Month: November 2006

If you want to go to seminars on Christianity while cruising in absolute luxury, Hugh Hewitt has the trip for you!

Well, we have had "coercive interrogation technique." Now we have "severe etiquette malfunction." That’s John Derbyshire’s term for screaming out the n-word and having fantasies of lynching, because your stand-up act is having a rough night.

Twenty five years ago, he was for it.

William F. Buckley may see some of his progeny falter – the conservative movement, for example. But his actual genetic progeny, i.e. Christopher, is as brilliant as ever. I hadn’t watched "Thank you For Smoking" in the movie theaters, but we netflixed it the other night and I had a ball. Rare to find actually sophisticated political humor in Hollywood. It takes a conservative … Meanwhile, here’s Buckley’s latest gem from the New Yorker. It’s Jeeves with W. Money quote:

"Now, see here, Jeeves, I can handle this Iraq business myself."
"Yes, sir. But, if I may, there does seem to be something of a clamor for an exit strategy."
"Dash it, Jeeves, the only exit strategy is victory."
"Yes, sir. So Dr. Kissinger keeps insisting. And yet, as the Bard would suggest, ripeness is all."
"What are you talking about?"
"’King Lear,’ sir. A play by the late Mr. Shakespeare."
"Just spit it out."
"As you may recall, sir, I had suggested replacing Mr. Rumsfeld before the election, rather than after."
"Deuced good idea, Jeeves. See to it immediately. Walk him up the scaffold, and no blindfold. That’ll get us a few votes."
We W.s are slow to anger, but, when the feeling comes, the ground around us trembles.
"If I may, sir?"
"What is it, Jeeves?"
"The election is over."
"Oh. Dash it all, Jeeves, you might have told me."

And the beat goes on.

Nerynx, Kentucky, 7.30 am.

Here’s a sudden insight for Kate O’Beirne, discussing the guests on the recent National Review Cruise:

They appeared to attribute many of the GOP losses to the betrayal of the conservative principles they strongly support.

Funny how the magazine did little but frantically encourage voters to reward exactly those politicians in the recent election, isn’t it? The pro-war liberal blogger/writer Johann Hari was also on the cruise. He crashed on my couch Saturday night. His account of the trip should make a very interesting piece.

A reader writes:

As a big fan of Tori Amos I was torn between mortification and hilarity … this is one of the most gawd-awful video’s I’ve ever seen – and from my favorite current performing artist, too. I almost think having a porn flick out there somewhere would be less humiliating (although I kind of doubt she would feel the same way).

Watching the whole miserable thing was one of the most painful experiences I’ve had in years ‚Äì but I HAD to see if it got any better, and if not, just how much worse it would seem as it progressed. My impression: the awfulness grew exponentially with each passing frame. I’m relieved that I only had to view it once.

You’re welcome.

An interesting take on the late, great economist. Richard Posner thinks Friedman was a market dogmatist. His blog post reminds me of Oakeshott’s famous critique of Hayek – for believing systematically against systems.

A friend who has read more than I have sets the record straight:

I do not know whether Burke ever said: "The only thing necessary for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing."

But I do know that in 1867, in fulfillment of his obligation upon being elected by the students to the position of Honorary Lord Rector of the University of St. Andrews, J. S. Mill gave to the university community a remarkable speech on liberal education. In explaining why liberal education must include study of the law of nations, Mill wrote,

"Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing."

The Inaugural Address can be found in Essays on Equality, Law, and Education, J.M. Robson ed. (University of Toronto Press, 1984).

Michael Richards isn’t the only one to lose it occasionally. A reader writes:

You’re just a rumor-mongering waste of time, whose mind is clearly warped by AIDS-meds, AIDS, and who knows what other immunosuppressive behavior you’ve engaged in. You want to drag everyone else down in the gutter with you. Kindly mind your business and quit knocking the Pope…

I want what I write next to make you sad because it’s completely true and the whole gay rights agenda is warring with this reality: WE (Catholics, normal people, red-blooded Americans, heterosexuals) WILL NEVER ACCEPT YOU NO MATTER WHAT BULL***T LAWS YOU MANAGE TO GET SOME SECULAR COURTS TO FOIST UPON US.

Tell me how you really feel. Seriously, though, I have no interest in being "accepted" by anyone, let alone a reader with these views. I’m just interested in being treated equally under the law, and letting others hate whomever they want to. And I’m interesting in holding leaders of churches to the same rules they apply to others. That’s all. Have a great Thanksgiving.