Mark Steyn gave his annual public lecture at Hillsdale College last night, drawing a crowd of hundreds who braved the bad-weather forecast to hear a worse forecast about America’s future, which of course Steyn made side-splittingly hilarious. I’ve never laughed so hard about doomsday. Here’s how campus reporter Shaun Lichti described it: “Referencing Beyonce, Rutherford B. Hayes, and pole dancers, Steyn weaved a lurid intermixture of humor and political analysis.” That’s about right. Steyn was a bit rough on the poor fellow who wore a red-plaid lumberjack shirt to the event. If you ever go to a Steyn talk, wear something else. Trust me on this. At least the guy got his book signed at the reception afterward.

Best line of the night: “We have looted the future to bribe the present, and at the bottom of the cliff the future is waiting for what we owe it.”