By Daniel N. White. Introduction by William Astore. The current count of American service members killed in the Afghan War stands at 2245. What did they die for? For most Americans the answer remains unclear. Also unclear is why, nearly twelve years into this war, the U.S. military continues to maintain a large (and…
W.J. Astore I have a friend who speaks with great authority on life. Not only is he a topnotch historian, but he’s lived a life rooted to reality, a life in which he’s demonstrated great generosity of spirit. He wrote recently to me about what he considers to be the acid test of a person’s…
W.J. Astore I have conservative friends (Yes, I do!) who express disfavor with higher education. They see higher ed as being in lockstep with liberal/leftist agendas. Things like gay marriage, aggressive feminism, multiculturalism, and diversity that focuses not on wide-ranging political views but on the politics of gender and race. They further see higher ed…
A friend of mine knew the big wigs at a leading manufacturer of agricultural equipment back in the late 1960s. He recalls reading an article back then in the Wall Street Journal about the company being sued for the deaths of farmers. The gas tanks on some of their tractors were exploding because they were…
b. traven John Kerry, America’s Secretary of State, has spent the last four months cobbling together a new Palestinian-Israeli peace process charade. To this end, he’s appointed Martin Indyk as his “Special Envoy for Israeli-Palestinian (Peace) Negotiations.” Why has the U.S. media failed to assess this appointment in any critical way? If Indyk had been Muslim…
b. traven Even Dubya couldn’t get it right. Remember when George W. Bush was fooling us every few weeks with his color-coded “Red” and “Orange” security alerts? They didn’t scare the terrorists, but they did frighten most Americans into accepting another of his assaults against our constitutional rights. Now we see Obama trying the same…
By Don Rose. Introduction by b. traven. Don Rose is the quintessential Chicago political consultant and insider. His analysis of the rule of Obama’s former Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel over Chicago as Mayor may tell us a lot about the real agenda of the current presidential administration. Next to Rahm Emanuel, Arne Duncan as…
W.J. Astore Hannah Arendt, the famous philosopher and author of The Origins of Totalitarianism, wrote that “thoughtlessness“–the inability of people to think deeply and critically and reflectively–was a defining characteristic of our times. Thoughtlessness is characterized by the repetition of certain “truths,” often defined by the state, that are not meant to be questioned. Contemporary examples…
b. traven That old black magic has us in its spell, that old black magic that we know so well. Yes, that old black magic called SEX! With Anthony Weiner (AKA “Carlos Danger”) and his “sexting” now in the spotlight again we have to ask why that old black magic often works differently for liberal Democrats…
W.J. Astore In the New York Times on July 20, Major General H.R. McMaster penned a revealing essay on “The Pipe Dream of Easy War.” McMaster made three points about America’s recent wars and military interventions: 1. In stressing new technology as being transformative, the American military neglected the political side of war. They forgot…
The Contrary Perspective 