Joseph Bottum

I’ll be traveling down Tobacco Road next week, giving some public talks. Come out for the events, if you happen to be in North Carolina. The first is at Duke, an exploration of my work on the death of Mainline Protestantism and the effect that has on American political theory . That’s . . . . Continue Reading »

Cardinal Martino is the former representative of the Holy See to the United Nations, and he now heads the Vatican’s Council for Justice and Peace—from which perch he recently commented , to an interviewer at Il Sussidiario , about the Israeli invasion of Gaza. “The consequences of . . . . Continue Reading »

Our great, good friend is gone.Fr. Richard John Neuhaus slipped away January 8, shortly before 10 o’clock, at the age of seventy-two. He never recovered from the weakness that sent him to the hospital the day after Christmas, caused by a series of side effects from the cancer he was suffering. . . . . Continue Reading »

It happens every four years”maybe every two years: Anytime there’s an election in this country, the pundits and political experts take to their soapboxes and proclaim the death of pro-life politics. The unwashed yokels in Utah, Alabama, South Dakota, Oklahoma: They’re an . . . . Continue Reading »

I spent the morning browsing through obituaries for our friend, Fr. Neuhaus. For those interested, here are my own reminiscences , online today in the Weekly Standard . I lack the strength today to say all that needs to be said—praise, mostly—for the writing poured out for the occasion. . . . . Continue Reading »

Our great, good friend is gone.Fr. Richard John Neuhaus slipped away today, January 8, shortly before 10 o’clock, at the age of seventy-two. He never recovered from the weakness that sent him to the hospital the day after Christmas, caused by a series of side effects from the cancer he was . . . . Continue Reading »

Ah, our friend Doug Kmiec has recently been revealed to have given yet more examples of the pattern that made him famous during the Obama campaign. The law professor David Kopel points out that, in the Heller gun-control case, Kmiec signed the February 2008 amicus brief by “Former Senior . . . . Continue Reading »

Often, while trying to explain my rejection of the death penalty , I use the term “poetic justice,” that great narrative satisfaction that comes in certain stories like the clicking shut of a well-made box. And just as often, I’m asked for an example. Well, here for the record, is . . . . Continue Reading »

Over at the law professors’ blog the Volokh Conspiracy , they’re noting the sixtieth anniversary of the movie Adam’s Rib —which prompts one commentator to quote the movie’s best line: “Lawyers should never marry other lawyers. This is called inbreeding, from which . . . . Continue Reading »

Down in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past. . . . . Continue Reading »