Scott Galupo gaped at Romney’s self-induced tax debacle, while Daniel Larison speculated about the Republican ticket’s VP. Rob Dreher was in a heat over extreme drought and grappled with Wendell Berry’s endorsement of gay marriage. Philip Giraldi dismantled the idea that the CIA should be “unleashed” on Syria, and Scott McConnell contemplated the real drivers of the economy.

New in the Repository: G.K. Chesterton unpacks the conceit of the modern writer and  Ananda K. Coomaraswamy ponders the use of art.