Outcomes
This morning Victoria and I walked by a sign bearing a locally famous name. “I dated his daughter a couple of times,” I told her. At the time, I thought I could have married rich. We’ve been married...
View ArticleIs Elizabeth Warren too conservative for America?
In the eighteenth century the French centralized despotism was viewed as the vehicle of reform and progress; only conservatives such as Montesquieu could see advantages in what was generally held to be...
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Grieving
With eyes closed, I am talking to a quite lively ghost.[1. Mary McCarthy in the postface to Hannah Arendt’s The Life of the Mind] My father died the morning of December 1. He would have been 95 this...
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Prove your humanity
Every time we log onto our blogs, we WordPress bloggers (the .org ones, anyway) are required to prove our humanity. The solution of a simple addition problem constitutes acceptable proof. It seems a...
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The unvanquished
Last night we bought a bed. Before we did, we had a date. The salmon was as good as I’ve ever had. It lay on a wonderful reduction. She had trout crusted with parmesan and ate it all. Our waiter was an...
View ArticleSchool, government . . . the whole bit
The seventy-two came back jubilant. “In your name, Lord,” they said, “even the demons submit to us.” “Wup woo,” Jesus replied. “I saw Satan fall, like lightning, from heaven. And I have given you the...
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Stolen voices
Victoria and I talked this morning about our fears of not being heard. For my part, I’ve been working on a book that I may or may not ever finish. I’ll let Victoria speak for herself. Hannah Arendt’s...
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The church rescues Il Duce
In June of 1924, Mussolini was in trouble. Fascist thugs with ties to him had murdered Italy’s top Socialist parliamentarian, Giacomo Matteotti. The public assumed that Mussolini had ordered it, and...
View ArticleAnd heaven and nature
When people ask me for prayer, sometimes it bugs me. This morning, after years of my feeling this way, Meister Eckhart offers me an explanation: People often say to me: “Pray for me!” Then I think:...
View ArticleHave you never read?
They were indignant and asked him, ‘Do you hear what they are saying?’ Jesus answered, ‘I do. Have you never read the text, “You have made children and babes at the breast sound your praise aloud”?’ –...
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