On November 10th Bari Weiss, the former New York Times editorial writer, delivered a tour de force speech explaining the West’s current war of ideas and laying out what we must do to save our civilization. I watched it and have been thinking about it ever since.
She perfectly encapsulated the “civilizational war” the West faces, a war that “too many had foolishly thought was over.” She eloquently used the dual catastrophes of 9/11 and the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel to underscore the current war of ideas, conviction, and will.
Throughout her 38-minute speech, Weiss proved eloquent, poignant, and self-deprecating. She used humor to disarm and challenge the primarily conservative audience to look past the reality of her same-sex marriage and support for abortion to the stark truth that she, and millions like her, are allies with them in the more profound and deeper fight to save Western civilization as we know it. (Daily Signal)
The Federalist Society had invited her to deliver the Barbara K. Olsen Memorial Address at their annual National Lawyers Convention. Weiss, by her own admission, was taken aback by the invitation as she is not a lawyer and she considers herself a liberal. But Barbara Olsen was a political commentator whom Weiss respected. She was also a passenger aboard American Airlines Flight 77, which was flown into the Pentagon by terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001.
For those reasons, Weiss accepted the invitation. And we’re grateful she did. What followed was one of the most important speeches you may hear this entire year, if not this decade.
The introductions are interesting but if you want to cut to the chase, Bari starts 11-minutes in.