Before reading Samuel P. Huntington’s book, Who Are We? The Cultural Core of American National Identity, I read several reviews of it, some of which were highly critical of what they characterized as his tones of racism, xenophobia, and cultural elitism. These focused almost entirely on the aspects of the book that describe the massive […]
Archives for 2004
More Tidbits From The Anti-American American Left
From The American Enterprise we have the following items of interest: *A survey by Rasmussen Reports found that 62% of American voters believe the world would be a better place if other countries were more like the U. S. The number was 81% among Bush voters, but fell to 48% among Kerry voters. *The children’s […]
The Battleground—In The War And The Election
The use of the word “evil” continues to surface, in remembering Ronald Reagan’s pronouncements on the Soviet Union and in characterizing our current enemies in the war on terror, particularly in the tactics they employ, such as beheadings of innocents. New Yorker columnist Hendrik Hertzberg would like us to believe that this term as Reagan […]
And Then There Is Clinton And “The Book”
What unfortunate timing for Bill Clinton—the release of his long-awaited book just after the Reagan ceremony and eulogies, the content of which made Clinton’s legacy seem even less consequential and, in fact, pretty small by comparison, a smallness that I believe history will remember about him and his Presidency. I have no interest in reading […]
Ronald Reagan, God Speed and R.I.P.
If the beginning of my political initiation was the Barry Goldwater campaign of 1964, the highlight of which was “the speech” delivered by Ronald Reagan to a Los Angeles audience, the maturity of my political thought began in 1980 with Reagan’s election as President. He was, along with Margaret Thatcher, my largest hero in public […]
The Incoherent And Irresponsible American Left
The questions for the day are: Can a society steeped in postmodernism in its elite cultural institutions and that has only recently survived its first postmodern Presidency summon the moral courage for the commitment necessary to win the war on terrorism? Can we fight such a war in a 24/7 media market? Can an open […]
Cosby’s Best Role
The 50th anniversary of the landmark decision in Brown vs. Board of Education was passing almost uneventfully with typical historical references and lamentations from the usual suspects of how much more remains to be done to achieve racial harmony. Then, in a speech at Constitution Hall in Washington, out of the blue and to the […]
Hard America, Soft America, And Big Russ
Two books recently released by authors occupying different positions on the political spectrum struck me as intertwined in their message. Michael Barone’s Hard America, Soft America describes the contrast, over several generations of Americans beginning with the Progressive era, as well as among different segments of contemporary society, and I generalize, of a “hard” America […]
The Culture And The Courts
It is universally recognized that one of the subliminal factors that will play a significant role in the Presidential election will be the great cultural divide that provided the primary separation between the “red” and “blue” states of the election of 2000. I say subliminal, because neither candidate to date appears to have assigned high […]
Special Edition: Education Reform In Texas-The Next Phase
In speaking and writing about the current status of Texas public education reform, I am often torn, in the metaphor of the drinking glass, between the half full and half empty portions and sometimes criticized for my emphasis on the half empty portion. So let me start with the half full portion.There is no doubt […]