From “Born to Run” to “Born in the USA,” “Darkness on the Edge of Town” to “Human Touch,” Bruce Springsteen has brought his brand of rock from the streets of New Jersey to the farms of the heartland, speaking to the American experience as a poet with a six-string. For more than 40 years, he has carried the torch of rock-and-roll to millions of fans, and now he’s headed back on tour, this time with a new song that, believe it or not, speaks to conservative values. Sure, it might seem … More
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Yesterday, Barack Obama became the second President to use a speech in Osawatomie, Kansas, as an opportunity to take on the mantle of a previous President. President Obama evoked the memory of Theodore Roosevelt, who gave his famous “New Nationalism” speech laced with the now-rote themes in political rhetoric: “special interests,” the necessity of regulating corporations, and the clear distinction between human rights and property rights. Roosevelt was also playing presidential dress-up: he invoked the legacy of Abraham Lincoln to justify transforming America from its founding principles, in particular the … More
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This week is a time of giving thanks, and one of the most treasured gifts for which many Americans are thankful is freedom. In the West, freedom lies at the center of an inherited tradition that goes by the name “liberal,” from the Latin liber, meaning “free.” To sustain genuine freedom, we bear the responsibility of understanding the roots of this tradition and preserving it from error, perversion, and decay. Today in Washington, D.C., the word liberal carries connotations of big government and left-leaning political ideology. The same is probably … More
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