Peter Lawler

So here’s a bit more on my effort to update our understanding of THE MIND OF THE SOUTH (the title of a quite singular and strange book by W.J. Cash) : Cash did follow Mencken—and genuine Southern Stoics such as the poet William Alexander Percy—in having a very poor opinion of the . . . . Continue Reading »

1. I will be speaking at a BIG-TIME PANEL at the APSA against NSF funding for political “scientists.” This is on the basis of a quicky blog that was linked here and there as an example evilthinking. I could bring up the noetic heterogeneity issue. But it seems to me that the expanded . . . . Continue Reading »

Or, a libertarian might say, why am I so afraid to be paid what I’m WORTH . . . . . Continue Reading »

Well, we still haven’t managed to get Jean Yarbrough SIGNED UP as a regular contributor. So I have to pass on her email messages to me to you about my post on Jim’s election book: I want to offer a somewhat different formulation: Obama did not offer conservatism in the precise sense. . . . . Continue Reading »

So Ken has a very astute review of Jim et al.’s excellent analysis of the recent election. Ken does well especially in giving telling examples of Ceaser’s incisive wit and framing of the issues. Ken does even better by reminding us all that the Republican future depends on the key . . . . Continue Reading »

So I’m safely back at home in the Panera of Rome, GA. Tomorrow (the 29th—I walked most of Sunday thinking it was the 29th) is Tocqueville’s birthday. I’m trying to finish up an article on THE MIND OF THE SOUTH. There’s really quirky and brilliant book of that name by a . . . . Continue Reading »

So I’m in Atlanta on the way back home from vacation. Naturally I saw THE WAY WAY BACK on Carl’s suggestion. It’s very funny. The audience laughed out loud time and again. The waterpark manager Owen (played by Sam Rockwell) is a knock off of Bill Murray in MEATBALLS. In this case . . . . Continue Reading »

Thanks to Carl and Pete for some very thoughtful posts on LIBERTARIANISM. While I don’t care about Will Wilkinson as such, I will agree with Pete that he is representative of a trend among sophisticated young people: A kind of individualism that might be more evidence still of the victory of . . . . Continue Reading »

So I blame myself for the extended discussion in the thread of the Zimmerman case. But only here, at POSTMODERN CONSERVATIVE, is it intermingled with an analysis of one of Flannery O’Connor’s first stories. Summer’s here, and the time is right, to read Flannery once more. I have . . . . Continue Reading »

So I’ve gotten a ton of (two) complaints about not posting this week. Why don’t you say anything about the Zimmerman verdict? I don’t have any special knowledge or deep opinion. I’ll tentatively say I agree with Jimmy Carter, who sensibly said the verdict was a reasonable . . . . Continue Reading »