The rise of reverse gaslighting
We live now in an age of reverse gaslighting. Ordinary gaslighting — the term was popularized by the 1944 movie Gaslight —…
Kangaroo courts and bills of attainder
I want to talk about two things in this column: bills of attainder and kangaroo courts. The two often go…
A French symposium
Just as night watchmen are constrained by duty to make their rounds, so are writers about wine. Sometimes the rounds…
What America should heed from Julius Caesar’s assassination
It being the Ides of March, I thought it might be worth reflecting briefly on the most famous event that…
Joe Biden and the war on truth
I had been told that Joe Biden, the president of the United States, would be delivering the 2024 State of…
The people should decide on Donald Trump, not the courts
In a big victory for democracy, but a big blow to the partisans of ‘Our Democracy™’, the Supreme Court of…
2024 and the invasion at the southern border
Donald Trump crushed the New Hampshire primary, as every poll in Alpha Centauri predicted he would. Nevertheless, his sole remaining…
Republicans show their fecklessness with Mayorkas
What is decadence? In popular usage, it is synonymous with “excess,” especially of a sensual or appetitive nature. I am…
The course of the American empire
In the 1830s, the English-born American artist Thomas Cole painted an ambitious sequence of five large rectangular canvases delineating “The…
Trump’s big Iowa win spells the end for Ron DeSantis
Until now, the person who won the Iowa caucus by the largest margin was Bob Dole back in 1988 –…
Trump trounces everyone in Iowa
Numbers are mysterious things. According to orthodox Roman Catholicism, there are instances in which 3 = 1. You might get…
Claudine Gay was bad for Harvard, but Harvard is bad for the country
I advise you to have a bottle of Dramamine on hand before reading Claudine Gay’s nauseating missive announcing her resignation as president…
When will Harvard give Claudine Gay the boot?
You are probably almost as sick of hearing about Claudine Gay — as of this writing, still the president of…
The looming Lenin comeback
The year 2024 marks the centenary of Vladimir Lenin’s death. In April of that year, the consummate communist, having blighted…
The disgraceful, ducking, diving, dodging college presidents
It was a clarifying moment, wasn’t it? The presidents of MIT, Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania testifying for the House…
Vivek is right: America is devolving into tyranny
Many commentators (including yours truly) have pointed out that America is divided more now than it has been since the late…
Hamas and retaking higher education
Maybe there is something for which we have to thank Hamas after all. That savage terror group epitomizes the latest…
The changing season brings a change in politics
If you are paying attention, you know that nature is full of inklings and adumbrations. I am writing in New…
What hath Matt Gaetz wrought by tipping over the House apple cart?
What’s worse than chaos? How about a power vacuum? All the beautiful people are bewailing the ouster of Kevin McCarthy as speaker…
Why dry Sauternes are the next big thing
It is my sense that the popularity of sweet wines like Sauternes, Port, Tokaji and all the German Auslese wines…
Joe Biden has become a global embarrassment
What time is it? A bit like the emperor Domitian, Joe Biden seems confused about the time. Warned by an omen…
It’s always Chablis weather
It is very hot here in New England at the end of July. It was hot a week or two…
Has America lapsed into a gerontocracy?
Although I write at high summer, by the time you read this another school year will be upon us. I…
Trump’s interview blows the Republican debate away
One of the reasons that Donald Trump is so despised by the beautiful people of America – the people that…
David Bruce, a doctor in the vines
Every good vintner deserves a good origin story. David Bruce, the founder of the eponymous winery in the Santa Cruz…
