SMARTER THAN THOU by Charles CW Cooke
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2013_06_23-postal:cover61404-postal.qxd 7/1/2014 6:56 PM Page 1 July 21, 2014 $4.99 BOLTON ON HHILLARY’S CHOICES NORDLINGER DEMUTH:OUR DEBTCRISIS ON DD’SOUZA’S AMERICA SmarterSmarter thanthan Neil deGrasse Tyson and ThouThou America’s Nerd Problem CharlesCharles C.C. W. W. Cooke Cooke www.nationalreview.com base:milliken-mar 22.qxd 6/30/2014 11:53 AM Page 1 RECLAIMING THE GREAT Christian Intellectual Tradition IN PHARMACY RESEARCH A few years ago, Union University made the Union was the first decision that its new health sciences building “place that offered me would house the caliber of pharmacy labs that the ability to follow could support cutting edge research. Today, top Christ as well as do faculty and students work together in Providence scientific research to Hall designing anti-cancer agents and conducting the best of my ability.” other research to benefit people’s lives. DR. ASHOK PHILIP To learn more about Union’s commitment to Assistant Professor of Christ-centered academic excellence, visit uu.edu. Pharmaceutical Sciences FOUNDED IN 1823 | JACKSON, TENNESSEESEE | uu.edu EXCELLENCE-DRIVEN | CHRIST-CENTERED | PEOPLE-FOCUSED-FOCUSED | FUTURE-DIRECTED TOC--FINAL:QXP-1127940144.qxp 7/2/2014 2:06 PM Page 1 Contents JULY 21, 2014 | VOLUME LXVI, NO. 13 | www.nationalreview.com ON THE COVER Page 26 John J. Miller on Rick Snyder Smarter than Thou p. 21 An astrophysicist and evangelist for science, Tyson currently plays three BOOKS, ARTS roles in our society: He is the director of & MANNERS the Hayden Planetarium at the American 37 HILLARY’S WAR OF FOG Museum of Natural History; the John R. Bolton reviews Hard Choices, by Hillary presenter of the hip new show Rodham Clinton. Cosmos; and, most important of 39 A MORE PERFECT CONGRESS all, perhaps, the fetish and totem of Joseph Postell reviews The Once and the extraordinarily puffed-up “nerd” Future King: The Rise of Crown Government in America, culture that has of late started to bloom by F. H. Buckley. across the United States. Charles C. W. Cooke 42 SHAPER OF MODERN AMERICA COVER: ROMAN GENN Ryan L. Cole reviews Fierce Patriot: The Tangled ARTICLES Lives of William Tecumseh Sherman, by Robert L. O’Connell. 16 ESTABLISHMENT TEA by Richard Lowry & Ramesh Ponnuru The GOP is coming together, not apart. 44 THE LION AT TWILIGHT Michael F. Bishop reviews Churchill 18 EXTINGUISH EX-IM by Kevin D. Williamson and Empire: A Portrait of an But do it gently. Imperialist, by Lawrence James. 46 FILM: DOWN-UNDER THE TURNAROUND GOVERNOR by John J. Miller 21 DOWNER Rick Snyder and the future of Michigan. Ross Douthat reviews The Rover. 23 TAKE TWO by Jay Nordlinger 47 COUNTRY LIFE: D’Souza films again. THE LAND AWAKENS Richard Brookhiser discusses June as the 24 HAPPY-GO-LUCKY NIHILISM by Thomas S. Hibbs coronation of summer. A troubling new film makes a joke of abortion. SECTIONS FEATURES 2 Letters to the Editor 26 SMARTER THAN THOU by Charles C. W. Cooke 4 The Week Neil deGrasse Tyson and America’s nerd problem. 35 Athwart . James Lileks 36 The Long View . Rob Long 28 OUR DEMOCRATIC DEBT by Christopher DeMuth 45 Poetry . Sarah Ruden We’re borrowing to fund personal benefits, not public goods. 48 Happy Warrior . David Harsanyi NATiONAl RevieW (iSSN: 0028-0038) is published bi-weekly, except for the first issue in January, by NATiONAl RevieW, inc., at 215 lexington Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016. Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y., and additional mailing offices. © National Review, inc., 2014. Address all editorial mail, manuscripts, letters to the editor, etc., to editorial Dept., NATiONAl RevieW, 215 lexington Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016. 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Opinions expressed in signed articles do not necessarily represent the views of the editors. letters--FINAL:QXP-1127940387.qxp 7/2/2014 2:20 PM Page 2 Letters JULY 21 ISSUE; PRINTED JULY 3 EDITOR Richard Lowry Senior Editors Richard Brookhiser / Jay Nordlinger Writing and the Right Ramesh Ponnuru / David Pryce-Jones Managing Editor Jason Lee Steorts Literary Editor Michael Potemra Adam Bellow’s cover piece, “Let Your Right Executive Editor Christopher McEvoy Brain Run Free” (July 7), argues com- Roving Correspondent Kevin D. Williamson National Correspondent John J. Miller pellingly that without engaging the arts, Art Director Luba Kolomytseva conservatives’ political efforts are doomed Deputy Managing Editors Nicholas Frankovich / Fred Schwarz to fail—a prediction likely to prove only Associate Editors Patrick Brennan / Katherine Connell too true—and rightly notes that conserva- Production Editor Katie Hosmer tives have failed to put in place the kind of Assistant to the Editor Madison V. Peace structural support that could help young, Contributing Editors Shannen Coffin / Ross Douthat / Roman Genn right-leaning artists. Writing programs, fel- Jim Geraghty / Jonah Goldberg / Florence King lowships, prizes, and the rest would no Lawrence Kudlow / Mark R. Levin Yuval Levin / Rob Long / Jim Manzi doubt be a boon. However, since, as they Andrew C. McCarthy / Kate O’Beirne say, books beget books, much good could Reihan Salam / Robert VerBruggen also be done simply by pointing potential NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE Editor-at-Large Kathryn Jean Lopez conservative storytellers to masters of the art (beyond J. R. R. Tolkien, Managing Editor Edward John Craig C. S. Lewis, Flannery O’Connor, and Walker Percy, who, though News Editor Tim Cavanaugh National-Affairs Columnist John Fund vital, often seem to be the only worthwhile novelists conservatives National Reporter Eliana Johnson Staff Writer Charles C. W. Cooke have heard of). There are significant strains of conservative thought Political Reporter Joel Gehrke in mystery and crime fiction, where the problem of evil is paramount. Associate Editors Molly Powell / Nat Brown Try P. D. James. Editorial Associates Science fiction has long entertained strong libertarian tendencies. Try Andrew Johnson / Christine Sisto Technical Services Russell Jenkins not just Ray Bradbury and Robert A. Heinlein, but the brilliant Gene Web Developer Wendy Weihs Web Producer Scott McKim Wolfe. So-called literary fiction has well-known conservative entries (e.g., the work of Wendell Berry, Cormac McCarthy, or Mark Helprin), EDITORS- AT- L A RG E Linda Bridges / John O’Sullivan but there are many rewarding new arrivals: Christopher R. Beha and NATIONAL REVIEW INSTITUTE William Giraldi, for example. None of these authors adheres to a party BUCKLEYFELLOWSINPOLITICALJOURNALISM line—they might even reject one another as philosophical allies—but Ryan Lovelace / Ian Tuttle each exhibits a temperamental conservatism and a masterly ability to Contributors Hadley Arkes / Baloo / James Bowman transform that worldview into art. Providing examples of substantive Eliot A. Cohen / Dinesh D’Souza conservative fiction to our aspiring novelists will increase the likeli- M. Stanton Evans / Chester E. Finn Jr. Neal B. Freeman / James Gardner hood that a conservative literary movement will flourish for genera- David Gelernter / George Gilder / Jeffrey Hart Kevin A. Hassett / Charles R. Kesler tions to come. David Klinghoffer / Anthony Lejeune D. Keith Mano / Michael Novak Alan Reynolds / Tracy Lee Simmons Gregory Campbell Terry Teachout / Vin Weber Covington, Ky. Chief Financial Officer James X. Kilbridge Accounting Manager Galina Veygman Accountant Zofia Baraniak Business Services Alex Batey / Alan Chiu / Emily Gray A Forgotten Freshman Circulation Manager Jason Ng WORLD WIDE WEB www.nationalreview.com MAIN NUMBER 212-679-7330 John J. Miller’s article “The Mailman’s Son” (April 21) contains one SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES 386-246-0118 WASHINGTON OFFICE 202-543-9226 minor error. Miller claims that John Kasich was “the only non-incumbent ADVERTISING SALES 212-679-7330 GOP candidate to win a seat in the House that year” (1982). Nancy Executive Publisher Scott F. 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