Generally speaking, I’m a stickler for historical accuracy in political nomenclature. That’s why I am against the use, common among my fellow conservatives, of the term “Islamo-fascist” to describe Islamicist terrorism. Revolting as this terrorism may be in all kinds of ways, it is not “fascism” — a word which has a real historical meaning….
A romantic murder mystery out of Argentina that has a lot to recommend it
A bit of feminist, anti-corporatist, anti-religious hysteria piggy-backing on Hollywood’s enthusiasm for serial killers
Today’s Daily Telegraph headlines: “General Election 2010: Gordon Brown admits his mistakes added to financial crisis.” Readers are apparently ready to see this as a major concession because, up until now, “the Prime Minister has steadfastly blamed the crisis on the failure of American regulators and international watchdogs.” But when you look more closely at…
To me, the most revealing comment made about the recent revision in American nuclear policy came from President Obama himself, as quoted by the Associated Press yesterday. “Asked about former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin”s criticisms about his nuclear defense policy, the president responded: ‘I really have no response. Because last I checked, Sarah Palin”s not much…
Just over 14 years ago, when I heard President Bill Clinton announce in his 1996 State of the Union address that “the era of Big Government is over,” I thought that I had discovered the new age of what I called postmodern politics. By this I meant a political culture in which the vital link…
A curious, fly-on-the-wall documentary about some Kansan conservatives mixed with a subdued polemic from Thomas Frank that answers the question of its title only for the cognoscenti
A movie that is a very good example of its kind, even though its kind is not to this critic’s taste
In today’s New York Times, Tim Judah of The Economist writes to defend the Serbian apology, such as it is, for the massacre of Muslims in Srebrenica in 1995 and to contradict certain criticisms of same as a cynical ploy: Such responses, however, fail to account for the deep divisions in the Serbian Parliament and public,…
In today’s Times of London, Hillary Clinton writes that “the status of the world’s women is not only a matter of morality and justice. It is also a political, economic and social imperative.” Oh, and why is that? The evidence is irrefutable: when women are free to develop their talents and contribute fully to their societies,…
On creeping Manichaeism in the public sphere — From The New Criterion of March, 2010
