Let’s not over-state the significance of this week’s emerging scandals in Washington. The history of Western civilization is a story of the rise of the standing of the individual against the coercive power of the state. From Socrates‘ poison hemlock, to the Magna Carta, to the French Revolution, to the American Constitutional Convention “we the people” gained ascendency. More recently the power of the state | Read More »
Reality bites. The rich continue to get richer while the middle class and the poor are falling behind. That’s the Democratic narrative, and it is true. Some of this is a continuation of long term trends driven largely by globalization and technology; some is an aftermath of the 2008 Financial crisis; some is a result of Obama administration policies such as Obamacare’s disincentive for small-businesses to | Read More »
One of my favorite writers, Erick Erickson, recently referred to “a time (when) distrust of government is commonly held sentiment.” Trusting government has three dimentions: are they trying to do the right things?; are they competent to do them?; and, are they corrupt? Most of the political energy goes into the first question – and reasonable people can reasonably disagree on the particulars – but | Read More »
Not since his year-long dithering before agreeing to double American troop strength in Afghanistan with a commitment to withdraw by a date certain has President Obama so clearly demonstrated his inability to make important decisions. In the interim there have been many examples of his vacillation – budget negotiations with John Boehner, the Libyan revolt, the Benghazi fiasco, and the drip, drip, drip in Syria | Read More »
Barack Obama has never seemed to be interested in or good at governing – sometimes to the detriment of the nation, and sometimes to our benefit. The paramount question four months into his second term is who will guide the ship of state through 2016. A few points in evidence: – Exhibit number one is the failed effort to do something – anything – after | Read More »
At a recent large family outing I got cornered by a liberal Democrat who was lamenting the growing disparity between the rich and the poor and the bleak prospects for the younger generation. With the hard-earned lesson that one doesn’t seek converts in such settings, we steered off to the steep financial bifurcation in sports, music, and writing. Here is what I would have liked | Read More »
One could make the case – and Dinesh D’Souza has quite convincingly – that President Obama’s policies for much of the world reflect the anti-imperial activism of his Kenyan father and, to a lesser extent, his Indonesian stepfather. Thus, his non-response to the Arab Spring in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Syria. Thus his retreat from Iraq without leaving any forces behind. Thus his leaving the | Read More »
Enough of being the “Party of No”. Republicans have had a tough few years trying to be the responsible parent, insisting on financial discipline and limited government. While most voters understand the need to balance their household budgets and wouldn’t want to leave their kids with a mountain of personal debt, the Democrats have benefited politically by emphasizing the specific and tangible while the Republicans | Read More »
Back in the 60′s when Berlin was surrounded by 20 Soviet Army divisions in East Germany, President Kennedy, acting as the leader of the Free World (a quaint anachronism in itself) famously declared “Ich bin ein Berliner” – “I Am a Berliner”. For the moment, the front line for our Western system of individual rights rests in Cyprus. Ironically, the attack comes from the European | Read More »
A president has to trust the common sense of the American people. On the small stuff the people, wanting to have faith in the president, will give him wide berth. (Let him flit around on Air Force One while shutting down White House tours.) On the middle stuff he can fool most of the people enough of the time. (Of course he will address spending | Read More »
![[RS]](/t/img/logo-footer.jpg){kind=logo}