“In this life we get nothing save by effort.”
Theodore Roosevelt, “In Praise of the Strenuous Life,” in William Bennett The Book of Virtues
“just as historians tell us that Richard I was not fit to fill the shoes of bold Henry II – and that Richard Cromwell was not fit to wear the mantle of his uncle – they might add in future years that Richard Nixon did not measure to the footsteps of Dwight D. Eisenhower.”
John F. Kennedy’s nomination acceptance speech July 16, 1960 (the irony being that the metaphor only works if we have some idea who these people were, yet JFK didn’t realize Richard “Tumble-Down Dick” Cromwell was not Oliver’s nephew but his son, or that Oliver Cromwell’s “mantle” is not something you would want to have fit you).
In my latest NP Platformed newsletter I say Whoopi Goldberg’s racially insensitive and obtuse comments on the Holocaust might actually help us move back toward sanity on race, and on cancel culture as well.
In my latest National Post column I say Trudeau’s mean-spirited, partisan remarks about the truckers’ convoy reflect a chronically divisive approach at a time when Canadians need a respectful exchange of ideas not a surly exchange of insults.
In my latest National Post column I say the reason official Ottawa is so inert in the face of rising inflation, beyond the usual smugness, is that if interest rates go up public borrowing will become unsustainable. (As in the US, where it’s beyond the more general issue of rage rather than Canadian-style complacency paralyzing debate.)
In my latest Epoch Times column, I say the plan to help Ukraine fight off Russian aggression by striking a committee to ponder helping fund an ammunition factory someday is a classically feeble Canadian government response to a real-world problem.
“From his $1,200 haircuts to his personal war on poverty, proclaimed from the porch of his 28,000-square-foot home, purchased with the proceeds of preposterous lawsuits exploiting infant cerebral palsy, [US Democratic Senator, presidential contender and John Kerry’s 2004 running mate, John] Edwards is living proof that history can play out as tragedy and farce simultaneously.”
Theo Caldwell in National Post December 27, 2007
In my latest National Post column I say that politicians and voters need to make a New Year’s resolution to think about why bad things are happening and how to stop or reduce them instead of just wishing them away.