Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
In 1925 the Jewish philosopher Theodor Lessing spoke out against the repressive political climate of Weimar Germany. Although Lessing’s explicit target was the cravenness of the Weimar regime of Paul von Hindenburg, his real target was the emerging power of Nazism, and he blamed the government for yielding to it. The Nazis recognized immediately the…
For months, there have been reports of strong disagreements in the White House. There’s nothing wrong with that. In our view, that’s often the best way tough decisions get made. In national security adviser H.R. McMaster, the president has a leader of the National Security Council who has made a career of fighting for national…
On July 24, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi unveiled proposals by House Democrats to create “a better deal” for American families and workers. Unfortunately, the press releases accompanying the launch of the “Better Deal” initiative outline general policies that would undermine economic opportunities for Americans and harm American consumers. In other words, this initiative flunks…
Venezuela has succumbed to dictatorship. It’s going to take a concerted international effort to reverse this ugly development. On July 30, socialist strongman Nicolas Maduro held a fraudulent and highly unpopular election. As a result, all 545 seats of a new “Constituent Assembly” are being filled with candidates hand-picked by Maduro’s National Socialist Party. The…
Friedrich Hayek famously observed that socialist central planning puts countries on the road to serfdom. The latest dead end on that highway to hell—already littered with the human victims of past failed attempts in places like Cuba and the old Soviet Union—is in Caracas, Venezuela. That is where, last weekend, President Nicolás Maduro and the…
Haven’t you heard? Conservatives are heartless, cruel, and all other synonyms for “bad” because we don’t care about other people. Which is to say that conservatives don’t agree with those on the left on how best to help the poor, educate children, and provide health care. To many on the left, these are not just…
Radical feminists aspire to revolutionize society in three ways. First, they seek to eliminate the different ways boys and girls are socialized, so that they will come to have very similar characters and temperaments. Second, they seek to cultivate financial and emotional independence of women and children from the family. Third, they hope to erase…
The East African country of Somalia recently concluded a 60-day amnesty program for anyone willing to defect from the Islamist terrorist group, al-Shabab. It is too soon to judge how effective this amnesty program will be in the long term. However, its inducement of a significant number of terrorist defections at least temporarily boosts the…
Did you know that the House of Representatives has passed more than 269 bills this year? You won’t hear that story told when you turn on the TV. For example, the same day the House passed a bill to overhaul Dodd-Frank and end big bank bailouts was the same day former FBI Director James Comey…
Somewhere in the bowels of the Office of Management and Budget sit two proposals on how to rewrite the 2020 census—and force America further down the road of identity politics and cultural Marxism. Busy political appointees should reject them. In fact, they should rethink the entire paradigm of dividing the country into artificial groups. The…
While much of the media focuses on lawmakers in Washington clunking heads and getting little done, the common narrative has been that change is a pipedream. But great change is afoot. They just need to look outside Washington to find it. At the local and state levels, citizen leaders, armed with a belief in economic…
For the most part, people share common goals. Most of us want poor people to enjoy higher standards of living, greater traffic safety, more world peace, greater racial harmony, cleaner air and water, and less crime. Despite the fact that people have common goals, we often see them grouped into contentious factions, fighting tooth and…
Retired Marine Gen. John Kelly is now the new White House chief of staff. Known as the gatekeeper to the president, the chief of staff is a powerful but often thankless job. If the president does not have a good chief of staff, the entire administration’s agenda is at risk, as is the ultimate well-being…
On Monday, North Carolina lawmakers took a bold stand in favor of free speech on public college campuses. The time is ripe for such reforms, as free speech is under attack on campuses around the country. North Carolina lawmakers refused to retreat and became the first to enact a law based on a proposal developed…
I’m frequently asked about the status of my lawsuit against the Justice Department over secret, unlawful intrusions into my computers, exposed in 2013. While the case is moving slowly through the federal court system, there is a new development: Ongoing forensic work has revealed a second government Internet Protocol (IP) address used in the illegal…
Most Americans are at least somewhat aware of what is happening at American (and European) universities with regard to conservative speakers. Universities disinvite conservative speakers, never invite them, or allow the violent (or threatened violent) prevention of them. No non-left-wing idea should be permitted on campus. But we may have hit a new low. Let…
One of the most important swing states in the nation, Florida, was hit with election fraud in 2016, harming voters on both sides of the political aisle. This is the latest example of why election fraud is a nonpartisan issue, and one that must be addressed in a serious and thoughtful manner. Consider a recent…
In an apparent philosophical shift, the Food and Drug Administration is taking a new tack when it comes to tobacco regulation: It is embracing the strategy of tobacco harm reduction. New and innovative products, such as e-cigarettes, can deliver nicotine at far lower risk than combustible cigarettes. But these products had been threatened by FDA…
A new Pentagon appointee is vowing to push for reform within the Department of Defense that reduces long-term costs and closes excess infrastructure. During his July 18 nomination hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee to become the assistant secretary of defense for energy, installations, and environment, Lucian Niemeyer expressed strong support for congressional authorization…
The civil society predates the constitutional order. Its subjugation and transformation by a voracious and an unappeasable administrative state is the true object of the progressive ideologue. But the purpose of a constitution, or at least the American Constitution, is to secure politically the human harmony within the civil society so that individual liberty, equal…