The American Spectator

October 2011

Features

• The Answer Is a Balanced Budget Amendment

  The question is how to solve our problem of unsustainable debt.

  Steven G. Calabresi

• Fogged In

  San Francisco, back when it was beautiful and not the world capital of political correctness, didn’t have to go out of its way to attract attention.

  Gerald Nachman

• Going North

  In a parliamentary system, we would easily solve our debt crisis.

  F.H. Buckley

• Betting on Rick Perry

  He’s a winner in a Republican year, with no need in the world to win liberal approval.

  John H. Fund

• Andrew Jackson: Tea Party President

  For starters, he was principled, fearless, and astute. And Washington, D.C., never trusted him, because he knew the real source of America’s greatness.

  Robert W. Merry

Note From the Publisher

• Balancing Acts

  Alfred S. Regnery

Freedom Watch

• Trust but E-Verify

  We are a nation of immigrants. But we are also a nation of laws.

  Rep. Lamar Smith

The Continuing Crisis

• The Continuing Crisis

  R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.

The Congressional Spectator

• How Super?

  Will the so-called super committee end up pitting defense hawks against anti-taxers?

  W. James Antle, III

The Pursuit of Knowledge

• Riots of Passage

  When rites of passage disappear from public life, civilization does as well, and one result is young men running amok.

  Roger Scruton

With the Tea Partiers

• Breaking the Ruling Class

  Until it ceases to be re-elected at 80 percent rates the Ruling Class will continue to remain unaccountable.

  Ned Ryun

Economics

• Who Do You Really Believe?

  The real story of the financial panic of 2008 is worlds apart from the conventional wisdon.

  Brian Wesbury

Capitol Ideas

• The British Riots: An Object Lesson

  Compassionate conservatism was no match for last August’s outbreak.

  Tom Bethell

Presswatch

• After Osama

  James Taranto

Letter From Paris

• The Great Seducers

  In France their game is about life, not sex.

  Joseph A. Harriss

The Nation's Pulse

• Is Keynes Finally Dead?

  One would think so — yet under this presidency he will never be allowed to rest in peace.

  Stephen Moore

Politics

• Pledge Allegiance

  Thanks to the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, “taxes are off the table” — and the president can’t stand it.

  Grover G. Norquist

Spectator's Journal

• Jittery in Jerusalem

  In Israel, well-founded worries over the “Arab Spring.”

  Ilan Berman

High Spirits

• Return to Grace

  Tim Goeglein, President George W. Bush’s prodigal aide, has found redemption.

  Jonathan Aitken

Ben Stein's Diary

• Before Sunset

  Our monthly Diarist’s print magazine installment.

  Ben Stein

Conservative Tastes

• Monuments to Lost Meaning

  James Bowman

Buy the Book

• Dearest Jackie

  Jacqueline Kennedy’s delicious tapes reveal her as rather snobby and snide — though maybe that was Arthur Schlesinger egging her on. 

  Mark Falcoff

• Master Diplomat and Statesman

  In Henry Kissinger, Richard Nixon found his foreign minister.

  John R. Coyne, Jr.

• The Life and Times of a Well-Spoken Speaker

  Thomas Reed was a great and honorable House speaker — and he killed the filiibuster.

  Aram Bakshian, Jr.

• Return to Lepanto

  An “agnostic Protestant” may not necessarily be the best choice to write a history of the papacy.

  Philip F. Lawler

Current Wisdom

• Current Wisdom

  Assorted Jackasses

Public Nuisances

• The Long War and the Budget

  R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.

• Ryan Withdraws

  R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.

Last Call

• A New Normal

  Thirty-three years can make all the difference.

  Wlady Pleszczynski