History

I'm not going to watch the video of American journalist James Foley being beheaded. At one time in my life, I probably would have, giving some justification about "needing to see what evil looks like," but in reality just indulging in the ghoulish voyeurism of the young. Today, I don't need to be reminded of what evil looks like; we've experienced too much of it to not recognize it.

Did the Supreme Court already settle the gay marriage issue, way back in 1972?

A whole lot of judges who are being asked to decide whether states may ban same-sex couples from marrying think the Supreme Court clearly gave them the answer last year: no.

This is how insane the United Nations has become:

A fascinating look at Vietnam today by an observant and articulate journalist:

For most of my adult life, I have been, A) touting the Apollo moon program as an example of what government initiative can accomplish, even when motivated by something as crass as "beating the Russians" and, B) lamenting the fact that we did such an amazing thing, then just quit on the whole space thing. Now, on the 45th anniversary (plus one day), Rand Simberg connects the dots on those two things in a way that never occurred to me:

This is thhe 50th anniversary of Barry Goldwater's famous speech accepting the GOP presidential nomination. The most quoted line from that speech, is of course:

"I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue."

But he also said:

Secretary of State Lurch, in a talk overseas:

I get always a little uptight when I hear politicians say how exceptional we are – not because we’re not exceptional, but because it’s kind of in-your-face and a lot of other people are exceptional, a lot of other places do exceptional things.

Buzz Aldrin has come up with my new favorite phrase: "Magnificent desolation":

Don't panic, conservatives. The world isn't leaving you behind:

Did you catch the tribute to Howard Baker on the Saturday Journal Gazette editoiral page

Indeed, the Senate’s ability to deal effectively with the infamous 1972 break-in and the related dirty tricks that came to light in 1973 and 1974 was due in part to Baker’s willingness to let the investigation findwhat needed to be found.