https://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/2010/04/20/the-mothers-of-re-invention/feed/PJ Media is a leading news site covering culture, politics, faith, homeland security, and more. Our reporters and columnists provide original, in-depth analysis from a variety of perspectives.en-usWed, 10 Jun 2026 08:52:01 -0400<![CDATA[Alexis de Tocqueville, author of Democracy in America wrote that &#8220;the greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults&#8221;. De Tocqueville wrote at a time when faults, as in broken wagon wheels or barn roofs, were meant to be repaired.  But Wallis Warfield Simpson, whose occupation is listed as socialite, captured the concerns of those for whom the word &#8216;malfunction&#8217; meant &#8216;wardrobe malfunction&#8217;. She said of a her world, which was devoted to the perfection of leisure, &#8220;you can never be too rich or too thin.&#8221; And she might have added this advice for politicians, given the fate which befell the Duke, that you can never be too publicly virtuous.]]>Tue, 20 Apr 2010 03:06:46 -0400<![CDATA[Richard Fernandez]]>https://pjmedia.com/richard-fernandez/2010/04/20/the-mothers-of-re-invention-n189728