This is but an addendum to Robert Miller’s fine reflection on the meaning of hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is not easy. It is a very deliberate and specific practice that takes some working at. To cite a recent instance, the revelation that German novelist Günter Grass¯lauded for years as the . . . . Continue Reading »
I’m not so sure, Ross, that you’re right about the way you frame the issue of the war and the election. Of course, in your response to me , you may be righter than I was . But I don’t see that I was saying anything much different from, for example, E.J. Dionne, who wrote in his . . . . Continue Reading »
I’m no expert when it comes to analysis of political trends, party politics, or electoral strategy. But Tuesday’s election seems noteworthy on a couple of points. And as we’ll see, certain Catholic bishops may have played a central role.First, this election was decidedly not an . . . . Continue Reading »
In his post on the midterm elections and their discontents, Jody Bottum argues that conservatives haven’t made support for the Iraq War a defining test of one’s conservatism, in the way that opposition to the war¯and indeed, war of almost any kind¯has become an abortion-style . . . . Continue Reading »
Since September 11, 2001¯or at least since the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, and probably since the invasion of Afghanistan¯there has been a fundamental imbalance in the way the left and the right have perceived the use of the American military in the war against the Jihadists.Of course, . . . . Continue Reading »
I was in Denver for about a hundred minutes this weekend. I hadn’t planned it, but when I arrived at the airport Friday morning to begin my journey to Calgary, I was surprised to see that’s where I would change planes. The story about Ted Haggard had hit the news the night before, and I . . . . Continue Reading »
You will not be surprised to learn that I am solidly on Ross Douthat’s side in his exchanges with Damon Linker at the New Republic Online (registration required) and the American Experience . My personal interest aside¯or as much as I am capable of putting it aside¯this is one of the . . . . Continue Reading »
The truth about the technical challenges and scientific hurdles for embryonic stem-cell (ESC) therapies is finally getting out. The truth, of course, is that there are no human embryonic stem-cell therapies even in clinical trial, let alone ready for therapy, and there have been no major treatment . . . . Continue Reading »
One of the encouraging developments following Pope Benedict’s lecture at Regensburg University on September 12 is the number of thinkers in the United States and Europe who, while making a point of their not being Catholics or Christians, said that Benedict had rendered a great service by . . . . Continue Reading »
Is it just my imagination or has Robertson Davies faded considerably over the past decade? I was sick in bed the middle of last week and, in my convalescence, pulled down a couple of his early novels to read¯only to be struck by how rarely one hears his name anymore. Before he died in 1995 at . . . . Continue Reading »