107 years ago today, the Armistice of Compiegne effectively brought World War I to an end, in recognition of which November 11th came to be an annual celebration known as Armistice Day in many countries.
71 years ago - nearly a decade after a whole 'nother world war was fought and brought to its conclusion - November 11th came to be recognized in this country as Veterans Day.
17 years ago today, I published this short post about Veterans Day. Looking back at it now, one particular line stands out: "Within a generation, military service went from being a duty that was performed by most American men to being one that was performed by a small minority. In turn, the country has become one where a shrinking percentage of the population puts their lives on the line to defend the rights of an increasingly unappreciative majority." That's even more true today, and I'm tempted to tack on a few more adjectives alongside "unappreciative" - but I shall refrain and instead simply offer my gratitude, for whatever that is worth.
* * * * *
Here is an excellent (but not short) video by Melissa Dougherty, one of my favorite YouTubers. Everybody who values freedom and civility, regardless of whether they're a conservative or liberal, atheist or theist, etc., will hear something in it that they need to hear.
This is a good video by a Catholic regarding last week's release of Mater Populi fidelis, and this is a good one by a Protestant regarding the same.
If you're wondering what Mater Populi fidelis even is, you can read it for yourself here. But if you're short on time, which you probably are, the CliffsNotes version is that it's a Vatican document which affirms veneration of Mary while discouraging the use of certain titles to refer to her.
* * * * *
My most recent post said some good things about Charlie Kirk and heaped a lot of criticism on the institutional Left. It also heaved criticism at the institutional Right, presented largely as a warning to fellow conservatives that we must police our own side of the aisle if we intend to keep it from descending to the same level of madness that attacks our country from the other side.
Based on feedback I've received, I know some conservatives acknowledge the troubles that are manifesting on the Right, and I know some liberals are unaware I even criticized the Right because they stopped reading. It is what it is.
Anyway, I bring that post up again to say that the biggest problem currently facing the conservative movement is one I didn't even mention: The fact that some camels have put their noses into our tent and started blowing them in an effort to infect our ranks with the world's oldest and most persistent bigotry, namely anti-Semitism.
They have attempted, with an alarming amount of success, to gain sway on the Right by gaining platforms in media and in respected institutions such as the Heritage Foundation. Predictably, they mask their prejudice by claiming only to be criticizing "the government of Israel," or "the Netanyahu administration," or "Zionists." Those claims are false, and I say that categorically.
Some who make those claims or enable others to make them may well believe the claims, but believing them does not make them true. In a world where the Holocaust began less than a century ago, and in a country where one of the two major political parties has aligned itself with forces that would welcome another Holocaust, we must not allow the other major political party to fall under that same ancient spell.
I cannot do the topic justice in this lone blog post, so I won't give it the short shrift by trying to. But I will say that the threat of anti-Semitism gaining ground on the Right, under the faux respectability of "just asking questions" or "having a big tent," is an existential one that needs to be treated as such. I am very happy the Heritage Foundation's staff has pushed back against its recent complicity and thrown its leaders off-balance, but the fight has just begun.
