December 2010
13 posts
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Niebuhr's Ironic American History
In The Irony of American History, Reinhold Niebuhr compares the American ideology to actual American history and finds that what we believe and say is an ironic contrast to what we actually do. As a part of this examination of the irony of American history, I find Niebuhr’s critique of the rationalist view of man, whether it is of the liberal school (classical or otherwise) or the Marxist...
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Praying For Votes →
As more Latinos gravitate to evangelical churches, the upshot for Texas politics is anything but clear.
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Book Review: The Irony of American History
I finished reading Reinhold Niebuhr’s The Irony of American History on Christmas Eve.
In The Irony of American History, Reinhold Niebuhr compares the American ideology to actual American history and finds that what we believe and say is an ironic contrast to what we actually do. As a part of this examination of the irony of American history, I find Niebuhr’s critique of the...
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2010: Year in Review (by Book)
The Audacity to Win by David Plouffe (2/27)
The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama (3/26)
Lyndon B. Johnson and Modern America by Kevin Fernlund (4/07)
The Power of the Texas Governor by Brian McCall (4/09)
The Return of History and the End of Dreams by Robert Kagan (4/15)
Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington by Thomas Cathcart (4/15)
The Significance of the Frontier in American History...
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Book Review: What They Fought For
In What They Fought For, James McPherson presents us with his study of the correspondence of Confederate and Union soldiers during the Civil War as an examination of what these men believed they were fighting war. There is constant debate about what the Civil War was about and why these men chose to fight, and McPherson presents us words straight from the horse’s mouths. The first chapter...
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Texas to leap forward in Congress →
Influx of Hispanics helps push Lone Star State to big jump in delegation
Gov. Perry did well among Hispanic voters during the 2010 gubernatorial election, and 4 Hispanic Republicans were elected to the Texas House. The 2011 session will be interesting, because it is a redistricting session; however, I doubt the final maps will be drawn by the Legislature, but will once again be drawn by the...
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Forgetting Reinhold Niebuhr →
I am currently reading Reinhold Niebuhr’s The Irony of American History, and in the process of doing some research on Niebuhr, I came across this 2005 article by the late Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. Enjoy.
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Leprosy and Modern Madness
“He is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be.” So says the Judaic law in Leviticus 13, which proscribes the method by which the leper can become clean and re-enter society. Similarly, the insane become outcasts who must be purified and re-assimilated into the sane, rational world.
Michel Foucault, in Madness and Civilization, attempts to show the madman assumed...
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Which Founding Father Are You? →
If you haven’t seen this quiz and taken it yet, here is your chance.
I got James Madison in terms of personality, but philosophically, I am closer aligned to Alexander Hamilton and John Adams (the more I’ve learned about Adams the more I have come to appreciate him).
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Most underrated book
The most underrated book I have read is Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ‘72 by Hunter S. Thompson. In the realm of politics, this is a greatly underrated book (and perhaps among fans of Thompson, but I wouldn’t know that).
Thompson follows the 1972 Presidential campaign from Democratic primary to the party conventions through the general election. It’s a wild ride, but...
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Watch*sigh*
Reasons why I don’t watch cable “news” networks #1,634,587.
This is why I really don’t have much use for Keith Olbermann. He says the GOP is a “wholly owned subsidiary of the TEA Party,” which really ignores a lot of what is going on. The party switchers, whether or not you agree with how they switched, are not TEA Party candidates. And if the TEA Party...
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Why a lobbyist as a chief of staff isn’t... →
The Hill was the first to report that lobbyists are being hired by the freshman class, a story which others later followed. The consensus seems to be that newly elected congressional reformers are hypocritical in hiring institutional influence as their chief advisors. This assumption is wrong.
