A Thinking Reed

  • The new Cold War?

    Robert Scheer worries that the old Cold War hawks advising Obama will lead to a ratcheting up of tensions with Russia.

  • “In my view the question is whether one believes or not in the Incarnation and the divinity of Christ”

    First Things interviews Rene Girard.

  • Keith Ward at the National Cathedral

    It was a gorgeous fall day here in DC, and we decided to enjoy it and take an outing to the Washington National Cathedral this morning for their Sunday forum. The guest, as it happens, was British theologian/philosopher Keith Ward, whose work I admire and have written about frequently here at ATR. The format was…

  • “A clear mandate for clean energy”

    Grist is hopeful about Obama’s energy plan: The key is the long game. Obama worked carefully, diligently, and adeptly to get elected on a clean energy agenda. Despite the many reasons he gave greens to recoil along the way, he got there. There is every reason to believe he will now work carefully, diligently, and…

  • Liberty and/versus democracy

    Like many, I’m disappointed by the passage of Proposition 8 in California. Outcomes aside, though, this highlights an ongoing tension between the liberal and democratic aspects of liberal democracy. Liberalism is primarily about protecting people’s rights, specifically the liberty to pursue their own projects and flourish according to their own lights. Democracy, on the other…

  • Prospects for conservatives, “left” and otherwise

    Russell Arben Fox has a thoughtful meditation on the prospects for his brand of “left conservatism” in a bluer America. Hard to believe that we were talking about a permanent Republican majority four years ago. All the more reason to be wary of overconfident (or dire, depending on your view) pronouncements about the triumph of…

  • Change, hope, and all that good stuff

    Like most of the people in my immediate social circle I’m somewhere between delighted and ecstatic about Obama’s victory, both because of what it means for our immediate future as a country and for overcoming, to some extent, the sins of our past (recent as well as more remote ones). Over the course of the…

  • A good night for American chickens, sows, and calves too

    Proposition 2 passes by about a 2/3 margin! Yay!

  • PA represents!

    11 o’clock Eastern time: Well, looks like it’s all over but the crying. No significant election blogging for me, but I just want to give a shout-out to my home state of Pennsylvania. All those people who said that awful Appalachian rednecks would tip the state to McCain will be eating their words tomorrow. I…

  • CA voters – don’t forget Prop 2!

    Just a friendly request to any readers in California to consider voting “yes” on Proposition 2 tomorrow, which would make modest–but significant–improvements in the lives of millions of farmed animals. Yes on Prop 2 California Voter’s Guide to Prop 2 And, just for balance, here’s an argument against proposition 2. Yes, we here at ATR…