An editorial earlier this year in the Wall St. Journal asked:  “A question to ponder is whether today’s soundbite-driven primaries are selecting for the qualities that Republicans, and Americans, really want in a President.” In the past I’ve argued for closing the primaries to all but card-carrying party members on the grounds that only party members have any business choosing their nominee.  As things stand in Tennessee (which isn’t an outlier), anyone can vote in either primary, leaving them open to manipulation by fair-weather friends and mischief-makers.  Hey, been there, done that.  In the 2020 primary, refusing to vote for … Continue reading Soundbite-driven Primaries

Here is the lesson of World War I that we wish we could forget: Wars don’t end with an armistice.  They stop for a while, long enough for the side that believes it got the short end of the stick to rearm and rebuild its population of young cannon fodder.  Then it will resume until one side or the other is totally defeated.  Again and again and again, as long as it takes. That lesson was top of the mind for the leaders of the Allies of World War II, all of whom had played a part in the first … Continue reading Harsh Lessons and Wishful Thinking

Irony, like gravity, works the same for everyone and everything. The original Zealots were a small Jewish sect who, in the First Century AD, were violently opposed to Roman rule, the hardliners among a people who resented the Romans when they didn’t hate them.  The Zealots fomented a revolt, which was inevitably and brutally crushed in the First Jewish-Roman War in 66 – 70 AD.  The Romans were pragmatic, live and let live types who were satisfied with respecting local customs and religion as long as it didn’t conflict with Roman rule and good order.  That is, until you crossed … Continue reading Rock, Meet a Very Hard Place

One would need a heart of stone not to sympathize with the desperate migrants flooding into the U.S. The simple fact is that most of our ancestors came here out of desperation.  In the 1840s the population of Ireland was cut in half – a quarter of its people starved to death, and another quarter came to America.  They were relegated to the lowest dregs of society and were in less danger of starving than working themselves to death.  Nevertheless, the risks of migration were outweighed by the risks of staying in place.  Now their descendants are just part of … Continue reading Heart of Soft Stone

Russia invaded Ukraine with the stated intent of not just re-incorporating that sad nation into its empire, but assimilating it into the Russian state. Azerbaijan accomplished its long-held goal of conquering Nagorno-Karabakh, the enclave that was home to Armenian Christians for hundreds of years.  Azerbaijan has made clear its intent to ethnically cleanse the region, and the helpless remaining Armenians are fleeing. Many of the Sikhs in India, and hundreds of thousands in its diaspora around the world, have long demanded that a Sikh state be carved out of India.  Now Indian agents may or may not have assassinated a … Continue reading Turns Out That Kum Ba Yah Is Not Good Policy

The root of the word “politics” is the Greek word “polis”, meaning city or city-state.  It originally meant “doing the city’s business”.  But no longer.  A good working definition now would be “civil war by other means”.  Doubt it?  How many fund raisers and campaign messages have you received that say essentially (and oftentimes in so many words), “I want to go to Washington/Nashville/county commission/city council so I can fight for you!”  Now, the politicians don’t mean it literally.  Fist fights are rare in American legislatures, unlike some other places with less-robust democratic traditions and rules of decorum.  But increasingly … Continue reading Politics Means Doing Business

Here’s the important thing about the Supreme Court’s decision in the cases of Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill: Finally, America has the opportunity to get serious about addressing our problem with race. And let’s not kid ourselves, we’ve got a problem.  No, black people (I refuse to capitalize “black”, just as I refuse to capitalize “white”) are no longer lynched, and racial discrimination in every form and fashion is illegal, but the facts that the Supreme Court had to issue a landmark ruling outlawing affirmative action, that the Right has applauded … Continue reading Now We Can Get Serious About Race

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling effectively forbidding affirmative action in college admissions, there has been a great deal of reporting on the intent of said colleges to circumvent the ruling’s plain requirements so they can keep right on doing what they’ve been doing.  Well, surprise, surprise.  Progressive ideologues having seized the high ground in the admissions game, it’s no wonder that they will have to be rooted out in what promises to be a bitter battle.  Fanatic self-righteousness got us to this point, and it’s unlike fanatics to accept defeat and slink away. One solution would be … Continue reading College Admissions – How About a Lottery?

This won’t come as news, but it bears repeating, and I need it to set up the essay: In the 1860s the U.S. fought a civil war, the results of which included somewhere between 600,000 and 750,000 dead (scholars keep revising the number upward); a permanent diminution of states’ rights and transfer of power to Washington (both good and bad); the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery (an unqualified good in its own right, and a necessary step in our national journey); and the 14th Amendment, theoretically guaranteeing equal rights to all citizens. I think we’ll all agree that putting the theory … Continue reading Come On In, The Water’s Fine

In the wake of the horrific killing of six innocent people at Covenant School in Nashville, there was a large demonstration at the State Capitol that spilled into the House Chamber.  Three representatives, one with a bullhorn, commandeered the podium and led the raucous crowd as they made demands to enact gun control legislation.  Repeated attempts by the chairman and other leaders to restore order and get on with business were shouted down, until state troopers had to be called in to escort the 3 out and clear the galleries.  As they were being led out, one asked “Are we … Continue reading I Walk the Line – Or Not