POLITICS

High up on my list of annoyances are references to the United States as a democracy and the suggestion that Iraq should become a democracy. The word “democracy” appears in neither of our founding documents — the Declaration of Independence nor the...

The Oregon Supreme Court has unanimously upheld the constitutionality of Measure 37, the property rights initiative approved by the voters in 2004. It requires government to either compensate landowners for reductions of real property fair market value due to certain...

It is widely believed today that our cultural and political alternatives are limited either to the ideas of the secular, relativistic left–or to those of the religious, absolutist right–or to some compromised mixture of the two. In other words, one’s...

Let’s start off with a few quotations, then a question. In reference to the president’s State of the Union: “Sounds a lot like the things Adolf Hitler used to say.” “Bush is threatening the whole planet.” “[The] U.S. wants to...

Some of you reading this web site think of yourselves as either Liberal or Conservative. You have views of the world based on personal beliefs, and these beliefs lead you to certain political assumptions. I am neither Liberal nor Conservative and I have political...

According to the University of Washington student government, university alumnus Gregory “Pappy” Boyington is not a person university students should strive to emulate and he should not be honored with a memorial on campus because as a Marine Corps...

John Q. Liberal is a professor at a local college. On Monday he gives a speech in which he denounces capitalism and the profit motive, and praises environmentalism as the highest moral ideal. When his speech is over, he confronts the organizer of the talk....

President Bush, during his State of the Union address, said, “America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world.” I decided to check out “addiction” in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary and found:...

Many western intellectuals and politicians claim that the Middle East groups advocating violence are not really religious, but rather political fascists. This directly contradicts the claims made by these groups themselves, who do not separate religion from politics,...

John Q. Conservative is a small businessman and lay-minister at a local church. On Sunday he gives a sermon at church. “The Bible tells us we must sacrifice for others,” he tells the congregation. “Sacrifice and doing good to others is the essence of...

Mr. Frum’s ridicule of the imbecile appeasement philosophy guiding our foreign policy is bang on [From Ramallah, Harper’s First Big Test, David Frum, Jan. 31.]. However, by calling Western countries “democracies,” Mr. Frum appears to have...

Listen to many elected officials or union bosses, and you’d think Wal-Mart was a malicious criminal, exploiting workers and pillaging towns for the benefit of greedy shareholders. But if that’s the case, how has Wal-Mart grown from a single shop in a small...

Do people have a right to medical treatment whether or not they can pay? What about a right to food or decent housing? Would a U.S. Supreme Court justice hold that these are rights just like those enumerated in our Bill of Rights? In order to have any hope of...

Do Not Apologize for Cartoons of Mohammad Dear Editor: European newspapers must refuse to apologize for running cartoons of Mohammad. But instead of applauding those papers that have stood their ground defending free speech, the U.S. government has shamefully endorsed...

As millions of Americans watch the Seattle Seahawks take on the Pittsburgh Steelers, every minute of the game will be scrutinized, with slow-motion replays and a torrent of statistics. But, amid the cheers and groans, don’t expect to hear complaints from fans...

We all remember last year’s despicable U.S. Supreme Court 5-4 Kelo v. City of New London, Conn., decision that held as constitutional that the rightful property of one American can be taken and transferred to another American so long as some public purpose is...

The American-endorsed trial of Saddam Hussein is touted as an opportunity to render justice and lay the groundwork for an Iraqi transition from the arbitrary courts of a dictatorship to a proper legal system. But the trial will accomplish neither goal. A trial that...