People on the right who refuse to vote for Donald Trump are commonly met with the response that they must then bear some responsibility for electing Hillary Clinton, and that as they watch her presidency unfold they will have to … Continue reading →
The always-fascinating Richard Fernandez offers some quotes from anti-Nazi Dietrich Bonhoeffer that I want to call attention to: “Against stupidity we are defenseless,” [Bonhoeffer] wrote, because imbeciles never feel a qualm. Against the stupid “neither protests nor the use of … Continue reading →
Pathological and/or compulsive lying is not the same as ordinary lying. Ordinary lying is strategic and episodic, and the person doing it usually realizes he/she is lying. There is a reason for the lying, a reason an objective observer can … Continue reading →
I don’t usually write about my dreams, but last night I had one that was so vivid I feel the need to do so. And no, it wasn’t about politics. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve either dreamed less or remembered … Continue reading →
…the universe is full of black holes. Probably. Maybe. Supermassive black holes with masses of more than 10bn suns have previously been found at the heart of large galaxies located in dense clusters in the universe. But this is the … Continue reading →
Here’s a very early poem by Robert Frost: “The Tuft of Flowers.” And by “very early” I mean very; Frost was probably about 22 when he wrote it (1896 or 1897). You can tell it’s early if you know anything … Continue reading →
I’m what you might call a mid-level blogger. I’ve been doing this for eleven years, and I’ve reached a certain level of readership that’s more than I ever thought it would be when I began but less than I later … Continue reading →
For many years, the question of whether the Iraq War was an error or not was discussed on this blog very regularly, and a lively discussion it was. There is no question that people on the right differed and still … Continue reading →
…An aged man is but a paltry thing, A tattered coat upon a stick, unless Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing For every tatter in its mortal dress… O sages standing in God’s holy fire As in … Continue reading →
Yesterday Cornhead reported the following conversation from his experience at Hillary’s Iowa appearance: I was talking to some old, rich, liberal white women in the line. It was freezing cold and they were talking about their winter vacations in the … Continue reading →
I watched most (not all) of the debate last night. Regular readers may recall that I detest political debates in general, but this one bothered me especially much. Mulling over why that might be, I’ve come to the conclusion that—at … Continue reading →
A reader sent me a link to this Cynthia Ozick piece in the Weekly Standard about having sympathy for terrorists: At bottom, an open-hearted willingness to understand “everyone” is an appalling distraction from the intrinsic depravity of the act of … Continue reading →