Category: Politics & Government

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

No Place at the Table

  

In a speech last night, Hosni Mubarak said he would not run again for president of Egypt in the next election, slated for September. That’s hardly going to satisfy the protesters. In the words of almost every commentator I’ve read, it’s “too little, too late.” The protesters will settle for nothing but a total capitulation and a new government run by those who didn’t work with Mubarak. But who will those people be? A radical organization, the Muslim Brotherhood, wants… Read more »

Legal … But Immoral

  

Thirty-eight years ago today, the United States Supreme Court decided that innocent children could be put to death. That statement may be jarring to some, but that’s exactly what Roe v. Wade accomplished. More than fifty million “legal” abortions have been performed in those thirty-eight years. Something can be legal and still be immoral. As a society, we have become numb to the atrocity. We treat it simply as a political issue rather than an issue of life or death…. Read more »

Memorial?

  

Perhaps this will be my last post on the Tucson tragedy. There are a few words more to say, particularly after the memorial with President Obama on Wednesday. First, a final word on the so-called journalism that has dominated the week. The journalistic profession, in my view, was another of the casualties: The irresponsible charges during the week set a new low standard, not only for journalists but for those in politics who sought to use this for their own… Read more »

Pelosi vs. Reality

  

There are times when a statement by a politician is so far from reality that it takes a while to be able to come up with a response other than laughter. For instance, in case you missed it, Nancy Pelosi, defending her four years as House Speaker made this astounding claim: “Deficit reduction has been a high priority for us. It is our mantra, pay-as-you-go.” When I first heard her say this, I thought perhaps I had misunderstood, but it… Read more »

The Tucson Tragedy

  

When we celebrated our one-year-old grandson’s birthday in Tucson on December 29, I went to the nearest grocery store to buy the ice cream. It was a Safeway store located in a shopping center on the corner of Ina and Oracle. On Saturday, that very store was in the news as the scene for a most horrific shooting. As I have watched the coverage the past couple of days, I can visualize from my own experience the very spot where… Read more »

Watch the Back Door

  

Now that the House is Republican, probably no radical legislation is going to succeed. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that there are other ways an administration can try to achieve its agenda. We have to be alert to those possibilities: Last week, some alert observers noticed that the end-of-life provision [a.k.a., death panels] that had to be excised from Obamacare because of the uproar created over the government determining whether or not someone would be allowed to… Read more »

Return of the Constitution

  

I remember standing in the freezing rain outside the Capitol on inaugural day 2001, watching George W. Bush replace Bill Clinton as president. It’s hard to describe the relief that swept through the crowd once he took the oath of office. Eight years of one of the sleaziest episodes in American presidential history had mercifully come to an end. I wasn’t present on Wednesday when the Republicans once again took control of the House of Representatives, but something similar to… Read more »