"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes - and ships - and sealing-wax -
Of cabbages - and kings -
And why the sea is boiling hot -
And whether pigs have wings."

from Through the Looking-glass by Lewis Carroll, 1832-1898

The time has come indeed.  On these pages I will talk of many things.  Whether pigs have wings doesn't concern me as much as the disturbing evidence that our porky pals are, metaphorically at least, flying—certainly insofar as "liberals" try to cast the unthinkable as mainstream.  We'll discuss the whole ball of wax, sealing and otherwise.

Your comments will be welcome, provided that you think twice before you write and that you maintain civility.  (Civility is unrelated to the linguistic and social abominations of "political correctness," by the way.)  Good humor and good cheer will enhance the discussion.  Whether you agree or disagree with me is not as important as that we agree on where we disagree.  If you think I'm wrong about something, please tell me, for there's a chance (though slight) that you might just be right.  

Objective truths exist, and it's only natural to want to know what they are.  Facts are truths demonstrable.  To ignore facts is dangerous enough.  When people in power ignore them, entire civilizations are in peril.  Relative or "convenient" truths ("wishful thinking") might be good enough for some folks, but such lazy souls need not linger on these pages unless they really want to learn something and become better people (a term they're not likely to understand yet).  

Hoover Institution Research Fellow and fellow Dartmouth alum Peter Robinson wrote a charming little memoir of his days writing speeches in the White House: How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life (Regan Books, 2003).  Of all people who have changed my life, I have to say, the most notable was the Speaker of the House, the Honorable Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill.

"Politics stops at the water's edge" was something the formidable Tip would say so often that he practically owned the phrase when he was Speaker.  But guess what?  He didn't mean it.  What changed my life was something else he apparently DID mean.  A letter to his flock of Democratic House members arrived in my office on November 7, 1980, the Friday of the week Ronald Reagan was elected president.  The Speaker said that the American people obviously had been fooled into electing the wrong man President, and he exhorted his colleagues thus:  "It is the duty of every Democrat to make sure Ronald Reagan's programs fail so that the Democratic Party will take back the White House in 1984." (I no longer have this letter in my possession, so I'll admit to the possibility of slight inaccuracy in the quote.  The letter was on Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee stationery, so the quote might have been made up for the Speaker's approval.  As a guy who put things in politicians' mouths for a living, I knew it didn't matter either way: O'Neill signed off on it.)

This was really the last straw for me, because it brought to mind the words Milton attributed to Satan in Paradise Lost: "Better to reign in H-ll, than serve in Heav'n."  Winning was the only thing.  Power was the prize.  The nation be damned.  This attitude explains why the Democrats have said increasingly outrageous things to get votes in the years since.  As the party moved to the left, it left its conscience in the center. There was no longer any penalty for lying (unless you feared the wrath of people who had consciences, and apparently the Democrats did not).  Whatever you say, you can always deny it later.

I already knew that openly underestimating the intelligence of the American people would push the pendulum leftward into unexplored territory, even to the zone of porcine aviation.  The professional Democrats have stayed in their little zone, while the American people have made the Republicans the party of ideas.  Senator Zell Miller and I had similar experiences:  I did not leave the Democratic Party; the Party left me.  Notice how the right's most articulate spokesmen today used to be Democrats back when Democrats were centrists.  Today, to be in the center is to be called a right-wing nut by the leadership of the once-great Democrat party.

I think of the Tip O'Neill story every time I hear that blowhard Chris Matthews spout his half-formed thoughts on the air.  Mr. Matthews was writing speeches for President Carter back in 1979 and 1980, no doubt contributing greatly to the president's powerful ability to induce malaise and national self-loathing.  Fleeing the Reagan Revolution, Mr. Matthews took refuge as Speaker O'Neill's press secretary.

As George Will and others have noted, the last three decades have seen political philosophies and political parties come into alignment so closely that party differences are more apparent than ever.  The days when moderate Democrats and moderate Republicans were essentially the same animal are over for the time being.