A few years back, during the Bush administration, a huge tax break went to the top and a piddling amount went to the rest of (Continue Reading)
Pat’s Polemics
On-going brilliance
A Perfect Mirror
02/07/2020 Pat Barrett Add CommentWhen Trump appeared before his cabinet and congressional Republicans and vilified anyone who dared disagree with him or point out his despicable actions, those present (Continue Reading)
The True History of the Modern GOP
02/06/2020 Pat Barrett Add CommentAt the Republican National Convention in the Cow Palace in San Francisco in 1964, a piercing reminder of what these people have been thinking all (Continue Reading)
Don’t Disturb the Boss
02/05/2020 Pat Barrett Add CommentA medical scientist said on NPR that the SARS epidemic got out of hand in China because medical personnel trying to sound the alarm were (Continue Reading)
Rahm Emmanuel or pit bull
02/04/2020 Pat Barrett Add CommentEither one would be a good replacement for Tom Perez. How about a pit bull named Rahm?
False equivalencies: Cow One is not Cow Two
01/18/2020 Pat Barrett Add Comment“Jonathan Rausch wrote the following at https://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/rethinking-polarization Here is my response: “It is too bad I missed Rausch’s talk at ASU. I go to those (Continue Reading)
The Root of All Our Evil?
01/11/2020 Pat Barrett Add CommentThe New York Review of Books is a treasure trove. In it you find reviews of books on many liberal arts and humanities topics as (Continue Reading)
Black Hats and White Hats
01/07/2020 Pat Barrett Add CommentI’m restarting my Running Commentary category to cover what may prove to be Bush’s Iraq and Johnson’s Viet Nam. Most Americans, I am willing to (Continue Reading)
John Bolton – real American
01/02/2020 Pat Barrett Add CommentGood old Bolton may have to testify, but he’ll hold off as long as it takes to get his book published. Anything for the good (Continue Reading)
A response to Russel Kirk’s Ten Principles
12/22/2019 Pat Barrett Add CommentIn 1986, Russel Kirk, author of The Conservative Mind and long considered the initiator of intellectual conservatism in the U.S., offered ten principles of conservatism (Continue Reading)
They build a world and then go live in it
12/13/2019 Pat Barrett Add CommentNow that world will come to them, at least in Britain. With a huge majority, the pro-Brexit people won, just about guaranteeing Britain’s exit of (Continue Reading)
Why I am not a progressive
12/11/2019 Pat Barrett Add CommentI heard recently that the “moderates” and “progressives” in the Democratic Party were in disagreement over the articles of impeachment, the moderates wanting to narrow (Continue Reading)
A response to an article by Sykes in The Bulwark
12/09/2019 Pat Barrett 2 CommentsTo quote you, Charlie Sykes, “The obvious question here is: why? Trump frequently boasts about (apocryphal) polls that show him supported by 95% of GOP (Continue Reading)
Ths IS country over party
12/05/2019 Pat Barrett Add CommentWhat Democrats miss about Republican thinking when they declaim the GOP should put country over party is that in the Republican mind he is putting (Continue Reading)
The Wise Men vs the wise guys
11/25/2019 Pat Barrett Add CommentJon Meacham delightfully compared the Wise Men of the old foreign policy establishment (Lovett, Acheson, Boland, Harriman, etc.) who gave us this post-war world with (Continue Reading)
“I did, actually.”
11/21/2019 Pat Barrett Add CommentFiona Hill’s response to Counselor Goldman’s query as to whether she understood Bolton’s comment that Giuliani was a hand grenade should be the motto of (Continue Reading)
Are American conservatives conservative?
11/21/2019 Pat Barrett Add CommentIn many entries to this blog I have mentioned in passing the distinction between conservatism as a political ideology and reaction. Reactionaries do not act (Continue Reading)
Country above party – will that bring the Millenium?
11/20/2019 Pat Barrett Add CommentOver and over we hear liberals or moderate conservatives say country should be over party. But what if you believe that only your party can (Continue Reading)
Dam it!
11/14/2019 Pat Barrett Add CommentAn article on dams in Montenegro resonated with a conversation I had with my friend from India who helped me understand an article in Urdu (Continue Reading)
Communists!
11/14/2019 Pat Barrett Add CommentAs the people of Hong Kong continue their protest against being absorbed into and swallowed up by the unjust Chinese judicial system (plus a lot (Continue Reading)
Collectivism, pure and simple
11/02/2019 Pat Barrett Add CommentA T-shirt had emblazoned on the back a motto that went something like work for the team, sacrifice for the team, and the team, not (Continue Reading)
Speak English!
11/02/2019 Pat Barrett Add CommentRepresentatives of crime victims on the Hopi reservation are coming forth to ask for more help in preventing and solving crimes. One request is for (Continue Reading)