moved to write a column for the Washington Post. His column was especially valuable in Stars & Stripes when I was a Russian Linguist with the U.S. Army in West...
I am not one of those who spends time reading or writing “tweets.” Life is too short and I am already the victim of too many forms of communication. However, a friend sent me a “tweet” that arrested my attention as illustrative of the sad state of our “democracy.” The tweeter, upset by President Trump’s apparent (and ill-advised) use of the word “covfefe,” tells the world: “Trump now claims his ‘covfefe’ tweet contained no typos. This is sociopathy. He must be impeached ASAP.” Note that this statement is not opinion or argument. It is an imperious demand for a transfer...
IV It’s 2017, and the Rechstaffens have moved from the crazy Bay Area to the crazier Portland, where Fritz IV (J.J.) is doing well as head of an immigrants’ rights organization and Democratic Party activist. He had worked hard for Bernie, but, when his candidate lost, he cheerfully rolled up his sleeves to work for the first woman that would be elected President of the Free World, the human race, and the entire universe. He makes no bones about his loathing of all things Trump, and that is the one subject on which he and his former son, Fritz...
Kathy Griffin, one of nature’s more repellant mistakes, is now complaining that she has been bullied by the Trumps. Preposterous, no? Even Trump-haters with a normal brain—my friend and colleague, Navrozov for example—would have to concede that it is in unquestionably poor taste to get a laugh by portraying anyone, much less the head of state, as the victim of decapitation. What kind of people are these, you may ask: We know what kind of people they are—degraded specimens of postmodern ex-humanity who could not care less what effect their little pranks might have on the families of their victims...
Comedian Al Franken is back in the headlines with accusations the Russians colluded with Donald Trump to make sure the Democrats nominated the worst candidate in their party’s history so she would lose. Or something like that. Reported Bloomberg, “U.S. Sen. Al Franken said ‘everything points to’ collusion between President Donald Trump’s campaign and the Russians. The Minnesota Democrat did not cite any evidence….” Franken said, “My feeling is that there was some cooperation between the Trump campaign and the Russians. They just haven’t been acting like people who have nothing to hide.” Once again, check out my Fleming Foundation post...
