Short reviews of I Believed by Douglas Hyde, and Primal Screams by Mary Eberstadt.
Year: 2024
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A Jolt from the Slumber of the Self
Werner Herzog, in his new memoir, turns his attention to himself, and singles out essential elements of his life that have given birth to ideas, perceptions, and films.
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Doubting Dawkins
Coming to Faith Through Dawkins provides a dozen accounts of former adherents of the Dawkinsian view who became apostates precisely because they looked closely at that dogma.
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Elon Musk, Man of Action
Elon Musk's management is hands-on, his tweets are off-the-cuff, and his grudges are enduring. He was made for a storm and cannot stand calm.
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Books in Brief: August 2024
Short reviews of New Scientific Evidence for the Existence of God by José Carlos González-Hurtado, and The Paleolibertarian Guide to Deep Tech, Deep Pharma & the Aberrant Economy by Ilana Mercer.
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Trump’s Guilty Verdict: The Electoral Effect
Empirical metrics and political trends suggest Donald Trump's new felonious status will help rather than harm his electoral prospects.
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Neocon Pitfalls for Trump 2.0
Former Trump advisor Robert C. O’Brien began campaigning for a spot in the next Trump admin by penning an unhinged neocon manifesto. Unfortunately, O’Brien may soon find his way into the second Trump admin.
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No Heaven on Earth
As long as Christianity remained vital and strong in America, attempts at creating a socialist Utopia through government policy and authoritarian control made little headway.
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Book Burners for Our Year Zero
The acceleration of “sensitivity editing” in publishing is an under studied, but crucial, aspect of our recent attempted cultural reset following the George Floyd riots.
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The Angel of Dien Bien Phu
Taki recalls the heroic French aristocrat Geneviève de Galard and her selfless service following the fall of Dien Bien Phu.
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A Gilded Cage for an Old-World Aristocrat
A Gentleman in Moscow follows the life Count Alexander Rostov as he returns to Russia and lives as a dissident under oppressive Soviet rule.
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J.D. Vance and Childless Cat Ladies: Cue the Outrage
Every news cycle spent on castigating J.D. Vance for his “childless cat ladies” comment is one less news cycle spent on the outrageous radical beliefs of Vice President Kamala Harris.
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Olympic Moments 1924-2024 and Beyond
From Chariots of Fire to the Munichian Candidate, the Olympics are an opportunity for us to remember the value of sportsmanship as well as previous and ongoing failures to capture it.
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The Left Belies Its Commitment to ‘Democracy’
The progressive base claims to abhor authoritarianism; in reality, it hungers not only to govern others, but to be governed.
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It’s Not Pat Buchanan’s Party
The GOP has certainly changed its vintage. Buchananism, however, it is not.
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Becoming by Beholding
An important new book demonstrates the ways imagination is essential to Christianity.
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Attacking Kamala Harris as the DEI Candidate for President is Fair Game
Suggestions that Republicans cease noting the obvious about Kamala Harris being the DEI candidate for president are rooted in a fundamental misunderstanding of the American electorate.
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Kamala Harris’s ‘Mean Girls’ Election
The trouble for Harris is that her most enthusiastic supporters are the media’s mean girls, not parents or working-class stiffs, who probably seem “weird” to the kids who support her.
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How to Debate Kamala Harris if You are Donald Trump
Trump is a hot media presence. He needs to become a cooler one, while instilling rational fear of Kamala Harris’s hard left views.
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Do We Have Real Political Choices, or Is It All a ‘Uniparty’?
Claiming that all established political parties are essentially the same and that all apparent differences are fake makes it impossible to take advantage of opportunities to slow down the left.
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A Literary Guide to Trumpian Populism
The populist and patriotic right will find much to inspire their thinking about the perils and possibilities of freedom in these works of fiction.
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What We Wish Donald Trump Would Say to Prime Minister Netanyahu
A transcript of the conversation Donald Trump ought to have had with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his visit to Mar-a-Lago.
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The Bloodless Coup of Joe Biden Will Not Work Out Well for Democrats
Democrats would have been better off trying to limp across the finish line with their grievously wounded incumbent of a nominee, rather than changing horses mid-race.
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The Feds Reach Peak Hypocrisy on Shipping Migrants
When red-state governors shipped illegal immigrants between states, it was portrayed as an outrage against human rights. Now the federal government is doing it on a far larger scale, and the activists are silent.
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America, Honor, and Building a Grocery Store from Scratch
A season of manual labor on a construction crew would better prepare American journalists to make observations about our politics than whatever it is they are doing now.
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The Post-Assassination Goodwill Is Over: Back to Basics
When the dust settles after the defenestration of Biden and after the glow of Kamala “to the rescue” Harris dims, we return to basics. Are you better off now than you were nearly four years ago?
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The Politics of Enmity
America’s politics are now characterized by an enmity that expresses itself through violence.
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Left-wing Normies Have Been Radicalized
It’s time for normal people on the left to take stock of the people and ideas they are supporting. The vicious tribalism they support is leading to contempt for and violence against their fellow citizens.
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NeverVancers Are the New NeverTrumpers
The usual suspects are out in force to undermine J. D. Vance as antithetical to Reagan’s realism merely because he repudiates George W. Bush’s disasters.
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Kamala Harris Is a Race Hustler
A Harris presidency would send white men to the back of the line and ignite racial animus.
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Why Kimberly Cheatle Had to Resign
Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle committed the only inexcusable sin in Washington today: She inadvertently helped Trump.
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Kamala Harris is a Bad Bet for Democrats
Harris has no excuses, no substance, and nothing recommending her other than convenience and enthusiasm for her race and gender among people who insisted until only a short time ago that Biden was perfectly fine. He wasn’t, and neither is she.
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The Undemocratic Coup
In effect, the Democrats have successfully executed nothing short of a coup d’état, the first in American history.
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Kamala Harris Is the Opponent Donald Trump Wants
Harris is running with Biden's record and Hillary Clinton's profile—not a winning combination, but one the party's bosses have decided to settle for.
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Barack Obama’s Fake Life Story, 20 Years Later
Twenty years ago this month, Barack Obama debuted before the Democratic National Convention with a fake life story that catapulted him to the presidency.
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It’s Biden’s Fault
President Joe Biden is in charge of the Secret Service. The fact that his lead political rival was nearly assassinated is Biden’s fault.
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The Chosen One
Vice President J. D. Vance will help advance a trade agenda and economic statecraft that meaningfully prioritizes the interests of Main Street—not Wall Street.
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Three Cheers for Vance
J.D. Vance is a true ‘America First’ politician with all the right positions on immigration and economics—and all the right enemies among Beltway ‘conservatives.’
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The Immaculate Protection From the Shot That Reelected Trump
In 1775, there was the shot heard 'round the world. In 2024, there was the shot that got Donald John Trump reelected.
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Mainstream Media Meltdown in Assassination Attempt Coverage
It is an understatement to say that the mainstream media did not cover itself in glory in its coverage of the attempted assassination of former President Trump.
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Election Year Smoke and Mirrors Magic from the Left
A notable decline in the antics of far-left oddballs suggests they’ve received an order from on high to cool it.
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Republicans Have the Wind at Their Backs
More voters now identify as Republican than Democrat, out of disgust with pro-inflation, pro-criminal, open-border policies.
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Biden’s Disastrous Debate Won’t Shake the Faith of Those Who Trust the Mainstream Media
Americans who rely on the mainstream media will, from habit, either go on doing so or choose to believe that the newscasters and reporters were hoodwinked along with everyone else.
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An American Apotheosis
Donald Trump will not be remembered as his enemies wanted—a traitor and illegitimate president, a “convicted felon” whose time in the Oval Office was a mere mistake of history—but as an American legend destined for greatness.
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Are Republicans Ready for Biden’s Counterattack?
Republicans need to be wary about becoming complacent about their chances in November or adopting the Democrats' framework on rhetoric and violence lest they make a strength out of Biden’s mediocrity.
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A Palace Coup Is Hard to Do: A Fix for the Broken 25th Amendment
Now is the moment for all Americans to join arm-in-arm to oust Biden by embracing an idea Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin hatched to get Trump.
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USA Today’s Shoddy Statistical Analysis and Even Shoddier Morality
In reporting an infant mortality increase in Texas in the wake of the Dobbs decision, the newspaper suggests it would have been better had these children never been born.
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Donald Trump Is a Legend
Trump has taken massive hits for his years in public service. Now he’s survived an assassination attempt and got up and walked away. He is a legend.