R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr.
Articles by R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr.
TYRRELL: Rahm’s Chicago-style politics
Every day, in every way, it becomes ever clearer that Rahm Emanuel's campaign for mayor of Chicago and mine have striking similarities. Rahm went off to Washington two years ago to pursue politics on the national stage. I left Chicago about 40 years ago to pursue politicians on the national stage, particularly huckster politicians. Two of my targets were Rahm's old boss Bill Clinton and his boss, Hillary. Published January 27, 2011
TYRRELL: Books for the winter blues
I received a call the other day from an agreeable lady at C-SPAN, asking me to do a show with the network called "In Depth." It will take a lot of time, as C-SPAN wants to interview me on all the books I have written. Also, it will last three hours. That is a marathon. I can hardly listen for three hours, much less talk. Yet I have been a fan of C-SPAN for years, so I could hardly say no. Also, I am an advocate of the printed word. I want it to survive. Published January 19, 2011
TYRRELL: Liberalism’s death knell keeps tolling
The evidence mounts that liberalism is dead. The liberal wizards, working their wonders at the New York Times and its clearinghouses in the major networks, cannot even dupe the American people with an absurd conspiracy theory anymore. In Dallas back in 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald, a pious communist awash in the Marxist-Leninist bilge, shot President John F. Kennedy. In no time, the liberals had the nation focused on the "dangerous right-wing atmosphere" supposedly pervading Dallas. Published January 12, 2011
TYRRELL: Reinforcements are here
New Year's Day in Washington dawned gray, wet and cold. It was a perfect day for sightseeing, and so my wife and I decided to sightsee. We went to Mount Vernon, George Washington's home, named, incidentally, after a British admiral, Edward Vernon, by George's older half-brother. Upon inheriting the mansion, George never saw any reason to change the name, despite the British army's many acts of rudeness to him. George was a big enough guy not to bear a grudge. Published January 5, 2011
TYRRELL: Fidel is forever
This week marks the 52nd anniversary of Fidel Castro's arrival to his Cuban throne. I cannot wait to see how it will be solemnized. Will little children appear before Fidel throwing flowers? They better not throw them too hard. He is pretty frail. Will there be a military parade? If there is, where will they come up with the gasoline? There is hardly enough in the country for the Communist Party leaders' limousines. What will they be celebrating? By now, everyone knows that the revolution was a stupendous bust starting about 51 years ago. Published January 3, 2011
TYRRELL: An aye for bigotry
The big news this week is that in the Senate, the Democrats have joined with the Republicans to pass tax relief contained in an extension of the hated George W. Bush tax cuts. Certainly, by early next week, the House of Representatives will have done the same. Thus, the burden overhanging the economy of a huge tax increase is eliminated for two years. After that, it sounds as if our president, if he still is our president, threatens to raise taxes. Somehow, he came around to accepting the argument that one does not raise taxes in a recession. A few months back, it appeared that in the unlikely event that senators and House members extended the hated Bush tax cuts, our president would veto the bill. Now he has accepted it. Has he learned anything? Published December 15, 2010
TYRRELL: New label for liberals
The Great Denial continues. The liberals continue to labor under the assumption that nothing very bad happened in early November. They are still supreme. The columnists go on as though nothing is amiss. This week, E.J. Dionne consulted with three defeated congressmen whose advice he passed on to President Obama on how to succeed during the next two years. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi continues as though she is speaker for life, though she probably is the last Democrat to hold the post for a generation. Mental illness can be amusing. Published December 8, 2010
TYRRELL: I was wrong
"When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?" So said John Maynard Keynes when a dearly held belief of his was confronted by new facts. He changed his mind and was not ashamed. I am an extreme empiricist. Show me the facts, and I shall make up my mind. Show me the new facts, and I shall change my mind. Published November 24, 2010
TYRRELL: Pat me, please
I blame Drudge! Yes, I blame the Drudge Report for this insane controversy about the use of high-tech body scanners and "pat-downs" at airport security zones. Published November 18, 2010
TYRRELL: Hand-wringing journalism
The other day I sat down to breakfast. It was a normal day. Five daily newspapers were laid out before me. As I went over the front pages, I downed orange juice and a bowl of oatmeal powdered with brown sugar and flaxseed. Then I went off to my library with the newspapers and a cup of coffee. By then, incidentally, I was revolted. Published November 11, 2010
TYRRELL: Psychology of defeated Democrats
Liberals are having a difficult time explaining what happened to them on Election Day. Actually, it appears that many of them do not know what happened to them. They are in denial. Published November 4, 2010
TYRRELL: The coming struggle
There is an axiom that is adhered to by conservative journalists that explains at least some of what for liberals is this inexplicable election. It is the Taranto Principle. Coined by the inimitable James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal, the Taranto Principle encourages the worst in liberals by reporting politics with a slavish bias. The conservatives can do nothing right. The liberals can do nothing wrong, and besides, they are always more winsome, more intelligent and moreover, they have an aesthetic and philosophical side. Published October 27, 2010
TYRRELL: The god that failed
The Democrats are about to be beaten by something they do not in their heart of hearts think exists - a huge national majority. At this late hour, with the storm clouds gathering and the livestock getting restless, they see only sunshine. Yes, there is "foreign money" out there. Yes, the media have bungled broadcasting the purity of the Democratic message. And naturally, angry voices can be heard. Yet surely there is no majority gathering to unseat the party of decency and good deeds. Well, there is, and it is nothing like the Democrats describe it. Published October 20, 2010
TYRRELL: Foreign money?
OK, OK. It is only a satire. I am not really running for mayor of Chicago, but I do have something in common with someone who is running for mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel. Neither I nor Rahm qualifies for residency in Chicago, though my family traces its roots in the city back to the 19th century, and I was at least born in Chicago. If Rahm bullies his way to residency, Chicago's big shoulders are not what they once were. He gave no thought to running until a few weeks back, when Mayor Richard M. Daley announced his retirement, and now Rahm has no place to live. Published October 13, 2010
TYRRELL: With Rahm in the Windy City
On Sunday, Rahm Emanuel declared his candidacy for mayor of Chicago. Instantaneously, he had problems with his campaign, not the least of Published October 7, 2010
TYRRELL: Fair and foul in the First State
The race for the United States Senate in Delaware is a splendid example of what is called kultursmog, and the smog spreads untreated. One candidate, the conservative, has been slandered repeatedly, and no one objects, not even most conservatives. The liberal opposing her has been given the proverbial free ride, even by most conservatives. Yet he is a fruitcake. She "dabbled" in witchcraft in high school, she tells us. He may have studied it in grad school along with other pseudo-studies. Yet he is stonewalling, while the press pillories her. No one objects save talk radio. Published September 29, 2010
The other Senate candidate
Christine O'Donnell, the Tea Party-supported Republican candidate for Senate in Delaware, has no secrets. The press even has gone back to her high school years and found that she "dabbled" in witchcraft. But now Jeffrey Lord of the American Spectator has been scrutinizing her opponent, Democratic candidate Chris Coons. Mr. Lord did not have to go back to Mr. Coons' high school days. He found quite a lot in Mr. Coons' infatuation with Marxism, starting in college. Mr. Coons found Marx about the time that large numbers of Marxist polls behind the Iron Curtain gave him up. By the 1990s, even jailers and torturers were forsaking old Karl, but not Mr. Coons. Published September 23, 2010
TYRRELL: Boehner blew it
Did my ears deceive me? Did I hear House Minority Leader John Boehner say on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday: "If the only option I have is to vote for those at 250 or below, of course I'm going to do that." He was referring to voting for extending the Bush tax cuts to those making less than $250,000 a year. And he was referring to the issue when there is a building momentum to keep the tax cuts for everyone in an era of fragile economic growth and 9.6 percent unemployment. Even some Democrats are willing to keep the tax cuts, but Mr. Boehner just made it difficult for them. Published September 16, 2010
TYRRELL: I like Tony Blair
I like Tony Blair. The left is always lecturing us conservatives on moderation. It would do us good, they say. If only we were moderate, we might win the fall elections. Yet, we are likely to go for people like Joe Miller in Alaska and the dreaded Sharron Angle in Nevada, and we are going to get clobbered, or at least not win as thumpingly as expected. Published September 7, 2010
TYRRELL: Field of study or field of play?
What is your vision of a university? Is it the classic vision with profs walking the ivy-lined pathways, their books under their arms? Perhaps they wear tweed coats and smoke pipes - not the lady profs, but the men. The ladies dress accordingly, and maybe they smoke pipes. All pore over their books for hours and impart their knowledge to a select body of students. Published September 1, 2010
