Robert W Tracinski

The central issue of the "cartoon jihad"--the Muslim riots and death threats against a Danish newspaper that printed 12 cartoons depicting Mohammed--is obvious. The issue is freedom of speech: whether our freedom to think, write, and draw is to be subjugated to the...

TIA Daily frequently links to articles posted at National Review Online, the online companion to National Review, the prominent conservative magazine. I link to it because NRO publishes works by many good authors with important things to say (e.g., Victor Davis Hanson...

In the months before the 1972 election, Ayn Rand gave her recommendation for voting in that year's presidential election: "I am not an admirer of President Nixon, as my readers know. But I urge every able-minded voter, of any race, creed, color, age, sex, or political...

If one were forced to choose low point of Jimmy Carter's presidency, it might be his July 15, 1979, "national malaise" speech. The country was suffering under inflation, recession, and an "energy crisis"--and we were about to undergo the national humiliation of the...

The press has done its usual fine job of reporting on the siege of Fallujah--which is to say that it is impossible for the public to figure out what is going on there. The difficulty isn't all a matter of bad reporting, though. The important thing to remember is that...

As the Martha Stewart case finally goes to trial, it is clear that Ms. Stewart has already been convicted in the court of public opinion. Observe the undisguised delight with which reporters and pundits describe the prospect of seeing Stewart hauled up before the...

In 1948, while America had just defeated one brutal dictatorship (Nazi Germany), another (the Soviet Union) was in the process of enslaving half of Europe. Never was the concept of rights more in need of a definitive statement and defense. Tragically, the Universal...

Almost without exception, the obituaries of Elia Kazan--while praising his enormous talent as a director--are critical of his testimony against Hollywood communists. According to some, Kazan, a former member of the Communist Party, should never be forgiven for naming...

Well-off American college students and $25 per hour union workers have banded together in a growing movement for what they describe as a "progressive" cause and a battle against "exploitation." Their goal: to take away economic opportunities from desperately poor...

Why do so many people hate Martha Stewart? How does a home-decorating expert with a wholesome public persona come to be portrayed as a major cultural villain? Consider the latest media frenzy over Stewart's indictment for obstruction of justice. If the arbitrariness...

The Bush administration has been right in recent weeks to focus attention on Iran--but not because of the threat that Iran might build nuclear weapons. Iran is the source of a much more powerful weapon of mass destruction that has already been unleashed against the...

Imagine a society in which an unelected, few people, qualified for power only by their mastery of esoteric terminology and incantations, are able to dictate our everyday lives in the most minute detail--growing rich in the process by siphoning off unearned billions...

After using America's military to achieve a brilliant success in Iraq, President Bush is intent on using his new-found clout in the region to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict. But the means he has chosen is renewed negotiations and a new diplomatic "road map." This...

President Bush has declared the end of "major combat operations" in Iraq, but he has not declared victory in the War on Terrorism--and that's a good thing, because the largest and most important battle in that war still remains to be fought. The road to victory goes...

On Holocaust Remembrance Day, we are urged to memorialize the millions who suffered and died in the Nazi concentration camps. The purpose is not merely to pay tribute to the victims, but to learn what made an evil of such magnitude possible--and to prevent it from...