Category: Column

As mayor of Oakland, Calif., Jerry Brown wanted an “icon” to replace the seismically challenged eastern span of the Bay Bridge and to highlight the “splendor” of the East Bay. “It’s unfortunate that pencil pushers, bureaucrats and political yahoos don’t understand quality and try to block quality to save a few bucks,” observed the Oracle […]

Democracy has not worked in the Middle East or in North Africa. It has just led to the installation of Islamist regimes who use the power they acquired in free elections to abolish civil and human rights, enslave women, kill Christians and Jews, end democracy and make war on Israel. President George W. Bush and […]

Black lawmakers have such a “sense of identification and empathy” with President Barack Obama that they are allowing him to get away with pretty much anything. It was reported in The Hill, one of Washington’s top political newspapers, that such empathy was evident following Obama’s alleged impromptu remarks about the not guilty verdict in the […]

One of the largest American Jewish organizations, The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has queried why President Barack Obama is contemplating military strikes against the evil Bashar Assad regime in Syria —— whose brutality in the current bloody and tragic Syrian civil war is conspicuously clear, but does not directly endanger the United States and […]

COLORADO SPRINGS — While most Americans will be chillin’ out, maxin’ and relaxin’ this Labor Day weekend, dedicated patriots in Colorado are hard at work preparing for a groundbreaking special election day with nationwide repercussions. George Washington would be proud. On September 10, Democratic legislator and state Senate President John Morse of Colorado Springs faces […]

When Democrats and Republicans agree, I get nervous. It often means that they agree to grab my wallet. Both parties now agree that we don’t have extra budget money lying around, but both say government does need to spend more on “infrastructure.” Even conservatives want more spent on roads and mass transit. The reason, advocates […]

When U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry addressed the reported chemical weapons attacks in Syria this week, it was like watching a bad Stanley Kubrick movie cross between “Dr. Strangelove” and “Spartacus.” As in, “I, Spartacus, would like to claim full responsibility for the battles and woes in everyone’s backyard.” This self-sacrificial impetus to take […]

This week begins my 34th year serving on George Mason University’s distinguished economics faculty. You might imagine my surprise when I received a letter from its Office of Equity and Diversity Services notifying me that I was required to “complete the in-person Equal Opportunity and Prevention of Sexual Harassment Policies and Procedures training.” This is […]

Amid the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, one complaint became almost a refrain: What about economic justice? After all, the official title of the event was the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The line “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in […]

Serious Republican conservatives are finally understanding that we must rein in the NSA and correct the abuses which have been exposed by Edward Snowden and by news reporting ever since. These hawks — men like Senators Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., and Jim Inhofe, R-Okla. — know that we need the NSA to continue to be effective […]

President Obama has made his entire career off of not being George W. Bush. During his shockingly fast political rise, he differentiated himself by claiming that he had stood alone against the warmongers who wanted to depose Saddam Hussein (never mind that he wasn’t in Congress at the time). During the 2008 campaign, he claimed […]

Many years ago, I was a member of a committee that was recommending to whom grant money should be awarded. Since I knew one of the applicants, I asked if this meant that I should recuse myself from voting on his application. “No,” the chairman said. “I know him too — and he is one […]

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ),: which defends human rights and religious freedom, said today an appeals court in Tehran rejected the appeal of American Pastor Saeed Abedini, a U.S. citizen, and refused to reduce his 8-year prison sentence. Pastor Saeed’s wife, Naghmeh, called the decision “devastating” and the ACLJ is now exploring all […]

The 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, and of the Reverend Martin Luther King’s memorable “I have a dream” speech, is a time for reflections — some inspiring, and some painful and ominous. At the core of Dr. King’s speech was his dream of a world in which people would not be judged by […]

In the first two parts of this series, I showed how Thomas Jefferson valued education as the tool to ensure our republic’s perpetuity and Americans’ “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” But today’s public education system isn’t exactly what Jefferson had in mind for his academic reformation. Yes, Jefferson imagined schools as places that […]

Once again, President Obama is personally attacking my brother, Rush, this time to shamelessly blame him for congressional gridlock. Nice try, Mr. President, but what really bothers you is that Rush has your number and daily shares it with his vast audience. In an interview last week with CNN’s Chris Cuomo, Obama charged that most […]

I cannot count the number of times I heard liberal professors and liberal writers quote the phrase: “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” The phrase is brilliant. There is actually no threat to America of fascism coming from the right. The essence of the American […]

Ashton Kutcher, the 35-year-old actor and ex-husband of actress Demi Moore, has never been considered a poster child for the “family values crowd,” but at the Teen Choice Awards two weeks ago, he could have easily passed for one. Following screams from young female fans in the audience, Kutcher silenced them with a motivational message […]

The Zionist Organization of America National Brandeis Award Dinner will be held: on Sunday: night,November 24, 2013: at the Hyatt Regency in: New York. The Keynote speaker will be Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas, presidential candidate, and host of his own popular TV show, “Huckabee.”:  Gov. Huckabee will be receiving the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson Award […]

I drove through my old neighborhood last week. It is like many suburban neighborhoods that sprouted up in the 1960s. Many of the people who moved there grew up in the city. All of them wanted big yards in which their kids could play. Many wanted to be near St. Germaine Catholic Church and its […]

Looking over the program for the festivities commemorating the 50th anniversary of the civil rights March on Washington, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech, it’s hard to not feel sober about the whole thing. I say sober because there is good news and bad news. What’s the good news? […]

This week has pissed me off. It’s been a week filled with news I’d rather forget, but really, it’s one we all should remember. It should be a rallying cry, an opportunity for those interested in justice to reform a broken system and expedite a punishment reserved for a deserving few. A college baseball player […]

Imagine you are a teenage boy who feels an attraction to other males. Imagine further that you detest having those feelings, feelings for which you would like to seek professional help to overcome these proclivities and lead what you consider to be a normal life. Well, if you are, in fact, that poor, confused teen […]

After celebrating his 87th birthday last week, semi-retired communist dictator Fidel Castro did something nobody expected him to do: He contacted Pope Francis to hear his confession. “Forgive me, pontiff, for I have sinned. Is 65 years since last confession.” “Sixty-five years!” said the pontiff. “This is going to be a long one. Go on, […]

Why? Why would President Obama support the Muslim Brotherhood while Gulf States including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates support the military over the champions of Sharia law? In The Guardian, David Hearst makes the case for Saudi King Abdullah supporting the military rule, citing evidence that the Saudi monarch fears a growing popularity […]

It was an atypical August summer day in Washington, D.C., 50 years ago next week. Temperatures were in the low 80s, about 10 degrees cooler than normal. Skies were partly cloudy. Most government officials were vacationing. I was a young copyboy at the NBC News Washington bureau. Correspondent Jack Perkins asked me to accompany him […]

Here’s how you know the California prison inmate hunger strike is a stunt, if a dangerous stunt: The strike to protest security housing units in California prisons began with 30,000 participants; Jay Leno, Susan Sarandon and other celebrities signed a letter that denounced the SHU as “solitary confinement” and “torture.” As of Thursday, the count […]

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which focuses on constitutional law, is urging: a federal district court in California on behalf of 18 members of Congress to permit a private group to obtain the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial in San Diego. This proposed remedy is an alternative to the plaintiffs’ request for a court […]