Burn of the Day
- Donald R. McClarey
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 43 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
Good reply to another TDS sufferer in the Feser mold. Of course, Dreher has bored me ever since his self-conscious “conversion”, where he ran away rather than try to preserve the true Faith.
Mr. Dreher has been able to make a living because he can turn copy in on time and spark an interesting discussion. That having been said, you have to struggle to say anything agreeable about the man and today’s no exception.
I generally used to like reading Dreher, but I have to second Frank in the boredom part. The conversion left me with a queasy feeling. It’s one of the reasons I stopped blogging – the temptation for navel gazing is way too strong.
His writing has essentially become a travel journal with some politics and religion thrown in there: “Look! I’m in Paris! Rome! Budapest! Oh, and Trump sucks!”
The first casualty of an administration is non-engagement. Always. Even the ones who come in during a war expect it to end quickly, then three and a half years of peace dividend.
The first casualty of an administration is non-engagement. Always. Even the ones who come in during a war expect it to end quickly, then three and a half years of peace dividend.
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Administrations who have ‘come in during a war” would be Eisenhower’s, Nixon’s, and Obama’s. You might add Johnson’s. The Korean armistice was signed six months after Eisenhower took office. I don’t think you can present a memorandum or public statement which would indicate that the salient policy-makers expected the VietNam war to ‘end quickly’ in 1969 or expected the Iraq War to ‘end quickly’ in 2009. Johnson continued a gradual expansion of American troop levels in 1964 as the political situation deteriorated in VietNam, so he wasn’t expecting that either.
I like a lot of what Dreher writes, not all of it. He left his marriage, his country and his faith. He doesn’t have fortitude. I always keep that in mind.
He left his marriage, his country and his faith. He doesn’t have fortitude. I always keep that in mind.
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He was the defendant in his divorce suit; complain to his estranged wife. He was when he converted to Orthodoxy living in Dallas. I’m not sure you could locate a diocese in the country with a worse pair of bishops in succession than Thomas Tschope and Charles Grahmann. (Given that his mother is in in nursing home in Louisiana, his residence in Budapest does not impress).
Wow. A war isnt over in 3 days. Soon Cuba will roll over and the world will get the resolve and joy of putting terrorism behind us. Guys like Rod think change is easy If it had, it woulda been done long before this. Think Russia and Ukraine fool.
Historical note: The war with militant Islam has been actively fought since Tours. This victory and many after, Lepanto, Vienna, etc., were never followed up due to lack of desire or inability to muster the needed force. Today, the West, mainly America, realizes the danger of unchecked violent expansionism on the part of some Muslims and is doing something about it. Unfortunately, we find Europe in its usual posture of not wishing to be bothered and so this effort stands little better chance of success than previous ones.