Category Archives: Political Commentary

Political Commentary, Social Commentary

The Puritan Political Tradition

19 Comments

…and the modern left:

Over the centuries, New England has changed its theology while remaining loyal to its cultural foundations. The Calvinist orthodoxy of the seventeenth century yielded increasingly to Deism and Unitarianism in the eighteenth — and Harvard officially became Unitarian in 1803, dropping its belief in the divinity of Christ. In the nineteenth century literary and intellectual New England hedged its bets, backing a range of horses from Emersonian transcendentalism to the more evangelically flavored Calvinism of the Victorian years. During the second half of the twentieth century the mind of New England became more secular than in past generations– but nothing has ever changed the deep belief in this cultural stream that, however defined, morality exists and that it is the job of the state to enforce true morals and uphold right thinking.

They’re just prudes about different things.

Media Criticism, Political Commentary

“There Is No Birth Certificate In Hawaii”

49 Comments

I wouldn’t be shocked if it turned out that the president was born overseas and his enablers have been covering it up (because their behavior certainly matches that theory), but Neil Abercrombie apparently was. I thought it was pretty strange that he decided to raise the issue again, after the political class had declared it dead, but obviously he really believed it. No way it goes away now.

[Update a while later]

For those who don’t understand the implications of this, Neil Abercrombie, self-declared boyhood friend of Barack (“Barry” at the time) Obama, and new governor of the state of Hawai’, declared war on the “birthers” last month, saying that he was going to release the document and put all of the rumors to rest:

Abercrombie said he was going to work with the attorney general of Hawaii to release additional documentation of Obama’s birth on Aug. 4, 1961, at Kapiolani Maternity and Gynecological Hospital.

In other words, he has both the motivation and power to find that document, if it exists. What this radio interview indicates is that he has not been able to find it, and that his faith is shaken. I’ve always assumed that the reason they were hiding the document was that it had something politically embarrassing on it (e.g., that his religion was stated as “Muslim” or that Barack Obama was not listed as the father). But now I’m starting to wonder myself where he was really born.

Political Commentary, Popular Culture, Space, Technology and Society

The Battle For The Moon

6 Comments

Joe Pappalardo target=”_ “deflates Mark Whittington’s favorite space fantasy. Over the past half century, the Pentagon has never found any compelling use for military man in space commensurate with the cost. That could change if the cost comes down dramatically, but there was nothing in NASA’s Constellation plans to make that happen. The new programs offer much more hope in that regard, if they can survive the coming budget tsunami.

Political Commentary, Space

The First Beyond-LEO Destination

28 Comments

Should be earth-moon L-1:

The first Earth-Moon Lagrange point, or EML-1, offers a number of key advantages that make it an ideal destination for activities in cislunar space. Over the near-term, however, its utility is constrained by a lack of physical infrastructure. This can change if our approach to space moves away from destinations and towards a strategy of enabling capabilities.

I agree. Unfortunately, it’s a hard mindset for many people to accept. For many simple-minded people, if you don’t have a planet, a date and a really big rocket, it’s the “end of human spaceflight.”

Political Commentary

The Rule Of Law

21 Comments

Prevails:

In today’s ruling, Hoffman wrote: “We … order that the candidate’s name be excluded (or if, necessary, be removed) from the ballot from Chicago’s Feb. 22, 2011.”

Opponents have been trying to get Emanuel removed on the grounds that he did not reside in Chicago for a year before the upcoming February election. He moved to Washington, D.C., two years ago to work for President Barack Obama.

Good. It’s unusual for Chicago.

Education, Media Criticism, Political Commentary

On The State Of Higher Education

36 Comments

A depressing essay:

I detect no lack of seriousness or ambition in these students. They believe they are exceptionally well-educated. They have jumped expertly through every hoop put in front of them to be the top of their classes in our country’s best universities, and they have been lavishly praised for doing so. They seem so surprised when asked simple direct questions that they have never considered.

They’re not educated — they’re indoctrinated, and have been, for the most part, since they were five years old. They don’t know what they don’t know, and yet this is where our country’s political leadership comes from. Fortunately, this is why the collapse of the mainstream media is such a disaster for the left. Their ideas are hothouse plants that can only stand up in a debate-free environment. Once they come out of the academic/media cocoon, they quickly collapse, because they don’t even know how to intelligently defend them. Because they’re mostly indefensible.

Philosophy, Political Commentary, Science And Society, Social Commentary

Libertarian Morality

12 Comments

Some interesting new research. I found this particularly salient:

Libertarians scored lower than both liberals and (especially) conservatives on sensitivity to disgust. The authors suggest this tendency “could help explain why they disagree with conservatives on so many social issues, particularly those related to sexuality. Libertarians may not experience the flash of revulsion that drives moral condemnation in many cases of victimless offenses.”

I’m not sure what they mean by “sensitivity to disgust.” If they mean that we don’t get disgusted, it doesn’t apply to me. But if they mean that, unlike some people, we don’t use it as the basis for morality, and especially for lawmaking, I think that’s right. I am quite repulsed by male homosex, but that doesn’t mean that I think that makes it immoral or subject to criminal sanctions, because I recognize that my reaction is a natural one for a heterosexual, and that many people are disgusted by different things. The fact that some are disgusted by the thought of eating bugs doesn’t make it immoral, and shouldn’t be, even to them.