Posted by
Steve Maloney on Tuesday, April 03, 2007 2:33:42 PM
I'm delighted -- and relieved -- to be blogging on Townhall.com. Previously, I blogged for six months (Campaign2008) on the Google site (blogspot.com), and there are roughly 100,000 (!) words of mine there. Google obviously is a very successful organization. However, like so many technology organizations -- I worked for Compaq as a consultant, so I know these things -- Google is of, by, and for techies. It is jargon-ridden and remarkably unhelpful. That's why I'm relieved to be on Townhall.com.
I have some friends and associates who write regularly for Townhall, including Mary Grabar, one of the finest young conservative writers going; William F. Buckley, Jr. (editor of The National Review, which I wrote a few articles for); R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. (editor of The American Spectator, for which I wrote regularly in the 1970s); Paul Kengor, the superb political scientist at Grove City College); and others.
About me: I have a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Rochester (which I write about occasionally). I taught for a decade at various institutions, including Rochester, the College of William and Mary, and the University of Georgia. Later, I worked as a speechwriter and manager at Phillips Petroleum, Gulf Oil, and Aetna. I also served as a consultant/writer for many other companies, including Merck, Lilly, The Hartford, Compaq, and the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associaton, or PMA, now known as Pharma.
I've been involved in conservative politics since the Goldwater campaign, the one thing I have in common with erstwhile Goldwater supporter Hillary Rodham Clinton. Last summer and fall, I worked hard on the campaign waged by my friend Diana Lynn Irey, who worked hard to unseat befuddled congressman John Murtha. In 1973, I was part of a group of young conservatives who advised then college professor Newt Gingrich about his political future in Georgia. I'm glad he took much of our advice, and in 1978 -- after two tries -- he gained election to Congress.
Over the years, I've written for many publications, including -- in addition to the ones already mentioned -- Fortune and Newsweek. Overall, I write about the things I know, many of them learned in the jobs I've held in companies that dealt with energy, insurance, health, pharmaceuticals, and computer technology. A long-time admirer of Thoreau, I also like to discuss ways to simplify life, making it at the same time less expensive and more satisfying. In short, my interests tend to be eclectic.
I'm going to put in this new blog a few columns that suggest the variety of issues I'll touch on in my blog. Like one of my conservative heroes, Richard Weaver, I know that "ideas have consequences." God gave me the ability to write, and I'd like to use that ability to advance the causes of faith, freedom, and fair play.
In small part, people write for themselves, as part of the process of shaping their thoughts. However, one's writings exist primarily for others, both to teach them and to learn from them. I hope many, many readers send me their thoughts about what I've written.
I may not agree with what you say -- or you with what I say -- but let both of us resolve to defend to the death our rights to say what we believe. "Come let us reason together."
My next column will deal with Ayann Hirshi Ali, a thoroughly remarkable woman who wrote the book Infidel.