Well, wring my chyme

The pretensions of the right are enough to make one lose one's dejeuner. Who in this world with even a spark of humanity would touch Leo Strauss with a ten-foot cattle prod? But perhaps this passage*, referring to a review of Straussianism by Penn's Anne Norton,is worth considering, provided that it's been a good two hours since you last ate:

The Straussian method of "scholarship," writes Professor Norton, creates extreme hubris in the minds of Straussians, who tend to believe that they alone have discovered THE TRUTH, and that what is really intellectual laziness is "the inevitable entitlement of cultural superiority." Thus Professor Norton, who was a graduate student for years at the University of Chicago, living amongst the Straussian cabal, writes of how the Straussian students, many of whom are now on the above-mentioned list of Republican Party office holders [!!!!!], roamed the halls and classrooms with organized "Straussian truth squads." These were "bands of intellectual vigilantes, entering the classrooms of professors they disliked or distrusted [i.e., non-Straussians], asking questions not to hear the answers but as a form of disruption and intimidation."

Thus the Maginot Line mentality of true believers who, like Little Willy Kristol, refuse to let reality anywhere near their cerebral cortices. And so we also understand the Brooks Brothers Brownshirts and their assault on democracy. These people are intellectually verklemmt**.

* Note: The source of this citation is no lefty. Check for yourself.

** And I still greatly prefer Levi Strauss over Leo any day.

No Left Turns

Mad as Hell

But not funny as hell. And praise (scroll down) for our brilliant threadpersons. They’ve also been discussing the conservative "big three" issue on NRO’s Corner, but not with our class or depth. We manage to do more justice to both Strauss and Kirk, for example.

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