Michael Ignatieff: Who are Americans to Think That Freedom Is Theirs to Spread?

Check out Michael Ignatieff's new piece in the NYT. It's worth the read, especially with Independence Day approaching

Michael Ignatieff: Who are Americans to Think That Freedom Is Theirs to Spread?

Go David Englin

The primary race for the Virginia House of Delegates seat for which David Englin is running is tomorrow. Just wanted all the Ripple of Hopers to join me in wishing David the old broken leg, and thus a landslide success, tomorrow.

Ten Most Harmful Books of the 19th and 20th Centuries

Human Events online ("The National Conservative Weekly") has published its list of the Ten Most Harmful Books of the 19th and 20th Centuries. It's not clear what the decision procedure was, but the authors who are lumped together include Marx, Mao, Hitler, Darwin, Nader (Nader!? Nader is as "harmful" as Hitler!?), Nietzsche, Kinsey, Dewey, and Keynes. Actually, Darwin, Mill, and Nader are only on the Honorable Mention list, along with Freud and the anthropologist Margaret Mead. What did the Samoans ever do to Anne Coulter?

Even better are the explanations. My favorite concerns Dewey: "in pompous and opaque prose, he disparaged schooling that focused on traditional character development and endowing children with hard knowledge, and encouraged the teaching of thinking 'skills' instead. His views had great influence on the direction of American education--particularly in public schools--and helped nurture the Clinton generation." Ah yes, those dangerous thinking skills!