Confessions of a Conservative Atheist
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It’s almost inconceivable that he can keep this up much longer, but it’s a near miracle that we can still marvel at it right now while we can. If you don’t believe me, you don’t need to take my word for it any longer. My lovely wife finally agrees after a rousing performance at Camden… Continue reading Springsteen’s 75th birthday, and recent epic performances of “Darlington County” and “Youngstown” in Baltimore
He was a lawyer by trade, well-educated, a Governor and President, but perhaps because of his time in the Civil War, he was far more comfortable around common people, believing that by empowering the individual to learn, strive, and work, we would empower civilization itself, fighting for civil rights, universal education, and a more equitable… Continue reading Rutherford B. Hayes and how little we truly know
This is Shakespeare’s Othello in the modern age. Othello is so easily manipulated by Iago because he doubts himself and can’t possibly believe a fair noblewoman would choose him. In Springsteen’s telling, we do not know the speaker’s scars, save that he’s a “lonely pilgrim,” but it doesn’t matter. We don’t need a villain either. … Continue reading Springsteen’s brilliant “Brilliant Disguise” and the inescapable nature of doubt
Last week, Tucker Carlson interviewed a historian who claimed the legendary Prime Minister was the chief villain in World War II, more responsible for the war than Hitler. Previously, progressives condemned him as a racist retrograde, nor is Churchill alone. The incessant need to continually re-evaluate the past infects both the left and increasingly the… Continue reading Winston Churchill and our modern fetish with ankle-biting
When Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used a fake Southern accent in 2015, we called it pandering, even those who tried to rationalize the behavior and give her the benefit of the doubt, but today Vice President Harris’ obviously fake accent is an intrinsic part of her mixed race heritage and dare not be questioned… Continue reading Code-switching is all the rage, but what’s with the progressive need for new words to describe old things?
Five years before anyone imagined a holiday, the Great Strike of July 1877 was the largest of its kind before or since, closer to pitched battle with dozens dead on both sides. President Hayes, however, charted a moderate course, establishing views about worker’s rights and the role of the federal government that continue to this… Continue reading Labor Day, Rutherford B. Hayes, and first battle for worker’s rights
“The oldest hath borne most; we that are young. Shall never see so much nor live so long.” It might be easy to believe that we’re beyond these challenges four centuries later, but how many times have you heard that the future is going to be worse than the past these days? William Shakespeare’s King… Continue reading Shakespeare’s King Lear and the limits of power in the modern world
Perhaps it was compiling a collection of unreleased songs in 1998 that inspired Springsteen to enter the second half of his career, rejuvenated and reinvented after what most consider a moribund 1990’s. There’s a lesson here, about life’s ups and downs, finding the future in the past, letting things go, hoping they come back, and… Continue reading Springsteen’s “Loose Ends” and the songs that got away
Our ancestors were complete bad asses that remained confident even a country torn by war would be reunited under our established principles. They bequeathed this history to us, but we can’t figure out how to do something as simple as balance the budget or come to a meaningful compromise on abortion. Rutherford B. Hayes isn’t… Continue reading Rutherford B. Hayes and the crazy bad asses we are descended from
It can’t be a coincidence that one of the most famous and revered actors of his generation made a name for himself playing three different versions of the same character in less than five years. What was the audience – and critics – at the time responding to that such a character resonated so well? … Continue reading Jack Nicholson and the modern tragedy of the misfit who shouldn’t be in Five Easy Pieces, The Last Detail, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Confessions of a Conservative Atheist 