Archive By Section - Columnists
Perry is gunning for Bernanke
HOLLYWOOD - God bless America, and how's everybody? GOP candidate Rick Perry said Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is committing treason if he prints more money. Perry warned him that he'll be treated ugly if he comes to Texas. The next day Laura Bush called and said if he doesn't tone it down she is going to leave him. Perry got into a war of words with the White House Monday over the tone of his ...
That penny wouldn't buy very pleasing thoughts
Everyone has a story about getting ripped off by an airline, abused by the phone company, or hosed at the department of motor vehicles.
Perry sued for daring to pray
The hysterical reaction to Republican presidential hopeful Gov. Rick Perry's faith is about as overblown as his home state of Texas is big.
Kansas City attacked by racist mobs
HOLLYWOOD - God bless America, and how's everybody? Kansas City had flash mob attacks at the Plaza district Saturday, joining Philadelphia, Milwaukee and Washington in race-based melees by flash mobs. It's tense. The Ku Klux Klan is advising convenience store owners to put the crackers up front to scare them away. Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced his candidacy for president Saturday in South Carolina. He's a fervent evangelical Christian. The Democrats are already demanding to ...
Just consider the real science
I am a "climate change convert." Like many conservatives, I was traditionally skeptical of the science supporting anthropogenic global warming (AGW). Today, I am skeptical no longer. Like conservative blogger D.R. Tucker, on this issue, I was ultimately "defeated by facts." According to Tucker's article "Confessions of a Climate Change Convert" on FrumForum, reading the 2007 Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was the critical moment in his conversion process. In ...
Rural towns are at risk in America
As a resident of a small town (Belfast, Tenn.), I am distressed by the 2010 U.S. Census. Rural population is declining both as a percentage of the U.S. total (down to 16 percent, compared to 20 percent a decade ago and a whopping 72 percent a century ago) and in absolute terms (a loss of 11 million residents since 1990). Demographers warn of a mid-century America characterized by sprawling megalopolises with virtual ghost towns in ...
It's OK to blame Obama for economy
President Obama, the Democrat party and their members of Congress have spent years blaming former President George W. Bush for the nation's current economic woes, which is akin to blaming the bank's tellers for a bank robbery, or for the dishonesty of their bosses, the bank's executives who were looting the till.
Offshoring isn't a good idea
The claim first made 10 years ago and repeated by Republican and Democratic administrations that corporate offshoring would increase domestic employment turned out to be a painful hoax perpetrated on American workers
America needs a fat presdient with a lean government
A week ago, Los Angeles Times editors asked readers if New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has the look of a president.
All the cancer symptoms are there
It has been said bad news does not get better over time. I once knew a lady who discovered a lump in her breast, but ignored it until it had metastasized. She finally sought medical help when she reached the point that she could no longer ignore the pain. Initially, denial gave her a brief sense of security, but all the while, the cancer was spreading. I could not help but notice an odd similarity ...
Censorship is alive and well in D.C.
HOLLYWOOD - God bless America, and how's everybody? Sen. John Kerry declared Friday that the news media has an obligation to stop giving airtime to Tea Party representatives. We've learned one thing this year. In Washington the impulse to censor is second only to the impulse to post naked pictures of yourself on Facebook. President Obama ordered the Pentagon Friday to set up a reverse boot camp for soldiers to attend before they leave active ...
Mom isn't going to co-sign this loan
HOLLYWOOD - God bless America, and how's everybody? China downgraded America's credit rating Tuesday and admonished Washington for not fixing its national debt and budget deficits. It's not like we can get mom to co-sign. Last night Queen Elizabeth got a call from the U.S. Treasury Department and she let the machine pick it up. Democrats went online Wednesday to express their fury at President Obama for caving in to the Tea Party in the ...
Americans lost this time
Washington is obsessed by picking winners and losers. But the establishment media has the story all wrong again. The Republicans, they say won this skirmish over debt. But actually Republicans displayed a total lack of commitment to their principles. The only winner in the "Budget Control Act of 2011" is massive government and the Washington bureaucracy it feeds with your money. We are embarrassed for Republican members of Congress who go out with a straight ...
Sip 'n speed without the Volt
CHARLESTON, S.C. - On this lovely, but exceedingly hot, Sunday afternoon, with computer-in-lap, I am enjoying the benefits of wireless Internet technology as I sit in the passenger's seat of my five-year old SUV purchased from CarMax.
America deserves better than this
The playbook of the Washington establishment is getting old. Whether it is the Boehner plan, the Boehner plan version 2.0, the Reid plan or the Obama non plan, it all is scripted from the same playbook they have used for years. Play number one is this: Pass billions in unfunded new programs. Tell everyone we will take care of them from cradle to grave. Subsidized food, medical care, housing, and if your employer goes broke ...
Articles by Section - Columnists
Mister, Mister
Here's a little game I invented the other day after phoning the water company to complain about my bill and hearing an overly-chipper woman say, "Hi, Peter. How may I help you?"
Father’s Day: Can It Survive?
My son Gideon (age nine) assures me that he will be a good father someday, but will that be an empty accomplishment? In another 20 years or so will there even be a Father's Day?
How Darrell Issa Undermines the GOP’s IRS Issue
Quick: someone call a chiropractor for California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa. He's overreached so far his arm may separate from his shoulder. Even some key figures in his party are suggesting he needs an adjustment. F-a-s-t.
You’re being audited, no joke
HOLLYWOOD--God bless America, and how's everybody?
The Games Behind the Olympics Games
Washington, D.C., is in the grip of scandals, the economy is stumbling and a host of other challenges are weighing me down - which is why I prefer to dwell on more obscure subjects, such as a battle raging behind the scenes over the 2020 Olympics.
Obama and the Media: Biting the Hand that Feeds Him
Since the Obama administration has confessed to spying on journalists at the Associated Press and Fox News, have you noticed there are more stories about the Obama scandals in the news?
What Is a Journalist?
As amateur news hounds gain power and influence through social media, the definition of "journalist" has ripened for philosophical debate. But now it's becoming a legal issue – one that could hamper efforts to protect the news profession at the very time federal lawmakers are awakening to the need to do so.
