Category: Politics & Government

Opinions on contemporary political happenings and the workings of civil government.

Redeeming Rutherford B. Hayes

  

Last week, President Obama made fun of one of his predecessors, Rutherford B. Hayes, who served as president from 1877-1881. In a campaign speech—which is the description of any and all speeches he makes—Obama referred to people who disagree with his energy policies as those who would have been founding members of the Flat Earth Society if they had lived at the time of Columbus. Now, never mind that no one of any knowledge during Columbus’s life span believed the… Read more »

Reagan & Chambers on the Liberty Fund Blog

  

The names Ronald Reagan and Whittaker Chambers show up frequently in this blog. I was asked to contribute a piece on them at the Liberty Fund blog. It ran yesterday. So in lieu of my usual blog today, I’m linking to Liberty Fund so you can enjoy [hopefully] that piece. Just go to http://libertylawsite.org/post/ronald-reagan-whittaker-chambers-and-the-dialogue-of-liberty/ Chambers was pessimistic about the West’s survival; he didn’t think we still have the moral underpinnings to combat evil. Reagan was more optimistic; he believed freedom… Read more »

More from the Religion of Peace

  

The riots go on . . . and on. Some NATO personnel carelessly burn Qurans that terrorists had been using to pass secret messages, and the Afghan population goes wild. Two U.S. soldiers are killed, then two U.S. military advisers, who should have been safe in one of the government buildings, are shot and killed by one of the Afghan security force personnel they have been training. The riots escalate. No matter that President Obama sent over an apology. What… Read more »

Legislating Morality–Part Two

  

In yesterday’s post, I explained what I believe to be a self-evident truth: all legislation deals with right and wrong; therefore, we always legislate morality. The only question is whose morality will we legislate. Today, I’d like to offer some examples that may not be as clear-cut as murder, theft, and fraud. For instance, there was a short time in American history when prohibition went into effect—the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages was banned by constitutional amendment. It didn’t… Read more »

Legislating Morality Cannot Be Avoided

  

One of the arguments against Santorum is that he’s talking too much about social issues, and that’s going to spell doom for Republicans because they need to concentrate on the economy. We need to get something straight here: when people divide issues between “social” and “economic,” they are creating an artificial separation. As Santorum clearly explains, both in his book and his public appearances, the social traumas we face—family breakdown, abortion, a pleasure-for-me-first mentality—are at the root of our economic… Read more »

Taking the Threat to Heart

  

The Obamacare mandate for religious institutions to provide healthcare services that violate their beliefs is more serious than most people realize. The focus has been on Catholics and contraceptives, but that’s only the beginning. Since the country as a whole doesn’t hold to the no-contraception doctrine of the Catholic church, the outrage is somewhat muted. What many don’t understand is that it is merely the opening salvo for a full-scale attack on Christianity. Note I said “Christianity,” not religion, because… Read more »

Obama: Israel Is the Real Problem

  

In the midst of everything else the Obama administration is doing wrong, there’s the ongoing saga of how he’s handling the Middle East. Earlier last year, he spoke glowingly of the inappropriately named Arab Spring. What a boon this was going to be for the world. Now that Egypt has held its elections, the results have not been encouraging. Egypt is even holding nineteen Americans for trial who are primarily aid workers. I was hardly the only one who warned… Read more »