 |  | | May 20, 2015 |  | No. 172 | | By Jonathan V. Last | |  |  |  | | | | COLD OPEN |  | | | | "Fussing" is my least favorite euphemism in the English language. When I was a younger man and people talked about babies "fussing," I pictured a well-appointed Victorian parlor, with floor-to-ceiling bookcases, and in the corner an infant in his mother's arms, cooing in a slightly agitated manner. Later, when I found myself in a family way and was staring down the barrel of a baby, I started to get a slightly different impression. "I only slept for three hours," a friend confided to me, "because the baby was up all night fussing." I was confused by this, because it seemed unlikely that agitated_though still dignified_cooing from the next room should be able to keep an adult awake through the night. But I kept my questions to myself. It was only after the blessed event that I came to understand that "fussing" was one of those bits of linguistic prestidigitation designed to hide the true nature of things so as to preserve the species. If parents called it by right words-"I only slept for three nonconsecutive hours because the baby screamed and thrashed from dusk until dawn"-then non-parents might never take the plunge. There are lots of other euphemisms we use to talk about children, of course. "The miracle of life." "Bundle of joy." "Teething." "Sleep training." They are, all of them, misdirection, sleight-of-hand, designed to obscure reality. You will find no such euphemisms in The Dadly Virtues. The Dadly Virtues is a book I've edited that is now out in the wild. (You can buy it at Amazon and Barnes & Noble as of today.) It's a book by, and for, fathers. And it is, as the kids say, #realtalk. Part instruction manual, part war journal, and part philosophical meditation, it's the book I wish I'd had when my first kid was born. The conceit of the book is that it walks dads through the entire lifecycle of fatherhood-starting with the Lamaze classes and ending with grandfatherhood, and encompassing everything in between: getting the kids a dog, giving them siblings, getting them churched, putting them through school, having the talk about the birds and the bees, marrying them off-you name it. These chapters are written by a Murderer's Row of my favorite writers: Matt Labash, Jonah Goldberg, Steve Hayes, Tucker Carlson, P. J. O'Rourke, Larry Miller, Toby Young, Andrew Ferguson, Christopher Caldwell, Rob Long, James Lileks, Iowahawk, Michael Graham, and Joe Queenan. It's the greatest book ever written about fatherhood. My opinion. And of course, as the editor of the thing, I would say that. But you can sample the goods for yourself. Here's Matt Continetti's chapter on the terror of newborns and here's the great Joseph Epstein on grandfatherhood. Last week the American Enterprise Institute hosted a little discussion featuring a few of The Dadly Virtues's contributors. You can catch the video replay here and again, I think it's a pretty good live-action version of the book. It also might be the funniest hour in AEI's long and storied history. And on this, I'm really not exaggerating. P. J. tells the story of how he broke his son's leg. On purpose. Jonah recounts how, when shopping at a liquor store, his young daughter exclaimed "Booze ... Daddy loves booze!" And Tucker uncorks a riff that defies summarization. Even if you don't get the book, or watch the whole AEI panel, do yourself a favor: Go to the video and watch from the 52:00 minute mark. It's my gift to you. (And speaking of gifts, Father's Day is-by total coincidence!-just around the corner. The Dadly Virtues is the perfect gift for anyone who's ever spent time in the father hood.) | | | | LOOKING BACK | | | | | "Jack Kemp lived every day as "the big game"_a fresh chance to score touchdowns and win the contest. He always heard the potential roar of the crowds, and he was energized by the possibility of achievement. More than any Republican since Theodore Roosevelt he believed in the strenuous life and reveled in meeting challenges and overcoming difficulties.
Jack Kemp must have learned these deep traits of resilience, determination, and courage at an early age. He displayed them in his professional football career, where being cut and traded had no discernible effect on his self-confidence and his enthusiasm. He knew he could be an effective leader on the field, and eventually the Buffalo Bills gave him the chance to prove it."
_Newt Gingrich, "The Quarterback in the Big Game," from our May 18, 2009, issue. Remember you get full access to THE WEEKLY STANDARD archive when you subscribe. | | | | | | | | THE READING LIST | | | | | | Philadelphia and the MOVE bombing, 30 years later. **
A look at No Man's Sky, possibly the most amazing videogame ever made. (Even better than this open-world dinosaur game.) **
Inside the Silk Road takedown. | | | | INSTANT CLASSIC | | | | | | "'Students will be provided definitions for sexual orientation terms heterosexuality, homosexuality and bisexuality; and the gender identity term transgender,' the district's recommendations state. 'Emphasis will be placed on recognizing that everyone is experiencing changes and the role of respectful, inclusive language in promoting an environment free of bias and discrimination.' "Eighth graders will be taught that individual identity 'occurs over a lifetime and includes the component of sexual orientation and gender identity.' "'Individual identity will also be described as having four parts_biological gender, gender identity (includes transgender), gender role, and sexual orientation (includes heterosexual, bisexual, and homosexual).' "The district will also introduce young teenagers to the 'concept that sexuality is a broader spectrum.' By tenth grade, they will be taught that one's sexuality 'develops throughout a lifetime.' "'Emphasis will be placed on an understanding that there is a broader, boundless, and fluid spectrum of sexuality that is developed throughout a lifetime,' the document states. 'Sexual orientation and gender identity terms will be discussed with focus on appreciation for individual differences.'" _Todd Starnes on the new transgender regime adopted by the Fairfax County school system in Virginia, May 15, 2015 | | | | THE LAST WORD | | | | | | One final nugget about The Dadly Virtues: Last week Amazon started selling the book early and it somehow earned a "#1 New Release" badge. In the category of ... wait for it ... "Motherhood." On Twitter someone asked how this could be possible. Obviously: The Patriarchy. Moving on: Last week I wrote that the robustness of Hillary Clinton's numbers suggested that she's stronger than many people might suspect. In part, I argued, this may be because she's being judged in non-traditional terms. Exhibit A being that voters, by a 25-point margin, say she's untrustworthy but by a +4-point margin-in the same poll!-say she has "high moral standards." This continues to fit with my two-headed working theory that (1) Hillary is vulnerable and beatable, but (2) She is a formidable candidate with unique strengths, some of which are obvious, others of which are less so. The most interesting Hillary development of the last couple days was a reported piece on Vox.com uncovering that Clinton had something that looks very much like pay-to-play with some corporate clients: During Clinton's tenure as Secretary of State, Corning [the upstate New York glass titan] lobbied the department on a variety of trade issues, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The company has donated between $100,000 and $250,000 to her family's foundation. And, last July, when it was clear that Clinton would again seek the presidency in 2016, Corning coughed up a $225,500 honorarium for Clinton to speak... The $225,500 speaking fee didn't go to help disease-stricken kids in an impoverished village on some long-forgotten patch of the planet. Nor did it go to a campaign account. It went to Hillary Clinton. Personally. This is new information, though it's utterly unsurprising to anyone who's paid even the slightest attention to Clinton World. I suspect most people, pro- and anti-Hillary, assumed this was going on. What's notable here isn't the story, but where the story ran. Because Vox.com is more or less the Obama administration's house webzine. (I'm not trying to be mean, by the way. Here's Vox.com founder Ezra Klein describing Obama in 2008: "He's not the Word made flesh, he's the triumph of word over flesh, over color, over despair." How in-the-tank for Obama is Vox.com? After the Iran nuclear deal was announced, they hurried to exclaim "This is an astonishingly good Iran deal." No, really. Not the "best deal in a bad situation." Or "an important step toward keeping tabs on Iran's progress." No: "Astonishingly good." Which is something even people inside the administration would say.) The fact that Vox.com has gone from being defensively pro-Hillary to devoting resources to attacking her probably tells us something about how progressive elites now view Clinton. They distrust her, obviously. Though if she's the nominee and the chips are down, they'll defend her to the last juicebox. But at this moment, see her as vulnerable from within the party, either from Martin O'Malley-who might be tougher than you think-or from a figure they're hoping to push into the race. The other thing this piece suggests is that when Hillary draws a more liberal challenger who's willing to slug it out with her, the elite media is going to be against her, again. So with that happy thought, go order The Dadly Virtues. It's the book every father needs and the dad(s) in your life will thank you for it. I promise. Best,
JVL P.S. To unsubscribe, click here. I won't take it personally. | | | | | | | | | MORE FROM THE WEEKLY STANDARD | | | | | | | | |  | | | Online Store | | | | Squeeze the head to the left to relieve stress. Yes you can! Only at our store. | | |  | | |  | | | | |  | | | Subscribe Today | | | | Get the magazine that The Economist has called "a wry observer of the American scene." | | |  | | | | | | | | | | | | Read probing editorials and unconventional analysis from political writers with a
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