tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72385507128347125132024-03-12T23:55:50.516-03:00The Organic ToryPolitics, Economics & Culture
from DISRAELI-MACDONALD INSTITUTES.M. MacLeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06855763232686270092noreply@blogger.comBlogger173125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238550712834712513.post-51546352630912049862020-04-10T17:00:00.000-03:002020-04-10T17:17:27.941-03:00Update on future DMI postsAnyone looking for a writer in politics or economics on the East Coast? (I am currently based in Nova Scotia.) Or know of opportunities in writing or politics? I find myself in need of new financial opportunities mid-April, with no time to waste. Details and contact information can be found at this Facebook post.
Incidentally, I will be offline sine die and will be unable to post notices of S.M. MacLeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06855763232686270092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238550712834712513.post-40805761996931889092020-02-24T21:30:00.000-04:002020-02-24T21:35:29.876-04:00On the Record | Brexit Britain Must Ally with AmericaPlease see my February 22nd wire for The American Spectator, ‘Brexit Britain Must Ally with America’:
Is it conceivable that Brexit passions are spent in Westminster? Have political exertions of the last four years — of devising stratagems and repelling Remainers — exhausted the fervor for independence? For while some MPs may be world-weary, rank-and-file Brexiteers are only beginning to feel S.M. MacLeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06855763232686270092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238550712834712513.post-40731062591584784342020-02-24T21:15:00.000-04:002020-02-24T21:15:41.298-04:00On the Record | Brexit Britain BetrayedPlease see my February 16th wire for The American Spectator, ‘Brexit Britain Betrayed’:
There is no act of treachery or meanness of which a political party is not capable; for in politics there is no honour.
~ Benjamin Disraeli
Barely two weeks since Brexiteers celebrated Britain’s exit from the European Union, already alarms are being raised that Britons’ ultimate independence is still S.M. MacLeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06855763232686270092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238550712834712513.post-12276012695767232962020-02-11T21:45:00.000-04:002020-02-11T21:45:11.060-04:00On the Record | Brexit Success Will Inspire Envy for EUPlease see my February 10th wire for The American Spectator, ‘Brexit Success Will Inspire Envy for EU’:
There is a dayspring in the history of this nation, which perhaps those only who are on the mountaintops can as yet recognize,” Benjamin Disraeli wrote of England. “You deem you are in darkness, and I see a dawn.”
Since January 31, when Britain regained political independence from the S.M. MacLeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06855763232686270092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238550712834712513.post-63205286705667063022020-02-05T19:15:00.000-04:002020-02-05T19:15:08.565-04:00On the Record | For a Full Brexit, Get Government Out of the WayPlease see my February 4th wire as Brexit diarist for The New York Sun, ‘For a Full Brexit, Get Government Out of the Way ’:
The early 1920s epitomized economic growth and employment opportunity. Good things in themselves, but especially so when “progressive” thinking at the end of the Great War argued that if nations wound down their “warfare-state” programs of government interventions, price S.M. MacLeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06855763232686270092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238550712834712513.post-85936948968728013122020-02-05T18:15:00.000-04:002020-02-05T19:23:49.191-04:00On the Record | Political Bonus for Early U.S.–UK Trade NegotiationsPlease see my February 4th wire for The American Spectator, ‘Political Bonus for Early U.S.–UK Trade Negotiations’:
America and Britain are on the cusp of a conservative revolution, if only their leaders have the courage to take action and the foresight to see the potential that lies before them. Of the people, there is no need to ask: The people are ready, “mouldering on the vine” (to S.M. MacLeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06855763232686270092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238550712834712513.post-31824532930410643452020-02-03T21:00:00.000-04:002020-02-03T21:00:16.713-04:00On the Record | Post-Brexit, British Government Must Allow Entrepreneurs to ‘Boost Themselves’Please see my February 1st wire for The American Spectator, ‘Post-Brexit, British Government Must Allow Entrepreneurs to “Boost Themselves” ’:
This weekend, Britain regains its independence from membership in the European Union. After four long years of setbacks, frustrations, and calumny from Remainers in Parliament, think tanks, and the broadcast media, Britons will finally see their 2016 S.M. MacLeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06855763232686270092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238550712834712513.post-20102245680806954002020-01-31T21:30:00.000-04:002020-02-03T21:50:15.089-04:00On the Record | Brexiteers Don’t Want Democracy; They Want FreedomPlease see my January 30th wire for The American Spectator, ‘Brexiteers Don’t Want Democracy; They Want Freedom’:
When the United Kingdom exits the European Union late on Friday, Brexit will be hailed as a victory for British democracy. Three times Britons voted to leave the EU and “take back control”: in June 2016, when the Leave campaign won at the EU referendum; in the general election the S.M. MacLeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06855763232686270092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238550712834712513.post-91700322533808945392020-01-29T21:15:00.000-04:002020-01-29T21:17:21.651-04:00On the Record | Post-Brexit, Whither the EU?Please see my January 28th wire for The American Spectator, ‘Post-Brexit, Whither the EU?’:
As in any divorce, attention is focused upon the agitator for break-up. What led to the severing of cordial relations? Why are resolution and compromise no longer options to explore? How will our “hero” fare once separation is accomplished and independence is regained? In the Brexit scenario, Britain S.M. MacLeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06855763232686270092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238550712834712513.post-2505426058107795082020-01-29T21:00:00.003-04:002020-01-29T21:01:30.884-04:00On the Record | Beware of Supposing Brexit’s Cause Is WonPlease see my January 27th wire as Brexit diarist for The New York Sun, ‘Beware Of Supposing Brexit’s Cause Is Won’:
“Can we easily leave the remains of such a year as this? It is all still gold,” the diarist Horace Walpole wrote as Great Britain won conquest after conquest, at France’s expense, during the final months of the Seven Years’ War. “Our bells are worn threadbare with ringing for S.M. MacLeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06855763232686270092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238550712834712513.post-59025453970223270362020-01-27T18:15:00.000-04:002020-01-27T18:15:44.721-04:00On the Record | Countdown to Freedom and BrexitPlease see my January 25th wire for The American Spectator, ‘Countdown to Freedom and Brexit’:
How fares the average Brexiteer, with less than a week standing between Britain’s independence from the European Union? Euphoric? Or exhausted? Probably a little of both. Anxious, too, if truth be told. For while there is agreement among both Leavers and Remainers that the UK will exit the EU on S.M. MacLeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06855763232686270092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238550712834712513.post-9417324940501672102020-01-24T19:00:00.000-04:002020-01-24T19:00:08.121-04:00On the Record | As Independence Nears, Matt Ridley Emerges as Brexit SagePlease see my January 20th wire as Brexit diarist for The New York Sun, ‘As Independence Nears, Matt Ridley Emerges as Brexit Sage’:
The year 2020 is but just begun and already the new decade is heralded as the “Roaring Twenties.” Such euphoria exemplifies the mood in the United Kingdom as the country prepares to exit, come the end of January, the European Union. Legislation setting out the S.M. MacLeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06855763232686270092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238550712834712513.post-41442701812308103492020-01-24T18:30:00.000-04:002020-01-24T18:52:55.379-04:00On the Record | Brexit Cries Out for Radical ToryismPlease see my January 18th wire for The American Spectator, ‘Brexit Cries Out for Radical Toryism’:
The year 2020 is only just begun and already there are expectations of repeating the promise of the early 1920s, an era of peace and prosperity early in the decade. Nowhere is this enthusiasm more evident than in the United Kingdom.
Last year ended with the Conservatives forming a majority S.M. MacLeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06855763232686270092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238550712834712513.post-52894555132408698282019-12-29T17:30:00.000-04:002019-12-29T17:30:11.156-04:00On the Record | Ghost of EU Superstate Haunts Britain’s Path to Independence
Please see my latest wire for The American Spectator, ‘Ghost of EU Superstate Haunts Britain’s Path to Independence’:
Another Christmas has come and gone. The season of Santa Claus and for remembering the birth in Bethlehem of a small child, heralded by angels proclaiming Him the “Prince of Peace.” And, not to be outdone by Halloween, of ghosts. For who can forget Charles Dickens’s “A S.M. MacLeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06855763232686270092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238550712834712513.post-44623915232564457472019-12-25T23:00:00.000-04:002019-12-25T23:20:58.267-04:00On the Record | Elizabeth II, in Christmas Speech, Fails to Say ‘Brexit’
Please see my latest wire as Brexit diarist for The New York Sun, ‘Elizabeth II, in Christmas Speech, Fails to Say “Brexit” ’:
What is to be made of the fact that the British monarch failed in her Christmas address — the sixty-eighth of her long reign — failed to mention the fact that the United Kingdom of which she is the sovereign is about to end its membership in the European Union and S.M. MacLeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06855763232686270092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238550712834712513.post-8851202717458965032019-12-22T20:00:00.000-04:002019-12-22T20:24:46.988-04:00On the Record | Britain Enters a Long Overdue Neo-Disraelian Moment
Please see my latest wire as Brexit diarist for The New York Sun, ‘ Britain Enters a Long Overdue Neo-Disraelian Moment’:
As 2019 winds to a close, let us remark on how our year of turmoil and drama has brought us to a neo-Disraelian moment. You may say that’s all too convenient a comment from a scribe who for years has been blogging under the rubric of the Disraeli-Macdonald Institute. But S.M. MacLeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06855763232686270092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238550712834712513.post-64918838156226264412019-12-19T23:45:00.000-04:002019-12-20T14:11:03.381-04:00On the Record | The Queen Backs Brexit, After All
Please see my latest wire as Brexit diarist for The New York Sun, ‘The Queen Backs Brexit, After All’:
“My Government’s priority is to deliver the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union on 31 January,” Her Majesty intoned at the State Opening of Parliament. “My Ministers will bring forward legislation to ensure the United Kingdom’s exit on that date and to make the most of the S.M. MacLeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06855763232686270092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238550712834712513.post-71942419906107077492019-12-18T20:00:00.000-04:002019-12-18T20:00:06.659-04:00On the Record | Where Stands Boris Johnson on the Big State?
Please see my latest wire as Brexit diarist for The New York Sun, ‘Where Stands Boris Johnson on the Big State?’:
’Twas the week before Christmas and all through the House — of Commons — Brexiteers cannot help but stir at the prospect that Britain’s independence from the European Union is, at last, a likelihood. So on the eve of the Queen’s Speech setting out the Government’s agenda for the S.M. MacLeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06855763232686270092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238550712834712513.post-60847182687743512152019-12-13T23:00:00.000-04:002019-12-15T11:57:32.456-04:00On the Record | Victory — Keep a ‘Clean Break’ at the Ready
Please see my latest wire as Brexit diarist for The New York Sun, ‘Victory — Keep a “Clean Break” at the Ready’:
Will it be “déjà vu all over again?” Not since June 23, 2016, have the prospects for Britain’s exit from the European Union looked so bright. Unlike the euphoria of that day, however, Brexiteers have endured three years of dither and delay that dampen effusions of enthusiasm. S.M. MacLeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06855763232686270092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238550712834712513.post-27523437881349775412019-12-12T20:00:00.000-04:002019-12-13T22:46:33.004-04:00On the Record | Brexit: Saturday Night Jive, on Election Eve
Please see my latest wire as Brexit diarist for The New York Sun, ‘Brexit: Saturday Night Jive, on Election Eve’:
To gauge what passes for progressive humor on topical politics, one can do worse than watching each week’s cold open that precedes the credits for “Saturday Night Live.” For more than three years, its mainstay has been to heap ridicule on President Trump. Last weekend, SNL S.M. MacLeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06855763232686270092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238550712834712513.post-52702480366390160402019-12-12T17:00:00.000-04:002019-12-12T17:11:25.653-04:00On the Record | Brexit: What Would Sisyphus Do?
Please see my wire from mid-week as Brexit diarist for The New York Sun, ‘Brexit: What Would Sisyphus Do?’:
Brexiteers anxious to spread the good news of independence cannot deny that theirs has been an uphill battle. Sisyphus, the mythical Greek cursed to push a gigantic boulder up a mountain, has been their avatar; no sooner is the summit reached but that the burden rolls back to the bottomS.M. MacLeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06855763232686270092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238550712834712513.post-24835800091833080202019-12-10T22:30:00.000-04:002019-12-10T22:36:46.415-04:00On the Record | Brexit: Once More into the Blamed Breach
Please see my wire from earlier this week as Brexit diarist for The New York Sun, ‘Brexit: Once More into the Blamed Breach’:
Given the political roller-coaster ride the cause of British independence has endured for most of 2019, these several weeks of politicking before Thursday’s general election have been anticlimactic. Like most electoral campaigns, parties vie to outdo one another with S.M. MacLeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06855763232686270092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238550712834712513.post-44406353202375841832019-12-09T15:00:00.000-04:002019-12-10T22:37:20.711-04:00On the Record | Brexit: What Would Patrick Henry Do?
Please see my mid-November wire as Brexit diarist for The New York Sun, ‘Brexit: What Would Patrick Henry Do?’:
With the British general election having only just begun, it would be precipitate for champions of UK independence to bemoan, “Brexit, we hardly knew ye.” Yet as events continue to unfold, it is difficult to maintain the requisite “stiff upper lip” until December 12.
One need look S.M. MacLeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06855763232686270092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238550712834712513.post-62555481076841883232019-10-30T22:30:00.000-03:002019-12-10T22:37:58.702-04:00On the Record | Brexit: Prometheus Bound
Please see my latest wire as Brexit diarist for The New York Sun, ‘Brexit: Prometheus Bound’:
For Brexiteers apoplectic at perpetual deferment of Britain’s exit from the European Union, I must be the bearer of sad tidings. Like Prometheus, their gut-wrenching agonies are without end. A snap election on December 12 will exacerbate their turmoil. UK independence from the EU is as elusive as S.M. MacLeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06855763232686270092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7238550712834712513.post-90573438410986792402019-10-23T18:00:00.000-03:002019-10-26T10:35:06.331-03:00On the Record | Brexit: Boris Becomes Charlie Brown
Please see my latest wire as Brexit diarist for The New York Sun, ‘Brexit: Boris Becomes Charlie Brown’:
For a workable Brexit analogy, think Charlie Brown, Lucy, and the football. Try as he might, Charlie is never given a chance to kick the pigskin. Every time he comes close, Lucy snatches away the ball, leaving our protagonist to tumble on his backside. You’d think someone would come to S.M. MacLeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06855763232686270092noreply@blogger.com