Voter suppression. Old definition: Any attempt to prevent eligible persons from voting. New definition: Any attempt to prevent ineligible persons from voting.
Racism. Old definition: Treating people according to the color of their skin. New definition: Not treating people according to the color of their skin.
The central idea of critical race theory is “systemic racism”: That the way things work is stacked against persons of color, even if no one actually has any ill will or bias against them.
Inspired by the Vice President’s approach to foreign and domestic policy, I offer these modest resolutions in her honor.
I will no longer keep my door locked. Instead, I will focus on the root causes of breaking and entering.
I will no longer support better training for police officers. Instead, I will focus on the root causes of violence.
Natural law supports the preservation and restoration of natural function, but not its alteration or destruction: For example, it wouldn’t be good to “fix” soldiers so that they never had to sleep at all. That wouldn’t be fixing them, but ruining them. But it would be a fine thing if we could cure narcoleptics, who keep dropping off, so that they can stay awake.
When a couple with their six fine children accepted our invitation to have dinner with us, my wife and I were charmed by the cheerful courtesy of their oldest daughter.
“Without a doubt,” we told her, “you’re the politest teenage girl who has ever visited our house.”
She laughed. “Since I’ve been working at Chick-fil-A, I talk that way to everyone.”
Public Discourse (15 May 2021)
Gentle readers,