Tag: Politics
A Lazy Leader
The one thing Donald Trump has always had going for him since he first announced his desire to be President in 2015 was his energy. His presentation may have always been spur of the moment kooky, but there was no denying the man’s drive.
Helping Our Own
There are a variety of explanations for this phenomenon, which our leading political and cultural commentators continue to explore. Here is my own modest contribution to the discussion, a broad-stroke take on one aspect of how we got to where we are.
Wearing Out Your Welcome
Growing up as kids my parents gently warned us about wearing out our welcome, once we were old enough to visit friends’ houses on our own. This was not an easy concept for a young boy to comprehend, and I don’t think I fully grasped it at the time. But now it’s all I can think about, just five months into Donald Trump’s second term in the Oval Office. I believe the man is finally beginning to wear out his welcome.
The Post-Trump Republican Party
On the theory that this too shall pass, I am starting to wonder who will lead the Republican Party once Donald Trump leaves the White House.
Does America Need a Supply-Side Comeback?
Now 84 years old, Mr. Laffer has always believed lowering taxes spurs economic growth. This interview makes clear, though, that he does not think lowering taxes will ipso facto increase government revenue, which is how critics frequently mischaracterize and debunk the supply-side approach.
Pomp and Plainness
The Catholic Church just selected a new Pope, amid much pomp and circumstance. Some 133 old guys who had achieved the rank of “Cardinal” cast their votes in the Sistine Chapel, one of the world’s most intricately decorated sacred spaces, while dressed in flowing red vestments and matching caps.
Redefining Usury
Another worth-your-while entry in this overview of the incoming Leo XIV is The New Pope Might Be Somewhat Like The Old Pope, written by Daniel Gibson and published in The New York Times.
The New Pope’s True Colors
Having beaten the odds to be selected as the first Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church from the United States, the low-key, little-known Bob Prevost is now an object of the world’s attention, as we all wonder what he will do next as Pope Leo XIV.
Donald “Lonesome Rhoades” Trump
Say what you will about his second presidential incarnation, but there is certainly no grass growing under Mr. Trump’s feet.
On Electoral Mandates
I get that our two major political parties see things differently and have different priorities when it comes to legislation and tending to the common good. But why does the language we use to discuss these differences have to be so adversarial so much of the time?
Doctrinal vs. Pastoral
If you style yourself a secularist who shuns organized religion, you may not have a rooting interest in the great debate that rages within sectarian circles: whether it is better to be doctrinally pure, or pastorally sensitive.
Understanding the Infidels
When no one from my side of the church took communion at our nuptial mass a few weeks ago it was a stark reminder that Mother Church has lost her hold on the hearts and minds of a generation. Or maybe two.
Approaching Politics with Love
Death and taxes are two of life’s inevitables that we typically face only reluctantly, and usually with a sense of dread and loathing.
The Politics of Love
Being set in one’s ways is often cited as a hurdle to forging a new intimate relationship later in life. One person likes to go to bed early, the other likes to stay up a bit longer – that sort of thing. Sometimes the differences go much deeper.
Economic Clarity
Over the course of his twelve-year run as pope, Francis has made it pretty clear appeasing First World sensibilities is not his top priority. We here in the United States have not always known what to make of this, since his lack of deference can seem like disrespect at times.
August Politics
As for this month’s rendition of retail presidential politics, things are continuing apace. Kamala Harris is keeping things simple and sticking to the basics. Donald Trump for his part is the very definition of a one-trick pony.
Here’s Kamala!
This election just got a lot more interesting, don’t you think?
J.D. Vance Rewrites History
The speech J.D. Vance delivered at last night’s Republican National Convention demonstrated an ability to master a big moment.
Accommodating Biden’s Decline
The most charitable thing one can say about Biden is that he is dangerously close to his expiration date as an effective public official.
Biden Will Be Fine
President Biden’s performance at last Thursday night’s debate was so bad it prompted immediate calls for him to step down from the ticket, for the good of the country.
J.D. Vance’s Strange Turn to 1876
The critics’ ‘book’ on J.D. Vance is now set: He is an unprincipled climber willing to say anything to get ahead.
What J.D. Vance Believes
You may recognize this as the title of a recent interview Ross Douthat published on June 13 in The New York Times, conducted with the first-term Senator from Ohio and best-selling author of Hillbilly Elegy. Then again, you may not.
The Authorship Question
The controversy over who really wrote the plays and poetry attributed to Shakespeare persists, even if it is not at the top of the morning news feed, or never comes up in your house.
Stephen Greenblatt’s Tyrant
Since no amount of scandal seems able to deter Donald Trump from recapturing the Republican Party’s presidential nomination in the upcoming Fall election, now might be a good time to look back and review one of the more unique analyses of his improbable first win in 2016.
Protesting the War in Gaza
This week the ongoing pro-Palestinian protests, which at times have included some unforgivable excesses directed at Jewish students, spread from a few high-profile universities on the East Cost to many different college campuses across the United States.
Digital Discrimination
In a recent editorial the Wall Street Journal takes issue with a new rule the Federal Communication Commission is considering to prevent what is referred to as “digital discrimination.” This proposed action is a by-product of the 2021 infrastructure bill that included a directive for the FCC to monitor disparities in broadband access “based on income level, race, ethnicity, color, religion, or national origin.”
The Dissemination of Distorted Information
Those of us who attend religious services on the weekends are routinely instructed by our clergy to show love for the “stranger,” with an emphasis on extending such love no matter how unusual or off-putting that stranger may initially appear to us.
Is the Pope Catholic?
Asking whether the Pope is Catholic used to be one of those funny rhetorical question that do not require an answer. Like asking does a bird fly, or if a bear defecates in the forest. But these days that first question is not so funny to some people, and not so rhetorical.
Pro-Trump, or anti-Democrat?
There are now four big legal cases pending against former President Donald Trump. He is facing dozens of criminal charges and will go on trial several times in the next 18 months, as he campaigns to become president again in the 2024 election.
Forgiving Student Loans
The student loan forgiveness plan the Supreme Court threw out last week, just before adjourning for the summer, was one of the Biden administration’s more ambitious and controversial proposals. So it should come as no surprise this latest ruling is generating such a passionate response.
Voting Third Party in 2024
Have you ever voted for a Third Party candidate in a Presidential election? In my experience people who do tend to be idealistic and are also usually a little bit ornery. (I am both and confess to voting Third Party on occasion.) Reviving that option seems to be a recurring theme, given the rather lackluster Republican and Democrat candidates we have been presented with in recent years. With a likely Biden-Trump re-match in the offing, some otherwise sensible citizens are once again starting to explore their options, and are talking up the possibility of going rogue in the voting booth next year.
Patrick Deenen Strikes Again
Patrick Deenen’s new book, Regime Change, was just reviewed in the Wall Street Journal and got panned good and hard. Reading that review reminded me how his previous book, Why Liberalism Failed (2018), received the same chilly reception, most notably in The New York Times.
The Narrative is Problematic
It is natural to assemble a story for ourselves that helps explain how and why things happen in this world. Along the way we encounter others who seem knowledgeable in these matters, and we add their understanding to our own. As we get older, our narrative emphasizes what has gone wrong out there, and what should be done to fix all the problems. This, too, is natural.
Capitalism Condones Bad Behavior
My thesis this morning is how easily our version of capitalism condones behavior that is fundamentally inconsiderate of others. And how this is not just a case of bad manners, but rises to the level of injustice.
The Economics of Beauty
Now here is an angle Karl Marx and Fredrich Engels probably did not cover in their famous 1848 treatise on economics, “The Communist Manifesto”… Namely, the impact beauty has on an economic system. But it turns out a gentleman by the name of Daniel S. Hamermesh has given it a lot of thought.
The Second Bill of Rights
Everyone is always singing the praises of liberal democracy, but these days many enthusiasts are expressing concern about the future of the institution. Populist uprisings here in the United States and across Europe are seen as threatening the rule of law, and the idea of free and fair elections.
Selective Ridicule
Everyone is always singing the praises of “liberal democracy” these days. Not only is it universally thought of as the best possible form of government, it’s the only one any reasonable person will even consider.
Ridiculing Catholicism
Ridiculing Catholicism for being out-of-touch with the modern world is super easy, and it’s so much fun! Okay, yes, that sentence is gratuitous, and designed to get your attention.
Why Libertarian Catholics are Wrong on Economics Part 4
As my little amateur history draws to a close, I will be offering two concrete suggestions for improving the economic status quo. As a preface to making those suggestions allow me to state for the record I do not disagree with the libertarian premise about regulation stifling innovation and undermining incentives that drive capitalism. Or that capitalism is the best economic system for “freeing” large masses of human beings from lives of misery and poverty.
Why Libertarian Catholics are Wrong on Economics Part 3
My goal in assembling this very amateur and oh-so-brief history is three-fold. To disabuse everyday conservative Catholics (my friends and neighbors) of the notion economics has nothing to do with morality. To challenge the contention of intellectual conservative Catholics (the scholars I have been reading for the last thirty years) that free market capitalism is inherently moral. And lastly to assure both groups (and any other readers who may wander in) that I am not suggesting any form of socialism as an alternative.