The impossibility of Joan of Arc, the one story that could transform even Mark Twain into a believer
How did an illiterate peasant that never sat on a horse in her entire life, much less have military training of any kind, march to war at seventeen years old, change the entire fate of France, and then defy the learned authorities of the Church for six months before being executed at nineteen? In many…
What do Never Trump Republicans really want at this point? A resignation, a removal from office, or something else, and why won’t they just say it?
If they believe the President is a deranged lunatic who’s a danger to us all as many of them claim, how could they not conclude that he should be removed from office as soon as possible and by whatever means possible? If they truly believe that, why do they refuse to advocate for it like…
Frankenstein and a tale of two Hollywoods
In 1994, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein almost ruined Kenneth Branagh’s career while this year’s equivalent of a remake from Guillermo Del Toro received almost universal praise despite making almost the same movie substantially worse. In 1994, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein almost ruined Kenneth Branagh’s career. Though opinions of the film have generally improved in the more than…
Trump, the affordability scam, and the truth that we buy too much junk
Progressives ignored high prices for years, mocked those who worried about inflation, and for decades have waged a war on consumerism, but suddenly, we’re supposed to believe the American Dream is measured in cheap plastic dolls. Over the past several weeks, President Donald Trump has been heavily criticized from the left and some on the…
Reminder: Progressives hate Sydney Sweeney simply because she appeared in a clothing ad and all they have is hate for any disagreement, real or even perceived
While Ms. Sweeney might be an unlikely avatar for our increasingly illiberal and insane times, an avatar of the left’s hate and endless outrage, she certainly is. Indeed, the absurdity of the whole situation only helps illustrate the point. Last week, Sydney Sweeney made news once again when detractors objected to her choice of clothing…
The ChatGPT Resistance is a danger to the country, from the cartel boat strikes to Venezuela, outrage isn’t enough
A functioning republic requires real opposition, asking real questions and demanding real answers. Outrage on its own, recycled forever, in the same form as if it was spat out of a computer, is a threat to the future. At this point, we know the cycle better than we’d like. In what we can only call…
Trey Anastasio is the greatest musician of his generation and it’s not even close
While the Phish guitarist, singer, and songwriter is far from a household name, he certainly should be. Over the course of three shows in barely six months with three completely different configurations, he belted out fifty eight songs or more than six full albums of material. I’ve been fortunate enough to see Trey Anastasio three…
Celebrating 1,000 posts with a few near incoherent thoughts on the past, present, and future
Benjamin Franklin famously or infamously said that the country was a Republic, if you can keep it. To liken great things to small, this is a blog if I can keep it up, but isn’t that true of everything in life? When I started this blog in November 2020, it wasn’t clear to me how…
The Orange Man Bad Theory of Everything
As a general rule, at least some policies are going to have a neutral impact if only because they are ineffective, not everything is going to be illegal or unconstitutional, and the worst possible political and other outcome isn’t going to happen in every situation. While it’s traditional for the opposition party to oppose, I…
Democrats can’t handle the truth on illegal orders
“If you look at popular culture, like, you watch, you know, A Few Good Men, like we have plenty of examples since World War II, in Vietnam, where people were told to follow illegal orders, and they did it, and they were prosecuted for it,” Senator Elissa Slotkin thinks she’s Tom Cruise confronting Jack Nicholson.…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
Confessions of a Conservative Atheist 