I’ve written in praise of Allan Bloom’s book The Closing of the American Mind several times before, but here I go again. It was published in 1987, which is now very close to 30 years ago. And yet its relevance … Continue reading →
[Hat tip: commenter “expat.”] David Harsanyi makes some points I’ve also been harping on for years now, about the actual record of the GOP recently versus the perception of the terrible awfulness of its record. Here’s an excerpt from Harsanyi, … Continue reading →
…can he make it everywhere? In other words, what is the significance of Donald Trump’s yuuge win in his home state? He was expected to win, and win big. That was already factored into projections about his final vote total … Continue reading →
…is Jewish: The Jewish speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, Volodymyr Groysman, has been elected prime minister after a months-long political crisis. The parliament on Thursday voted 250-57 for Groysman, who was nominated by President Petro Poroshenko. The outgoing prime minister, … Continue reading →
Bias, anyone? I uniformly hate these “fictionalized looks” at history.
Continue reading →When I was a newlywed my husband and I took a trip to Europe, spending most of our time in England and France. It was the 70s, and Europe (and the world) was a lot less crowded and traveling not … Continue reading →
I was raised by parents who were Democrats who venerated FDR, but the more I learn about FDR the more I don’t like many things he did. For years I’ve been reading the conservative point of view on the Great … Continue reading →
For absolutely no reason except curiosity I was looking up the Vikings the other day, and came across this: Spices were obtained [by the Vikings] from Chinese and Persian traders, who met with the Viking traders in Russia. I already … Continue reading →
Every now and then I’ve offered excerpts from the fascinating WWII-era memoirs of Victor Klemperer (see this for one of them, as well as an explanation of who Klemperer was). The following quotes are from his I Will Bear Witness: … Continue reading →
Weimar comparisons abound. You may need a good stiff drink when you’re done. When I think about Weimar compared to today, one of the biggest parallels I can find is the degradation of popular culture and also of what used … Continue reading →
[NOTE: Please read the ADDENDUM at the end of this post for some additional information I’ve seen that tends to support Trump’s account rather than the 2004 Time article. The information has to do with the timing of a video … Continue reading →
I’m going to keep posting this now and then, just as a reminder. This is not about Trump-fever in particular—it’s about what’s led to it, and where such feelings can lead in the very worst-case scenario. Trump, Sanders, or a … Continue reading →