The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

The Haughty Pride of the Elite

  If you are familiar with the story of Whittaker Chambers, you know that when he left the Communist Party in the 1930s, he told his wife he was “leaving the winning side for the losing side.” So powerful was the Soviet apparatus, it seemed that evil was certain to triumph and yet, by his […]

‘Climate Scientist Explains …’

When I was in school, back in Ye Olde Ancient Tymes, we were taught that skepticism was necessary to science. That is to say, our teachers emphasized the distance between theory and proof, teaching an experimental approach to the scientific method — trial and error, etc. During the past several decades, however, the emphasis on […]

‘Cognitive Partitioning’: The Real Reason Elizabeth Warren Never Had a Chance

  The news broke this morning that Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren will quit the presidential campaign. I’m sure everybody is sad about this, and by “everybody,” of course I mean Jessica Valenti:   I knew going into Super Tuesday that Elizabeth Warren was unlikely to win big. I had prepared myself for that. What did […]

False Dilemmas and Real Binaries: Patterns of Error in Logic and Rhetoric

  In his book SJWs Always Lie, Vox Day makes the important distinction between logic (the mental process by which we seek truth) and rhetoric (the language of persuasion). Both logic and rhetoric are skills necessary to statesmanship, because the political leader must first analyze the problems of public policy (logic), then explain the problem […]

Welcome to ‘Bizarre Hell-World’

Headline by Ed Driscoll at Instapundit: WE’VE DESCENDED INTO SOME SORT OF BIZARRE HELL-WORLD IN WHICH ANDREW SULLIVAN IS A VOICE OF SANITY You know, I’ve never forgiven Sully for his anti-Palin obsession, which reeked of gay misogyny and Harvard-educated anti-populist resentment, and the reason I’ve never forgiven him is because he’s never asked for […]

Poulos, You Magnificent Bastard!

  James Poulos has perhaps forgotten our first email exchange, many years ago, in which I offered him some sage advice, but whether or not he remembers that exchange, he has certainly followed my advice, and has thus risen to become Executive Editor of The American Mind. Poulos has never written anything that the Thought […]

UPDATE: Max Boot Is Still an Idiot

  Monday, I noticed an unexplained surge of traffic to my April 14 post with the simple title “Max Boot Is an Idiot,” in which I described the Trump-hating former Wall Street Journal writer as “one of the most overrated neocon gasbags in Washington.” What could have caused this increase of interest in Max Boot’s […]

The Poison Fruit of Radical Seeds

  Last weekend a gunman opened fire on the annual Garlic Festival in Gilroy, California, killing three and injuring 12. The shooter was soon identified as Santino Legan, 19, and as to his motive, there was a cryptic Instagram reference to Might Is Right by Ragnar Redbeard. We cannot ask the killer what he intended […]

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