be hard pressed to find a writer today who could match the volume of exquisitely crafted columns, dispatches and books that he produced over four decades. he was an editor s dream, and he was a reader s dream. despite the sorrow surrounding today s gathering, there is much to celebrate. there was, for instance, chriser christopher s bravely. not just in facing the illness that took him. he didn t mind landing outside the cozy cocoon of conventional liberal wisdom, the most notable example be being his curious pro-war stance before the invasion of iraq. we will celebrate his elevated but inclusive sense of humor, and or for that legendary memory that held up even under the most liquid of late night conditions. [laughter] we will pay tribute to the people he left behind, particularly his wife carol and his three children, alexander, sophia and antonia. to celebrate christopher s monumental legacy, the hundreds of thousands of words he put on paper, we have speakers who are bl
miles. and the president in a carefully argued address deconstructed mitt romney as a man who promotes the exact same policies that caused the current crisis. if you want to give the policies of the last decade another try, then you should vote for mr. romney. you should vote for his allies in congress. you should take them at their word and they will take america down this path. and mr. romney s qualified to deliver on that plan. and despite their similar circumstances today, the president explained that there is a stark choice that will face voters come november. for those who imagined mitt romney as a milquetoast moderate the president, instead, cast his opponent in the terms mr. romney has used to describe himself, a severe conservative, pulled to the far right, with the rest of his party. their agenda will be simple and straight forward. they have spelled it out. they promised to roll back regulations on banks and polluters, on insurance companies and oil companies
silhouettes of sir isaac newton, charles darwin and adam smith. and i think that, in many respects, is indicative for bill and for cato benefactors of mankind, and adam smith stands very highly in that, that pantheon of benefactors for mankind. and so it s very appropriate today that we have with us a author of a new book on adam smith, an intellectual biography, adam smith: an enlightened life. our author today and our first speaker, nicholas phillipson, was an undergraduate at aberdeen and cambridge university, graduated with a ph.d. from cambridge in 1967. he was appointed lecturer in history at edinborough and subsequently appointed senior lecturer and reader. he retired from final employment in 2004 and was appointed honorary research fellow. he has held research appointments at a number of leading universities in the united states and europe. his research interests have focused on the cultural and intellectual history of early/modern and modern scotland with a particu
every decision he makes if the left is unhappy they assume he s selling out, he made an expedient decision. if he makes a decision that makes the liberal wing of the democratic party happy the moderates say he must be in the pocket of labor or some other liberal constituency. his own party seems to assume the worst of his motives and i think that. he s allowed his decisions to be made. to be viewed through the prizm of mechanics and washington maneuvering as opposed to, hey, here s what i really believe. here s where i m trying to take the country, this is my world view and follow me as i try to lead the country toward that. rose: we move from politics to literature and a conversation with martin amisabout writing and friendship and mortality. it started out being me when i stupidly tried to write for quite a long time an autobiographical novel about the sexual revolution with that title. and then realized a, that real life in fiction is dead. it s inert. life is chaos, i
expedient decision. if he makes a decision that makes the liberal wing of the democratic party happy the moderates say he must be in the pocket of labor or some other liberal constituency. his own party seems to assume the worst of his motives and i think that. he s allowed his decisions to be made. to be viewed through the prizm of mechanics and washington maneuvering as opposed to, hey, here s what i really believe. here s where i m trying to take the country, this is my world view and follow me as i try to lead the country toward that. rose: we move from politics to literature and a conversation with martin amisabout writing and friendship and mortality. it started out being me when i stupidly tried to write for quite a long time an autobiographical novel about the sexual revolution with that title. and then realized a, that real life in fiction is dead. it s inert. life is chaos, it has none of the symmetries and patterning of a novel. also that you can t write about