Suppose that: Ali, a notoriously prickly (perhaps even paranoic) but basically decent fellow who lives in a very difficult neighborhood, is getting beat up on by Tikriti, a well-known thug. Jake, a compulsive do-gooder from outside the neighborhood, intervenes on Ali’s behalf, and Tikriti runs off at the first blow to his tender backside. Jake [...]
Archive for December, 2010
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A tough but slender thread
December 30th, 2010 
admin Last night I saw, as I see every year, what I have long believed to be the last, best hope of the West: home schooling parents and children in action. Every year our local home schooling association has its Talent Night on the Friday nearest to St. Patrick’s Day, which of course this year was [...]
On Immigration & “Republican Voters”
December 30th, 2010 admin Before I start on the potentially tangential point of whether these immigrants are in some sense potential “Republican voters,” I should note in fairness that my colleague, Leon Wolf, does argue later in the post for enforcement of the law: All of that said, I am still a law and order guy. And, I support [...]
Overhearing the Future
December 30th, 2010 admin It is a conversation I hear with increasing frequency, either as a participant or as someone who merely happens to overhear something as he proceeds about his ordinary business. Parents will be discussing their children, usually their young children, for this conversation seems to occur most frequently between parents of children under the age of [...]
Friendship and restraint.
December 30th, 2010 admin I have not often had occasion to praise President Bush over the course of his second term in office. Of late, I have only found myself increasingly entrenched in opposition to him, and locked in debate with his defenders, some earnest and honorable, others brassbound and full of sophistry. I extend to him my praise [...]
The Siege of Famagusta, 1571.
December 30th, 2010 admin Crowds of journalists have of late flocked to Cyprus, that storied island nation, and as it happens Cyprus was in the news on this very date — exactly 435 years ago, at the Siege of Famagusta. Cyprus can lay claim to being the first country on earth governed by a Christian sovereign, the Roman proconsul [...]
In Defense of a Christian Nation
December 30th, 2010 admin (This is a follow-up to a previous post, found here.) I know, it sounds like the title of a book, the writing of which I will leave to another of suitable leisure, ambition and learning. (Paul Cella sounds about right.) And so I left Charles Krauthammer’s piece wondering which tyranny I ought to prefer, that [...]
American immigration: who gets in?
December 30th, 2010 admin Also at SwordsCrossed. “The central conservative truth is that it is culture, not politics, that determines the success of a society. The central liberal truth is that politics can change a culture and save it from itself.” Daniel Patrick Moynihan America prides itself on being a land of immigrants. “Give me your tired, your poor,” [...]
A strange turn for the Right.
December 30th, 2010 admin From the Archives: Here I reprint an old essay that, it seems to me, has aged pretty well. I have revised it many times and offer now an update for those EM readers who are interested. +++++++++++++++++ Some years ago, while wandering the grand and fantastic landscape of the Internet, I stumbled upon by chance [...]
Thoughts on war.
December 30th, 2010 admin Pale Ebenezer thought it wrong to fight But roaring Bill who killed him Thought it right. — Hilaire Belloc What have the last four and a half years taught Conservatives about war? One thing is that a treacherous and spectacular attack against her will make a republic more warlike. This rather platitudinous statement is nonetheless [...]
