Category: Column

Kenny Stabler, the free-spirited quarterback of the Oakland Raiders in the 1970’s, was asked by a reporter his understanding of the following quote by author Jack London: “I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I […]

A recent Gallup poll, “Moral Acceptability: Changes Over Time,” shows Americans made a startling move to the left over the past 15 years. A blanket blaming of the church is the easy answer, but today, where black and white has faded into varying shades of gray, we are better served going back to where it […]

Are we seeing a reversal of the 20-year decline in violent crime in America? A new nationwide crime wave? Heather Mac Donald fears we are, and as a premier advocate and analyst of the policing strategy pioneered by Rudy Giuliani in New York City and copied and adapted throughout the country, she is to be […]

Do I trust the federal government? Hell no. President Barack Obama’s Department of Justice is happy to spend years investigating a foreign soccer organization for corruption and former Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert for allegedly paying off a blackmailer — but not the alleged blackmailer — yet ignores big concerns. The feds have done next […]

If the Supreme Court were to decide not to allow retroactive legislating and uphold Obamacare as written, terrible things would happen to America. We might, for instance, find out what health insurance in fabricated, state-run “marketplaces” actually costs. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that the 37 states that have declined to set up exchanges would […]

Many political debates in the upcoming presidential race will play out this way: The Democrat will offer “X for all,” and the Republican will respond, “Do you have any idea how much that’s going to cost?” That’s the way nearly all political debates are engaged — usually to the disadvantage of Republicans (and the public […]

Let’s set aside whether Cameron Crowe’s new movie, “Aloha,” is a good or bad movie. Whatever the flick’s merits or demerits, it has inadvertently helped expose the arbitrary, capricious and ridiculous demands of militant identity politics. After getting hammered by ethnic mau-mauers, director Crowe issued an apology this week for casting actress Emma Stone as […]

I keep thinking we’re done with George Pataki — but like an order of bad clams, he keeps coming back up on me. The three-term Republican governor of a famously blue state seems like a serious 2016 presidential contender on paper — until you read the fine print. Pataki had a promising start. He beat […]

President Obama’s stunning declaration that the global image of the United States has greatly improved under his administration is another example of his ideology and narcissism’s blinding him to his many policy failures. During a White House event with the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative, he managed to turn the subject to himself, saying, “People […]

Too many Americans seem to believe our constitutional rights were created by a bunch of men in powdered wigs during the 18th century. In truth, the rights we cherish as Americans go back many centuries before that. The difference is vitally important. If it were true that the Founding Fathers made up our rights in […]

Northern and central Italy are not on the southern Mediterranean. But somehow thousands of refugees from Africa, Asia and the Middle East are everywhere here — as is true of much of the European Union. Some sleep on park benches. Many peddle knock-off electronic goods and counterfeit watches. Angry Italians shoo away refugee beggars from […]

Fourteen to one, in favor. That was the Los Angeles City Council vote to raise, over the next five years, the city’s minimum wage from $9 an hour to $15. Of course, as Investor’s Business Daily tells us, the $15 per hour really is closer to $20. How does it get to $20? Investor’s Business […]

I was not surprised to see historian David McCullough’s latest book rocket to the top position on The New York Times Best Sellers list. Not only is “The Wright Brothers” beautifully written in McCullough’s familiar narrative style, it reminds Americans of what we once honored and promoted: vision, initiative, talent, genius, entrepreneurship, faith, even clean […]

How can we produce better health for more people at a lower cost, year after year? By lifting all the rules and barriers that prevent health care innovators from bringing new lifesaving products to consumers and force doctors to beg bureaucrats and insurance administrators for permission to save lives. For years, free market types focused […]

A stellar group of American historians and academics released a milestone open letter yesterday in protest of deleterious changes to the advanced placement U.S. history (APUSH) exam. The signatories are bold intellectual bulwarks against increasing progressive attacks in the classroom on America’s unique ideals and institutions. Moms and dads in my adopted home state of […]

Protestors demand “social justice.” I hate their chant. If I oppose their cause, then I’m for social “injustice”? Nonsense. The protesters usually want to punish capitalism. “Spread those resources,” says Hillary Clinton. Even capitalists often make the mistake of talking about “social justice” as if it’s the opposite of free markets or a reason to […]

President Barack Obama’s stance, expressed in his 2014 State of the Union address, is that the debate is settled and climate change is a fact. Obama is by no means unique in that view. Former Vice President Al Gore declared that “the science is settled.” This “settled science” vision about climate is held by many, […]

There’s a new kid in town and Hillary, quoting the pop song, is likely saying, “I don’t want to hear it.” The Quinnipiac University Poll shows that his support among likely Democratic primary voters has ballooned from only 4 percent in March to 8 percent in April to 15 percent on May 28. Among “very […]

My grandfather was deeply mentally ill. He spent nearly a year in a psychiatric institution after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder; he heard the radio talking to him. He became suicidal. He spent years battling the condition, until he was prescribed lithium. For the next several decades, the medication brought his mental illness under control. […]

This month Congress will consider whether to renew the charter of the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank). Ex-Im Bank is a New Deal-era federal program that uses taxpayer funds to subsidize the exports of American businesses. Foreign businesses, including state-owned corporations, also benefit from Ex-Im Bank. One country that has benefited from $1.5 billion of Ex-Im […]

Did Denny Hastert, former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, really think he could get away with it? He must have. He kept paying and paying, until the FBI came knocking, asking about all that cash he was withdrawing from his bank accounts. And you know the rest. Whether you consider it hush money […]

Baltimore is now paying the price for irresponsible words and actions, not only by young thugs in the streets, but also by its mayor and the state prosecutor, both of whom threw the police to the wolves, in order to curry favor with local voters. Now murders in Baltimore in May have been more than […]

I have often maintained that threats to freedom of expression in this country come predominantly — probably exclusively — from the political left. The censoring of a pro-life student club in a Las Vegas high school is a recent egregious example. Angelique Clark, a sophomore at West Career and Technical Academy in Las Vegas, says […]

The difference between Right and Left addressed in this column concerns a fundamentally different method that each utilizes in order to improve society. Conservatives believe that the way to a better world is almost always through moral improvement of the individual — by each person doing battle with his own moral defects. It is true […]

In 2011, Bill Clinton had a problem. He had already figured out how to parlay his reputation into income by giving speeches. But, now, with his wife serving as secretary of state and a Democrat in the White House, he wanted to take things to the next level and actually solicit relationships with major companies […]

Is there any way to reverse the trend towards ever more intrusive, bossy government? Things have gotten to such a pass, argues Charles Murray, that only civil disobedience might — might — work. But the chances are good enough, he says, that he’s written a book about it: “By the People: Rebuilding Liberty Without Permission.” […]

Martin O’Malley, former Baltimore mayor and Maryland governor, announced his presidential candidacy on Saturday, and said some things that could be taken as criticism of President Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “Today, the American dream seems for so many of us to be hanging by a thread,” said O’Malley, adding “We must […]

I met Andrew Breitbart almost a decade ago at a party. All I knew about him was that he worked for Matt Drudge, and Tucker Carlson told me I had to meet him. Tucker wasn’t at the party, but he knew Andrew would be and made me promise I’d introduce myself. I did, and I […]