Year: 2014

Blacks must become multilingual. I’m not saying that black folk should learn a second language such as Spanish or Chinese – although the fact that Hispanics are the dominant minority and China is ascending economically might make knowledge of these languages a handy skill. No, it’s not as much about how things are being said […]

When President Barack Obama and other Democrats began talking about raising the minimum wage to $10 an hour, I didn’t believe them. Instead, cynical thoughts came to mind, like “class war” and “November elections” and “pandering for votes.” But I’ve changed. Now I agree with the president, the national Democrats and the Chicago Way boys […]

It’s 9 a.m. on a weekday, and I’m at the Marisol Therapeutics pot shop. This is serious business. Security is tight. ID checks are frequent. Merchandise is strictly regulated, labeled, wrapped and controlled. The store is clean, bright and safe. The staffers are courteous and professional. Customers of all ages are here. There’s a middle-aged […]

We’re told government protects us, but protectors quickly become bullies. Take the Food and Drug Administration. It seems like the most helpful part of government: It supervises testing to make sure greedy drug companies don’t sell us dangerous stuff. The FDA’s first big success was stopping thalidomide, a drug that prevented the nausea of morning […]

Some statements and arguments are so asinine that you’d have to be an academic or a leftist to take them seriously. Take the accusation that Republicans and conservatives are conducting a war on women. Does that mean they’re waging war on their daughters, wives, mothers and other female members of their families? If so, do […]

Throughout her political career, Hillary Clinton has used her gender and the still-novel specter of a woman running for president to cloak her advances and shield her from losses. It is never about her. Her own merits, qualifications, defects, failures or shortcomings are never the issue. The question is always: How are we to treat […]

Few Americans have ever met their Congresspeople. They don’t see them at the grocery store; they don’t meet them at the bowling alley. They’re more likely to see their representatives in photographs from the Daily Grill in Washington, D.C., than at a local town hall. Constituents’ closest contact with those they elect comes on Election […]

PARIS — There’s no faster or easier way to shut down legitimate debate than to slap an undesirable label on someone based on their views. Criticize same-sex marriage and you’re a bigot. Take issue with immigration policy and you’re dismissed as a racist. In the latest incarnation of this phenomenon, any conservative who dares to […]