The Fleming Foundation Cultural Commentary

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Fleming / From Under The Rubble

7 Apr, 2017

Trump–Chump or Caesar?

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The Russians have rightly condemned the US missile attack on Syria as a criminal act of aggression against a sovereign state.  I italicized the last phrase because it indicates a certain mental clarity on the part of Putin and his advisors:  Their own acts of criminal aggression are justifiable, apparently, so long as they are not directed against a state that holds undisputed sovereignty over a country or region.  John Seiler has made an excellent case that this may be the beginning of the end of the Trump administration.  He is probably right, but as a lifelong contrarian, I am going...

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All Paid Subscribers / Feature / Seiler

7 Apr, 2017

War Could End the Trump Administration

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It didn’t take long for President Trump to let the dogs of war bite him. Item: He just attacked Syria with a “targeted military stroke” on an airfield supposedly used by President Assad for chemical attacks. But what if reports the chemical weapons are “fake news”? The reports came from the U.S. intelligence community, which hates Trump and, as we now know, relentlessly spied on him, his family and his campaign, while conjuring up the fake news of his collusion with Russia. Why would Syria use chemical weapons, bringing condemnation on itself, it it’s now winning the war against the...

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FF / ISL / Podcasts / Season 1

6 Apr, 2017

Islam: The Real Truth About the “Religion of Peace”, Episode 1

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In this episode which is made specially for our Charter Subscribers, Dr. Srdja Trifkovic defines the texts we will be referring to, specifically the Koran, sunna, hadiths, and the system of cataloguing the Koran in “suras.” He goes on to discuss the type of world that Mohammed, the so-called prophet, was born into, the types of religion practiced in that part of the world, and the development of Islam prior to the taking of Mecca. Original Air Date: April 6, 2017 Show Run Time: 41 minutes Show Guest(s): Dr. Srdja Trifkovic Show Host(s): Stephen Heiner The Fleming Foundation · Islam:...

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All Paid Subscribers / Andrei Navrozov / Feature / Wednesday's Child

5 Apr, 2017

Wednesday’s Child: The Möbius Syndrome

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The Möbius strip, twisting back on itself in an endless loop, is how most people visualize the past, present, and – consequently – future of civilization. This seamless plane of recurrence is punctuated by popular historical concepts, such as “tyranny,” “slavery,” “war,” “revolution,” “famine,” “torture,” or else by such allegedly universal memes as “family,” “happiness”, or “wealth.”  Even those hysterically optimistic punters who believe that the history of civilization is progressive – which would imply that its topography is less like the closed loop than like an upwardly mobile parabola – cannot escape the pervasive myth of endless recurrence enshrined...

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Feature / Fleming

4 Apr, 2017

Mat Rarey, RIP

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I learned today, from several sources, that my former assistant Matthew Rarey has died.  Mat was still a young man.  I have no idea, at this point, what happened, but he had been very troubled in recent years. He yearned for the best, and if he often fell short, he was hardly different from the rest of us.  I’ll write more later, perhaps, since Mat kept in constant touch with me.

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Free Content

4 Apr, 2017

The Imperial and Momentary We by Clyde Wilson (FREE)

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This piece was originally published in Chronicles Magazine, October 2012.  It has been republished on the website of the Abbeville Institute.  Prof. Wilson has also given permission to put it on Fleming.Foundation in the hope that it will stimulate a lively discussion. “O Fame, O Fame! Many a man ere this Of no account hast thou set up on high.” —Boethius “It is a kind of baby talk, a puerile and wind­blown gibberish. . . . In content it is a vacuum.” —H.L. Mencken on Warren G. Harding’s speeches Americans are a practical people. They don’t want to hear your...

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Feature / Fleming / From Under The Rubble

4 Apr, 2017

The O’ Reilly–Rotten from the Beginning

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In the current tempest in a teapot over Bill O’Reilly’s allegedly indecent behavior toward women, no one seems willing to state the obvious:  The fellow–by no means a man–is both a bully and a toady, the embodiment of the lying conservative journalism at FOX.  This is a corrected and improved version of a Perspective published long long ago in 2001.   Some celebrities seem born with a natural star-power that radiates from them like an angelic halo.  Alcibiades, so it is said, had this kind of “charisma,” to make himself adored even by people who disliked him.  To be a...

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Fleming / Free Content

4 Apr, 2017

In Memoriam Frank Schier (FREE)

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This is a slightly revised version of my brief tribute delivered on Sunday, April 2, 2017 at a memorial gathering in Rockford the Mendelsohn Club.  Frank Schier was for many years the editor and publisher of the local weekly The Rock River Times.   My name is Tom Fleming, and I was for many years Frank Schier’s friend, sparring partner, and occasionally punching bag.  We once hosted a television show that must hold the record for the smallest audience, and for a brief period, I wrote restaurant reviews for his newspaper.  Perhaps that fact will be recorded on my own...

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FF / Podcasts / Season 1

4 Apr, 2017

Christianity and Classical Culture, Episode 11: Marcus, Stoicism, and Christianity

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In this episode of Christianity and Classical Culture, Dr. Fleming discusses Marcus Aurelius, his life and times, and his adaptation of Greek Stoicism to the Roman mindset. We examine areas of agreement…and disagreement with Christian teaching. Dr. Fleming also explains why Marcus didn’t take Christianity very seriously as a religion, movement, or belief system. Original Air Date: April 4, 2017 Show Run Time: 52 minutes Show Guest(s): Dr. Thomas Fleming Show Host(s): Stephen Heiner Christianity and Classical Culture℗ is a Production of the Fleming Foundation. Copyright 2017. All rights are reserved and any duplication without explicit written permission is forbidden.

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Fleming / Free Content

3 Apr, 2017

Samuel Johnson, Our Greatest Moralist, Part D: The Problem of Pain (FREE)

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Rasselas is probably Dr. Johnson’s most accessible piece of moral philosophy.  Since we shall be posting a podcast on the work, the treatment here can be quite limited.  Rasselas is a sort of a picaresque novel that tells the story of a young Abyssinian prince who, with his sister and mentor, leave the Happy Valley, an earthly paradise where the prince, his sisters, and their companions and attendants, enjoy every possible comfort and pleasure.  Rasselas, however, is not happy but is  possessed of what seems to be a romantic delusion that he should desire something.  He imagines that there is...