Category: Column

In order for Americans to fully grasp the border crisis, they must first understand the difference between an illegal alien and a refugee, one of the many tricky points in immigration law. Simply put, aliens from Canada or Mexico can be returned immediately; those from other countries can only be held for a maximum of […]

Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., and Republican Texas Gov. Rick Perry faced off Thursday at a House Homeland Security Committee field hearing in McAllen, Texas, on the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border. There’s no question there’s a crisis. In 2011, some 4,000 unaccompanied children were caught after crossing into the United States. In 2012, the number […]

Two Texans may be vying for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016: Sen. Ted Cruz and Governor Rick Perry.Cruz overwhelmingly won the Texas GOP 2016 convention straw poll, confirming his position as the conservative grassroots candidate. He fires up crowds unlike any other politician today, and the power of motivating voters and volunteers should not […]

You wouldn’t think, five years into the Obama presidency, that so many liberal Americans wouldn’t like America. A new Pew survey found that 44 percent of Americans don’t often feel pride in being an American, and only 28 percent said that America is the greatest country in the world. Respondents who “often feel proud to […]

It’s no accident that Obamacare has become emblematic of the Obama administration overall, because it exemplifies so thoroughly what Obama represents ideologically and functionally. Obamacare symbolizes government largesse, incompetence, inefficiency, arrogance and heartlessness, a government that knows better than you what is good for you. It epitomizes staggering spending, waste and debt. It typifies a […]

Happy Fourth of July! America’s 238th birthday party is being celebrated in the usual way with fireworks, cookouts, parades and patriotic songs. Words from the Declaration of Independence are recited at some events to remind us of the founding ideals of our nation. While the world has changed dramatically since 1776, those ideals remain as […]

On July 4, I plan to celebrate this nation’s birth with something approaching devotion. I will so despite the fact that each day’s news brings fresh reasons to worry about the future. I could list the things that worry me, but you know what they are. They probably worry you, too, but the Fourth of […]

A new Gallup poll finds that fewer Americans are satisfied with the freedom in their lives compared with seven years ago — dropping 12 percentage points, from 91 percent in 2006 to 79 percent in 2013. During that same time, the percentage of Americans dissatisfied with the freedoms available in their lives more than doubled, […]

Prior to Memorial Day, 2011, Louis Zamperini visited Washington, D.C., where I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing him. The man was as sharp as the proverbial tack. He inscribed Laura Hillenbrand’s bestselling biography, “Unbroken” to me with “Be Hardy.” And he was. This is the column I wrote about him and what he […]

Seldom in American history has the Supreme Court unanimously rejected positions advocated by presidents’ administrations. But in this respect at least, President Obama has produced the fundamental transformation he promised in his 2008 campaign. Over the last three years, the Court has rejected Obama administration positions repeatedly in unanimous 9-0 decisions. A review of these […]

In his first term, Barack Obama all but declared victory in America’s Middle East struggles. As he precipitously pulled out all U.S. peacekeepers from Iraq, the president had his own “Mission Accomplished” moment when declaring the country “stable,” “self-reliant” and an “extraordinary achievement.” Those claims echoed Vice President Joe Biden’s earlier boast that Iraq somehow […]

Obama’s poll numbers dropped below those of former President George W. Bush. By the end of Bush’s term, focus groups were telling pollsters they despised the very four-letter word B-U-S-H. When John McCain faced Obama in 2008, Democrats gleefully slammed McCain’s quest as the “third Bush term.” Given Obama’s light resume and see-no-flaws cheerleading by […]

There are many ways to lose freedom — conquering armies, surrendering without a fight. Unfortunately, we are currently surrendering our freedom, not to a foreign power, but to our own government.   The growth, reach, and cost of big government is happening before our eyes and eroding our liberty, largely because too many Americans are […]

The never-ending Clinton money grab is more than $150 million deep. One of their most lucrative benefactors is Wall Street powerhouse Goldman Sachs. Since leaving the White House, Bill and Hillary have collected more than $3 million from the banking goliath in campaign contributions, speaking fees and donations to their private foundation. In addition, Goldman […]

A new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences could mean bad news for environmental doomsayers. Forget all those warnings about the million tons of plastic debris floating in the ocean. Ignore the photos that you think show the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Andres Cozar of the University of Cadiz in Spain […]

The Public and Intergovernmental Affairs Office of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is very concerned. No, the communications specialists in the agency are not concerned with veterans in need. They’re not concerned with citizens and public officials requesting public information. They’re not concerned with journalists seeking the truth. What these entrenched government employees care […]

There’s capitalism, and then there’s “crapitalism” — crony capitalism. Capitalism is great because it lets entrepreneurs raise money so they can scale up and get their products and services to more people. If there is free competition, innovators with the best ideas raise the most money, and the best and cheapest products spread far and […]

A couple of years ago, President Barack Obama, speaking on the economy, told an audience in Osawatomie, Kansas: “‘The market will take care of everything,’ they tell us. … But here’s the problem: It doesn’t work. It has never worked. … I mean, understand, it’s not as if we haven’t tried this theory.” To believe […]

On Monday, three Jewish boys were found dead, murdered by the terrorist group Hamas: Eyal Yifrach, 19; Gilad Shaar, 16; and Naftali Frenkel, 16. Frenkel was an American citizen. The three were kidnapped while hitchhiking some three weeks ago. In the interim, President Barack Obama said nothing about them publicly. His wife issued no hashtags. […]

How does a nation lose its way? Some of us think that just one man alone could radically change a country, if he’s powerful enough. It was an idea of years ago, this great man theory, offered by a Scotsman in the mid-1800s, in the time of idiot kings and dying monarchies. The Scot’s name […]

Abortion-rights protesters gathered outside the Supreme Court building on Monday holding signs that read “Birth Control: Not My Boss’s Business.” Much to their chagrin, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito agreed in his ruling in the Hobby Lobby case. Of course, that’s not how supporters of the government’s contraception mandate see it. They actually believe that […]

The Islamic terrorist army often referred to as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has made a faster womb-to-superstardom ascension than Justin Bieber. Largely unheard of just a few weeks ago, the group is now the self-proclaimed new ruler of an Islamic caliphate, or republic, extending across Iraq and Syria. These countries […]

Yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. that if you like your God, you can keep your God, even if you run a business. The Obama administration tried to require that health plans provided at work cover contraception and morning after pills, no matter what an employer’s religious convictions. […]

How did women get birth control before President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act? Before Obamacare, a woman could go to a doctor and get birth control. She often had to pay or make a copayment for contraception. But in the 2014 political lexicon, that means she had no access. On Monday, the Supreme Court issued […]

This week Americans will enjoy Independence Day with family cookouts and fireworks. Flags will be displayed in abundance. Sadly, however, what should be a celebration of the courage of those who risked so much to oppose tyranny will instead be turned into a celebration of government, not liberty. The mainstream media and opportunistic politicians have […]

Birthdays are supposed to be times for celebration and gift-giving. But America’s upcoming birthday on the Fourth of July is a time when the gift most needed is an urgent warning about the dangers of losing the things that have made this country America — and have long made “America” a ringing word of freedom, […]