Federal Judiciary

I Shouldn?t Be Writing This

I don't know why I've agreed to suggest that you dig into your pockets and support NRO. It's completely against my interest.

NRO, you see, has dramatically impaired my productivity. For one thing, about nine times out of ten when I come up with a great idea for a column topic, I find that someone at NRO has already thought of it and written it before I've had a chance to get my boots on. The quality and meaty content of the writing at NRO is simply the best you will find on the web. Rich Lowry, Tom Sowell, Jay Nordlinger, Jonah Goldberg, Victor Davis Hanson, Ramesh Ponnuru -- all of those guys are just annoyingly excellent. I can't resist turning to it first thing in the morning -- even if I then grumble miserably about subjects I can no longer address.

#ad#The second reason NRO impedes my productivity is that I'm constantly drawn to check in when I should be doing other things. Some of us are busy, you know! But do the pundits at NRO have any sensitivity to that? No. They are always on top of the news, ready with witty, wise, and enlightening responses to whatever is going on in the political world. And while I'm there, I might just dip into Peter Robinson's Uncommon Knowledge, or just check -- really quick -- to see what Kathryn has written today or what Jim Geraghty has discovered, or take a short look at the Corner, and, well, there goes my day.

Seriously, though, I cannot think of another website that aggregates so many great writers and thinkers in one place. NRO is the beating heart of conservatism. In the past two challenging years in particular, it has provided both intellectual ammunition and emotional sustenance for Americans who have their heads screwed on straight.

I know how very badly Bill Buckley wanted National Review to live on after him and to remain both the anchor and the sail (if you'll indulge a sailing metaphor in his honor) of our movement. It has. It is. But it requires our help. If, like me, you cannot imagine life without it, please try to donate something right now.

— Mona Charen is a nationally syndicated columnist.

Full post as published by Bench Memos - National Review Online on November 16, 2010 (boomark / email).