Category: Column

July 1 was one of those evenings when you feel blessed to be in San Francisco, especially if you are strolling along Pier 14. But every reader knows what happened next: A bullet struck Kathryn Steinle, 32, as she walked arm in arm with her father. Neither knew what had happened; the shot killed a […]

The now-concluded Iran nuclear negotiations predictably reflect ancient truths of appeasement. While members of the Obama administration are high-fiving each other over a deal with the Iranian theocracy, they should remember unchanging laws that will surely haunt the U.S. later on. First, appeasement always brings short-term jubilation at the expense of long-term security. British Prime […]

There is no way to know what is going on in someone else’s mind. But sometimes their behavior tells you more than their words. The political left’s great claim to authenticity and honor is that what they advocate is for the benefit of the less fortunate. But how could we test that? T.S. Eliot once […]

Ninety-five percent of black voters in 2008 voted for then-Sen. Barack Obama. Surely a “progressive” black president would care about, empathize with and understand black America in a way no other president ever has or could, right? Exit polls from Pew Research show that 63 percent of all voters — and 65 percent of Obama […]

“…if we come to see ourselves as meat, then meat we shall become.” — Leon Kass, M.D., “Toward a More Natural Science” What is most shocking about an undercover video of a conversation between Deborah Nucatola, a Planned Parenthood executive, and two antiabortion activists from the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) posing as employees from […]

In his July 17th Blog, Let’s Get Real About Gold, author and Wall Street Journal columnist Jason Zweig likened investor interest in gold with the “Pet Rock” craze of the 1970’s, when consumers became convinced that a rock in a box would provide continuous companionship, elevate their social standing, and give them something hip to talk […]

If Greece’s ongoing fiscal quagmire demonstrates anything, it’s that Europe’s largest welfare states live in denial. Even as the bills from decades of profligate spending came due, Greeks took to the streets, not to demand a new path but to insist on continuing the status quo. Even their European creditors, in calling for tax hikes […]

Another week, another money-grubbing Planned Parenthood baby-parts harvester exposed. In the second devastating installment of a three-year journalism investigation, the Center for Medical Progress on Monday released undercover video of another top abortion industry doctor haggling over the sale of “intact” unborn baby parts. Last week, the Center for Medical Progress introduced us to wine-swilling […]

  Hillary Clinton gave a speech warning that the new “sharing economy” of businesses such as the ride-hailing company Uber is “raising hard questions about workplace protections.” Democrats hate what labor unions hate, and a taxi drivers’ union hates Uber, too. Its NYC website proclaims, “Uber has the money. But we are the PEOPLE!” The […]

We call the war of 1861 the Civil War. But is that right? A civil war is a struggle between two or more entities trying to take over the central government. Confederate President Jefferson Davis no more sought to take over Washington, D.C., than George Washington sought to take over London in 1776. Both wars, […]

Everybody knows if you don’t pay to repair your car, you limit its life. The same is true with human beings. We need medical care to avoid becoming clunkers. For a half century, Medicare has enabled seniors to get that care. But now the Obama administration is pressuring hospitals to skimp. Last week, the administration […]

The outrage over another multiple murder of American military personnel on American soil by another Islamic extremist has been exacerbated by the fact that these military people had been ordered to be unarmed — and therefore sitting ducks. Millions of American civilians have also been forbidden to have guns, and are also sitting ducks — […]

Last week, 2016 presidential candidate Donald Trump dropped his second headline-making comment of the race. Responding to statements from Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., in which McCain labeled Trump’s supporters on immigration “crazies,” Trump shot back that McCain wasn’t a war hero, because he had been captured. “I like people who weren’t captured,” Trump said, paraphrasing […]

The fight against terrorism could literally go on forever if we let it. Just ask Ken Taylor, the former Canadian ambassador to Iran best known as the mastermind of the plot to exfiltrate American diplomats from Iran during the hostage crisis, as depicted in the movie “Argo.” “This is going to go on for generations,” […]

For those of us who predicted the inevitable, watching Donald Trump verbally wander into a field of face-whacking garden rakes like Sideshow Bob fills one with a mixture of schadenfreude and affirmation. We knew it was coming, but it still feels good to be proven right. Of course Trump wouldn’t hesitate to attack John McCain’s […]

When we think of evil, we think of something violent or demonic, something filled with hatred and wretchedly hungry to devour the good. But what if evil eats a salad at lunch and is polite, speaking rationally with nice table manners? I’ve just seen a video where evil casually spears lettuce on a fork and […]

Distinguished scientist Freeman Dyson has called the 1433 decision of the emperor of China to discontinue his country’s exploration of the outside world the “worst political blunder in the history of civilization.” The United States seems at this moment about to break the record for the worst political blunder of all time, with its Obama […]

Is anyone concerned that the media have succeeded in using a flap between Donald Trump and John McCain to divert our attention from serious issues facing the nation? Trump has been very outspoken in recent weeks on certain issues, especially immigration. His unfiltered remarks have resonated with people, driving him high in the polls among […]

We say that evil is dark. But this metaphor is imprecise. Evil is actually intensely bright, so painfully bright that people look away from it. Many even deny its existence. Why? Because once people acknowledge evil’s existence, they know they have to confront it. And most people prefer not to confront evil. That is what […]

At his press conference last Wednesday, our president of self-regard again linked himself with Ronald Reagan, seeking to equate his supposed success in gaining a deal with Iran not to build a nuclear weapon for 10 years to Reagan’s arms control negotiations with the Soviet Union. There is at least one major difference, which causes […]

President Obama’s press conference on his Iran “deal” this week is a case study in just how far journalism has fallen as a profession. The big stories to come out of the alleged most power man on the planet speaking for more than an hour had nothing to do with the United States effectively blessing […]

The most recent time I had seen Jeb Bush speak in San Francisco was in January, when he addressed the National Automobile Dealers Association. It is hard to imagine a group more invested in the old-school economy. It was a friendly crowd. The former Florida governor seemed comfortable — and boring. I left feeling as […]

As we witness the fall and likely deterioration of the small Mediterranean nation of Greece, it would be wise to understand that unless America makes radical corrections, Greece’s fate will be ours.Like inGreece, our politicians are afraid to tell us the truth about soaring debt, out-of-control spending and healthcare costs accounting for 30% of the […]

Like it or not, Hillary Clinton is the single individual most likely to be elected the next president. So it’s worthwhile looking closely at and behind her words when she deigns to speak on public policy, as she did in her July 14 speech on economics. It contained quite a bit of chaff as well […]

In America, it’s illegal to donate money to a candidate without first reporting it to the government. Even then, if you give more than is permissible, you could end up in jail. In this country, you can’t add trans fats to your foods or smoke cigarettes in your own bar. Here, Little Sisters of the […]

Four U.S. Marines, barred from carrying weapons at naval training facilities despite explicit ISIS threats against our military, are dead in Tennessee. Another service member and a Chattanooga police officer survived gunshots after Thursday’s two-stage massacre allegedly at the hands of 24-year-old jihadist Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus called the terrorist’s spree “insidious […]

MONTPELIER, Vt. — “Nice flag!” the woman shouted sarcastically, adding: “F— you!” The woman was seated on the patio of a restaurant overlooking Main Street in this famously liberal capital of this famously liberal state when a truck sporting the Confederate emblem passed by. I could understand the sentiment (particularly given the fact that her […]