Commenter “Cornflour” has alerted me to a new book on political changers (left-to-right), a subject very dear to my heart. It’s by Daniel Oppenheimer, and it’s called Exit Right: The People Who Left the Left and Reshaped the American Century: … Continue reading →
That Hillary Clinton might lie is no surprise at all, even to her supporters, who shrug it off or rationalize it. And on the topic of lies and the lying liars who tell them, there was mention in the comments … Continue reading →
Yesterday I read this article by John Hinderaker at Powerline: During our previous wave of mass immigration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, both immigrants and American officials understood that assimilation into American culture, most importantly learning to … Continue reading →
Noted historian and poet Robert Conquest has died at the age of 98. In honor of his lengthy and fully-lived life, I’ll repost a piece I wrote about him three years ago, updated to change the tense from present to … Continue reading →
For the Fourth of July, courtesy commenter “mezzrow”: I saw that film on TV maybe 30 times when I was a child. Loved it, and in particular loved the idea that James Cagney—whom I already knew as a tough old … Continue reading →
[NOTE: For those of you who don’t know who FredHJr was, please see this and this, as well as these. The following is a slightly-edited post that appeared previously on this blog.] Unbelievable that it’s been six years since commenter … Continue reading →
Harriette Thompson is running a marathon. An activity she didn’t begin till she was 76.
Continue reading →[Hat tip: commenter “Artfldgr.”] Columnist Dennis Prager is a changer, although his change happened many moons ago—he says that Carter is the last Democrat he voted for: Obviously, I underwent an intellectual change. And it wasn’t easy. Becoming a Republican … Continue reading →
Here’s an extremely interesting segment from “This American Life” about how change—political change and change in general—occurs [hat tip: Vanderleun]. I’ve studied change. I’ve observed it. I’ve experienced it. I’ve tried to effect it, but haven’t we all? Therapists, teachers, … Continue reading →
This article is an excellent demonstration of how hard—how really really hard—it is to change one’s political mind. It’s written by Mitch Ginsburg, a man who appears to be some sort of military expert—at least, expert enough to work for … Continue reading →
“Open Blogger” at Ace’s has a good piece on political argument and why it’s so hard to change minds. His point is that a lot of liberals seem to actively resist hearing facts that might challenge them. He mentions people … Continue reading →
[NOTE: More on this topic here.] I don’t think he loves it in any conventional sense. You don’t want to “fundamentally transform” something you love. Or do you? For example, a family can get together in an intervention to try … Continue reading →