Keith Burgess-Jackson

Here is a blog for your consideration.

Here is Elizabeth Drew’s essay “The War in Washington,” from the latest issue of The New York Review of Books. Key paragraph:

In any event, Bush is fighting a political phony war over “funding the troops”: Congress will supply the money for the troops in Iraq. When it does, he will undoubtedly claim a great victory. But the wars over Iraq between the Democratic Congress and the President, and within the Democratic Party, as well as within Iraq itself, aren’t going to end any time soon.

Let’s get out.

You’ve got to love law professor Ann Althouse. First she calls Brian Leiter a “jackass,” and now she calls Keith Olbermann a “gasbag.” Truer words were never spoken.

Here is Peggy Noonan’s latest column. Here is Peg Kaplan’s latest post. (Okay, next to latest.)

Here.

A man may put his trust in something which, on balance, he does not believe to exist. A man in prison may be told that he will be rescued by ‘The Big Chief’ from the outer yard of the prison, if he can get there at night. On balance the prisoner does not believe this rumour; he does not think there is any such Big Chief. But the rumour has some plausibility; and the prisoner has no other hope of escaping. So he steals a file, files away the bars of his cell, and squeezes through the cell window to get into the outer yard of the prison. He is liable to be punished when all this is discovered, unless by then he has succeeded in escaping. The prisoner is not inappropriately described as putting his trust in the Big Chief.

(Richard Swinburne, Faith and Reason [Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1981], 167)

To the Editor:

Yes, it was my “highly educated” brain that made a career possible and then found a way to juggle it with a baby at home—at least for a while.

So if Linda Hirshman concedes my powers this far, then why doesn’t she respect my later choice to stay home? It came from the very same brain, trained and experienced as it is in making complex decisions.

And then there’s this other thing—quite hard to measure by units: I just like being with my kids.

Catherine Baker-Wingfield
Arlington, Va., April 25, 2007

To the Editor:

Linda Hirshman neglects to mention the fulfillment and pleasure mothers receive from caring for their children. She should spend some time at my home one day. As I’m typing away, my 3-year-old, a budding musician and songwriter, is improvising on the piano. My 5-year-old is looking at the headlines of this newspaper (hmm, maybe I should go sit with him and explain).

As for the contention that staying home is “easier,” again, I invite Ms. Hirshman to come baby-sit any day she likes.

Diane Roseman
Westborough, Mass., April 25, 2007

Note from KBJ: It is wonderful to see that not all women have been brainwashed by feminists. The most important thing a woman can do—not to mention the thing that will make her happiest to do—is rear healthy, happy, virtuous children. By the way, thanks, Mom.

The Tech Adviser in The Dallas Morning News mentioned an Internet speedometer in his column yesterday. I just visited the site to see how fast my Internet connection is. Here’s what I got: 10,775 kbps download, 1,001 kbps upload. Can anyone out there keep up with me?

Here.