During the gasoline shortage that began in 1979, motorists were often waiting in long lines of cars at filling stations -- sometimes for hours -- in hopes of reaching the pump before the gas ran out. The ways that Ted Kennedy and Ronald Reagan proposed to deal with...
Republicans think they are so clever, having rammed through a massive expansion of the welfare state by giving drug benefits to the elderly. They co-opted the AARP -- long considered to be in the pocket of the Democrats -- and left the Democrats with no real domestic...
One of the staples of liberal hand-wringing is a need for "affordable housing." Last year, the standard liberal solution -- more government spending -- was proposed in a televised speech at the National Press Club in Washington, in a report billed as a "new vision."...
The Race Card -- "Don't Leave Home Without It." Michael Jackson, according to the Santa Barbara district attorney, allegedly molested a 12-year-old boy. But not long after the search of Michael Jackson's estate, and the issuance of an arrest warrant, Jackson defenders...
A reader wrote recently about his father, who has been a farmer, but is now ready to retire. His father figured on selling his land to get some money for his golden retirement years. But he found that he cannot get anywhere near the land's market value because...
Readers sometimes ask why I occasionally write columns advising Democrats on how they could gain some political advantage by adopting certain policies. After all, as a Republican, don't I want my party to win? Why am I helping the enemy? The answer is that I'm a...
It was gratifying news when fans around the country volunteered to donate their kidneys to basketball star Alonzo Mourning, who would otherwise have to cut short his career because of life-threatening medical problems with his own kidneys. However, the head of the New...
Recent criticism of the Bush administration has focused on the limitations of American intelligence in failing to predict September 11th, and the shortcomings current plans for homeland defense. In truth, however, these problems are only superficial. If anything, the...
We have so far discussed the aims of the war and the weapons used to fight it. Aside from pointing to the proper moral principles that ought to guide the selection of either, we have not said much about the formal process by which foreign policy decisions are to be...
The fundamental battle we face today consists not of bombs and rockets, but of ideas–the ideas of those who value human life on earth versus the ideas of those who oppose it.
It is presumptuous and impossible for civilian laymen to evaluate the intricacies of military policy. These are details best left to experts in military science. But civilians are in a position to evaluate the overall strategies of military policy, insofar as they...
In the preceding sections, we have evaluated the Bush administration's approach toward America's enemies, and the supporters of its enemies. In these categories, we have found that while the United States has taken some extremely limited steps to defend itself, it has...
Stay the course -- but change the course. That was the meaning of the sudden, sharp, and understated change in Washington's Iraq policy earlier this month. After the American civilian administrator of Iraq, L. Paul Bremer III, made a hurried visit to the White House,...
Pakistan's relationship to terrorism parallels Saudi Arabia's in virtually every respect. The government of Pakistan has in the past offered substantial indirect support to terrorists, but has now pledged support for the American war against terrorism. Like Saudi...
Last week's column contained excerpts from my interview with Robert Spencer, author of "Onward Muslim Soldiers: How Jihad Still Threatens America and the West." He makes the case that violent Islam stems from a straight reading of Islamic religious texts, and that...
Many people are incensed that other countries pay less for American medications than Americans pay because that is "unfair." Of course it is unfair -- and all of us like fairness. But there are many other things we also like, and often in life one desirable thing must...
In 1970, the telecommunications industry employed 421,000 switchboard operators. In the same year, Americans made 9.8 billion long distance calls. Today, the telecommunications industry employs only 78,000 operators. That's a tremendous 80 percent job loss. What...
Random thoughts on the passing scene: Impractical men especially need to get married. The problem is that practical women may have better sense than to marry them. I hate old has-been hotels, stuffy over their former glory and usually inefficient. A careful definition...
We've loaded him with a lot of taxes And rules and codes but there's something funny; In spite of the way his burden waxes The son-of-a-gun is making money! Whenever he's given a boost to trade We've taken an extra tribute off it, But still the villain is undismayed,...
Can we finish our mission in Iraq? Or do we need to withdraw? It all depends on what the meaning of the word "mission" is. If our mission was to remove Saddam Hussein from power, then we're done. If our mission was to remove Saddam Hussein and install an...
In many ways Saudi Arabia is the "elephant in the room" of American foreign policy: its role in the cultivation of terror is so central and so pervasive, and yet no one in the Bush White House is willing to acknowledge it openly. The story of Saudi Arabia's role in...
With zero time remaining, the bill to expand Medicare had been short by two votes --- yet, long after the clock had stopped, the Republican leadership maneuvered to change key conservative votes. Later, Rep. Butch Otter, R-Idaho, pleaded to the Associated Press: "I...
On Jan. 23, 1996, Bill Clinton told the nation, "The era of big government is over." If so, it sure didn't last very long. Today, the era of big government is back with a vengeance, ushered in by a massive new prescription drug entitlement, a pork-laden energy bill of...
In an op-ed, presidential candidate Howard Dean wrote with pride about how his small donation supporters are helping "take back our country." Pat Buchanan used the same expression in his campaign back in 1992. However, Howard Dean is the probable nominee of one of the...
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