Sep
30
The Post op-ed page
September 30, 2005 | Comments Off
Unlike a certain newspaper which shall remain nameless, the Washington Post op-ed page remains free on-line, (though you still have to register). Of course I get both papers at work, but it’s nice to be able to peruse the net versions while at work (or simply blog about them). And the Post writers, by and [...]
Sep
29
Habemus Chiefum
September 29, 2005 | Comments Off
BTW, arcane bit of trivia, but this is the first time we’ve had the elections of a Pope and a Supreme Court Chief Justice in the same year. Okay, back to your regularly scheduled programming.
Sep
29
Congratulations . . .
September 29, 2005 | Comments Off
. . . to our new Chief Justice, John Roberts. . . . and our very own Mouldfan. He called it. I’ll restate my predication from last night. There will be a circus at the nomination hearings. Senators will ask questions that don’t get answered and there will be complaints, some founded some not so [...]
Sep
29
Farewell to Mike
September 29, 2005 | Comments Off
This weekend marks, in all liklihood, Mike Piazza’s final homestand as a New York Met. It appears as though Mike will spend his final years in the American League as a DH. I’m sure Mets fans will show him all the appreciation he richly deserves. The greatest position player in the history of the franchise [...]
Sep
28
Liberal Conservatism, being the fifth part of American Conservatism
September 28, 2005 | Comments Off
Part one. Two. Three. Four. Before getting sidetracked a bit by an exploration of the conservative nature of the American Constitution, I alluded to the Jonah Goldberg column which discusses the classically liberal nature of American conservatism. While I do think that Locke’s influence on American political development is vastly overrated, that does not mean that his thinking is [...]
Sep
28
Anarchy in the UN
September 28, 2005 | Comments Off
This week’s Coalition post. As Darfur descends into anarchy, the United Nations appears unable to do any more than express concerns and continue to ask the parties involved to cease their violent attacks. After rebels attacked and took control of the town of Sheiria last week, the Sudanese army said it was prepared to retake [...]
Sep
23
So you say you want a revolution?
September 23, 2005 | Comments Off
Is it time for a revolution? Ace of Spades thinks so. And he’s not alone.No, I’m not talking about the bloody overthrow of the bourgeoisie. Ace wonders whether the Republican party needs new blood to come in and put an end to the wreckless spending. For, as he puts it, “Hey, let’s admit it. When Republicans took over as [...]
Sep
22
Sell Out
September 22, 2005 | Comments Off
Drawn in not so much by the clever gimmick of changing the “i” to “u” in Silver Spring, but instead by the 25% reduction in rent, I am now officially moving from DC to Maryland at the end of October. While it is true that I can basically spit from my apartment and have it [...]
Sep
22
The dirtiest fans in baseball
September 22, 2005 | Comments Off
I suppose we should all congratulate the Braves as they head towards their 14th division title in 15 years. Ooh, I feel so dirty saying that. But not as dirty as fans attending basbeball games at Turner Field. According to a study conducted by the American Society of Microbiology, 37% of men left the bathroom [...]
Sep
21
Three Books
September 21, 2005 | Comments Off
The bus trip from DC to New York and back allowed me to get to a few books I’ve been meaning to read for some time: Claes Ryn’s America the Virtuous, John Lukacs’ Democracy and Populism, and Natan Sharansky’s The Case for Democracy. They are all, more or less, written about the same subject – [...]
Sep
21
The Descent Into Anarchy
September 21, 2005 | Comments Off
This week’s Coalition for Darfur post. One week ago, experts and observers warned that Darfur risked “sliding into a perpetual state of lawlessness.” At a time when Khartoum and the Darfur rebels were preparing to meet in an attempt to move the essentially non-existent peace process forward, IRIN was reporting Banditry and continuous attacks by [...]
Sep
20
All the News that’s fit to ignore
September 20, 2005 | Comments Off
Ace of Spades (boy, I sure have been linking to him a lot lately, maybe I can be like Garfield Ridge in reverse) brings us the latest from Dan “Courage, courage” Rather. Cue violin. Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather said Monday that there is a climate of fear running through newsrooms stronger than he [...]
Sep
19
The Conservative Constitution, being the fourth part of American Conservatism
September 19, 2005 | Comments Off
Part one here. Two here. Three here. I am sure I have linked to this piece by Jonah Goldberg before, but it serves as an excellent companion to this series of posts. And as we move onto the main topic at hand, that is, what is American conservatism, the following paragraph is a useful jumping off point. As [...]
Sep
18
The Mayor Speaks
September 18, 2005 | Comments Off
All of America shook at these words offered by Mayor Mike “thank God the Democratic party in this city can’t find even a remotely decent human being to run against me” Bloomberg regarding John Roberts: “In July, following the nomination of Judge John Roberts to the Supreme Court, I stated clearly that I wanted to [...]
Sep
15
Update: Braden Looper still sucks
September 15, 2005 | Comments Off
Though Kaz Matsui and Gerald Williams are right behind him in the hall of shame. Gerald Williams. Why is he still playing major league baseball? And Willie, is it completely necessary to bring in this stiff? Do you actually want the team to lose every game they have left? And also, when the other team [...]
Sep
14
A Meaningless Pledge
September 14, 2005 | Comments Off
Some are hailing the inclusion of language regarding a “responsibility to protect” in the draft declaration on UN reform to be discussed during the three-day summit being held in New York. The “Responsibility to Protect” is, according to the seminal report on thetopic [T]he idea that sovereign states have a responsibility to protect their own [...]
Sep
14
Ummm . . . what?
September 14, 2005 | Comments Off
I’m going to steal a little of repeal’s thunder and question the sanity of Tom Delay for this quote: House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said yesterday that Republicans have done so well in cutting spending that he declared an “ongoing victory,” and said there is simply no fat left to cut in the federal budget. [...]
Sep
13
Conservative Conservatism, being the third part of American Conservatism
September 13, 2005 | Comments Off
Part one here. Part two here. The battle between Burkeans and Straussians helps to underscore the fact that conservatism avails itself of no easy definition. What’s more, while Burke and Strauss represent two pivotal elements of conservative thought, they are by no means exhaustive of all that fall under the purview of conservatism. In my first part [...]
Sep
13
Transcript of the hearings
September 13, 2005 | Comments Off
Ace of Spades has a transcript up of today’s hearings. Kind of.
Sep
9
Blame Canada
September 9, 2005 | Comments Off
You know, if we really want to fight a war for oil, it only makes sense that we invade the country that we receive most of our oil from. That’s right, it is time that we invade . . . CANDADA!!!!