Confessions of a Conservative Atheist
The world’s only one man media empire
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… Continue reading The impossibility of Joan of Arc, the one story that could transform even Mark Twain into a believer
For a man who prided himself on principle, communicating our Founding ethos those better than anyone else, Jefferson had a habit of discarding them when convenient. Was he a liar, a hypocrite, a fraud, or simply a political genius? Thomas Jefferson has long been acknowledged as one of the most eloquent communicators of our Founding… Continue reading Thomas Jefferson and why power trumps principle in politics
Somehow, a mere 25 years after Patton’s death Hollywood managed to create a big budget masterpiece that unflinchingly and unapologetically tells his story. Rather than moralize or criticize, the film immerses the viewer in the unique combination of madness, genius, grit, and determination that drove one of America’s greatest generals. In one sense, legendary general… Continue reading Patton, the man, the movie, and the “they just don’t write ‘em like that anymore” phenomenon
If Henry V survived, he would have been king of both England and France, forging one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful country on Earth at the time. After I killed him however, a slow, agonizing death, not suited for a warrior, the world was changed forever. I am an amoeba and… Continue reading I am a lowly amoeba and I just killed the most powerful man in the world, changing all of history in the process
In a country where we tax everything, tariffs have been singled out as uniquely disastrous, but why, when any argument applied to tariffs in particular can be applied to taxes in general? There will always be a potential upside – more revenue raised and/or a change in behavior – and a downside, namely an increase… Continue reading The truth about tariffs, the only tax the establishment doesn’t like
Henry V was literally and figuratively born in blood, especially as his father became king after starving the former ruler, Richard II. We should probably not spare Richard too much sympathy, however. He was the last of the Plantagenet kings, who rose to power on a tide of violence in the 12th century, violence that… Continue reading The real Henry V, the Magna Carta, and the glorious depravity we are heir to
No piece of paper can fully commit a country to war on behalf of another. Rather than lecturing President Trump, President Zelensky should have read his George Washington, accepting that strong commercial relations are the foundation for mutual defense, not words on a page. Whether you love President Donald Trump or hate him, the simple,… Continue reading Trump, Zelensky, the reality that there are no guarantees in life, and other lessons from a disastrous meeting in the Oval Office that shouldn’t have been
The British actor and director released his first film, Henry V in 1989, when I was a tender thirteen years old. It passed without notice for me during its theatrical run, but the video rental store, that monument to entertainment, where most families made at least a weekly pilgrimage before the rise of streaming, was… Continue reading How Kenneth Branagh changed a fantasy geek’s life and transformed him into a Shakespeare fanatic
There is a sense of watching some sad tragicomedy unfold, wondering what unexpected and unanticipated catastrophe will happen next, oblivious to the reality that – as at the start of World War I – we might literally be one bullet away from worldwide destruction. On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his… Continue reading The world is at war in slow motion, until it isn’t
Sometimes, you can learn a lot about yourself, your country, and the world at large on vacation in what might as well be half a world away, but the lessons aren’t always positive. Paris in particular and France in general has never been high on my list of countries to visit. This is not based… Continue reading Springsteen in Paris, a Fiat 500 Hybrid in the Alps, and an America that no longer works
Confessions of a Conservative Atheist 