tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-224195682011-08-09T07:58:32.570-05:00Reflections on American public life from a perspective that has gone out of fashion.New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.comBlogger401100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-17254304403658529242011-03-12T13:30:00.000-06:002011-03-13T01:11:49.000-06:00

From the Heritage Foundation and reason.tv: Hat tip to the View from Chaos Manor.

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-45071439399448397012010-11-11T11:11:00.003-06:002010-11-11T14:43:50.307-06:00

With the current President of the United States otherwise occupied this Veterans Day, we offer — in honor of my father, who served in Europe during World War Two — the remarks offered for this occasion 49 years ago at Arlington National Cemetery by another young President. Tip o' the hat to the Rev. Canon Kendall Harmon at TitusOneNine.Remarks by President John F. KennedyVeterans Day National

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-47805811344073411572010-10-30T16:52:00.005-05:002010-10-30T17:36:39.473-05:00

When I was a young teen, we would play games with dice and boards. War games by Avalon Hill like Stalingrad, Waterloo, or D-Day. Long before "fantasy leagues," I created a baseball season using baseball board game, with dice and drawing cards. Then came computers, and the boards started to disappear, especially as computer games began to get graphics.The following returns us to a mid-point in

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-55344977259774368902010-03-22T21:22:00.007-05:002010-03-22T21:50:18.214-05:00

Representative Tom Price (R-Georgia), as quoted from the floor of the House of Representatives on the PBS Newshour today, describes best the meaning of the passage of "health care reform" last night: Madam Speaker, it's raining here in Washington today. It's raining because our founders are weeping. Our founders are weeping over the incredible vote taken yesterday that was an affront to

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-87975094579741755532010-01-26T21:37:00.003-06:002010-01-26T21:54:34.923-06:00

Jerry Pournelle puts forth the best possible 2010 Republican slogan: Limited Government and This Time We Really Mean It. Read more here at today's Chaos Manor.

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-48428335248492693892010-01-23T22:42:00.006-06:002010-01-23T22:58:24.986-06:00

Hat tip to Chaos Manor Mail.

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-49231348617728147082009-06-26T18:40:00.010-05:002009-07-04T12:19:25.917-05:00

Last autumn I posted a commentary by the Governor of South Carolina that began, I am worried for our country... A bit further on, he writes, For 200 years, the "business model" in our country has rested on a simple fact: that while one may reap rewards from taking risks, one should also be prepared to face the consequences of those risks. This week Gov. Mark Sanford is facing the consequences

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-43982172121136450432009-06-05T19:20:00.010-05:002009-06-05T19:41:54.259-05:00

Those of us raised during the Cold War will find the following, well as Jerry Pournelle says (hat tip), "it is astonishing." It's from Pravda. Yes, Pravda! spt+ American capitalism gone with a whimperIt must be said, that like the breaking of a great dam, the American decent into Marxism is happening with breath taking speed, against the back drop of a passive, hapless sheeple, excuse me dear

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-13677645620134120262009-04-29T20:07:00.007-05:002010-03-22T21:54:58.313-05:00

It's not that I've no Whiggish reflections since last November. If anything, there's simply too much to comment upon. The Panic of 2008 continues. Republicans rightly (but without much effect) oppose the Obama Administration's exponential expansion of the Bush Administration's foolish "solutions," but are unable to express anything positive -- largely because they can have no credibilty until

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-37662934229954175692008-11-11T00:14:00.003-06:002008-11-11T00:46:07.682-06:00

Congressman Paul Ryan from Wisconsin offers this advice in this Wall Street Journal commentary:Take Some Political RisksAfter two straight electoral defeats, it is time for a substantial party shake-up. We don't need a feather duster; we need a fire hose.We need to be honest about the root causes of our current financial crisis: loose money, crony capitalism and a lack of market transparency and

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-85964062757754174352008-10-06T14:59:00.002-05:002008-10-06T15:40:34.813-05:00

"It's a terrible bill, but we have to do something!" Congress cried last week. You'd think I could have come up with the above headline a couple of weeks ago and called it in to my Congresscritter (who, not running for re-election didn't give a whit for my "please don't vote for the bailout" phone call and voted for it both times -- then again, the entire point of Mr. LaHood's political career

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-19006081737511569462008-10-04T15:00:00.002-05:002008-10-04T15:41:03.737-05:00

The first sentence of Section 7 of Article 1 of the United States Constitution reads:All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills. How, then, did this week's bailout ("rescue"), which originated in the Senate (having first failed in the House of Representatives) become law? Note that this is

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-75966104785455306502008-09-29T00:46:00.004-05:002008-09-29T01:04:40.528-05:00

The Republican Liberty Caucus is much more libertarian than Whig. Nevertheless, their critique of how we got into the current financial crisis and the proposed "solutions" offers some important warnings."NO Bailout for Failure, NO Rescue from Risk," says Republican GroupThousand Oaks, CA - A national caucus of Republican activists has urged GOP legislators to stand firm against the "Paulson

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-52337492998277542062008-09-27T13:49:00.004-05:002008-09-27T14:20:19.407-05:00

One of my childhood records was Bill Hayes' "The Ballad of Davy Crockett," the third stanza of which isHe went off to Congress and served a spellFixin' up the Government and the laws as wellTook over Washington, so I heard tellAnd he patched up the crack in the Liberty BellDavy, Davy Crockett, seeing his duty clearBut I never really thought about Davy Crockett as a Congressman until, during my

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-77214321029414171672008-09-26T14:29:00.005-05:002011-01-12T20:25:27.586-06:00

For more on the economic side of the current financial crisis, you might check my main Pastor Zip's Blog. Here in the Washington Post Republican Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina raises very important questions of what the responses to the emergencies of the last few years mean for the Republic. As you read it note this: the pattern of federalizing crisis response started long before 9/11 or

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-12099837591944247672008-09-20T10:19:00.003-05:002008-09-20T11:18:24.649-05:00

"ISLAMIC law has been officially adopted in Britain, with sharia courts given powers to rule on Muslim civil cases." Thus begins this story from last Sunday's edition of The Sunday Times. I'll post more in a moment, but when you read it note most especially how Shaira law has come to be implemented in the United Kingdom. Then ask yourself, could this happen in the United States?Revealed: UK’s

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-81230516153523278752008-06-21T15:31:00.001-05:002008-06-21T15:34:06.641-05:00

I wrote this in the very beginning of February, but for some reason I never posted it. Now that the 40th anniversary (40th? No way!) of RFK's assassination — immediately after winning the June 4 California primary made him the leading candidate for the Democratic Party's 1968 presidential nomination — has been observed, it seems timely once again to post this -- as the pundits are desperately

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-50277198725076449612008-06-09T16:35:00.007-05:002011-01-12T20:35:47.489-06:00

Or: Denial ain't just a river in Egypt.*The New York Times editorialized on Friday:The Truth About the WarIt took just a few months after the United States’ invasion of Iraq for the world to find out that Saddam Hussein had long abandoned his nuclear, biological and chemical weapons programs. He was not training terrorists or colluding with Al Qaeda. The only real threat he posed was to his own

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-25585100063246353832008-06-07T00:15:00.001-05:002008-06-07T02:02:49.340-05:00

Following is a review of Ron Paul's book, The Revolution: A Manifesto, by David Gordon, senior fellow of the Ludwig von Mises Institute and editor of The Mises Review. It's kind of strange to suggest that the establishment in 2008 of constitutional government in these United States would be "revolutionary." If Dr. Paul's book is half as eloquent as this review, I agree: it is a must read.The

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-58473325309851392382008-06-06T15:10:00.003-05:002008-06-06T16:34:56.234-05:00

At the close of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, as the delegates departed Independence Hall, a woman stopped Benjamin Franklin and asked, "Well, Doctor, what have we got—a Republic or a Monarchy?"“A Republic, if you can keep it,” Franklin replied. (Bartleby.com)I thought of that a couple of weeks ago as I read the opening of Howard Mintz' article in the May 22 edition of San Jose Mercury

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-25475131874593860502008-05-24T12:48:00.005-05:002008-05-24T15:16:36.688-05:00

The following editorial appeared in the Wall Street Journal in response to the California Supreme Court's creation of gay marriage. Before you read it, you may want to read the post on my other blog, "Talking about Marriage and Our Culture", or my observation here about comments made by the Episcopal Bishop of San Diego. The WSJ's headline for letters responding to this editorial seems to get

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-58517047587868588802008-05-20T00:15:00.002-05:002008-05-20T00:41:26.512-05:00

A week-old news flash from the Jewish World Review:Bill Clinton Switches to ObamaBy Andy BorowitzLatest Superdelegate Defection for Hillaryhttp://www.JewishWorldReview.com | In what some Democratic Party insiders are calling a particularly ominous sign for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, former president Bill Clinton today became the latest superdelegate to switch from Sen. Clinton to

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-3314234247785725102008-05-07T18:47:00.006-05:002011-01-12T20:37:15.849-06:00

A Bloomberg report today is headlined, "Clinton Loaned Her Campaign $6.4 Million, Aide Says." The current iteration of the story begins: Hillary Clinton has loaned her Democratic presidential bid $6.4 million since April 11, bringing her personal investment in her campaign this year to $11.4 million.Clinton gave her campaign $5 million on April 11, $1 million on May 1 and $425,000 on May 5,

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-51082727249404231662008-03-11T00:32:00.003-05:002011-01-12T20:40:18.068-06:00

When reading the following in the February 2008 issue of First Things, I immediately thought of my 26-year-old State Representative who was then running in the Republican primary for the seat being vacated by Congressman Ray LaHood -- a seat previously held by the likes of Bob Michel and Everett Dirkson. This was the kind of thing any Congressman needed to read, especially one who could be at

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-36034980056761955712008-01-11T21:57:00.000-06:002008-01-11T23:17:29.622-06:00

This is the National Public Radio lead on the Marion Jones story:Track star Marion Jones was sentenced Friday to six months in prison for lying about using steroids, and two months concurrently for her role in a check-fraud scheme. The sentencing judge said Jones' punishment should send a message to athletes who cheat with performance-enhancing drugs.Here's the Bloomberg.com lead:Marion Jones,

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-51630164214807655002007-12-14T16:46:00.000-06:002007-12-14T18:49:17.683-06:00

Personal moral failings (which rightly led to his fall from office) aside, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has been one of very few men or women in American politics in the last generation who has consistently come up with, or popularized, good ideas that, if implemented, would lead to positive solutions to many of our most serious problems. Thoughtful, optimistic, and frequently right, Mr.

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-870765055030674332007-11-14T23:00:00.000-06:002007-11-15T00:12:55.409-06:00

In the (current) December 2007 issue of First Things, Hadley Arkes offers a compelling essay on what the cost of nominating and electing former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani as President by the Republican Party would be. I won't pretend to know how American Whigs would have stood regarding today's "life issues." This was, after all, a party that failed to survive the slavery debate. But

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-80893887747276846602007-11-12T23:36:00.000-06:002007-11-13T00:36:17.309-06:00

It seems to be a time for conservative soul searching. Last Wednesday OpinionJournal - Federation reprinted an essay by William Voegeli in the Fall 2007 Claremont Review of Books, where he describes the accomplishments (or the lack therof) of US conservatives since the Reagan Revolution. My title comes from this line from late in the essay: "Between 1981 and 2006, conservatives made the least

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-73992391101670193052007-09-27T09:07:00.000-05:002007-09-27T16:37:58.466-05:00

The Intercollegiate Review first appeared in my mailbox some 30 years ago -- presumedly they got my address from Youth for Reagan after we went to the 1976 Republican National Convention in Kansas City to work for Gov. Reagan. Subtitled "A Journal of Scholarship & Opinion," it is published twice during the academic year by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute to provide "a thoughtful and

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-58948331105177096042007-09-13T01:01:00.001-05:002011-01-12T20:52:30.098-06:00

...doesn't mean I don't have something to say. But I have other priorities, some of which you'll see on my other blog. I was reminded not long ago, though, that there are some folks who are actually interested in what I have to say on this blog. I do have in my head, though not yet written down, a piece on the state of the Illinois Republican Party. Back in June I was invited to a special

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-39246381762616462852007-07-04T22:33:00.000-05:002007-07-04T22:49:38.296-05:00

Go ahead. Take some time to read it. All of it.IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of AmericaWhen in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-70619107079829829052007-06-22T15:46:00.000-05:002007-09-01T13:00:14.810-05:00

The immigration debate continues to be depressing in just so many ways, caught up as it is in the middle of so many different issues -- "homeland security," welfare and runaway healthcare costs, employment and unemployment, nativism, "law and order," and just general discontent. While some of the details change, the argument goes back a long time in American politics. (Not just the "Yellow

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-56153577655285501132007-02-28T01:32:00.000-06:002007-02-28T01:41:15.833-06:00

Tuesday was the Primary Election for Peoria's at-large City Council seats. 14 candidates were to be narrowed down to 10 for the April 17 General Election where 5 will be elected. One of the TV stations reports a less-than 10% voter turnout.I voted at about 3:30 pm and was the 11th person to vote in my precinct.

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-1164408758220459582006-11-24T14:50:00.001-06:002011-01-12T20:57:57.631-06:00

On Tuesday over at The Remedy, the blog of The Claremont Institute for the Study of Statesmanship and Political Philosophy, Richard Samuelson writes about one of the men who is being talked about as a potential candidate for the 2008 Republican Party's nominee for President of these United States:Romney Gets ItAt Claremont we study statesmanship. One of the main elements of statesmanship in our

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-1164226420852205732006-11-22T14:10:00.000-06:002006-11-22T14:14:43.946-06:00

The President of the United States has proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving:Thanksgiving Day, 2006 A Proclamation by the President of the United States of AmericaAs Americans gather with family and friends to celebrate Thanksgiving Day, we give thanks for the many ways that our Nation and our people have been blessed.The Thanksgiving tradition dates back to the earliest days of our society,

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-1161581334681184372006-10-22T22:52:00.000-05:002006-11-30T19:07:32.550-06:00

Dr. Jerry Pournelle, over at Chaos Manor, described well last Friday the dilemma some of us face in the upcoming General Election:True WhigRush Limbaugh is running a diatribe against "Cut and Run Conservatives" and thinks there are none since no one calls in to passionately defend the notion of allowing the Republicans to lose as a lesson to them. He is wrong, of course. There are many

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-1160024478564941242006-10-04T23:53:00.000-05:002006-10-05T00:03:14.050-05:00

Jerry Pournelle over at The View from Chaos Manor offers a brief, but insightful, comment on the sudden crash of Rep. Tom Foley's (R-Fla.) political career. I'll copy one paragraph, but you can read it all here.Whatever one's views on homosexuality -- in Washington DC the age of consent is 16 so there doesn't appear to be anything illegal here -- it's certainly not part of the mainstream culture

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-1156293714554091192006-08-22T17:47:00.004-05:002011-01-12T21:02:42.123-06:00

American Whigs took that name to signify the republican resisitance to the monarchical despotism of President Andrew Jackson -- what we might call today the "Imperial Presidency." So it would seem strange to remember today Richard III, the last Plantagent King of England, whose popular reputation has been that of usurper and tyrant. Well, as an historian, Shakespeare is marvelous playwright. (

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-1152381850300061412006-07-08T13:04:00.001-05:002011-01-12T21:09:06.155-06:00

As the immigration debate continues, I find some unusually helpful comments over at Lincoln & Liberty, where blogger Bill Cork reminds us that the Old Testament prophets speak quite clearly of the Judeo-Christian attitude to "the alien in your land." I was born and raised to adulthood in the West San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, as was my father before me. In the '50s-'60s, the Valley was

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22419568.post-1139884871525490582006-02-13T20:03:00.000-06:002006-09-04T00:58:08.873-05:00

The American Whig Party emerged in the 1830s in response to the nascent "executive tyranny" of President Andrew Jackson. While the Whigs disappeared two decades later as the United States traveled down the road to Civil War, what hasn't disappeared is the tension between those who would use the Republic to uphold the liberties enshrined in our Constitution and those who would use that same

New Whighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07916010006703549688noreply@blogger.com2