Celebrity News

William F. Buckley Jr. passed away yesterday after a long illness. His voice is now still, but his legacy is intact. Bill Buckley was, quite simply, next to Ronald Reagan, the most important conservative of the second half of the 20th century. His erudite and humorous writing and speaking style proved that conservatism can be not only intellectually compelling, but also entertaining. He was Rush Limbaugh and Bill Bennett before there was talk radio. Read more...

For years I have had a keen love and affection for the word "anthropomorphism.” I don't know precisely what it means, but I always have it loaded and ready in case the cocktail party conversation lags.

Throw "anthropomorphism" into a conversation about presidential politics, FISA legislation, or even the Washington Redskins and one of two things will soon happen: either those who, hitherto, haven't been paying too much attention to you will immediately tilt their head in your direction and try to tap into this obviously deep vein of vocabularic talent — or — your fellow conversationalists will instantly announce that they need to scoot because they just remembered that the babysitter called to announce that she had suddenly decided to hop a red-eye flight to New Delhi in order to study at the feet of the Grand Master of "Hot Yoga.” Read more...

The man most responsible for modern conservatism died today. Bill Buckley, a fearless anti-communist, a tireless promoter of the free market, and an erudite and witty debater, made conservatism cool and he made it smart.

Buckley was fearless in taking on the liberal mindset that dominates much of the conventional thinking. But he also was fearless in taking on right-wing groups like the John Birch Society. In doing so, he made conservatism a legitimate and potent alternative to liberalism. Read more...

The news of William F. Buckley Jr.’s death this morning saddened not just those conservatives who knew and worked with him, but everyone who came into contact with him over his 82 years.

Bill Buckley was there at the beginning. In fact, in many ways, he was the beginning of the modern conservative movement. His God and Man at Yale was the first real assault on the liberal secularist domination of American academia, and the founding of National Review in 1955 is the event from which all else flows. Read more...

If you are a film buff and have been following the steroid hearings on Capitol Hill, I guarantee you are going to get a kick out of the following exchange.

The only problem: This was passed along by the friend of a friend, and its author is unknown to me or the person who sent it to me.

So please, in the spirit of full disclosure and ever mindful of the current "plagiarism" flap being played out between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, let's solve this Internet mystery and give credit where credit is due.

Until then, it is just too good not to share. And, to the purist film buffs, please don't beat me up over the one small edit I made. This is a family blog. Enjoy. Read more...

Here are some questions I have today: Read more...

If you don't like preachiness, stop reading now.  I'm about to write about the connections between performance-enhancing drugs and politics.

Of course athletes have been using steroids and HGH.  They, make that we, have been pounded with the message that one can achieve success and avoid the hard work simply by taking some sort of drug.

Since Boomerdom we've been conditioned to believe we can smoke, swallow or inject our way to a quick fix.  So it was a no-brainer for the modern baseball player to be tempted by performance enhancers.  They are a much easier path to hit home runs than the tedious and painful regimens that had become so quaintly obsolete. Read more...

10. Oprah for the Democrats, Chuck Norris for the GOP. Is there anything that more clearly defines the differences between the parties?

9. Maybe it’s Barbra Streisand for the Democrats and Curt Schilling for the Republicans?

8. Are you detecting a pattern here? Read more...

Oprah's campaigning for Obama is very important and will have a huge impact on the race. She gives women permission to vote for Obama rather than for Hillary. She tells blacks that it is important to vote for Obama. And she puts distance between Obama and Edwards, the pesky third-place challenger whose lingering strength in Iowa threatens to muddy the Obama victory over Hillary.

Normally, celebrity endorsements mean little. But as America's best-known and best-liked woman and black, her endorsement means a great deal in an election based on the convergence of the first woman and the first African-American to run for president.