Year: 2012

Harvard professor and Manliness author Harvey C. Mansfield opined, “We are attracted to the manly man because he imparts some of his confidence to everyone else.” Manly men–past and present–have captivated the world with their talents, leadership, oratory skills, and virility. They are strong, protective, and brave. They are fathers, gentlemen, husbands, friends, and neighbors. […]

The authenticity of conservative women has always been under attack by radical orthodox feminists, but perhaps not as brazenly as by someone with such direct and frequent access to the corridors of the White House message machine as Hilary B. Rosen. The D.C. career lobbyist and Democratic media strategist took to CNN’s airwaves this week […]

President Obama’s re-election largely hinges on his ability to play young voters for suckers — again — and whether Mitt Romney will let him. In 2008, Obama won the youth vote by better than a 2-1 margin, 66 percent to 32 percent. Even more impressive, he actually expanded the share of young voters going to […]

Though everyone is talking about Democratic strategist and Obama confidant Hilary Rosen’s insolent remarks about Ann Romney, I want to discuss them, too, because they reveal her leftist mindset. Rosen didn’t misspeak; she spoke deliberately and with passion. And when given a chance to retract or soften her remarks, she doubled down — at least […]

The poobahs of our popular culture never seem happy unless they’re taking entertainment down to the “next level” of deviancy. When they undertake remakes of Hollywood classics — especially the comedies — that’s when you see how far we’ve fallen. The forthcoming modern-day adaptation of “The Three Stooges” isn’t going to be a celebration of […]

In a fast-changing world, a common mistake is to keep fighting the last war. For example, why would Republicans support sending more troops to Afghanistan, when that war was long over, or helping topple Moammar Gadhafi, who had become an ally in the war on terrorism? Some Republicans seem to support all military deployments just […]

In 2008, a mostly unknown Barack Obama ran for president on an inclusive agenda of “hope and change.” That upbeat message was supposed to translate into millions of green jobs, fiscal sobriety, universal health care, a resetting of Bush foreign policy, and racial unity. Four years later, none of those promises will be themes of […]

“I don’t know any polite way of putting this — but he’s lying,” said professor John Ellis, president of the National Association of Scholars’ California division. Ellis was reacting to a critic’s characterization of the NAS’s damning report, “A Crisis of Competence: The Corrupting Effect of Political Activism in the University of California.” California taxpayers […]

Most campaigns have a musical theme. Rick Santorum, who “suspended” his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination on Tuesday, might have selected the song “The Impossible Dream.” Santorum’s dream seemed improbable, if not impossible, from the start. He lost his last Senate race and had been out of office — and out of mind — […]

“Godfather” director Francis Ford Coppola is a big shot — and not just in the film world. As a vintner and restaurateur, Coppola apparently sees himself as the: capo di tutti capi: — the boss of all bosses — who owns the Italian dictionary. Last year, Coppola won a U.S. trademark for the phrase “a tavola” — […]

Immediately after his astonishing finish in the Iowa Caucuses (which he turned out to have won), Rick Santorum could have won the nomination and the presidency. But he got lost in the Evangelical Ghetto. Short of money and needing an organization, Santorum grabbed the support offered by the Christian right. Suddenly, he had available to […]