Category: Column

President Barack Obama has been struggling to wrap his head around the “unimaginable” idea that Congress may “defy” the American people and stop a vote on a gun control package compromise. The notion, he says, resists the “overwhelming instinct of the American people” after the massacre in Newtown, Conn., to pass gun control legislation. Well, […]

“More tears are shed over answered prayers,” the 16th century nun St. Teresa of Avila is supposed to have said, “than over unanswered ones.” So it may be appropriate to shed a tear for two or three generations of American political scientists whose prayers have been answered — in a way that most political scientists […]

In brief remarks to the nation yesterday on the Boston Marathon bombings, President Obama said that “we all have a part to play in alerting authorities. If you see something suspicious, speak up.” In Washington, D.C., electronic signs urged commuters to be on guard. Law enforcement, big-city mayors and security experts all echoed that famous […]

Even parts of government that look like a business never get run with the efficiency of a business. Just look at the post office. They buy commercials and tout their services the way private businesses do. They offer a service that customers want. But a real business can’t get away with losing billions every year. […]

If abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell is found guilty of homicide, he will be unique among murderers-for-hire: He set his fees based on weight. “The bigger the baby, the more he charged,” a grand jury explained. It recommended he be charged with eight counts of murder — one patient, seven babies. Despite what amounted to a […]

Immediately after 9/11, America was united, vigilant and determined not to permit a repeat of the slaughter of the innocents. But since then, we have let down our guard. Partisans on the right might say that we did so because the attorney general and the president tied the hands of those who are charged with […]

PARIS — As dignitaries gather in London to pay their respects to one of modern history’s greatest leaders, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who died last week at the age of 87, the riff-raff of Great Britain have emerged, subsidized by either the state or by mummy and daddy, to rejoice in her death. […]

Most laws are meant to stop people from doing something, and to penalize those who disregard those laws. More generally, laws are meant to protect the society from the law breakers. But our immigration laws are different. Here the whole focus is on the “plight” of those who have broken the laws, and on what […]

In the aftermath of the murderous terrorist attacks on the Boston Marathon this week, commentators across the landscape have rightly praised the heroic first responders and police, the civilians who ran to help and the civilians who ran to give blood. Many have also suggested that the presence of these heroes shows that America will […]

Amid all the heated, emotional advocacy of gun control, have you ever heard even one person present convincing hard evidence that tighter gun control laws have in fact reduced murders? Think about all the states, communities within states, as well as foreign countries, that have either tight gun control laws or loose or non-existent gun […]

Recently, I wrote a column arguing that the world is upside-down — by which I meant “our” world, America. Today I offer more exhibits in support of my case that our culture is unraveling. I realize that in today’s America, the notion that we should seek to preserve and promote the traditions, values and ideals […]

Last week, a USC student released 15 minutes of excerpts from videos he had made of his political science professor, Darry Sragow. Here is some of what the USC professor said to his students: “California Republicans [are] really stupid and racist.” ” … Republicans are 82 percent white. Losers.” “The Republican Party in California … […]

USC lecturer Darry Sragow dismissed California Republicans as “really stupid,” “racist” and “angry old white people” before his political science class last fall. Those remarks wouldn’t be news — except that student Tyler Talgo secretly videotaped Sragow, and the bias-watchdog group Campus Reform posted 15 minutes of excerpts from the 2 1/2-hour class, which the […]

In the opening years of the last decade, most mainstream investors sat on the sidelines while “tin hat” goldbugs rode the bull market from below $300 to just over $1,000 per ounce. But following the 2008 financial crisis, when gold held up better than stocks during the decline and made new record highs long before […]

BELFAST, Northern Ireland — The death of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has prompted reactions from Britain’s far left that takes bad taste to new extremes. During its Top 40 music countdown Sunday night, BBC Radio 1 was “forced” to play a seven-second clip of “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead” from the 1939 […]

“Without legislative language,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy declared in a statement March 20, “there is nothing for the Judiciary Committee to consider this week at our markup.” The subject of the statement was immigration legislation, and his irritation was understandable. “For months, I have urged the president to send his proposal for comprehensive […]

According to the: Department of Defense: and theDepartment of Homeland Security, evangelical Christians are now a national security threat. I’m talkin’ at the top of the list folks. As Gomer Pyle used to say, “Surprise, Surprise, Surprise” eh, Christians? Under the New Rules enacted by these agencies under this administration’s tutelage the following acts are now to […]

When the massacre in Newtown occurred, it received wall-to-wall coverage, as well it should have. We’d never seen anything like this before — a mentally ill gunman shooting tiny children and their teachers in an elementary school. It shocked the senses and dominated the national conversation — as well it should have. And aside from […]

Margaret Thatcher, who served as prime minister of Britain from 1979 to 1990, is most famous for teaming up with my father Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II to peacefully end the Cold War and bring about the collapse of the Soviet Union. But at home, the “Iron Lady’s” intellect, political will and love […]

Back when I was still writing speeches and giving policy advice to naive candidates foolish enough to listen to me, I once told a young, first-time congressional candidate who was depressed about all the negative attacks coming his way that you can tell a lot about a man by the enemies he attracts. Such was […]

A physician murders babies. His unlicensed assistant is horrified to find a newborn discarded on an office shelf, crying, among more aborted babies, jars filled with legs, arms and unidentifiable fetus body parts. While local media in Philadelphia and Delaware have covered this true story, ABC, CBS and NBC news have decided other stories are […]

When Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., visited the San Francisco Chronicle’s editorial board in February, he essentially predicted that Washington would end up where it is today. Asked whether an assault weapons ban had a realistic chance of passage, the longtime gun owner, Vietnam vet and Democrats’ point man on crafting legislation in the wake of […]

Two weeks ago I wrote a column encouraging churches to take a moral stand and make their voices heard as the Supreme Court deliberates the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8, which voters in my home state approved in 2008 to ban same-sex marriage. I pointed out that the fight over Proposition 8 is not just […]

Political correctness is like a tsunami in that no one understands the extent of its danger until after the massive wave sweeps across the land and then recedes. Early on, in the first term of the Obama administration, we felt the rumblings of the earthquake that always precedes the storm, when President Obama set the […]

Gun control advocates sound puzzled by congressional resistance to relatively modest gun control legislation. Many cite a poll showing 90 percent of Americans support more background checks and suggest the National Rifle Association is the only reason Congress won’t implement the will of the people. There are a few problems with this argument. First, it […]