The American Spectator

March 2013

Features

• Rock and Roll Is (Mostly) Noise Pollution

  And now book publishing is choking on it, as rock enters its “memoir” phase.

  Matthew Walther

• Lead Us Not Into Temptation

  Surrendering on “social issues” won’t save the Republican soul.

  William Murchison

• Legal Feeding Frenzy

  U.S. court rules invite harassment and extortion. Here’s one way to fix them. Our March cover story.

  Stuart Taylor

• Duped at Foggy Bottom

  John Kerry reporting for duty.

  Paul Kengor

The Bootblack Stand

• Of Steroids and Semiautomatics

  Dr. George Washington Plunkitt, our prize-winning political analyst, has recently retired from a staff position with the House Ethics Committee and is working on volume two of his memoirs, tentatively titled Derision Points. But he has graciously consented to once again advise American statesmen in these times of trouble.

  George Washington Plunkitt

The C.S. Lewis Spectator

• Screwtape Gets Real

  “Progressives” are socialists hiding under another name. 

  F.H. Buckley

About This Month

• Sounds of Silence

  Wlady Pleszczynski

In the Colosseum

• The Next Showdown

  Conservatives must win concessions for a debt ceiling hike.

  Jim Jordan

Odds & Ends

• She Loves Me… She Loves Me Not

The Continuing Crisis

• The Continuing Crisis

  R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.

Constitutional Opinions

• Null and Void?

  The question of nullification, though, is going to be difficult to avoid in the months ahead. Talking Points Memo puts at 20 the number of states mulling legislation to resist federal gun controls.

  Seth Lipsky

In Memoriam

• The Optimistic Pessimist

  James Buchanan taught us the danger of romanticizing government.

  Donald Boudreaux

The Great American Saloon Series

• A Stone’s Throw From the White House

  The Off the Record Bar at the Hay-Adams Hotel.

  Aram Bakshian, Jr.

Capitol Ideas

• An Assist from the Press

  The media becomes increasingly biased as Obama emerges as an openly leftist president.  

  Tom Bethell

The Public Policy

• The Only Prophylactic Against Voter Fraud

  Several states have discussed changing their method of allocating electoral votes, much to Democrats’ chagrin.

  Grover G. Norquist

Presswatch

• Gray Lady Dumps Darwin

  James Taranto

Letter From Paris

• Kerry Chéri

  Finally the French have one of their own as secretary of state.

  Joseph A. Harriss

Politics

• Term Limits Are Back

  There is a legitimate debate to be had over term limits. 

  John H. Fund

Spectator's Journal

• Beyond Palestine

  John Tabin

High Spirits

• An Oasis of Tolerance

  Welcome to the United Arab Emirates.

  Jonathan Aitken

Ben Stein's Diary

• The Economics of Love

  Arguments between husbands and wives are just part of the landscape. 

  Ben Stein

Conservative Tastes

• Selective Moralism

  Today’s culture still reminds us that moral development is possible. 

  James Bowman

Buy the Book

• An Enduring Partnership

  Jeffrey Frank brings a novelist’s touch to this sympathetic account of one of America’s oddest political couples.

  John R. Coyne, Jr.

• Understanding the Forest, One Tree at a Time

  An early novel by the great Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk is finally available in an English translation.

  Aram Bakshian, Jr.

• Not a Dark Age, Just 50 Shades of Gray

  Oil prices will only continue to rise, says Canadian economist Jeff Rubin. What happens when we hit the gas ceiling?

  James Srodes

• The Church of Somewhere

  Sympathetic unbeliever John Derbyshire visits Dover Beach with Roger Scruton.

  John Derbyshire

Current Wisdom

• Current Wisdom

  Assorted Jackasses

Last Call

• Shoot on Sight

  Your TV is begging for it.

  Daniel J. Flynn