Good morning. This is Free Expression on the Weekend.
Are you feeling patriotic ahead of this week’s big semiquincentennial celebration?
In certain circles a dark negativity about the whole affair has taken hold.
“I wonder if it is becoming impossible to sustain patriotism—a thing of loving sincerity—in an age dominated by mockery and sarcasm,” mused Meghan Cox Gurdon this week in her excellent column, “Can Patriotism Survive Cynicism?”
In their conversation for Free Expression on the Weekend, Meghan and fellow Free Ex columnist John J. Miller tried to find an answer.
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Keep Cameras Out of the Supreme Court
The last thing the judicial branch needs is to become a platform for partisan gasbags.
By Ben Sasse
The ‘Four I’s’ That Can Wreck Presidencies
Inflation, Iran, Israel and ineptitude sank Carter, doomed Biden and now threaten Trump.
The Radicals Inside the Tent
Mainstream Democrats hope far-left insurgents will settle down after arriving in Washington. They’re in for an ugly surprise.
By James B. Meigs
‘Labyrinth’ Still Dances the Magic Dance
At 40, the Jim Henson film remains a wonderfully strange fantasy that lets its heroine grow up without growing up too fast.
Jan Brady, We Need You More Than Ever
As parents have fewer kids, the adaptable and innovative middle child could go extinct.
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