Category: Column

Rubin “Hurricane” Carter has died. Sympathetic obituaries say things like “wrongfully convicted” or “exonerated.” But the black middleweight-title-contending boxer was neither. Carter, in 1966, murdered three people. But Hollywood later made a movie, “Hurricane,” in which Denzel Washington brilliantly portrayed Carter as a wrongfully convicted near-saint, hounded mercilessly by a determined, racist detective. Excellent moviemaking, […]

According to experts cited by The New York Times, President Barack Obama’s eventual decision on the Keystone XL pipeline — last week, the administration once again postponed a decision — “will have a marginal impact on global warming emissions.” The global economy releases lots of greenhouse gas — 32.6 billion metric tons of carbon in […]

Honestly, unless you are a big government liberal, how many people think the federal government should have more power than it already exercises over its citizens? Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, 94, thinks the Constitution needs at least six amendments in order to bring the country more in line with what he believes […]

This week, Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, whose standoff with the federal government over taxes and land-use rights has captivated the nation, announced, “I don’t believe I owe one penny to the United States government. I don’t have a contract with the United States government.” His legal case is problematic; the Bureau of Land Management certainly […]

Income inequality has long been one of the liberals’ favorite issues. So there is nothing surprising about its being pushed hard this election year. If nothing else, it is a much-needed distraction from the disasters of ObamaCare and the various IRS, Benghazi and other Obama administration scandals. Like so many other favorite liberal issues, income […]

I’ve always thought entrenched left-wing journalists in Washington needed their heads examined. Much to my satisfaction, it appears the corporate media bosses of at least one Beltway anchor now agree. According to The Washington Post this week, NBC News hired a “psychological consultant” to examine why flailing “Meet the Press” moderator David Gregory has been […]

President Obama Vows Zero Tolerance on Gender Wage Gap,” read one headline. Another read, “Women Still Earned 77 Cents On Men’s Dollar In 2012.” It’s presumed that big, greedy corporations are responsible for what is seen as wage injustice. Before discussing the “unjust” wage differences between men and women, let’s acknowledge an even greater injustice […]

Obamacare has signed up 8 million people. Democrats are breathing a sign of relief, but their trials have only just begun. Now a large swath of America will experience first hand the shortages of doctors, the limited access to hospitals, the high deductibles, the large copays, the significant coinsurance requirements, and the long delays in […]

PARIS — The day after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met for Ukraine crisis de-escalation talks in Geneva with his Russian and European counterparts in an attempt to stabilize the country, Kerry’s department released a statement that undermined America’s own economic and national security — again. Disrupting Russia’s traditional interests in Ukraine should be […]

  Senators and governors from nine western states held a first-ever summit on Friday, April 18, in Salt Lake City, to win more control over the vast swaths of federal land within their borders. The summit had been planned before the standoff between the federal Bureau of Land Management and Nevada cattle rancher Cliven Bundy […]

When it comes to race in America, the last thing I’d want is to be considered a coward. But then, it’s so easy to be cowardly in America when it comes to race. It’s not normal for people to take positions that can leave them vulnerable and make it easy for others to brand them […]

On Good Friday, President Obama made a bad call. The State Department announced that it would delay its decision on the Keystone XL pipeline until after the Nebraska Supreme Court rules in a case involving the route. The administration insists the decision to punt has nothing to do with politics. Pretty much everyone else thinks […]

Liberals can be disarming. In fact, they are for disarming anybody who can be disarmed, whether domestically or internationally. Unfortunately, the people who are the easiest to disarm are the ones who are the most peaceful — and disarming them makes them vulnerable to those who are the least peaceful. We are currently getting a […]

Liberals advocate many wonderful things. In fact, I suspect that most conservatives would prefer to live in the kind of world envisioned by liberals, rather than in the kind of world envisioned by conservatives. Unfortunately, the only kind of world that any of us can live in is the world that actually exists. Trying to […]

These words of Thomas Jefferson’s are etched under the dome of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington: “I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” Imagine if Jefferson had finished that thought with these words: “Unless, of course, you’re 57 years old and a […]

Apart from gutting America’s military, our standing in the world, our fiscal stability, the economy, the office of the presidency, conventional energy sources, the free market and religious liberty, Obama has little to boast about other than Obamacare, so let him go for it. Yes, let him gloat, because the more he bloviates in defense […]

When Barack Obama ran for the White House in 2008, federal inmates and their families believed that if he won, miracles would follow. They were convinced that the former law professor and critic of federal mandatory minimum sentences would be liberal with his unfettered constitutional power to free low-level and nonviolent offenders sentenced to decades, […]

When Americans over the age of, let us say, 45, look at any of the iconic paintings of America’s Founders — the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the signing of the Constitution, George Washington crossing the Delaware, any of the individual portraits the Founders — what do they see? They see great men founding […]

Do our treaty commitments mean anything? Are they worth the paper upon which they are written? In 1994, President Clinton, British Prime Minister Major, Russian President Yeltsin, and Ukrainian President Kuchma signed The Budapest Memorandum pledging themselves and their nations to “respect the independence and sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine.” The treaty was […]

Just because your opponent is hurling baseless or even ridiculous charges does not mean that you are free to disregard them. You may think it’s absurd to argue that you are engaged in a “war on women.” But contempt for the accusation is not enough. Some strategists suggest (they have for years) the key for […]

Have the Republicans become the white man’s party? Are the depth and bitterness of Republicans’ opposition to Barack Obama and his administration the product of racism? Those are questions you hear in the clash of political argument, and you will hear plenty of answers in the affirmative if you click onto MSNBC or: salon.com: with any regularity. […]

One of the reasons our political structure has become dysfunctional no matter which party is in power is that too many of us are living in the moment. The closest we get to history is the instant replay. It is as if there is nothing the past can teach us; no wisdom that might be […]

In January of 2013 T.W. Shannon established two milestones. He became the first black speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives. And, at the age of 34, he became Oklahoma’s youngest House speaker in history. Also noteworthy is that this young black American is a Republican. Now T.W. Shannon is making new headlines. He has […]

On Aug. 28, 1964, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke the immortal words, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” Amen. The people judging his children by […]

“I can’t believe it. The wife and I owe the IRS again!”“You mean you aren’t getting a refund this year like millions of working Americans?”“Refund? The wife and I run a small business. We are crushed by taxes. We can barely keep up with what we owe.” “It can’t be that bad.”“We pay 28 percent […]

This week, Hank Aaron broke the hearts of millions of Republicans and conservatives who supported him and cheered him on in 1974 while racists threatened his life. USA Today quoted “The Hammer” in an interview as saying, “We can talk about baseball. Talk about politics. Sure, this country has a black president, but when you […]

In the “Star Trek” movies, San Francisco serves as headquarters of Starfleet Command. This cracks me up to no end, as I cannot imagine the Board of Supervisors approving construction of Starfleet Academy or the oddly shaped high-rises you see in the background. And if City Hall somehow did approve the project, you know there’d […]