Did anyone ever call Franklin D. Roosevelt a "Dutch American" or Dwight Eisenhower a "German American"? It would have been resented, not only by them and their supporters, but by Americans in general. These men were Americans -- not hyphenated Americans or half...
Most discussions of the problems of American education have an air of utter unreality because they avoid addressing the most fundamental and intractable problem of our public schools -- the low quality of our teachers. There is no point expecting teachers to teach...
Random thoughts on the passing scene: A magician was asked what had happened to the lady he used to saw in half in his act. "Oh, she's retired," he said. "Now she lives in Chicago -- and Denver." Despite the rhetoric of the "haves" and the "have-nots" that is so dear...
Bill O'Reilly of "The O'Reilly Factor" is one of the few major media figures who does not hesitate to criticize Jesse Jackson, so it was appropriate that the author of a critical new book about Jackson appeared on that program. The book is aptly titled "Shakedown," in...
While Senator Barbara Boxer is trying to get the federal government to declare more than two million acres in California off-limits to development, California's other Senator, Diane Feinstein, has already brokered a deal that takes 16,500 acres off-limits. That's...
Maybe it was not the most important case before the Supreme Court of the United States. But still it was a galling example of the way some justices casually wave aside the rights of ordinary people for the sake of some special interest that they favor. The case...
Vanderbilt University is one of a number of academic institutions that are making a special effort to attract Jewish students. The idea is that these students tend to have higher test scores, which will raise the average test scores of these institutions -- which in...
Hardly a week goes by without at least one reader asking a really tough question. The latest tough question dealt with a recent column [Homeland Security and the Enemies Within] which said that, in a war for survival, the government has not only the right but the duty...
When Hawaii recently passed a law controlling how high the price of gasoline can go in that state, it was the first law controlling the price of gasoline since 1981, when President Ronald Reagan ended federal control over oil prices. What was unusual about the...
Some more murderers may escape the death penalty as a result of the recent decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, declaring it unconstitutional to execute those who are "mentally retarded." The larger question, however, is whether a death sentence is being pronounced on...
The appalling story of the pedophile priests deserves all the negative press it has been getting. But is the press critical of them because they are pedophiles or because they are priests? After all, there are many other pedophiles, some of them with their own...
Politics, according to an old adage, is "the art of the possible." But, during election years especially, politics has increasingly become the art of the impossible. What politicians promise to all the various groups adds up to more than anyone can possibly deliver....
Despite the fanfare of a televised speech at the National Press Club in Washington, a very old and hackneyed set of proposals was unveiled as a "new vision" for the creation of "affordable housing." The speech was by Richard Ravitch, co-chairman with former...
One of the many reasons why economists are unpopular is that they keep reminding people that things have costs, that there is no free lunch. People already know that -- but they like to forget it when there is something they have their hearts set on. Economists don't...
One of the problems that urgently needs some serious thought by President Bush's proposed new Homeland Security Department is the problem of what to do about enemies already living within this country. Our legal system has not yet faced the grim implications of that...
It is not clear whether the newly proposed Department of Homeland Security will have jurisdiction over terrorists who have been captured. But somewhere those in high authority need to confront the great dangers inherent in trying members of international terrorist...
The campaign to stampede the federal government into drastic action to counter "global warming" has never let honesty cramp its style. The most recent ploy has been the release of a study from the Environmental Protection Agency which concluded that human actions were...
"What's So Great About America" That is the provocative title of a new book by Dinesh D'Souza, a best-selling author who was born in India and who has now become an American citizen. Although many among the intelligentsia would have meant that question to be...
Some thought that racial preferences and quotas -- "affirmative action" -- in university admissions decisions were on their way out after they were banned by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in Texas and by Proposition 209 in California. However, the 6th Circuit Court...
Accused pipe bomber Lucas John Helder had barely been taken into custody before people began saying that he was crazy. Apparently no one is responsible for doing wrong things any more. Some of young Mr. Helder's comments may sound illogical to many of us. But they are...
[Some months ago] the Democrats and the New York Times were making hay with a Department of Energy document which revealed that Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham met with top executives of energy-producing companies while preparing an energy report that was released...
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