Posts tagged Allen Guelzo on Western Civ
Summer Musings (7/17/2026)

Riddleblog and Blessed Hope Podcast Updates:

  • The mountains are calling. There will be a brief interruption of the Riddleblog and Season Five of the Blessed Hope Podcast on the Book of Romans

Thinking Out Loud:

  • No to Türkiye—it is “Turkey.” No to Mumbai—it is “Bombay.” No to the “Gulf of America.” It is the “Gulf of Mexico”

  • I heard one political commentator make the point that the biggest ideological divide in America today might just be between the political class (those who are super on-line, left and/or right tribalists) and the rest of America who pay little or no attention to political in-fighting until immediately before elections, and even then they usually pay no mind to the political class. The commentator might just be right

  • Why do professional sports leagues (MLB, NBA, NFL) feel the need to promote Pride night? This certainly generates more public ill-will than ticket sales

  • And why not celebrate Swiss night? The players could all wear lederhosen, and alpenhorns could be used for the national anthem. Stadiums could sell some great cheese and chocolate at the concession stands. Instead of Bobble head dolls, they could sell Swatches with the player’s faces. All the fans would be neutral and could suck on a Riccola cough drop if they get hoarse from celebrating their neutrality. I am an oppressed minority!

  • The late State Department official John Negroponte once made the sarcastic comment after Richard Nixon’s 1972 Christmas bombing campaign in North Vietnam—“We bombed them into accepting our concessions.” I hope Trump’s efforts in Iran don’t end the same way

  • An old friend and I were recently discussing our favorite rock concerts we attended back in the day. We didn’t know each other at the time, but we were both at the Hollywood Palladium in November of 1973 to see Robin Trower and Wishbone Ash. They were meh . . . But the as of then unknown opening band absolutely stole the show—that little ole band from Texas, ZZ Top. Best 45 minutes of blues rock/boogie I ever saw in person

  • We also agreed that the worst concert we ever saw (we both there and still didn’t know each other yet) was Deep Purple in Long Beach in April of 1973. Richie Blackmore was in a snit (what else was new), and someone threw a cherry bomb at the band during their set. When it went off over their heads, the band was furious and stormed off—who can blame them? They came back after a long wait, played three songs half-heartedly, and that was it. Huge disappointment

To see the review, links, and video, follow the link below

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October Musings (10/8/2025)

Riddleblog and Blessed Hope Podcast Updates:

  • Christ Reformed Church’s 30th Anniversary celebration is coming up—October 24-26. C-Ref alums Dr. Mike Horton and Dr. R. Andrew Compton will be speaking on Friday night (Oct. 24), Dr. Brian Lee will be leading the catechism service, and I’ll be preaching Sunday morning (Oct. 26). If you wish to attend, go here for info (Christ Reformed Church 30th Anniversary)

  • Programming note: Both Riddleblog posts and the Blessed Hope Podcast will be interrupted at the end of the month and early November. I will be traveling

Thinking Out loud:

  • Preach it, Warren Buffet! “I could end the deficit in five minutes. You just pass a law that says that any time there’s a deficit of more than three percent of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election”

  • After a terrible July-August, it is hard to believe that the Yankees have made the playoffs, beat the Bosox, and are now squaring off against the Jays. We’ll see how that turns out—looks bad so far

  • I’ve used Gameday to follow MLB games for years. The balls and strikes count is quick on that platform and should be seamless in games given such a large and prolonged user-test. Using such a system will end bad calls by the home plate umpires, it should reduce the number of batters chirping over ball and strike calls, as well as cut back much of the whining coming from the dugouts about missed calls. Manager ejections should decrease dramatically. Someone quipped that we all owe Angel Hernandez a debt of gratitude for dragging MLB into the future

  • After watching Kash Patel, Pam Bondi, and members of Congress act like they were in an Animal House food fight, it is time turn the cameras off and put an end to this sort of asinine political theater. Is there any wonder why Congress has a 70% unfavorable rating? The government shutdown no doubt will increase the already pathetic unfavorability rating

  • I’m with Justin Amash on this. “I’d never trust anyone on the right or the left who is inconsistent on free speech. A person willing to abandon this fundamental American principle for short-term politics—justifying their own hypocrisy by citing the other side’s hypocrisy—can’t be counted on to uphold anything”

  • To tweak a phrase from Tombstone, it is not a reckoning Trump wants, it is revenge. Not a good character trait for a president

  • I’m glad Gavin Newsom is running for president—with the qualification, I hope he loses badly enough to leave the political scene permanently. For one thing, California will finally be rid of him (although he will still probably live in Napa Valley). For another, he’ll have to do something to keep gas prices from spiking after the New Year. With a national average in the mid-three dollar per gallon range, it is not a good look for a presidential candidate from California to have the state’s gas prices hover between five-six dollars per gallon—two dollars more than the national average

To read the rest of “my musings” follow the link below

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