Because I’m on sabbatical, I’m very short on definite deadlines, and my main form of procrastination here at Panera is to check out websites and even Facebook. Here are some of my “learning outcomes.”

Pete below, as usual, is right to keep us focused on the bizarre third coming of Romney. Mitt really is a good guy, and, all factors considered, it would be better if he were president right now. Having said that, surely it is the case that he won’t be the nominee in 2016 if another semi-competent, plausible candidate emerges. That means we can’t rule him out. After all, he wouldn’t have been the nominee last time had another semi-competent, plausible candidate emerged. The result in November, 2016 would be the same as it was last time. Well, it would probably be worse, because the Democratic candidate wouldn’t be stuck with the incumbent’s baggage.

Let me add quickly that I continue to really “feel” for our president in the difficult choices he faces in his “containment-plus” war strategy. His situation seems to be largely his fault, but it’s partly Bush’s fault too. In any case, God help President Obama now. We can help him by criticizing helpfully his choice of means and his waffling on the end.

Today is the birthday of George Gershwin, T.S. Eliot, and Martin Heidegger. I list them in order of the pleasure they have given me. In terms of intellectual pay grade, the order would have to be reversed. If I were smarter, I could go on to say something about how Gershwin and Eliot are two singular examples of American 20th-century greatness that couldn’t have been predicted by Tocqueville. And I will repeat that I have learned more from Heideggerians than Heidegger. Noble reason: Students of Heidegger such as Walker Percy and Leo Strauss add something to the thought of MH that has to be added to make it “resonate” with someone like me. Maybe more truthful reason: I just haven’t quite gotten the knack of speaking Heideggerian. Even in the case of Eliot, I prefer Tolkien.

You really do have to read Peter Thiel’s new book. It’s officially a book about startups, but it’s eerily and even crazily a book about almost everything. It’s quite the singular mixture of transhumanism, Strauss, and Girard. It has chapters on the fundamental importance of secrets, foundations, and founders. Something to think about: Peter lets us know he has decided to make the esoteric truth about monopolies exoteric. Competition–not monopoly—is the opposite of capitalism, it turns out. You might say that this is a distinctively Googlily point of view, but I’m pretty convinced by the general logic of his analysis. The book prophetically suggests that the future belongs to founders along the lines of the guys who founded Google, Amazon, Paypal, and Apple. Maybe the future–the compete conquest of nature–will be owned by Silicon Valley. Well, I don’t really believe that. But I’m glad Peter was honest enough to say that there are guys in SV who do believe that.