First Principles

In search of the Unified Theory of Conservatism

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Entries from July 2008

Worst Day Ever

July 29th, 2008 · 1 Comment

Today was the first day of the bar exam here in Nevada, and just the remembering of that day a year ago for me a year ago is enough to send terrified shivers down my spine. I still have nightmares that I never really passed, and that I’d have to do it all over again. […]

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Tags: Silliness

Batman and Bush

July 26th, 2008 · Comments Off on Batman and Bush

I came across this video today via the Politico.  Not only did it crack me up, but it reminded me why I still like Bush, on the whole.

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Tags: George Bush · Movies · Silliness

Barack Obama’s Magic Weather Machine

July 25th, 2008 · 1 Comment

Barack Obama’s speech today in Germany was, even before he gave it, the epitome of chutzpah in action.  He’s not the president yet, and yet here he was, acting the part. Who is this junior Senator, whose accomplishments to date have all been verbs with only one subject (himself) and no object?  He organized.  He […]

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Tags: Obama

Liberalism v. Humans, With a Side of Salad

July 23rd, 2008 · 4 Comments

A friend of mine sent me a rather amusing article in National Review this morning, teasing PETA for their inconsistent and somewhat hypocritical stand on the whole “meat is murder” thing.  The piece cited a study noting that farming vegetable products actually kills far more animals (field mice and such) than raising livestock does, counted […]

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Tags: Animal Rights · Principles

Quote of the Day

July 12th, 2008 · 1 Comment

After skewering the origins and logic of hippy bumper stickers “Dissent is the Highest Form of Patriotism” and “Patriotism is the Last Refuge of Scoundrels,” the New York Post’s Ralph Peters takes on Obama’s campaign sloganeering: My fellow Americans, there is nothing audacious about hope. Hope is what makes people buy lottery tickets instead of […]

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Tags: Obama · Quotes of the Day

Who’s Really Evil, Anyway?

July 10th, 2008 · Comments Off on Who’s Really Evil, Anyway?

Today Slate columnist Camille Paglia, in responding to a reader’s letter complaining about her “moral relativism,” had the following to say: What makes me uneasy in your argument is the Manichean polarization between “good guys” and “bad guys” among world governments. In my view, such stark moral absolutes do not exist, except from a fundamentalist […]

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Tags: Principles

Military Records – Fair Game

July 5th, 2008 · 2 Comments

Wesley Clark was an enormous gas bag and a fool the other day when he commented “Well, I don’t think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president.”  But the resulting outrage on the right and the flagelation of the left was mostly misplaced, in my view.  Wesely […]

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Tags: John McCain · Military Service