Winston Churchill wrote that “No two cities have counted more with mankind than Athens and Jerusalem. Their messages in religion, philosophy, and art have been the main guiding lights of modern faith and culture.” For Easter and Passover Lucretia and I decided to take up the Jerusalem side of this theme with the help of a forgotten figure who was a major influence on the young Churchill—the American politician Bourke Cochran. In particular, in a 1910 speech Cochran, a Catholic, gave a marvelous synoptic account of how Christianity planted the seed of modern democratic equality. (In part we are responding to a few commenters on last week’s show who questioned Lucretia’s rendition of Dante on monarchy and the divine right of kings.)
From there we wander off into territory best described in Mark Twain’s famous line, “Wagner’s music is better than it sounds.” In this case, I take note of several recent articles about Michel Foucault, the ur-philosopher of the post-modern left, and wonder whether we might have misread him, or whether there might be some mischief to be made by noting some aspects of Foucault that the left ignores or overlooks. (This is the case made by partially by Blake Smith at im1776.) Plus, is Foucault perhaps the left’s biggest mistake? It will likely not surprise listeners to learn that Lucretia is . . . not persuaded.
Finally, we review some new whiskies, update our magic number for “Who Shot Ashli Babbit” and look back at the unjust persecution of Scooter Libby as an example of how long the truth can be suppressed, ponder the apparently infinite stupidity of Boston University honors graduate AOC, and then wonder about what President Biden’s misbehaving dog says about him.
After all, if it is true that there are “no bad dogs,” only bad owners, then the news of yet another biting incident by White House First Dog “Major,” along with an episode of incontinence, suggests that Major is indeed the perfect dog for the Biden White House. Meanwhile, nearby is Kaiser, the official canine mascot of the Three Whisky Happy Hour.
You know what to do now: listen here, or wander over to the Ricochet saloon, where I doubt the whisky is as good.
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