Jay Nordlinger



Jay Nordlinger (born 1963) is an American journalist. He is a senior editor of National Review, and a book fellow of the National Review Institute. He is also a music critic for The New Criterion and The Conservative. In the 1990s, Nordlinger worked for The Weekly Standard magazine. In the 2000s, he was music critic for the New York Sun. Nordlinger assisted the speechwriting team of George W. Bush in the last six weeks of the 2000 presidential election.

Change and Determination: After 9/11, a shaking up (2002)

 * "Change and Determination: After 9/11, a shaking up" (11 September 2002), National Review


 * But understand them, people say. And one does. But sometimes understanding is not comforting or flattering to the understood.

2010s

 * Nemtsov sacrificed a lot for politics, for a freer Russia — and I’m not just talking about his life, his mortal life.
 * "A Russian Patriot and His Country, Part I" (10 April 2017), National Review


 * [T]he nutcase Left and the nutcase Right are alike in virtually every particular. They should get a room somewhere -- far from here.
 * Twitter post (4 September 2018)


 * People are always criticizing Twitter. "Twitter is crazy!" they say. I think that's misguided. Twitter is simply an avenue -- there are many -- by which people reveal who they are.
 * Twitter post (5 September 2018)


 * "Globalism" is often the most self-interested and "nationalist" thing you can do. It has been a bonanza to the United States, for sure. In capitalism, your narrowest interests are advanced by cooperation. A genius system.
 * Twitter post (9 September 2018)


 * More and more, I tune out when I see the word "elites," regarding it as a lazy Marxist slur, from both Left and Right. I still use it, when I believe it is absolutely the right word. But more and more, it makes me say, "Bye."
 * Twitter post (10 September 2018)


 * There's a point at which left and right join.
 * "Jaywalking" (12 September 2018), National Review


 * I grew up with the phrase "Believe the woman." It was almost a slogan. You didn't hear it much during the Clinton years.
 * Twitter post (14 September 2018)


 * Too often, claims of “fake news” are the real fake news. We are taught, rightly, to be skeptical of the media (and indeed of most things). But it pays to be skeptical of their critics, taunters, and defamers, too.Jay Nordlinger added,
 * Twitter post (18 September 2018)


 * More and more, I like Utah.
 * Twitter post (19 April 2019)


 * Individuals are responsible for their actions. And yet . . . No man is an island. We are all subject to influences, good and bad.
 * "Thoughts on El Paso" (August 2019), National Review

Baseball and Its Worriers (2018)

 * "Baseball and Its Worriers" (3 September 2018), National Review


 * Maybe baseball has to accept that it is now more like classical music than popular music, with football and basketball — and soccer? — being the Justin Biebers and Lady Gagas of sports. Baseball need not hang its head in shame. A lot of things that are good and worthy are not popular. And baseball is plenty popular, for heaven's sake.

The Disinvitation Game, or, Against Weenification (2018)

 * "The Disinvitation Game, or, Against Weenification" (4 September 2018), National Review Online


 * [T]he entire country should man up. We are drowning in weenification and snowflakiness. Shall we grow a national pair?

Some Talk about Talk (2018)

 * "Some Talk about Talk" (4 September 2018), National Review Online


 * Talk can be cheap, very cheap. It can also be costly. “Speak out!” we say. “Why are you afraid to speak out?” we say. In dictatorships, it can be very, very hard to speak out. Many people have been imprisoned or worse for talk. But even in democratic societies, talk can be hard. It can be hard not only in politics but also in high schools and families and churches and professional communities and other arenas. But even in democratic societies, talk can be hard. It can be hard not only in politics but also in high schools and families and churches and professional communities and other arenas.


 * One more word on talking, before I stop talking, at least about this subject: You or I may not like the talker, but talk matters, much of the time. It is especially significant when the talker is lonely — when most around him are keeping mum.