I really enjoyed this article, “Can there be a decent left?”, which examines the future of American liberals and asks good questions. I think the key to the article is when the left seeks a just distribution of resources, they ignore the resource of morality. In other words, they see morality as an internal issue, an American resource, and are far more concerned with the just distribution of morality within our borders than with every country, large and small, around the world. It is a subjective viewpoint that removes morality from any conversation not beginning with, “The problem with America . . .”

I’m not sure where I fall in the ordained political spectrum these days. I support both abortion and capital punishment, and prize civil liberties while also understanding the importance of deception in diplomacy and government. I’ve staked out positions which make sense to me, yet cannot recognize the terrain they are planted in. But that’s fine. I’d rather continue to think and struggle than accept anyone’s comfortable dictates.

Something odd just happened. I’m sitting in the Daiseys’ little two-room apartment in a basement, and I heard Jean-Michele open a door and then descend a flight of stairs. Yet I believe I’ve seen the inside of every closet in this place and there are no stairs in any of them.