Kristol Clear #167: To Dublin!

[open] View this email as a [webpage](. August 28, 2017 Your weekly newsletter direct from the keyboard of Bill Kristol, featuring timely observations and reflections. To Dublin! It's been a busy pre-off-to-Dublin-for-the-TWS-cruise week here in Washington. I've been seeing various people in order to compare notes on the particularly uncharted-waters political scene, while of course writing [the usual editorial]( doing the [usual podcast](. And now, today, we're all watching the news from Houston. In fact, let me say here on behalf of all us at TWS, to all our readers and friends in and near Houston: Stay safe; we hope there's not too much damage to your homes and possessions; and know that you're in our thoughts. And for Americans worried the country isn't what it once was, [take a look at this clip](. Meanwhile, we're looking forward to a couple of days in Dublin and then to the cruise. Susan and I have never been in Dublin and know very little about it, so have been canvassing colleagues for suggestions. They range from a fine bookstore—Hodges Figgis (Chris Caldwell, of course), to pubs too numerous to be named (Jim Swift, of course), to the Vermeer exhibit at their National Gallery (Andy Ferguson), to various places associated with the Easter Uprising of 1916 (which I'm aware of because of my nodding acquaintance with the poetry of Yeats.) I'm sure we'll benefit from all of these suggestions! Anyway, I'll report. Meanwhile, we have, I think, a particularly [strong issue]( of the magazine this week, with [a fine cover story by Alice Lloyd]( on the question of family leave, [a review-essay by Kirsten Hall]( of Edith Wharton's "Summer," published 100 years ago (which I've never read, but clearly should), and other fine pieces by the likes of [Elliott Abrams]( [Fred Barnes,]( and [John McCormack](. Enjoy! And do give a thought to those whom we've left behind in the office to put out the next two issues while we cavort around Dublin, France, Spain, and Portugal. (You should give them a thought, because we won't! Just kidding...) One piece of work—well, it's not really work—that I do intend to accomplish is to file this newsletter next Monday, perhaps from the ship, or perhaps—looking at the schedule—from land in northern France. If it's being written in a French cafe, I'm sure you'll notice in next week's issue a particularly French kind of savoir-faire and je-ne-sais quoi. * * * ADVERTISEMENT [TWS House Ad]( * * * Sommers and Mansfield Meanwhile, the Foundation for Constitutional Government is determined to keep you busy. They've released today a new [Conversation, this one with Christina Hoff Sommers]( the American Enterprise Institute, who also hosts the popular online series, [The Factual Feminist](. In the Conversation, Sommers reflects on the “Google memo” and argues that the suppression of free speech at universities now is spilling over into other parts of American life. She also returns to the subject of “GamerGate,” the backlash against political correctness by video game enthusiasts, and describes how that movement has fared in an era of online “trolling” in American politics. Highlighting the decline in free speech on one hand and norms of civility on the other, Sommers calls for an alliance of “fair-minded liberals and conservatives” to restore civic education and respect for the First Amendment and the Bill of Rights. And two weeks ago the FCG released a [new Conversation with Harvey Mansfield](. The latest in the ongoing series with Mansfield is devoted to Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) and particularly his masterwork, Gulliver’s Travels. In this Conversation, Mansfield provides an in-depth interpretation of Swift’s writing, which Mansfield calls “essentially political.” Through his illuminating analysis of Gulliver’s voyages and encounters, Mansfield uncovers Swift’s critique of modernity and more broadly, argues that Swift deserves to be studied as an important thinker in the history of political philosophy—as well as "the funniest man who ever lived." Swift, as Priscilla Jensen informed me in the office Monday morning, was a native of Dublin, in fact, and some of us may visit his tomb in St. Patrick's with its famous epitaph, translated by Yeats from the Latin thus: Swift has sailed into his rest; Savage indignation there Cannot lacerate his breast. Imitate him if you dare, World-besotted traveller; he Served human liberty I think these are both terrific conversations. I may even listen to one or both them again on the flight to Dublin. Or I may pretend to read James Joyce's Dubliners, or some Yeats poetry, while really perusing [the new Michael Connelly mystery](. Choices, choices... * * * Onward! Bill Kristol * * * From This Issue [The Family Leave Dilemma]( By ALICE B. LLOYD Let’s call her Jane. She’s 32 and a junior vice president at a big investment bank. The firm’s attempt at more manageable hours has made it possible for her to reshuffle her work and stay on after having a baby. But growing responsibilities to... [History Offers Little Guidance for Navigating the Trump Era]( By WILLIAM KRISTOL It would be nice, in a way, to be a progressive. You’d be confident you know the direction History is moving. And you’d have faith that the direction in which History is moving is the direction in which History should be moving. So you’d... [Foxconned?]( By JOHN MCCORMACK As presidential candidate, Donald Trump promised he would make really great deals that would bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States. “We will get our people off of welfare and back to work—rebuilding our country with American hands... [Cover]( Sep 4, 2017 Not a Subscriber? Subscribe & Save - Conservative Intelligence - Satirical Wit - Foreign Policy Insight - Sophisticated Perspective - Much more... This email was sent by: The Weekly Standard A MediaDC Publication 1152 15th Street, NW, Suite 200 Washington, DC 20005 We respect your right to privacy - [View our Policy]( [Manage Subscriptions]( | [One-Click Unsubscribe](