David Brooks writes today that “Mitch Daniels, the governor of Indiana who I think is most likely to win the G.O.P. presidential nomination in 2012, is the spiritual leader” of the new wave of conservative Republican candidates. Policy leader, maybe, although I prefer Bobby Jindal. Or . . . . Continue Reading »
As you probably know, First Things has a long-standing fascination with names and namings, and we write every year about the Census Bureau’s report on the year’s names for babies. Half our readers love it. Of course, the other half are utterly indifferent when they’re not openly . . . . Continue Reading »
Here is a fun adventure romp , a first novel by former Newsday columnist Ray Keating. Stephen Grant is an ex-CIA agent with notches on his pistol who, with a little bit of angst, turns his back on his secret life and becomes, get this, a pastor of the Lutheran Church-Missouri . . . . Continue Reading »
A new film from Richard Curtis . As James Delingpole writes , “they believe this is actually an entirely reasonable and rather amusing position to adopt.” . . . . Continue Reading »
Maureen Mullarkey reviews a new biography of Lucian Freud . It is not a very good biography and she amusingly shows why. It s a model of such writing for those of you interested in writing. I particularly liked the phrase “museum-quality finesse” in ”Gayford disinfects . . . . Continue Reading »
Over at Patheos , they’re beginning a new multi-week series that asks the question of all the faiths participating in the site: What Do I Really Believe? As Elizabeth Scalia explains, “The question is meant to be more than an intellectual exploration of specific dogma, though; it is a . . . . Continue Reading »
If we are to have more affordable health care—single payer won’t do it, in my view—we need robust, interstate competition by health insurance companies, which would lead to greater innovation in policies and affordable options, such as catastrophic coverage with high . . . . Continue Reading »
Christopher O. Tollefsen argues that accepting the “liberal” definition on pregnancy can actually help clarify the morality of contraception, abortion, and embryo adoption: Liberals and conservatives sometimes spar over the definition of pregnancy. Some liberals define the term as . . . . Continue Reading »
[Note: Every Friday on First Thoughts we host a discussion about some aspect of popular culture. Have a suggestion for a topic? Send them to me at jcarter@firstthings.com] In honor of yesterday’s golden anniversary of The Flintstones —the show first aired on Sept. 30, . . . . Continue Reading »
Joe Sobran has slipped away, dying at age sixty-four . What can one say? He was a polymath, a genius, and a sometimes brilliant writer of enormous speed and fluidity. And he drove himself nearly mad, embracing conspiracy theories and the crankiest of ways to reject consensus—from the . . . . Continue Reading »
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