FLASHBACK: James Lileks: “The West is a set of ideas that need defending. Forgive us our passable wines; forgive our standardized veal. Forgive us our simple-mindedness, for we – from Alabama on outward to outer, distant Alabama and beyond – have a gut feeling that ‘quarrels’ usually boil down to two sides. Forgive us for believing that fascism’s side ought to lose.”

But now it runs our corporations, our universities, and much of our government.