Have you heard about the secret conspiracy between the Saudis and the White House? I haven’t either, probably because there isn’t one. But events are playing out exactly as one would expect if such a conspiracy existed.
In our politics, ideological assertions tend to gain an immediate, massive velocity. It is not enough to raise questions about global warming; it must be (according to Sen. James Inhofe) the “greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people.” It is not sufficient to call for improved control of the border; immigrant children may be carriers of Ebola (as Rep. Phil Gingrey once asserted). It is zero to 100 in no time flat.
When Democrats were looking for evidence of a Republican war on women, they overlooked Exhibit A — Sarah Palin. This isn’t to say that Palin was part of the war on women, though many Democrats would say so. Rather she was one of the war’s most conspicuous victims — fragged, you might say — by her own troops.
While Iran’s march toward a nuclear bomb has provoked a major clash between the White House and Congress, Iran’s march toward conventional domination of the Arab world has been largely overlooked. In Washington, that is.
Like many liberals today, Obama has a particular weakness for the logical fallacy known as the argument from authority, and you know he is about to invoke his favorite authority when he begins a sentence, “As I said before.”
The programmatic portion of the State of the Union has been widely misunderstood. Perhaps because of President Obama’s confrontational tone, many (both supporters and critics) found the speech’s agenda to be “boldly progressive” or “unabashedly liberal.” It was different and smarter than that.
In America, it has come to seem normal that a major news organization functions as the propaganda arm of an extremist political ideology, and that it does so with brazen disregard for what is factual, what is right, what is fair, what is balanced — virtues that are supposed to be the sine qua non of anything calling itself a newsroom.
Royals fans turned out in record numbers to attend the first FanFest following the team’s memorable 2014 postseason romp, with attendees lining up to see current and former players on Friday at Bartle Hall.
It’s easy to get complacent about battles won long ago. But rights not safeguarded can be eroded or lost. Celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday shouldn’t just mean reflecting on how far we’ve come but on where we’re going and what it will take to stay on track.
Non-Catholics are keen to study the pope’s words, so surprised and delighted are they to hear a pope say things that suggest to them a more enlightened view of the world, even if those views are attitudinal rather than tangible.
A few words on the limits to freedom of expression: For what it’s worth, there are a few that are acceptable. You don’t threaten or incite violence. You don’t defame. You don’t produce child pornography. And you don’t falsely shout “Fire!” in the proverbial crowded theater. To these restrictions, Pope Francis wants to add another: You may not say anything that insults religious beliefs.
The president has been profoundly ambivalent about the very idea of the war on terror. Obama began his administration by purging the phrase from the lexicon of official Washington.
The Obama administration has forced America and much of the world into a debate no one wanted or needed. Namely, does Islamic terrorism have anything to do with Islam?
We don’t really know what physical processes drive the development and remarkable resilience of life — which somehow includes moss on Mount Everest and tube worms in deep-sea hydrothermal vents — but it strikes me as likely that science will eventually find an explanation.
I also would have enjoyed seeing our president among the other 44 leaders who attended the solidarity rally in Paris. But who really doubts America’s commitment to fighting terrorism or supporting the French in this moment of crisis? Certainly not the French. Not the terrorists. And certainly not our military men and women who have sacrificed blood and limbs in the fight.
Dear Terrorists: I am here to announce that you have achieved your goal. From this moment on, no one on the planet — the entire planet, do you hear? — will ever, ever, ever again make fun of you. This is The End of Satire.
Some people in Congress are talking about a 10- or 20-cent increase in the federal tax on gasoline to use for infrastructure spending. Right idea, wrong policy. The increase should not be 10 cents but $1. And the proceeds should not be spent by, or even entrusted to, the government. They should be immediately and entirely returned to the consumer by means of a cut in the Social Security tax.
The vigils in Paris are moving. The hashtag plumes of #JeSuisCharlie (“I am Charlie”) are endearing. The expressions of condemnation from Muslim leaders are commendable, as are the assurances of solidarity and support from Western governments. But, as a practical matter, they don’t change a thing: The jihadists won last week.
The discrediting of religion is usually an inside job — often by religious people who allow their faith to be exploited in pursuit of someone else’s ideological agenda.
In nearly every high-profile case in recent years that involved a black alleged victim and a white alleged perpetrator, Al Sharpton has injected himself as arbiter. Where once he was a mere street activist, he is today a disruptive celebrity.
Here’s an idea that periodically develops traction across the political spectrum, even though it’s not particularly likely to be implemented: a one-year, nonmandatory national service program for Americans ages 18 to 28.
With the U.S. embargo already in place and the Castros hungry to have it lifted, why did President Barack Obama give them trade, investment, hard currency, prestige and worldwide legitimacy — for nothing in return?
Uh-oh. Now that the economy is doing well, what are Republicans — especially those running for president — going to complain about? And what are Democrats willing to celebrate?
