The Fleming Foundation Cultural Commentary
Under the Rubble I: Cryin’ Time Again in Boston Thomas Fleming The trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been as weepy as a Roy Orbison song. The killer seemed to be crying when his aunt testified to what a good little boy he had been. A cousin told the jury that Dzhokhar had cried watching The Lion King with his father. Prosecution witnesses were full of tears and sorrow—unaffected and justified—for the victims of the Boston Marathon terrorist attack, but Sister Helen Prejean claims he told her that no one should have to suffer as his victims did. The only issue...
Remember when a “Conservative” was someone opposed to change? “Any change, at any time, for any reason is to be deplored,” as The Duke of Cambridge (Victoria’s uncle) once declared. Back in the 1950’s, the word got restricted to the meaning “anti-communist/capitalists who believed in a strong defense and a free economy, and it was embodied in the unlikely person of Barry Goldwater. By the election of 1980, Conservatives had taken the initiative and were now the bold innovators in economic and foreign policy. Most conservatives were delighted with the change of image—from Tory squire to progressive, from curmudgeon to...
