I’d like to say a few words about Wednesday’s anonymous op-ed in the New York Times, written by a Trump administration staffer. Go read it, then come back here. Ready? Ok, here we go. First, this: “Given the instability many witnessed, there were early whispers within the cabinet of invoking the 25th Amendment, which would start a complex process for removing the president. But no one wanted to precipitate a constitutional crisis.” Vice President Pence, or whomever wrote this, read... Read more
Game of Thrones, the TV adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, recently finished filming—forever. The eighth and final season is supposed to air “sometime in 2019,” but a date has not been set. Rumors last winter that it would premier on April 14 have been debunked. So, if—strange though that may be—you are a newcomer to all things Westerosi and you want to give the story a try, you have plenty of time before... Read more
If President Trump was hoping to divert attention from his policy of kidnapping and caging young immigrant children at our southern border, he got his wish with his trip to Europe a couple of weeks ago, where he insulted Prime Minister Theresa May, the Queen, and our NATO allies. That was just the opening act. As if being an uncouth buffoon on the international stage wasn’t enough, Mr. Trump revealed to the world that he may very well be a... Read more
First, Deborah Piroch of Human Life International, sends this follow-up comment to my Wednesday piece: Recently the Washington Post reported that a 10-year-old migrant child with Down syndrome was removed from the custody of her mother, although her Father lives only an hour away from the Texas shelter and is a U.S. resident. Human Life International (HLI) advocates for all children both before and after birth and finds it ironic that many of the same individuals who are fine with... Read more
“Thanks for contacting Human Life International,” spokeswoman Deborah M. Piroch replied when I contacted HLI to ask if the pro-life organization had an official position on the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border. “We really focus on our five mission areas, those being abortion, contraception, marriage and family, artificial reproduction and euthanasia/assisted suicide.” When I asked whether separating children from their parents falls under marriage and family, Ms. Piroch said: In a sense it does. However, we focus on the religious... Read more
Today, June 14, 2018, was the 82nd anniversary of the death of G.K. Chesterton. I thought I’d say a few words about who he was and what he did, and why people who haven’t given him a try maybe ought to. In 1900, Chesterton, an art school dropout, was working for a London publishing house when he was asked to contribute some articles on art criticism to a magazine, thus beginning one of the most productive careers in literary history.... Read more
In Las Vegas, as long as you’re gambling, the drinks are free. In Granada, Spain, as long as you’re drinking, the tapas are free. Yes, you could say both the casino and the bar are trying to take your money, but at least the tapas bar wants to feed you, both body and soul. Anthony Bourdain, who traveled the world – Grenada and beyond – to show us all how food and drink feed both body and soul, in his... Read more
“Lord, who is my neighbor?” This is a thornier question than it appears on the surface, and Jesus’ answer is just as unsettling. Exhibit A: gay marriage and its opponents. Monday, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Colorado baker who in 2012 refused to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple. It was what the court calls a “narrow decision,” meaning not that it was a close vote (it was 7-2), but that the High Court decided... Read more
“Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.” —Gabriel García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude It has been on my mind the past year to re-read Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude. I have not read it since college, in the 1980s. We read it for a class on developing one’s political philosophy, taught by the late, great Prof. James T. Murphy, at... Read more
I am going to politicize a tragedy. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas has gotten more than $360,000 from the National Rifle Association over the years, making him the gun rights group’s biggest recipient of campaign cash. Friday, May 18, Dimitrios Pagourtzis, seventeen, exercising his Second Amendment rights, murdered ten of Sen. Cruz’s constituents and injured ten more. I woke to news of the mass shooting, at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, following knee surgery Friday morning.... Read more
Chaos and Old Night
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