The filibuster is failing us
There is a tremendous amount of romance associated with the filibuster. Many fans of old movies recall scenes such as those in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington where Jimmy Stewart’s character (an unlikely appointee meant to go along) takes the floor and refuses to yield it as he attempts to protect a boy’s camp from rapacious developers. […]
The triumph and tragedy of Dick Cheney
Former Vice President Dick Cheney died on Tuesday. He had one of the most consequential political careers in American history marked by spectacular achievements and enormous setbacks. Cheney’s career really began with his association with Donald Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld was a young Republican go-getter who had served in Congress and quickly made his way into administrative […]
A fickle anti-royalism
The first thing to say about No Kings Day is that it is one of the most privileged protests possible relative to its posture. One would expect brave rebels against a dictatorial figure to face the same kind of danger to life, limb, and property the American founders did. That is manifestly not the case […]
A failure to communicate
While an undergraduate at Yale, William F. Buckley, Jr. found an ideological soulmate and debating partner in the red-headed L. Brent Bozell, Jr. from Nebraska. The two were unbeatable in tournaments with Buckley’s devastating wit and Bozell’s earnest oratory. Bozell would eventually become Buckley’s brother-in-law and his co-author on the book McCarthy and His Enemies. He […]
Let a murder remind you
On Aug. 22, young Iryna Zarutska walked on to a light rail train in Charlotte, N.C., and sat down for what would be her last ride. Like so many of us, she disappeared into a cocoon of her earbuds and her phone. Before she could reach her destination and walk off the train, she was […]
The determination of Dr. Dobson
The great evangelist Billy Graham found himself tarnished by the fall of President Richard Nixon and largely decided to avoid politics after Watergate. It was probably the right decision and led to decades of Graham continuing to be one of the most admired men in America and a leading spiritual light for the nation. His […]
Ending the political circus
Once again, Texas is at the center of fugitive legislature drama. For the last quarter century, Democrats of the state have been treated badly by political fortune. They’ve descended deep into the minority of the state houses and have utterly failed to take a major hide such as Ted Cruz, even when it seemed everything […]
Francis, John Paul, and the Christ of Culture
When Pope John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla) died in 2005, the pastor of my parents’ conservative Southern Baptist church in Alabama said something to his congregation that at one time would probably have gotten him fired on the spot. He informed church members that for much of the world, the pope is the face of […]
Isolated and Alone
In the last third of the 20th century, various commentators began to express concerns about a phenomenon known as social atomization. The idea was that human beings throughout history had existed in a rich and satisfying web of relationships including families, churches, guilds, and local communities. In The Quest for Community, Robert Nisbet observed that the […]
The Cancelled Pro-Lifer
In February, members of the DuPage County board in Illinois voted to remove longtime Congressman Henry Hyde’s name from the county courthouse. To my knowledge, this is the first time a name has been removed from a government building for a person whose primary achievement was pro-life legislation. Who was Henry Hyde? He was a […]