The psychology of victimhood and the politics of envy are powerful political tools and we see them being exploited this political season. Politicians telling Americans how bad off we are reminds me of one of Aesop's Fables where a dog was carrying a piece of meat...
POLITICS
The Federal Reserve, JPMorgan Chase and Bear Stearns: Irony in Wall Street
There was a real irony in the recent intervention by the Federal Reserve System to provide the money that enabled the firm of JPMorgan Chase to buy Bear Stearns before it went bankrupt. The point was to try to prevent a domino effect of panic in the financial markets...
Charlotte Observer Editorial Opposes Academic Freedom Regarding BB&T Grants
The latest attack on BB&T's educational donations--and on academic freedom--comes by way of this Charlotte Observer editorial, which opens with the obvious truth that "A public university's faculty and administration--not donors--should have the final say on the...
Lobbying, Free Speech and The First Amendment
Charles Krauthammer makes a trenchant argument in defense of a perennial whipping boy: Everyone knows the First Amendment protects freedom of religion, speech, press and assembly. How many remember that, in addition, the First Amendment protects a fifth freedom -- to...
Terrorism: The Price of Bush’s Commitment to Palestinian Statehood
On his recent visit to the Middle East, Vice President Cheney voiced the Bush administration's belief that a Palestinian state is "long overdue" and vowed to help make that goal a reality. Many conservatives and liberals agree with the administration that America...
Hostile-To-Reason Academics Fear Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged
"Gifts with Strings a Knotty Issue," is the latest in a recent stream of articles about academics going berserk because BB&T, under the direction of CEO John Allison, has made contributions to universities with the stipulation that Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged be...
Obama’s Speech Ignores The Fundamental Issue
Some pundits ask whether America is ready for Obama. The much more important question is whether Obama is ready for America and even more important is whether black people can afford Obama. Let's look at it in the context of a historical tidbit. In 1947, Jackie...
The Audacity of Rhetoric
It is painful to watch defenders of Barack Obama tying themselves into knots trying to evade the obvious. Some are saying that Senator Obama cannot be held responsible for what his pastor, Jeremiah Wright, said. In their version of events, Barack Obama just happened...
Bipartisan Primary Blues
Leaders of the Democratic Party and much of the media are wringing their hands over what to do about Democratic voters in Florida and Michigan, in order not to leave them out of the process of picking a nominee, and perhaps alienating them as for as the general...
The Dalai Lama: Dumb and Dumber
In researching what a potential "free Tibet" would look like absent Chinese rule, I found the following quote which is attributed to Tenzin Gyatso, aka the 14th Dalai Lama and the head of Tibet's government in exile: Of all the modern economic theories, the economic...
Immigration and Individual Rights
Every year, millions of people seek to immigrate to the United States, and with good reason: Opportunities to improve their lives abound here. Immigrants and would-be immigrants want to pursue the American dream. Whether or not they would put it in these terms, they...
Obama’s Philadelphia Speech: A Theatrical Masterpiece
Did Senator Barack Obama's speech in Philadelphia convince people that he is still a viable candidate to be President of the United States, despite the adverse reactions to statements by his pastor, Jeremiah Wright? The polls and the primaries will answer that...
The Myth of the “Peace-Loving Muslims”
All of us should give some serious thought to some of the ideas contained in an article circulating the blogsphere titled "Why a Peaceful Majority is Irrelevant." So often our political leaders, "experts" and talking heads tell us that Islam is a peaceful religion and...
Michelle Obama’s Pain
There's not a lot of money in Zanesville, Ohio. I spent four years there during college in the 1960s, down the road a few miles at Muskingum College. Zanesville was poor then; now it's worse. The biggest employer in the region, Longaberger, a basket maker, has a home...
Too Big To Bail
Every few days we hear that another leading financial institution has written down billions more on subprime investments gone bad. Nearly every major financial institution, it turns out, had a hand in loans to low-credit borrowers--borrowers whose ability to pay often...
Senator Obama and “God Damn America”
There is something both poignant and galling about the candidacy of Barack Obama. Any American, regardless of party or race, has to find it heartening that the country has reached the point where a black candidate for President of the United States sweeps so many...
Fresh Start Conservatism
David Brooks is the columnist who passes for a pro-capitalist on the New York Times. A column by Mr. Brooks on February 15th is so utterly wrong, in so many different directions that I'd like to--but can't--believe it was written while he was "tripping" on LSD. His...
Archer Daniels Midland, Big Corn and The Ethanol Hoax
One of the many mandates of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 calls for oil companies to increase the amount of ethanol mixed with gasoline. President Bush said, during his 2006 State of the Union address, "America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable...
Alternatives to Incarceration and The Costs of Crime
For more than two centuries, the political left has been preoccupied with the fate of criminals, often while ignoring or downplaying the fate of the victims of those criminals. So it is hardly surprising that a recent New York Times editorial has returned to a...
William F. Buckley, Jr.: The Witch-Doctor is Dead
Buckley, more than anyone else, is responsible for subverting the “conservative movement,” turning it into its current, depraved status as the anti-reason, anti-man, welfare-statist “religious right.”
Subprime Meltdown and Project Lifeline: Collaboration or Intimidation?
Since the subprime meltdown began, the Bush administration has pledged to act to prevent foreclosures--but without interfering in the market or bailing anyone out. How is this possible? The administration's answer: by "facilitating" what it calls "private" initiatives...
Liberty versus Socialism
A fortnight ago, I wrote about Mississippi Legislature House Bill 282 that would have imposed fines or revoked licenses of food establishments that served obese people. Fortunately, the measure died in committee. State Rep. Ted Mayhall, one of the bill's sponsors,...
Rescuing the Rust Belt
It is fascinating watching politicians say how they are going to rescue the "rust belt" regions where jobs are disappearing and companies are either shutting down or moving elsewhere. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is being blamed for the jobs going...
Africa: A Tragic Continent
President Bush's trip to Africa and promise of increased foreign aid will do little or nothing to solve the ongoing tragedy in most places on the south-of-Sahara African continent. Kenya is on the brink of a civil war. Over 1,000 people have been killed and another...
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