FGF-Books

Seeing Both Sides

Fri, 11 May 2012 07:38:56 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
Before I discovered Shakespeare, the writer I most admired was St. Thomas Aquinas. Dazzling as Shakespeare is, I think I was right the first time. Apples and oranges, of course; but in this case I think the apple diet would have been better for me.

The Sobran Administration

Thu, 10 May 2012 09:01:20 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
In a previous column, I observed that “the presidency is ... a Superman’s job. Nobody should be given — or trusted with — that much power and responsibility. Nobody can possibly handle it.

The Lost Art of Speaking

Fri, 04 May 2012 10:48:58 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
Not long ago, I read that Hollywood is worried about a shortage of young male stars who can play big roles. I’m not surprised.

And I think I can give the chief reason in a single word: voices.

William Howard Taft Returns — and Runs for President

Fri, 04 May 2012 10:30:22 -0400

by Wes Vernon
Let your imagination run wild: What if President William Howard Taft suddenly disappeared nearly 100 years ago on his way out the White House door and was resurrected (as certified by scientists) in 2012?

That fantasy would leave intact his previous life's accomplishments as an educator, solicitor general, holder of two judgeships, governor-general of the Philippines and, of course, president for four years.

Trickle Down Tyranny: Crushing Obama's Dream of the Socialist States of America

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 17:06:57 -0400

by Wes Vernon
It is with a mixture of caution and fascination that one reviews a book by Michael Savage. Some toxic controversies in which he has been embroiled transcend his worldview (about which some have questioned).

Consider, however, that the British government outrageously has denied him entry into its kingdom and that some 10 million Americans are drawn to his radio talkshow. Like him or not, he is not to be ignored.

Marbury v. Madison

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:03:04 -0400

by Charles G. Mills
According to President Obama, it would be unprecedented if the Supreme Court were to declare an act of Congress unconstitutional.

Whether he truly believes this statement is dubious.

Church, State, and School

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 13:26:54 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran

Which are crazier: liberals or conservatives?

The question is forced on us anew by the latest flap over the Pledge of Allegiance. A Federal appeals court in San Francisco (where else?) has ruled that the words under God, added to the Pledge by an act of Congress in 1954, are unconstitutional. They amount, says the court, to an official endorsement of monotheism, in violation of “the wall of separation between church and state.”

Your Friend, the State

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 12:41:45 -0400

Your Friend, the State
Albert Jay Nock, an excellent but largely forgotten writer, once wrote a little book titled Our Enemy, the State. I still reread it when I’m groggy from absorption in the daily events of politics. It revives me like a slap in the face.

What Americans Really Think — When Asked the Right Questions according to pollster Scott Rasmussen

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 09:17:02 -0400

by Jon Basil Utley
Americans who despair of Washington ever cutting waste from its trillion dollar defense/homeland security budget can take heart from pollster Scott Rasmussen’s book The People’s Money: How Voters Will Balance the Budget and Eliminate the Federal Debt.

Did The Passion of the Christ have “Excessive Violence”

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 12:49:30 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
Sometimes I think that if people really listened to themselves, I’d be out of a job. When they can’t mean what they say, you are entitled to doubt that they’re saying what they mean.

Few are saying that Mel Gibson had no right to make a film about the Crucifixion. But many are saying he shouldn’t have made it.

Windmills and Waterwheels

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 11:50:50 -0400

by Charles G. Mills
Many proponents of “renewable energy” are hypocrites who have no real interest in renewable energy.

The Myth of “Limited Government”

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 16:26:45 -0500

A classic by Joseph Sobran
We are taught that the change from monarchy to democracy is progress; that is, a change from servitude to liberty. Yet no monarchy in Western history ever taxed its subjects as heavily as every modern democracy taxes its citizens.

But we are taught that this condition is liberty, because “we” are — freely — taxing “ourselves.”

Hail, Switzerland!

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 08:24:07 -0500

A classic by Joseph Sobran
Whenever I hear someone brag that America is “the greatest country on earth,” I want to ask, “Have you ever been to Switzerland?”

Well, I have. I spent a whole week there once. Very dull.

Conservative Voice Silenced at the Liberal Fox

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 11:17:10 -0500

by Wes Vernon
Patrick J. Buchanan has been fired by MSNBC. For years, the longtime author/columnist/commentator had served as that network's lone conservative voice.

That Buchanan is liked and respected of such liberal colleagues at the cable channel as Chris Mathews ("a smart guy" and "I miss him already") and Rachel Maddow ("Uncle Pat") speaks volumes of his charm and likeability, blending well with his straightforward, unabashed, take-no-prisoners advocacy of the conservative cause.

All We Like Sheep

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:46:25 -0500

A classic by Joseph Sobran
Once upon a time, my father bought Time magazine every week, as I do now. He paid 20 cents per issue; I’m paying $3.95. In my teens I bought paperback editions of Shakespeare’s plays for 35 cents each; now they cost about five bucks.

I’m no economist; these are just some of my rough indices of how prices have risen in my memory. Things in general now cost ten to twenty times as much as they used to. Don’t even ask about groceries or cars. If prices increased 1000 per cent overnight, we’d notice. Spread over decades, it seems natural. We hardly notice, let alone suspect mischief.

What’s going on? Is America under the sway of an enormous counterfeiting ring? That’s one way to put it. The funny money operation is formally known as the U.S. Government.

The Golden Age of Parochial Education

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:12:13 -0500

by Charles G. Mills
The golden age of the American parochial school system (from the end of Reconstruction in 1877 until the end of World War I in 1918) was a period of true heroism by America’s Catholics.

Homosexual Marriage: The Debate

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 19:16:22 -0500

by Craig Turner
new columnist for FGF Books
The United States government stated recently that it would withhold foreign aid from African nations that do not legalize homosexual marriage, thereby blackmailing African nations that refuse to surrender to western indecencies.

The Wagging Finger

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:53:34 -0500

by Charles G. Mills
Governor Jan Brewer has been criticized by some for an encounter on the tarmac of an Arizona airport with President Obama. She was photographed pointing — or wagging — a finger at him. The truth is that she was doing her duty to a degree that is rare among state governors today.

James Madison A book review

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:08:42 -0500

by Charles G. Mills
For anyone who wants to understand the history of the American political system, Richard Broookhiser’s James Madison (Basic Books, hardcover, 304 pages, 2011), a biography of our nation’s fourth president, is necessary reading. It is concise and thorough enough for the beginner, with depths of research that will offer even seasoned historians new insights.

The Autonomous State

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:06:04 -0500

A classic by Joseph Sobran
John McCain is that rare candidate who has a way of making people believe in him even when they have only the vaguest idea of what he stands for. Ross Perot inspired similar enthusiasm in 1992, until he suddenly withdrew from the race. Likewise Colin Powell in 1996, though he never actually became a candidate.

The Courtier Who Would Be King

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:57:15 -0500

A classic by Joseph Sobran
Nobody would say of Al Gore what Senator Bob Kerrey of Nebraska once said of Bill Clinton: that he’s “a good liar — unusually good.” Gore’s notorious stiffness is due to his discomfort in presenting a false public image on all the occasions when he feels it’s required of him. If the secret of success is to be able to “fake sincerity,” Gore is a failure. Relentlessly wooden in demeanor and formulaic in verbal expression, he has made it nearly impossible to imagine him in a spontaneous moment.

The End of a Mad Century

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:31:55 -0500

A classic by Joseph Sobran
Well, the Y2K apocalypse has failed to occur. By now we were supposed to be devouring our children (or being devoured by them). The Third Millennium is off to a smooth start.

The Second Millennium ended with a pretty lousy century. Let’s hope we can put it behind us and move on. The three men most often named as “Person of the Century” — Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Albert Einstein — were benefactors, allies, and admirers of one of the bloodiest men of the millennium, Joseph Stalin. It’s as if the three most distinguished men of the Middle Ages had all been pals of Genghis Khan.

The Irrepressible GOP Conflict

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:26:18 -0500

by Paul Gottfried
The Republican presidential candidate who is the most divisive is Ron Paul. Pat Buchanan observes (syndicated column, January 9) that Paul is the only candidate whom his rivals, and most emphatically Gingrich, would never vote for, even if the Texas Congressman were the Republican presidential nominee.

How Killing Became a "Right"

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:16:28 -0500

A classic by Joseph Sobran
Nearly three decades ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that abortion is constitutionally protected. Ostensibly libertarian, the ruling was actually one of the most tyrannical acts in American history.

Reagan v. Clinton

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 08:58:24 -0500

A classic by Joseph Sobran
Even those who consider Ronald Reagan something less than the ideal conservative must miss him as they observe Bill Clinton’s handling of the Elián Gonzalez case.

Did the Old South Change its Mind?

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 10:06:35 -0500

by Charles G. Mills
It is sometimes claimed that the South’s attitude about slavery changed from the time of American Independence to the War Between the States, becoming more pro-slavery. History does not bear this out.

Defining Conservatism Downward

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:49:12 -0500

A classic by Joseph Sobran
In the late Sixties, the liberal cartoonist and wag Al Capp suddenly turned against the Left. People were startled by his apparent rightward swing. "I haven't changed," he insisted. "Liberalism has."

The Paul Phenomenon

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:45:29 -0500

by Paul Gottfried
Listening to Charles Krauthammer on TV explaining the surging popularity of Ron Paul, I was deeply impressed by the prudence displayed by this usually partisan commentator. Unlike other neoconservatives, Krauthammer recognizes that the Paul-phenomenon is not about to go away. Least of all can it be made to disappear by dumping toxic waste on the congressman’s reputation, a tactic being pursued by National Review, The Weekly Standard, The American Spectator, and predictably assisted by the liberal national press.

Politically-Incorrect Fruit

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 09:02:19 -0500

by Paul Gottfried

Even in this progressive age, religious uncertainties still abound as we approach Holy Season, which begins with St. Martin’s Day on January 16 and extends throughout Black History Month. This was made dramatically clear last week at a college near where I live, a place that has demoted the ancient Christian holiday that falls on December 25 and the weeks leading up to it as “holiday season.”

Meanwhile the institution is making every effort to commemorate MLK’s trials and martyrdom.

Christ the Culprit?

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 21:13:19 -0500

A classic by Joseph Sobran
Time magazine has just hailed an intellectual breakthrough: “A new book claims that Christianity, not just bad Christians, is to blame for persecution of the Jews.”

What an original idea!

Islam and Idealism

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 13:35:08 -0500

by Charles G. Mills
A streak of unrealistic idealism has tinged American policy ever since the New England Calvinists won their war of aggression against the Confederate States. It reached its apogee in the disastrous administration of the Calvinist Woodrow Wilson. Nowhere has this unrealistic idealism fueled more disasters than in our policy toward Moslem states.

A Commie Christmas Gift

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:15:48 -0500

A classic by Joseph Sobran
Christmas this year is brightened by the news that nominally Communist China has taken a big step toward enshrining private property rights in its constitution. For some reason it reminds me of a Christmas story told by the late Leonard Read, a champion of property rights and market economics.

C.S. Lewis in the Dock

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:15:29 -0500

A classic by Joseph Sobran
Forthcoming next month* is a film of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the first of C.S. Lewis’s popular children’s stories of the land of Narnia. Lewis, of course, was a noted Christian apologist, and these books are informed by religious allegory that drives liberals nuts.

*Note: this column was originally released in November 2005.

Is Darwin Holy?

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 08:24:07 -0500

A classic by Joseph Sobran
“The great sociologist of religion Emile Durkheim called the contrast between the sacred and the profane the widest and deepest of all contrasts the human mind is capable of making,”

Can God Speak to Us?

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:49:56 -0500

A classic by Joseph Sobran
Flash! Just in time for the Christmas season, Newsweek reports this week that the Gospel accounts of Christ’s nativity aren’t “fully factual.”

Do tell. Talk about investigative journalism!

The Prophetic C.S. Lewis

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 10:27:25 -0500

A classic by Joseph Sobran
Deep political wisdom can be found in a writer who took very little interest in politics: C.S. Lewis, a scholar who achieved his greatest fame as a popular Christian writer.

Lewis was sometimes laughably ignorant of current events. His friends were once amused to discover that he was under the impression that Tito, the Communist dictator of Yugoslavia, was the king of Greece. But the very distance he kept from politics enabled him to see large outlines invisible to those preoccupied with the daily news.

Harper’s 2011 Victory in Canada May Prove Hollow

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 10:21:46 -0500

by Mark Wegierski
Despite winning a solid majority in the Canadian federal Parliament in May 2011, Stephen Harper, prime minister of Canada, and the Conservatives face huge obstacles in their efforts to turn around the ship of state. For long decades since the 1960s, left-liberals in Canada have been carrying out programs of sustained, radical transformation of the Canadian polity, society, and culture. In the process, they have attempted to stomp on, without compunction, one tradition after another.

Rewriting Southern History Part II: Reconstruction

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 09:44:02 -0500

by Charles G. Mills
Once it was clear that the South was losing the war, Lincoln began to formulate a policy of rebuilding the South on the basis of government by those white Southerners willing to accept the end of slavery and the illegality of secession.

Rewriting Southern History Part I: The Causes of the War Between the States

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 08:52:26 -0500

by Charles G. Mills
Many members of the present generation of American professional historians are trying to rewrite Southern history in a way that discounts over a century of important scholarship and substitutes a simplistic view of the past.

In particular, they depict the conflict between North and South as one waged exclusively over slavery, and they portray Reconstruction as a noble struggle by New Englanders to protect the rights of black citizens from a racist white Southern majority.

The “Dangerous” David Irving

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 11:14:57 -0500

A classic by Joseph Sobran
The historian David Irving has lost his libel suit against Deborah Lipstadt and Penguin Books. Mrs. Lipstadt had called Irving “one of the most dangerous spokesmen for Holocaust denial.”

Courage and Fashion

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 11:14:39 -0500

A classic by Joseph Sobran
Now and then I’m praised for my supposed courage. I always blush at this compliment, because, knowing myself, I know how far from the truth it really is.

The Weirdest Sister

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 16:55:52 -0500

A classic by Joseph Sobran
Along with Madeleine Albright and Donna Shalala, Attorney General Janet Reno is one of the weird sisters of the Clinton administration. If Macbeth had met these three stirring their cauldron on the Scottish heath, he might have run for the highlands.

Classical Education

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:39:58 -0500

by Charles G. Mills
The content of the standard education changes from generation to generation, but seldom, if ever, has it deteriorated as it did in the twentieth century.

Smearing a Pope

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 08:03:19 -0500

A classic by Joseph Sobran
As expected, Pope John Paul II, in his sweeping apologies for the mistreatment of Jews by Christians through the ages, said nothing about the “silence” of his predecessor, Pius XII, about the Holocaust of the Jews during World War II. Many commentators, Jewish and gentile, are therefore calling the new apologies insufficient.

Fidel’s American Friends

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 08:02:59 -0500

A classic by Joseph Sobran
Someone has finally hit on the real point of the Elián Gonzalez debate. Describing the Cuban form of government, the conservative columnist Maggie Gallagher wrote a bluntly matter-of-fact sentence that no liberal would write: “If Castro wants you dead, you are dead.”

That puts the blame for this mess squarely where it belongs.

Punishing “Hate”

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 15:46:40 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
The “progressive” community — news media, politicians, and various moralists at large — is in a lather about “hate crimes,” demanding federal legislation to combat them. The trouble is that nobody seems to know exactly what they are.

The Papal “Apology”

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:15:44 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
If I were Pope — not that I’m seeking the office, or being considered for it — I’d keep a slogan on my desk: “You’re infallible. Don’t blow it.”

Most people, including Catholics, completely misunderstand the principle of papal infallibility. They think of it as a sort of magical privilege or power of the Pope, something like omnipotence or omniscience. It isn’t that sort of thing at all.

Plugging Myself

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 14:47:03 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
Though many papers are not carrying my column — for the duration of my campaign for vice president on the Constitution Party ticket — and most subscribers receive it by e-mail, a few newspapers still run it. And one well-disposed editor has raised a point that has probably occurred to other readers.

A Large Whiskey

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 09:53:20 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
The bibulous Irish playwright Brendan Behan stated his philosophy crisply: “There’s no such thing as a large whiskey.” He lived by this credo until his liver gave out, before he was 40.

Behan’s words are pertinent when we recall Bill Clinton’s proclamation of five years ago that “the era of big government is over.” We should bear in mind that this was the declaration of an addict who believes there’s no such thing as a big government.

Fixing Broken Churches

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 10:15:01 -0400

by Charles G. Mills
Extensive changes were made in the liturgy of the Western Catholic Church (and some other churches) in the late 1960s and early 1970s. One of the more striking ones was a widespread change in the direction the priest faces at Mass. This led to some unfortunate changes in church interior architecture that can and should be corrected.

A Nation Disintegrates

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 10:32:17 -0400

In his new book, Pat Buchanan explains why America’s better days are behind her
by Kevin Lamb
When New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) recently addressed a well-publicized gathering at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, the first questioner during the Q & A session asked how the Governor would handle our nation’s “immigration crisis” and the “education expense associated with this problem.”

What About Elián?

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 17:39:32 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
The case of the six-year-old Cuban boy Elián Gonzalez is a tangled one. His mother died at sea while escaping from Cuba with him; he was rescued and brought to this country; his father, still in Cuba, wants him back; his relatives in America, refugees from Cuba, want him to stay here.

The Nickname Game

Sun, 09 Oct 2011 20:43:03 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
I quit following football long ago, so I didn’t care one way or the other when the Redskins finally made the playoffs. But it was an occasion for downright gloom for a Muskogee Indian woman, who the Washington Post columnist Courtland Milloy says has “sensitized” him.

Educating Texans

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 11:22:29 -0400

by Charles G. Mills
Federal law as invented by the courts requires that elementary and high school education be offered to children who are in the United States without a legal basis. This policy has raised the question of how these children should be treated when they attend public universities. California, New Mexico, and Texas at times treat them as residents. Arizona, in contrast, always treats them as non-residents.

The Man They Still Hate

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 07:39:53 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
The world has long since forgiven Julius Caesar. Nobody today finds Socrates or Cicero irritating. Few of us resent Alexander the Great or his tutor, Aristotle.

No, only one man in the ancient world is still hated after two millennia: Jesus Christ.

Murder Most Patriotic

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 06:42:48 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
Dr. Marcel Petiot, who thrived in Paris during World War II, is now forgotten; but with a little luck, he might have been remembered today as a French national hero.

After making a living as a doctor, drug peddler, and abortionist, Dr. Petiot hit on a brilliant new racket during World War II.

Labor Goons: Part II

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 19:49:56 -0400

by Charles G. Mills
In an earlier column “Labor Goons,” I discussed the storm trooper tactics of the Wisconsin public employees union members. I cited the writings of the late Professor Sylvester Petro, whose pioneering work explored violence and compulsion as critical ingredients of the labor union movement.

His work, however, focused primarily on the most common forms of labor violence.

Joe Sobran, National Review, and Canada

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 15:14:04 -0400

by Mark Wegierski
first became aware of the writing of Joe Sobran in the mid-1970s through the copies of National Review that my high school library, at the unique University of Toronto Schools (UTS), carried. I later received virtually all of the backcopies of NR when the library decided to permanently discard them.

World War I – Part II: The Consequences

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 10:50:31 -0400

by Charles G. Mills
World War I introduced many new horrors into combat. Gas warfare is perhaps the most striking because of the new types of injuries it inflicted. The machine gun was perfected, and far too many died charging against machine guns in the vain hope of moving the front line a few yards. The introduction of aerial bombing brought a far greater potential for war on civilians. Submarine warfare, invented by the Confederate Navy, was enhanced by the Germans and became a new weapon of terror. The Germans abandoned many provisions of international law, machine-gunned people in lifeboats, and marched through neutral countries.

World War I – Part I: The Beginning

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 12:21:32 -0400

by Charles G. Mills
World War I was a disaster for Western civilization. Some countries won and some lost, but all paid a heavy price.

The war followed two generations of peace. Although the leaders of the great powers recognized that a war would bring horrors, they underestimated the nature and extent of those horrors.

Worldwide Persecution of Christians: The 14 Worst Countries

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 08:23:52 -0400

by Doug Bandow
The most important test of a government’s legitimacy is whether it protects basic human rights, most obviously life and liberty. The foundation is freedom of conscience, including religious liberty. Governments unwilling to respect their citizen’s faith in God and view of the transcendent are not likely to treat people with dignity in other ways.

Detective Stories

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 22:14:21 -0400

by Charles G. Mills
Once, detective stories were an essential element of popular fiction. That their golden age has long passed is a sad commentary on today’s educational and cultural environments.

Detective stories were often written by respected writers, such as G. K. Chesterton,

In Defense of Microsoft

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 19:50:32 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson’s ruling that Microsoft “enjoys monopoly power” reminds me of a question people sometimes ask me: “Why don’t you attack Big Business the way you attack Big Government?”

The answer is simple.

Altering the Constitution

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 12:04:03 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
I constantly reread The Federalist Papers, and every time I do my heart cracks a little. If only the Constitution worked the way Alexander Hamilton and James Madison promised it would!

The Right to Secede

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 16:23:11 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
How can the federal government be prevented from usurping powers that the Constitution doesn’t grant to it? It’s an alarming fact that few Americans ask this question anymore.

Our ultimate defense against the federal government is the right of secession.

You Know Harry

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 15:08:13 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
For my money, the greatest movie ever made is The Third Man, first released 50 years ago and now re-released with restored footage (11 minutes had been cut from the U.S. version). Usually praised as a “classic thriller,” it’s much more than that: it’s a study of evil that bears repeated viewings.

Progressives, Populists, and the Black South

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:24:07 -0400

by Charles G. Mills
Most people believe that with the end of Reconstruction came the end of black participation in Southern politics until the Civil Rights era starting in the 1960s. The truth is more complex.

Texans, Californians, and Mountain Men

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 11:29:39 -0400

by Charles G. Mills
From 1787 to 1848, the United States rapidly expanded westward. In two generations, it grew from a small nation on the Atlantic coast to a continental nation. Men who owned small farms had multiple sons, each of whom created his own farm from the wilderness. Plantation owners in the tidewater south created more plantations in the Mississippi Territory so each of their sons could live like they did. Cattlemen increased the size of their herds and ranches so each of their many sons could follow in their footsteps. In this process, they were obeying God’s command to be fruitful and multiply and have dominion over the earth.

We had no reason to fear immigration.

“We Can Just Print Money”

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 17:45:30 -0400

by Robert L. Hale
“The United States can pay any debt it has because we can always print money to do that. So there is zero probability of default,” said former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan on Sunday, August 7, 2011. This is good to know. The question is whether Mr. Greenspan is pretending to be a comedian or took some kind of psychedelic drug prior to this comment?

Grinding Sausage

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 09:12:26 -0400

by Robert L. Hale
The angst is over. Both Democrats and Republicans are congratulating themselves and one another. All is right again in the political world. Of course, both parties are crying tears of distress. They have both given, both sacrificed. Both are unhappy with the grave changes that will bring an austere new way of life to America — so goes the rhetoric.

The truth is that both parties are congratulating one another for once again pulling one over on a dwindling number of hard-working patriotic Americans. Or at least they think they have.

Constitutional Amnesia

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 17:49:18 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
A conservative legal scholar, who shall be nameless here, has illustrated the trouble with conservatism today: its profound ignorance of the Constitution it should be conserving.

Debating Shakespeare

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 17:55:53 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
A recent issue of Harper’s Magazine* was devoted to a debate on the Shakespeare authorship question. Interest in the topic is high, and the exchange brought an avalanche of mail.

The Dark Side of Dolphins

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 11:43:25 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
One of man’s favorite animals is the dolphin. This sportive sea mammal has long enjoyed better press than, say, Fred Astaire. In France it was a symbol of royalty; Shakespeare uses it as a symbol of aquatic grace and beauty. Legends of its beneficence to shipwrecked sailors have circulated since ancient Greece.

Abortion and Authoritarianism

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 11:32:39 -0400

A classic column by Joe Sobran
Many years ago, a friend shocked me by saying: “If my wife got pregnant now, I’d make her get an abortion.” His wife, who was present, shocked me by not demurring.

The “right to choose” is nominally a woman’s. But in real life, the decision is usually made by the man,

Reading Old Books

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 11:02:26 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
Dogged readers of this space will observe that I habitually quote a handful of classic writings, chiefly the Shakespeare works, Boswell’s Life of Samuel Johnson, and The Federalist Papers. If those readers suspect that these few masterpieces pretty much exhaust my learning, they are correct.

Change This Document!

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 18:43:28 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
The other day I was chatting with a man I have known for half my adult life, and what began as a conversation about philosophical principles wandered into the topic of professional wrestling. I offered a few mild criticisms of the sport, and described how I would handle an opponent in the ring if I were a wrestler.

“If you were a wrestler,” my companion said, “you’d be one of those guys in a hood and mask.”

Maybe I should have shrugged this off as a casually insensitive remark. But I couldn’t.

Argument from Status

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 21:56:19 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
Most educated readers are aware of certain basic fallacies — the non sequitur, the straw man argument, the ad hominem argument, and inferring causation from sequence (post hoc ergo propter hoc). But there is one common fallacy or debater’s trick that I’ve never seen identified.

The Other Einstein

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 20:15:05 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
Time magazine has named Albert Einstein its “Person of the Century.” The great physicist beat out such competition as Franklin Roosevelt, Hitler, Gandhi, Stalin, and Gloria Steinem.

The choice is hard to argue with, but not necessarily for the reasons Time offers

Government and Greed

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 11:56:33 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
The phrase stopped me in my tracks: “Government Greed.” I thought I was the only one who ever used it, and suddenly there it was, the title of a Wall Street Journal editorial. Should I congratulate the paper for a conceptual breakthrough, or sue for copyright violation?

The Golden Age of American Diplomacy

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 13:31:09 -0400

by Charles G. Mills
Virginia Republicans occupied the White House from 1801 to 1825, the golden age of American diplomacy. During that time, the United States grew from a small nation to the dominant power in the Western Hemisphere.

When Thomas Jefferson became President in 1801, imperial powers hemmed in the United States on three sides.

Lies, As Usual

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 18:30:13 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
Bernard Shaw’s play The Devil’s Disciple ends with an ironic exchange between two British officers who have just realized that Britain is about to lose her American colonies because of a flukish oversight by the British cabinet.

Flabbergasted, the obtuse Major Swindon asks: “But what will history say?” General Burgoyne replies suavely: “History, sir, will tell lies, as usual.”

The “Dark Ages” That Never Were

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 20:48:44 -0400

by Charles G. Mills
Most people believe that when Rome fell to the barbarians in 476 A.D., cultural darkness descended on Europe and lasted at least until the time of Charlemagne, who was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 800 A.D. They also believe that what culture existed during those “Dark Ages” was confined to monasteries. All of this is untrue.

Labor Goons

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 08:03:36 -0400

by Charles G. Mills
Some believe that the recent Brown Shirt tactics of the public employee unions in Wisconsin and the unfair labor practice charges against Boeing for daring to open a plant in a Right-to-Work state are the last desperate gasp of a dying union movement. Others believe that these tactics are manifestations of union boldness encouraged by a White House under the thumb of labor bosses.

Although both propositions hold some truth, both miss a more important point:

Structures of Deceit

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 16:05:34 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
In his book, Papal Sin, Garry Wills contends that the Catholic Church is trapped by “structures of deceit” — commitments to false doctrines that can be sustained only by a habit of compounded falsehoods. If a pope errs, he argues, the doctrine of papal infallibility forces his successors to lie in order to maintain not only his error but the semblance of infallibility. The Church can’t afford to backtrack.

It’s a plausible argument, if you reject papal infallibility, as Wills does. In fact he rejects most Catholic doctrine from the earliest centuries of the Church, so that you wonder why he still calls himself a Catholic.

The argument actually applies with greater force to the U.S. Supreme Court, which doesn’t expressly claim to be infallible, but acts as if it were.

It's Power, Not Prayer

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 13:43:25 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
The U.S. Supreme Court strikes again. By a six-to-three vote it has ruled that student-led pre-game prayers at a public-school football game in Texas violated the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The school’s policy, the majority said, “involves both perceived and actual endorsement of religion.” Well, so does the First Amendment itself.

A Soldier’s Faith

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 17:54:41 -0400

by Charles G. Mills
Next month will start the 50th year since I became a soldier. Whether he serves for two years or 40, whether he achieves high rank or not, whatever his branch of service or military skill, the soldier learns something unique about reality that stays with him well beyond 50 years. Often this enhanced appreciation of reality leads to a strong faith in God.

Dr. Johnson, Radical

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 15:28:22 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
Everyone knows that the invention of printing marked one of the great technological advances in civilization. But I didn’t realize how recently this became a matter of consensus until I read a book originally published in 1987, Samuel Johnson and the Impact of Print, by the distinguished scholar Alvin Kernan of Princeton University.

The Prophetic C.S. Lewis

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 15:28:36 -0400

Can Romney Overcome RomneyCare?

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 18:22:52 -0400

by Thomas F. Roeser
Many so-called “business approach” candidates — especially liberal Republican ones — fail to start first with the question: is this a job government ought to do? Mitt failed to ask this question first.

Size 44 Weird

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 16:08:36 -0400

by Thomas F. Roeser
Many presidents have, on occasion, done weird things—only one president of the 44 is Weird.

Our current 44th.

Rape, Slavery, Booze, and Interstate Commerce

Fri, 27 May 2011 12:22:11 -0500

A classic by Joseph Sobran
The U.S. Supreme Court created a mild panic among liberals when it ruled, a few weeks ago, that the Commerce Clause of the Constitution is finite. In striking down the Violence Against Women Act, which authorized women to sue their rapists in federal courts, a narrow majority of the Court took the reactionary radical right-wing position that rape is not a form of interstate commerce.

Four members of the Court, the dogged liberals, said it was too, even if the victim isn’t lying across the state line. Why? Because for liberals, nearly every known human activity qualifies as interstate commerce and is thus subject to federal control.

The Words and Deeds of Christ

Fri, 27 May 2011 12:00:23 -0500

A classic by Joseph Sobran
When I was a much younger man, I almost worshipped Shakespeare. He seemed to me almost literally "inspired," the most eloquent man who ever lived. And he nearly filled the place in my life that Catholicism had briefly occupied after my teenage conversion.

When I returned to the Catholic Church in my early thirties, I began to see him differently.

Cancer and Idolatry in the Supreme Court

Wed, 18 May 2011 23:33:18 -0500

by Charles G. Mills
Bad Supreme Court decisions spread like cancer and are based on a form of idolatry.

Consider Roe v. Wade, for example. Fifty years ago, Sweden was the only nation in the civilized world that did not have criminal penalties for most abortions. Today, the dominant culture of the Western world regards abortion as acceptable. Many people irrationally decided that if the Supreme Court said abortion was all right, it must be all right. Many other people decided that if America practiced abortion, it must be the right thing for their country as well. Just like cancer, abortion spread throughout the West, and indeed most of the world.

In Defense of Bob Jones

Wed, 18 May 2011 11:53:35 -0500

A classic by Joseph Sobran
As a Catholic, I can’t get mad at Bob Jones University, except in the sense that I’m mad at Martin Luther. True, it’s not nice to call the Pope the Antichrist, but there are more important things than being nice.

Honoring the True Bard

Fri, 13 May 2011 22:36:00 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
The year 2000 marked the 450th anniversary of the author of the Shakespeare works, Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, who was born in April 1550.

On the one hand, the academic Shakespeare scholars hotly deny Oxford’s authorship. On the other hand, they have no answer to the mounting evidence for Oxford.

The Real Churchill

Fri, 13 May 2011 22:35:06 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
In our official mythology, Winston Churchill, even more than Franklin Roosevelt, still symbolizes the epic struggle against tyranny in World War II. But correction of this myth is long overdue.

The Culture of Tyranny

Fri, 06 May 2011 14:47:32 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
“How can you defend an oaf like John Rocker?” a friend asked me recently. “I don’t disagree with you, but when you take up his cause you’re just begging to be called a racist yourself.”

Well, being smeared as a “racist” is just part of the game these days. Thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court’s evisceration of libel law in the name of the First Amendment, you can’t do much about it. But the worst thing you can do is to accept the role of defendant and let yourself be intimidated by the ethos of laissez-faire libel.

The Church of Silence

Thu, 05 May 2011 18:46:25 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
Unlike most spiritual leaders and moral teachers, Jesus of Nazareth offered no formula for worldly happiness and social order. Just the opposite: he told his disciples to take up their crosses (an image he used well before the Crucifixion) and to expect suffering. He warned them that the world would hate them as it hated him: it was their destiny as Christians.

After the conversion of the Roman world under the Emperor Constantine, a Christian civilization arose and the age of martyrdom seemed to be over. Most Western Christians still think of that period as a thing of the past, a venerable but remote phase of their history.

Free Virginia

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 17:20:54 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
As a Virginian (though born and raised in Michigan), I would like to remind my countrymen that Virginia is not a part of the United States. We withdrew from the old confederacy in 1861, joined the Confederate States of America (currently inoperative, alas), and were forcibly — and illegally — reannexed to the United States in 1865.

Why Can’t the Americans?

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 20:44:28 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
Malcolm Bradbury died the other day, aged 68. Actually, he was Sir Malcolm. A knight. I didn’t know that. I knew almost nothing about him, except that I liked him.

I liked him for one sentence I came across in a collection of modern quotations: “It had always seemed to Louis that a fundamental desire to take postal courses was being sublimated by other people into sexual activity.” A man who could write that line was worth knowing. It appeared in a book with the inspired title Eating People Is Wrong — a sentiment I heartily endorse and can only admire him for putting into words.

The Critics of Christ

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 10:34:10 -0400

A classic by Joseph Sobran
The columnist Richard Cohen scolds the “arrogance” of certain common attitudes, which he sums up as “My way is the best way. My country is the best country. My religion is the true religion.” Having implicitly condemned Jesus Christ as arrogant, he omits, for some reason, the attitude that “My people is the Chosen People.”

Democracy or Religious Liberty

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 11:32:51 -0400

by Charles G. Mills
A prominent neo-con recently told me that he hoped the loss of religious liberty is not the price we have to pay to bring democracy to North Africa and the Middle East. Of course, he has it backwards. If we have to lose one of these, it is better to lose democracy than to lose religious liberty. Unfortunately, the neo-cons and the Obama State Department are fully ready to accept the persecution of Christians in order to establish democracy in that part of the world.

The Shameful Legacy of the 20th Century: the Destruction of the Family

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 20:26:10 -0400

by Charles G. Mills
The twentieth century saw an unprecedented attack on American marriage and the family. Society has been composed of families since the creation of man or at least shortly thereafter. By the time of Noah and the flood, the idea of the family was acknowledged by all. The family has always been founded on marriage.

U.S. Should Go Home and Close the Gate

Sat, 09 Apr 2011 19:46:28 -0400

Guest Column by William S. Lind
As the American foreign-policy establishment drools about “democracy,” the U.S. position in the Middle East is collapsing. Its three legs are Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan. Two of those are disintegrating. One-legged stools make unstable seats.

The likelihood of any of the countries in the region becoming thriving, secular democracies is about equal to the probability we will balance the federal budget with bars of gold brought by flying monkeys.

Unions — The Manufacturing and Political Demise of America

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 09:54:28 -0400

by Robert L. Hale
What does the loss of America’s manufacturing prowess have in common with the growing debt of states, counties, cities, and towns across America? Unions.

In 1971, during my first year of law school, the contracts professor informed us that private-sector union power was declining and would continue to do so. He said, “Watch what happens over the next several decades — unions will thrive by unionizing public employees.”

The Case for Increasing Domestic Oil Production

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 17:14:37 -0400

by Jon Basil Utley
Oil is the world’s most critical and scarce energy resource. Only oil is easily divisible, transportable, and vital for most transportation. Japan’s shuttered nuclear plants mean new demand for more millions of barrels of fuel oil to generate electricity for its cities and factories. Libyan oil production will now be shut down for months or years. There is almost no spare capacity in world production.

Here’s a tough fact to face: World prosperity is critically dependent upon the stability of a single decrepit, corrupt dictatorship in Saudi Arabia.

It’s Time We Stop Pretending

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 08:56:53 -0400

by Robert L. Hale
Most of us are familiar with the Brothers Grimm fairy tale about the King’s Magical New Suit. The story goes like this: “Your Majesty,” said the swindler tailors, “This is a magic suit.” The truth was that there was no suit at all. But the clever swindlers said, “Your Majesty, to a wise man this is a beautiful raiment, but to a fool it is absolutely invisible.”

Naturally, the King did not want to appear a fool, and so he bought the swindle — hook, line, and sinker. Yet he was indeed a fool. While standing there naked, he allowed himself to be convinced he had been given a beautiful suit that only existed in his imagination.

America’s voters have fallen for the same swindle that Grimm’s tailors sold the king in this famous fairy tale. America’s politicians are swindling tailors.

Ask Aunt Maisie Old-fashioned advice for the 21st century

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 09:03:35 -0400

by Aunt Maisie (humor)
Dear Aunt Maisie:
The speed traps in my city are becoming unbearable. It seems as if I pass at least one every day. I'm always seeing people pulled over by the police, and I recently got a ticket myself. What can I do to protect myself from this hazard?
— Fearful Driver

Dear Fearful Driver:
The proliferation of speed traps is a growing peril in the Land of the Free, as municipalities seek to fill their emptying coffers by feeding on plump motorists. Speeding tickets not only cost money in themselves but also give insurance companies an excuse to hammer you with higher premiums, which is why they donate radar and laser guns to police departments.

U.S. Treasury Secretary — U.S. Must Incur More Debt!

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 20:10:01 -0400

by Robert L. Hale
On Wednesday, March 16, 2011, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to increase the U.S. debt once again. Voting against the measure were 54 Republicans and 104 Democrats; 271 others voted to continue the status quo and impose billions of dollars in additional debt on America’s taxpayers.

The alternative, according to the proponents who included the House Republican leadership, would be a catastrophe -- default on our debt! This was echoed by U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Franz Geithner, who said, “Congress has to do it. There’s no alternative.”

Really? No alternative? Bogus! There is an alternative -- immediately cease increasing the debt.

Mexico — It’s Time to Support Its Revolution

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 19:04:48 -0400

by Robert L. Hale
President George W. Bush declared his desire to export democracy to the world. Of course, his idea of exporting democracy was to export our precious resources, including our young military men and women, by waging wars around the world.

Over the past decade, this effort has resulted in expending tens of billions of dollars and spilling the blood of thousands of young Americans. What has been accomplished? The Middle East is in shambles, China is on the rise militarily and financially, and Europe and America are on the verge of bankruptcy. It appears that what has actually been accomplished is to demoralize America, waste precious resources, facilitate global destabilization, display America as a bully, and stimulate domestic unrest.

Virginians, New Englanders and Indians Part II: War

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 18:39:55 -0400

by Charles G. Mills
In the first part of this series, I discussed the British policy of arming and encouraging the Indian tribes allied with Shawnee chief Tecumseh to attack Americans and kill and scalp women and children. This policy led inevitably to war -- a war that was unpopular with New Englanders, who had lived free of Indian attacks for a century and who did not want to abandon their trade with Britain and Canada to protect their fellow Americans in the West.

Virginians, New Englanders and Indians

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 09:27:07 -0500

by Charles G. Mills
The people of New England failed to understand the danger to their fellow countrymen that Indians armed by the British posed. This failure led New Englanders to oppose the War of 1812 — and to be disgraced in the eyes of the country by 1815. Their disgrace increased the resentment of Virginia and sowed the seeds of New England’s hatred of the South.

Seven Reasons Why the U.S. Has Trade Deficits

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 17:12:29 -0500

by Jon Basil Utley
everal writers have urged restrictions on trade with China and other protectionist measures, claiming these would produce large numbers of American jobs.

Although they make compelling arguments, they ignore key reasons for job losses that are mostly of America’s own making.

Below are seven factors to consider.

The Economics of Education

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 20:40:15 -0500

by Charles G. Mills
Although Wisconsin doubled its spending on public education over a 10-year period, test scores went down. This kind of thing happens all the time. Can anyone read the Federalist papers and believe that today’s politicians are as well-educated as Hamilton, Madison, and Jay? Can anyone argue that the education of our founding fathers was expensive? A hundred years ago, single-teacher (“one-room”) schools turned out students fluent in Latin and Greek. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, many persist in believing that more money will improve education.