Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

Here.

I played this video in my Philosophy of Religion course this morning. We have just begun our discussion of the Argument from Religious Experience.

As I’ve already acknowledged, there is no chance that an international brigade of leftist fighters will join any of today’s military battles. My friends and neighbors are not ready to enlist; many of them won’t acknowledge the dangers posed by Islamist zealotry. But there are dangers and the secular left needs defenders. So here I am, a writer, not a fighter, and the most helpful thing I can do is to join the ideological wars. I can claim comrades in many nations, but not yet anywhere near enough of them. There is an international brigade of left intellectuals still waiting to take shape.

(Michael Walzer, "Islamism and the Left," Dissent 62 [winter 2015]: 107-17, at 117)

Note from KBJ: Leftists: free-riding on masculine men for 100 years.

Hillary Clinton is fun.

To the Editor:

It’s hard to sympathize with the Pentagon’s plea for more resources to defend our European allies (“Despite Cuts, Army Is Alert for Threats in Europe,” news article, Oct. 19).

It’s not just that no amount of money will save an organization that burned through trillions of dollars and millions of patriotic young Americans only to lose two wars to ragtag insurgencies. Nor is it just that we already spend more than the other great powers combined, at the expense of domestic needs like infrastructure and education.

It’s that the military lacks imagination more than money. The Army’s commanding general in Europe declares that “the mission’s still the same” as during the Cold War. The mission then was to stop large tank formations from the mighty Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact from conquering West Germany. None of these even exist today.

The accompanying photo of paratroopers jumping from a plane could have been taken in World War II. Meanwhile, Russia has updated its playbook to include cyberwarfare and irregular forces, while the Islamic State deploys suicide bombers and social media.

In the middle ranks of the United States military today are many officers who learned from the ill-fated missions of the last decade and might help drag the Pentagon into the 21st century if given the chance. For them, perhaps, $600 billion a year could produce less whining and better results.

JOSHUA S. GOLDSTEIN

Amherst, Mass.

The writer is professor emeritus of international relations, American University.

Note from KBJ: We shouldn't spend one dollar to protect Europe, which has been free-riding on us for decades.

Should trannies (i.e., men dressed as women) be allowed into women's bathrooms? This woman says yes. What say you?

I'm all in for Ted Cruz. How could you not be? He's brilliant (Alan Dershowitz of Harvard Law School vouches for this); he's articulate; he has solid conservative (not libertarian) credentials; and he's funny. Here's what I can tell you so far. I will never vote for Jeb Bush, John Kasich, Rand Paul, or Chris Christie. Not in a million years. I will, however, vote for any of the following: Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, or (holding my nose because of his wishy-washiness on immigration) Marco Rubio.

The thing I most prize is my intellectual independence. I am beholden to nobody. This is disgraceful. Socrates is rolling over in his grave.

I'm curious. Is this report going to affect your eating behavior? If not, is it because you don't believe it or because you don't care about living an extra few years?