Folly, the late Barbara Tuchman has told us, is “knowing better but doing worse.” The power of wishful thinking is so great that even demonstrably highly intelligent people can fall into this zone. I say this with a certain authority. Today, we have an example from a generally smart commentator: The GOP …
Category: political dynamics
May 22 2023
A Misfire From A Brilliant Commentator
It does happen, you know. It’s certainly happened to me. Today, it’s happened to Roger Kimball: The business of Washington is to make government bigger—forever. That is not what the people, who pay for it, want. Well, it’s certainly not what I want. If you’re a regular Gentle Reader of Liberty’s Torch, …
May 22 2023
While We’re On The Subject Of Power-Lust
This morning at The Catholic Thing, Francis X. Maier reminds us about an old atrocity in the Sceptered Isle: On August 16, 1819, some 60,000 hungry, unarmed workers, with their wives and children, converged on St. Peter’s Field in Manchester to peacefully demand economic and political reform. Barely 11 percent of Britain’s people …
May 12 2023
The Shell Game Part 2
Friends of mine – yes, I have a couple – have returned to a hopeless task: persuading me to re-engage with electoral politics, possibly (ulp) even as a candidate for office. They been saying some of the most incredible things: “If you want to change the system, you have be part of it.” …
Apr 05 2023
Symmetries And Balances
In the realm of physics (a.k.a. “the world” or “reality”) a great many symmetries and equilibria are observable by anyone who cares enough to pay attention. Among the most interesting and educational things one can do, though not necessarily safely, is to disturb such a symmetry and watch what happens thereafter. Sometimes the consequences …
Apr 02 2023
Annelid Rotations
It’s not unknown for a passionate opponent to a particular kind of behavior to execute a 180-degree turn and become one of its defenders. This article at The Catholic Thing provides a striking example: This “hate speech” weapon is being used to silence Catholic objections to homosexuality. And used with a high degree …
Apr 01 2023
A Cabal Of Its Enemies Redux
It’s always gratifying to stumble over an example of something I’ve had difficulty explaining to others. In this case, it comes courtesy of Will: the autobiography of the late G. Gordon Liddy. The incident in question occurred during the first presidential term of Richard Nixon, when Liddy was Special Assistant to the Secretary of …
Jan 20 2023
Dead Giveaways Dept.
Sometimes laughter isn’t just the best medicine, it’s the only medicine: Bringing cake into the office should be seen as harmful to your colleagues in the same way as passive smoking, the chairwoman of Britain’s top food watchdog has said. Professor Susan Jebb, of the Food Standards Agency, speaking personally and not …
Jan 11 2023
That “How?” Question
It just keeps coming back. Jim Jordan has trumpeted the intentions of his “Weaponization of Government” subcommittee. They’re exactly what I would have expected from Jordan, one of the few genuinely laudable persons in Congress: Lauren Boebert, another admirable Representative, has added her concurring opinions: Applause, but…how? What do you propose …
Jan 09 2023
Rhetorical Trends Dept.
There’s a new buzzphrase being bandied about, Gentle Reader. If you’re as news-obsessive as I, you’ve surely heard it. Perhaps you even reflected on its mendacity. But as not everyone is as attentive as you and I, let’s put it right out there in front of God and everybody. The ominous phrase is …
Dec 28 2022
True Or False?
“Each profession seeks to do what they exist to do. If there are professional politicians they will seek as much power as they can grasp. If there are professional soldiers they will find something to fight and they will do whatever the people who pay them want.” [Mackey Chandler, April] That may …
Dec 18 2022
Politics Uber Alles!
Pournelle’s Iron Law of Bureaucracy states: First, there will be those who are devoted to the goals of the organization. Examples are dedicated classroom teachers in an educational bureaucracy, many of the engineers and launch technicians and scientists at NASA, even some agricultural scientists and advisors in the former Soviet Union collective farming administration. …
Dec 10 2022
“Why Is He Sitting Alone?” A Meditation On Political Affiliation
“Anarchists’ rally disorganized. Film at eleven!” – old gag Have you ever gone to a restaurant for lunch or dinner and seen someone sitting at a table entirely alone? Did you watch him surreptitiously, certain that at any moment his companion – spouse, friend, child, lawyer, what have you – would emerge from …
Nov 10 2022
Reliberating America (UPDATED)
Yesterday’s election news has a great many of us in the Right scratching our heads. This makes no sense, we say to ourselves. People can’t be this stupid. And like John Godfrey Saxe’s blind men who “studied” an elephant, we are partly right and partly wrong. Partly right, in that few people really …
Oct 29 2022
Rising Stars
It’s occurred to me recently that political ascension has come to require physical attractiveness, just as has pop stardom. We have a number of examples before us: Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Kari Lake, Herschel Walker, and Ron DeSantis come to mind at once. But while comeliness seems to have become necessary, it is …
Sep 30 2022
“In What Way Are We Wrong?”
Stephen Kruiser: The Republican party will never be able to accomplish anything significant until it purges what I like to call its “Romney Wing.” There is progress being made in that regard, but the wing’s namesake will eventually have to go. Fran Porretto: What makes you think Republican legislators sincerely want to accomplish …
Aug 25 2022
Partisans Versus Ponderers
By now, the Gentle Readers of Liberty’s Torch will be aware that I’m firmly non-partisan: I hate politics in general, and (pretty much) all who have made it their trade. Nevertheless, it’s largely safe to be around me. This nation of 330,000,000 people has approximately 500,000 elected-official positions: a mere 0.15% of our numbers. …
Aug 04 2022
Using Law To Defeat SJWs
On properly using the law against the lawless: The Governor has the authority under the Florida Constitution to suspend state officials for reasons of misfeasance, malfeasance, neglect of duty, drunkenness, incompetence, permanent inability to perform official duties, or commission of a felony. The Governor has further authority to fill that office by appointment for the …
Jul 27 2022
A Quick Thought
I’ve written many times about political dynamics and the swelling of blatant demagoguery in response to the incentives built into our system of government. Recent developments, especially the increasing degree of cooperation between Democrats and Republicans at destroying our rights and seizing our property, persuade me that the time has come to declare the …
Jul 23 2022
A Timeless Observation
As I’ve recently been re-enjoying the writings of the great Henry Louis Mencken, the Sage of Baltimore – yes, there was a time when Baltimore not only had a Sage but actually produced its own! – I thought it might be appropriate, in this time of troubles, to share a slice from one of …
June is Fidelity Month!
Fran’s Recent Novels
Margaret’s Recent Novels
