Category: Column

In the old Soviet Union, Kremlinologists would read the state party newspaper Pravda not so much for the news it contained, but to glean what the commissars wanted readers to believe the commissars were thinking. The closest we have to that in America is the New York Times. Obviously, it’s not a state organ and […]

PARIS — U.S. President Barack Obama had barely set foot in Beijing for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit before he was cutting lip-service deals with China, seemingly unaware of that nation’s long-term agenda and the American vulnerability that’s ripe for exploitation. For the Chinese, it’s not about trade anymore, but about making the U.S. […]

Just what happened last week on election day? And what is going to happen in the years ahead? The most important thing that happened last week was that the country dodged a bullet. Had the Democrats retained control of the Senate, President Obama could have spent his last two years in office loading the federal […]

With Veterans Day being Nov. 11, patriots everywhere feel a sense of pride as we again honor all who have served our country. But can you pass my Veterans Day test? Do you know these facts about Veterans Day? According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau statistics: –There are 19.6 million veterans in the U.S. […]

Recently, a very disturbing video emerged that contains the metaphorical smoking gun concerning President Obama’s many lies about Obamacare. This should remove any lingering doubt that we’re dealing with a fascist-type administration. Of course, there should be no need for a smoking gun, because it is now undeniable that Obama lied on his major selling […]

“I may be a thief, but you’re a terrorist,” quoth University of California, Santa Barbara feminist studies professor Mireille Miller-Young. It was March 4. The professor had just grabbed an anti-abortion poster from the Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust at the campus free speech area. The professor didn’t like a poster of an aborted fetus; […]

Since the Bolsheviks inaugurated the first edition of their party newspaper Pravda (the Russian word for truth), the left has shaped truth to serve its goals. On an individual level, there are plenty of progressives who are honest and plenty of conservatives who aren’t. But truth is just not a left-wing value — feminism, environmentalism, […]

Looking back on the 2014 election cycle, I see two largely unnoticed turning points that worked against Democrats and in Republicans’ favor. The first came in response to the October 2013 government shutdown. This was blamed, as shutdowns usually are, on Republicans, partly because of their skepticism about big government, and partly because media professionals […]

The Supreme Court decision to hear challenges to the legality of giving subsidies to families and individuals who signed up for Obamacare through federal exchanges could lead to the de facto repeal of the program. And, with the Republican victory in the midterm elections, the next step could be the passage of the Republican version […]

Did the election last week really mean that much? I took to my Twitter account on Tuesday to point out that the change in control of the Senate from Democrat to Republican actually means very little, despite efforts by politicians and the mainstream media to convince us otherwise. Yes, power shifted, I wrote. But the […]

NEW YORK — At a dinner sponsored by the Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation last Thursday (I am an unpaid national advisory board member), there was a debate about wealth redistribution. A team of Canadian students who think government should “spread the wealth around” faced off against a team of American students who think government has […]

I am a conservative. I believe in the truth of traditional values, of limited government, and free markets. And I believe in personal freedom and that it is not possible without all the above. Our country has been going in the opposite direction and things, predictably, have not been going well. The American people spoke […]

Hurricane Isabel struck Washington, D.C., hard that night. It was Sept. 18, 2003. I lived in Alexandria, Va., at the time. I rode out the storm reading a book and enjoying a glass of wine. At the Arlington National Cemetery, just a few miles from where I sat, the sentinels who stand guard at the […]

Republicans may have won the Senate and kept the House, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is no inspiration, allowing President Obama to keep all of the leverage of shutting down government spending while the President wags the threatening finger of executive orders in McConnell’s face. If Ted Cruz stays the course of conservative leadership […]

It’s one of life’s little ironies that the political party most often screaming about “democracy!” is also the party least likely to care what the majority of citizens actually vote for. Tuesday’s election sent a clear message: We don’t like what the Democrats have been doing. What did Democrats hear? Well, one senior Democratic aide […]

Get this: Millennials hate voice mail and don’t often bother to listen to their messages. So reports NPR’s “All Things Considered” in its “The New Boom” series. As it goes, millennials prefer to receive their information via text or Facebook messages. If they receive a voice message on their phone, they likely won’t bother to […]

Hillary Clinton sniffs, “Don’t let anyone tell you that, um, you know, (smirk) corporations and businesses create jobs.” Barack Obama chastises, “If you have a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.” Analysts around the country have correctly noted that Obama and Hillary were trying to be Elizabeth Warren, Lioness of the […]

A beautiful red tsunami swept across America Tuesday night. Liberal pollsters and liberal pundits on TV refused to see the Republican wave coming and still can’t believe it came. But the S.S. Obama and its cargo of bad ideas sank like a rock, dragging Captain Harry Reid and a motley crew of hopeful Democrat office […]

During the 1968 presidential election, Richard Nixon urged the “great silent majority” to turn up at the polling place to cast their vote for him. That’s what happened Tuesday night when a higher than average number of voters for a mid-term election showed up to repudiate President Obama and his policies. Imagine today’s stunned silent […]

Some observations on the election: (1) This was a wave, folks. It will be a benchmark for judging waves, for either party, for years. (2) In seriously contested races, Republican candidates were generally younger, more vigorous, more sunny and optimistic than Democrats. The contrast was sharpest in Colorado and Iowa, which voted twice for President […]

The filibuster is dead for nominees and is living-dead for legislation; it exists, but under the precedent set by Harry Reid and Senate Democrats last year, it could be eliminated any time the majority wishes. Democrats are almost certain to do so next time they control the House of Representatives, so Republicans should go ahead […]

We know Barack Obama is good at least one thing — getting Barack Obama elected president of the United States. How good he is at being president of the United States is a subject of considerable debate. A less debatable proposition: He is just plain awful at running a political party. People often forget that […]

Enough is enough. An important bloc of voters made their voices heard on Tuesday. Their message: Quit rewarding people who violate our immigration laws. They chose a sovereign nation over an illegal alien sanctuary nation, and they told politicians in both parties loud and clear: Put Americans first. Will D.C. listen? These voters are tired […]

          “To everyone who voted,” President Obama said in his press conference on Wednesday, “I hear you. To the two-thirds of voters who chose not to participate yesterday, I hear you, too.” Let me begin with a bit of a rant. In a sense, this is the last piece of the […]

The sharp rebuke to the Obama administration delivered by the mid-term elections should not be construed as an endorsement of the GOP, which remains as unpopular as ever. Rather, as has been the case in the last few election cycles, voter revolts have hinged on continued dissatisfaction with the strength of the economy and the […]

  President Obama’s remarks at his postelection news conference were instructive on his attitude about the election results and his approach going forward. He always pays lip service to hearing the voters’ message when his side loses but then reveals he hears only what he chooses to hear. He said that what stood out to […]