Peter P.M. Buttigieg
Latest Articles
What Will Your Role Be?
By some turn of organizational American English, the word “role” has become a euphemism for “job title.”
The Liberal Art of Redefinition
Last year, I wrote that the American left is losing a struggle for language, as conservatives masterfully redefine the political
Seeing is Believing
Wilfred Owen and Donald Rumsfeld have next to nothing in common, but Owen’s most important poem and Rumsfeld’s most important
Making it Worse
One of the classic devices in situation comedy—and some tragedy—is for a character’s solution to a simple problem to prove
Parts of Speech
Politics is always novelistic, but the last week’s worth of news had me flashing back to high school English class.
Running Out of Context
In the middle of a book of short sayings and poems, the great Lebanese poet Khalil Gibran (1883-1931) wrote, “Half
Future Imperfect
I doubt the Bush campaign asked for permission from the family of the 9-11 victim whose flag-draped body appears in
1968 Revisited
“The past is never dead,” Faulkner famously said. “It isn’t even past.” As if to prove him right, the press
Prudes and Puritans
The American Right Wing is not comfortable with the female form. So we were reminded last week, when Federal Communications
Story Lines
Americans need a narrative. Seeking patterns and repetition in history is rooted in the American tradition, ever since the Puritans