POLITICS

What a Rational Immigration System Actually Looks Like

Americans have a rational self-interest in admitting people who will strengthen that protection and excluding people who will undermine it.

Improving Education for Black Americans

What needs to be done to improve black education? Whether it's civil rights organizations, politicians or the education establishment, you'll get answers that cover the gamut from more money for teachers and smaller class sizes to school desegregation and racial...

Howard Dean’s Political Bubble: Lessons from Iowa

Howard Dean’s Political Bubble: Lessons from Iowa

The headline story out of the Iowa caucuses is Senator John Kerry's surprising victory and the collapse of Governor Howard Dean's political bubble. This is all very well for those in the media who treat politics as the personal stories of politicians. But, for those...

Wesley Clark’s Opportunism

I met Wesley Clark, now a presidential candidate, in 1992 when I was an army lieutenant attending the Officer Basic Course. The then-2 star general came to Ft. Knox, KY to address our graduating class. General Clark was charismatic, personable and gave a motivating...

Dean’s Fascism and the Me-Too Right

While Republicans popularize Howard Dean's quote that capturing Saddam Hussein "has not made America safer," they should also promote an earlier comment that explicitly revealed his basic politics. But that the Right fails to recognize its significance further exposes...

The Eight Dingbats and Economic Stagnation

There has been much uninformed talk of economics lately as the eight Democrats vying for their party's presidential nomination run around Iowa and New Hampshire crying about how jobs aren't been created in the economic recovery and that the recovery in general isn't...

Advice for 2004

Last week was my 2003 year-in-review column. This time it's about 2004, the year ahead. I do think we'll have another good year. I'll explain why, but I'll also talk about what I see as one significant risk factor. And I'll give you an idea for how to invest in a way...

George W. Bush: The New JFK?

President Bush, having spent trillions of young people's dollars on the prescription drugs of old people, now wants to throw billions at an expanded space program. Now you won't find a stronger advocate of space travel than myself. Space travel represents human reason...

Taliban Lite: The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

The New York Times reported this week: Afghan Council Gives Approval to Constitution: In a carefully balanced wording, the country will be renamed the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, combining democracy and religion. There is to be a system of civil law, but no law...

Random Thoughts for January 2004

Random Thoughts for January 2004

Random thoughts on the passing scene: Some people's jobs will allow them to be important only by being a pain. Politics is the art of making your personal desires seem like the national interest. One of the people I am glad I trusted is someone who got angry and told...

A Nation of “Hamburger Flippers”?

It might have been Ross Perot who first used the expression that America is turning into a nation of "hamburger flippers," in reference to the decline in good paying manufacturing jobs replaced by low-pay service sector jobs. Here's my question: If millions of...

“Save Manufacturing Jobs”

“Save Manufacturing Jobs”

"Manufacturing jobs" has become a battle cry of those who oppose free trade and are sounding an alarm about American jobs being exported to lower-wage countries overseas. However, manufacturing jobs are much less of a problem than manufacturing confusion. Much of what...

Profiling and Prejudice: A Call for Intelligent Profiling

In mid-November, Yusuf Suleman Motala, a Muslim leader in the United Kingdom said to be highly regarded and have a vast following, was at Heathrow Airport on his way to the lesser pilgrimage in Mecca. But British officers stopped him and Mr. Motala reports they asked...

Martha Stewart: Guilty Until Somehow Proven Innocent?

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...

A Slave State: Society in Sir Thomas More’s Utopia

Sir Thomas More's Utopia lays out several important ideas that help us understand the political thought of both now and the Renaissance as well as providing us with a look into the conditions of sixteenth century Europe. The book primarily acts as a vehicle for More...

The Privilege of Driving

It is often said that driving is not a right, but a privilege. As such it can be extended and revoked at will, by those vested with the granting of the privilege, a government. The question that must immediately strike anyone is, "What gives the local governing...

Mugged By The State

Dan Peruchi, father of four, enjoyed fixing up old cars and reselling them. Because the dealers he worked with dealt mainly in cash, he usually had lots on hand. Peruchi was driving home to Ft. Worth, Texas when he noticed the flashing lights of a police car behind...

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s Disengagement Plan

In a much-noted speech late last month, Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ostensibly made a dramatic reversal in course. But I am wondering whether to take his shift at face value. Mr. Sharon announced that the "road map," a U.S. plan that envisions Israel and the...

The Terror of “Animal Rights”

The "animal rights" movement is celebrating its latest victory: an earlier, more painful death for future victims of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's disease. Thanks to intimidation by animal rights terrorists, Cambridge University has dropped plans to build...

Honesty During the Holiday Season

Honesty During the Holiday Season

While recently driving and listening to National Public Radio, I heard a piece on holiday homelessness. During this time of the year, one frequently hears stories about the downtrodden and homeless. No one seems to agree exactly on the number of homeless, and the...

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