Today, in the online WSJ Opinion Journal, Daniel Henninger argues that conservatives who oppose the proposed immigration reform legislation are demoting one bedrock conservative principle (free markets) in order to promote another (respect for the rule of law.) Henninger argues: Why, then, would Republican politicians and conservative writers want to run the risk of undermining, […]
Peter Fleming (May 31, 1907 – August 9, 1971) would have been 100 today. Who, you ask, is Peter Fleming? As his wikipedia entry rightly summarizes, Peter Fleming was “a British adventurer and travel writer.”  Oh, to live in an era in which “adventurer” is a legitimate job description! You may be more familiar with the work […]
As my family and close friends will attest, I am the Mayor of Wannabe-ville and the City Manager of Hacktown, USA. I golf, play the guitar and shoot photographs, all with a clumsy amateurishness they seem to find charming (and a little sad). Thus, from time to time I’ll post some of my favorite photos I’ve shot in […]
I let yesterday come and go without noting an important anniversary—the fall of Constantinople on May 29, 1453. When the city walls were breached by Muslim Turks on that date, the church called Hagia Sophia had stood, looking like this sophia-painting.jpg, on that spot for 1000 years, representing one of the most astonishing architectural achievements of […]
 I’ve done several tours of duty in the culture wars. I spent a good chunk of the 80s working with conservative and traditional family values organizations in support of President Reagan and in rallying opposition to the agenda of the Tip O’Neill House and the Teddy Kennedy/Robert Byrd Senate. So I’m no stranger to having […]
In a moment: One of the coolest web sites ever. But first a word of explanation. I was born in 1959, which makes me a real sucker for the art and the whole vibe of the late fifties and early sixties. The cars were sleek and huge and had tailfins and the tailfins had lights that […]
 When a soldier falls, it is obviously a searing event for the spouse, the children, the parents, the community. The death of a combat soldier is a tragedy. But it is a unique tragedy—one deeply infused with meaning, and honor. And yes, glory. Today the mainstream media and the liberal cultural elites in America will make […]
  As mentioned in the previous post, cheerleaders for this immigration “reform” bill tell us we need to bring millions and millions of people who illegally slipped into this country “out of the shadows” so they can be better assimilated into American culture, just as the waves of immigrants that came through Ellis Island were in the previous century. This […]
One of the arguments constistently put forth by the advocates of large scale, unselective immigration (illegal and otherwise) is that immigrants from Mexico and Central America will eventually assimilate into American culture—just as previous generations of Germans, Irish, Czechs, Chinese, Vietnamese and others have done so willingly and completely. Poke a pro-immigration “reform” politician with a sharp […]
A stream of illegal immigrants from “countries of interest” (nations marked as seedbeds of terrorism) are crossing our Southern border. How do they get here? This interactive presentation graphic has the answers regarding this underground railroad for terrorists. (From an excellent investigative series by Todd Bensman of the San Antonio Express News. This goes to […]
