Pete Spiliakos

I haven’t had much to say about the partial government shutdown/debt ceiling squabble because I find it simultaneously confusing, irritating, and boring. I wouldn’t have adopted the strategy of Ted Cruz and the House Republicans, but I hold out hope that all the huffing and puffing on . . . . Continue Reading »

George Will favorably passes on Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus’s plan to limit the number of Republican presidential debates in the 2016 cycle. Debates give “the oxygen of free publicity” to marginal candidates who have weak fundraising operations.” . . . . Continue Reading »

 While I appreciate Peter Lawler’s suggestion, I’m taking myself out of the running. The sight of me on the television screen does not go well with breakfast. Based on my Facebook feed, the two top candidates would be Mark Steyn and Ross Douthat. You would have something really great if . . . . Continue Reading »

My long-promised thoughts on the subject are one of today’s On the Square columns. . . . . Continue Reading »

Breaking Bad’s creator Vince Gilligan has said that while he wants to believe that there is a heaven, he cannot believe there is no hell. The characters in Breaking Bad surely sin and suffer, and God is not silent. But there is more to the God of Breaking Bad than judgment. He also offers grace to characters who, like those in Flannery O’Connor’s stories, ignore or misinterpret it time and again… . Continue Reading »

I think Beinart’s article should be read in light of this College Republican report on the attitudes of young voters.  Young voters are more ideologically ambivalent than Beinart lets on. A larger fraction of young voters have “conservative” positions on major issues than . . . . Continue Reading »

The finale was a very entertaining and sometimes moving disappointment - though a disappointment by the extremely high standards of the show. There were many things to like (spoiler alert, of course). The reptile part of my brain enjoyed watching Jesse choke the life out of Todd. It was even better . . . . Continue Reading »

1. I have no idea how the continuing resolution/defund Obamacare/delay Obamacare maneuvering are going to play out. 2. President Obama just isn’t that popular. He is closer to unpopular. His RCP job approval average is down to 43.5% even though the economy continues to grow slowly and the . . . . Continue Reading »

I was going to blog about Breaking Bad and Flannery O’Connor, but that would take too long and I have a few more thoughts about Ted Cruz. Over on twitter, Ross Douthat described Cruz as having become the leading candidate among “the axis of talk radio/Breitbart//RedState/etc.” . . . . Continue Reading »

Ross Douthat shrewdly notes the differences between Ted Cruz and guys like Marco Rubio, Rand Paul and Mike Lee. Rubio is trying to move the Republican position on immigration in the direction of amnesty-first + expanded low-skill immigration. Rand Paul has developed an articulate, . . . . Continue Reading »