Midlife Meditation

Senator Mitt Romney explaining his "guilty" vote. Let's be absolutely clear on this: I am not a Romney fan. I did not, in 2012, vote for Mitt Romney in his presidential bid, nor would I ever vote for Romney for any office, full stop. On issue after issue, I am, and always have been, diametrically opposed to the things Romney stands for. But on Wednesday morning, as he announced why, on principle, he had to vote to convict an outlaw president who was the leader of his own party, my brother Mitt spoke for me. I'm also not a huge Nancy Pelosi fan. In interviews, I've heard her flog Democratic talking points, often ignoring whatever question the interviewer just asked her. When Democrats took the House back in 2018, I very much wanted her to step aside and open up the Speaker position to someone younger and less white. Many of her more institutional positions, particularly on economic and military policy, give me pause. But Tuesday night, tearing ...

Once and future Presidential candidate Rick Santorum doesn't like hearing about Christianity's dark side. He's not alone. Nine days ago, in his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast, President Obama committed blasphemy: he spoke about the atrocities committed by terrorists in the name of Islam--this wasn't the blasphemy--and then made note of Christianity's long history of waging campaigns of violence against unbelievers, persons of other faiths, and even against other Christians who differed from the majority in terms of skin color, language, or interpretation of the Gospel. The President was not slandering the faith. All the crimes against humanity he referred to--and he did it in as diplomatic a manner as it is possible to say such things, short of simply not saying them at all--are well-documented historical truths, some of them taking place within his own lifetime. Truthful and diplomatic though these remarks might be, simply saying them was enough t...