Coronavirus, Flynn, and Epicureanism
The prospect of death, Epicurus knew, upset many people. Hence he and his followers expended a great deal of effort trying to remove the sting, the fear, from the prospect of death.
Post Hoc vs. Propter Hoc
“If you’re going to dance on someone’s constitutional rights, you’d better have a good reason.” Do we?
A Deadly if Dutiful Deference
The American public has been dutiful to the point of self-harm in heeding the injunctions of the people who manage their lives and livelihoods.
Herd Immunity vs. Herd Mentality
Although we do not yet know every detail of the end of our infatuation with the coronavirus, it’s clear that the historian of this episode will include a chapter called “Mistakes Were Made.”
What a Year! The Coronavirus Crisis in Retrospect
The crisis led to a new appreciation of contingency—an appreciation of the fact that our world is beset not only by the fragility of normality but also the normality of fragility.
It’s Not a Choice Between Lives or the Economy
President Trump has shown great leadership during this manufactured crisis. Let’s hope he continues to ponder his observation that we do not want to get ourselves into a situation in which the cure is worse than the disease.
COVID-19, the Elephant, and the House Cat
The really scary thing about this latest health scare is not the disease but the unexpected depths of passivity it revealed.
This Is An Emergency!
For the good of the country, and especially for the good of our leaders, we must prorogue Congress. We must do it today! And since we do not know how long this plague will last, we must do it indefinitely.
The Finger of Trump
on a New Plague
Are we witnessing the beginning of a new plague? Will we, in years to come, need our Daniel Defoe to provide a chronicle of a deadly scourge?
Mike Bloomberg, American Julianus
The billionaire former New York City mayor is throwing a lot of money around and renouncing plenty of sensible positions to win the Democratic Party’s presidential nod. His effort to buy the presidency will fail.
How the Justice Department Avoids Becoming the ‘Injustice Department’
It was good news that the Justice Department announced Friday it had engaged an outside prosecutor to review the government’s case against Michael Flynn. But restoring the department’s credibility will be a long and arduous process.
Wokeness, Free Speech, and the Role of Education
Conservatives have rightly lamented the assault on free speech that is such a conspicuous and disfiguring reality of life in America today. But that loss only achieves its true significance in the context of a more fundamental erosion: the erosion of a shared political consensus that gives life to “We, the People.”
‘Walls Are Closing In’ on the Democrats
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The Grubby Corruption of Our Power Elite
We all owe Peter Schweizer an enormous debt of gratitude for his enormous and effective labors in bringing sunlight to these tenebrous and mephitic climes.
Democrats Consume Themselves
Hatred of Donald Trump has been to some extent sidelined while what Freud called the “narcissism of small differences” plays out in bickering, backbiting, and political sabotage.
Of Causation and Emojis
Aristotle identified four sorts of causation: formal, material, efficient, and final. Iran’s foreign minister has just introduced a fifth category, akin to what some specialists call the Chewbacca defense: rather than offer a rational and compelling explanation one instead resorts to “intentional distraction or obfuscation.”
An Antidote to the Iran Hysterics
Trump has always shown that he prefers diplomacy to military action. At the same time, he understands, as did Ronald Reagan, that diplomacy only works when it is backed up by military strength and a willingness to exercise it.
The Standing Committee on Impeachment
Start talking about impeaching a president 19 minutes after he is inaugurated, go on talking about it at every opportunity, regardless of whether there are any grounds to deploy this most serious of political rebukes. Could a Standing Committee on Impeachment do any better?
The ‘Impeachment’ of Donald Trump
It’s amazing what semantic potency can reside in a pair of quotation marks.
The Tortoise and the Hare of Modernity Reconsidered
Hares do not countenance irrational impediments such as "taboos." Their response to the tortoises who deploy them is a mixture of loathing, hysteria, and contempt. But as a wise man put it, “The madman is not the man who has lost his reason. The madman is the man who has lost everything except his reason.”