Two recent events involving public standards of morality were instructive to me. In one, the director and cast of a Conroe, Texas production of “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” resigned because of the censorship of parts of the script involving curse words and the portrayal of teenage actresses as prostitutes. The other was the […]
Archives for 2002
PC And The Alamo
The ultimate Texas shrine was injected into the political correctness wars a few days ago when an official of the Houston Independent School District announced a change in the way the siege at the Alamo will be treated in history classes, so as to make the dialogue less of an “us vs. them” confrontation and […]
The Shake Up We Need
The recent reorganization of the FBI in the wake of allegations and much evidence that it did not properly respond to serious warnings of terrorist activity last summer is long overdue, but probably not enough. I expect another round, possibly including much higher level terminations. These preliminary steps at the FBI are but the first […]
Health Care Follow Up
As a follow up to my April report on the Texas Association of Business health care survey, I pass along the following, particularly for the benefit of those readers who took issue with my comments about the now outmoded and pernicious tradition of tying health care insurance to employment. Forbes magazine notes that government now […]
The Closure Myth
I was struck by a couple of seemingly unrelated news and commentary pieces lately that converged to bring my attention to the concept of “closure”. One item was on the conviction of Bobby Frank Cherry in the 1963 bombing that killed four young Birmingham girls. Another was the report that there are about twenty thousand […]
Defining The Century
In the April 2002 issue of The Atlantic Monthly, David Brooks wonders which grand themes will dominate the 21st century. He opines that 19th century America was about national union and the dominant 20th century theme here and elsewhere was about the size of government. He also suggests a few nominees for the 21st century, […]
Anti-Americanism And Higher Education
“Since the 1960’s, anti-Americanism has flourished on college campuses, in Hollywood and among the chattering class. Anti-Americanism is the conviction that our history is one long chronicle of crimes against humanity—slavery, segregation, dispossession of the Indians, exploitation of labor and suppression of dissent. It is blind to America’s greatness—to our unparalleled contributions to the advancement […]
Recommended Reading
My political philosophy group has been discussing A New Birth of Freedom, by Harry V. Jaffa, and I am now in my second reading. This is a masterful analysis of American political philosophy as defined by the Founders from its roots in the classical and Judeo-Christian traditions and as refined (or “re-defined” as some would […]
Election Year Sell-Out
My disappointment with Congressional Republicans and the Bush administration in domestic policy and appropriations has reached epic proportions with the complete election year sell-out on agriculture subsidies. This bloated embarrassment is enough to make the most cynical Washington political hack blush and makes the French look like agricultural free trade champions by comparison. Gone is […]
Has Anything Changed?
In the wake of the attack on the U. S. last September, most commentators were of the opinion that a fundamental chord was struck in the collective American psyche, that our value systems were threatened in a way that would force a new sense of solidarity and community. Some even hinted that the attack and […]