Mona Charen from Creators Syndicate

The Great Obama Kowtow for 02/17/2012

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Wikipedia defines "kowtow" as "kneeling and bowing so low as to have one's head touching the ground. ... (Chinese history scholar) Immanuel (Hsu) describes the 'full kowtow' as 'three kneelings and nine knockings of the head on the ground.'" Wikipedia adds that, "In modern times, usage of the kowtow has become much reduced."

Have they been watching the Obama ...

Updated: Fri Feb 17, 2012

The Free Lunch Is Back for 02/14/2012

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Leaving aside the blatant assault on religious liberty that the Obama administration's contraceptive mandate represents (a number of commentators have ably elucidated the assault on free exercise), the edict ought to offend all sensible Americans for its sheer economic and moral fatuousness.

In this case, "moral" refers to moral hazard, i.e., unintentionally encouraging bad be ...

Updated: Tue Feb 14, 2012

Do You Speak Conservative? for 02/10/2012

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Newt Gingrich knows the lingo. He makes conservative audiences roar with approval when he compares the efficiency of FedEx and MasterCard to the post office and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He never loses an opportunity to attack the press for its moral preening. Conservatives adore this table turning. Nothing makes them angrier than to be derided as heartless by people who define virtu ...

Updated: Fri Feb 10, 2012

Removing Planned Parenthood's Fig Leaf for 02/07/2012

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Planned Parenthood would appear to have won this latest skirmish in the abortion wars. The Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation having first decided to withdraw future grants to the world's largest abortion provider, quickly retreated under a barrage of accusations, complaints and threats.

No fewer than 26 Democratic senators signed a letter to Komen saying, in part that, "It wou ...

Updated: Tue Feb 07, 2012

Drop the Middle Class Talk for 02/03/2012

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

In 1992, Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton built his campaign for the White House on doing more for the "forgotten middle class." Calling it the "new covenant" (Democrats since Roosevelt have tried to work the words "new" or "deal" into their campaign slogans), Clinton promised to focus on the people he called "the backbone of the country, the ones who do t ...

Updated: Fri Feb 03, 2012

Social Pressure to Marry Is Dead for 01/31/2012

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

The advice columns of newspapers are good windows into the conscience of a culture. There you will find a field guide to what is considered socially acceptable and unacceptable. One of the advice columnists for the Washington Post, Carolyn Hax, is consistently sensible and solid in her suggestions. Straightening out busybodies, drug abusers, interfering in-laws and ungrateful children with equa ...

Updated: Tue Jan 31, 2012

Romney Should be Proud for 01/27/2012

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

It's as predictable as vultures at a carcass. When a wealthy Republican is running for office, the press will make his wealth a handicap. Recall that when George H. W. Bush was running in 1988, he was derided as a "preppy." George W. Bush was the undeserving scion of the ruling class. We were told never mind that he had succeeded in business on his own. Though John McCain had been a f ...

Updated: Fri Jan 27, 2012

Just Attack the Media and We're At Your Feet for 01/24/2012

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

So the message South Carolina voters sent was — "Anything goes so long as you attack the media."

Whatever you think about Mitt Romney's shortcomings as a candidate — and I agree with Mark Steyn, who said of his stump speech, "The finely calibrated inoffensiveness is kind of offensive" — embracing Gingrich is like bashing yourself in the face to relie ...

Updated: Tue Jan 24, 2012

The Return of the Weak Horse for 01/20/2012

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

If you wish for peace, prepare for war. — Latin adage

In the immediate aftermath of Sept. 11, a rough consensus emerged about the messages the Clinton administration was sending to potential adversaries. The failure to respond to the attacks on our forces in Mogadishu, the non-response to the bombings of our embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, and toleration o ...

Updated: Fri Jan 20, 2012

Yes to Downton Abbey for 01/17/2012

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Simon Schama holds a place of honor in our home. Preparing for a trip to London in 2005, we watched his video series "A History of Britain" over the course of several weeks. Our boys loved it so much that they would chant "Britain! Britain!" after dinner. His history of the French Revolution, "Citizens," was masterful.

So it's with the greatest respect that ...

Updated: Tue Jan 17, 2012

It Isn't Just the Mandate for 01/13/2012

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Most people have heard that Obamacare is being challenged as unconstitutional because it contains an individual mandate forcing people to purchase health insurance. That challenge is due to be heard by the Supreme Court this year. But while the mandate is certainly problematic in a system that, at least notionally, is one of limited and enumerated powers, the mandate is not the worst part of th ...

Updated: Fri Jan 13, 2012

Family History Haunts Romney for 01/10/2012

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

At the 757th Republican debate over the weekend, Newt Gingrich zinged Mitt Romney for attempting to portray his decision to forego a re-election race in Massachusetts as reluctance to become a lifetime politician. " . . . Can we drop a little bit of the pious baloney?" Gingrich taunted, observing that Romney's poll numbers were dropping in 2006, and he was eyeing a presidential run, w ...

Updated: Tue Jan 10, 2012

Dinner With Terrorists for 01/06/2012

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

If you were running the Illinois Humanities Council and a famous terrorist offered to help in your fundraising drive, what would you do? If you said, "slam down the phone" or something to that effect, it just shows how remote you are from the sensibilities of the Obama age. Because, in fact, when Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers offered to auction "dinner for six" at their ho ...

Updated: Fri Jan 06, 2012

What Establishment? for 01/03/2012

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Campaign season is not a time for truth. It's a time for the candidates, the press and the voters to tell themselves fables.

The Democrats' fable this year is straightforward: President Obama has been a failure at reviving the economy because the hole dug by George W. Bush and the Republicans was so deep that it will require a second Obama term to fully reverse the damage. Further, the ...

Updated: Tue Jan 03, 2012

The Wrong Kind of Minority for 12/30/2011

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

The Washington Post proclaimed in a recent headline another historic "first" for the United States — the first female usher-in-chief at the White House. Stop the presses! The accompanying story reveals that the nominee hails from Jamaica, so it's probably a two-fer. Oh, boy.

The Post and other liberal organs are obsessed with firsts. The first female letter carrier to han ...

Updated: Fri Dec 30, 2011

Merry Manly Christmas and Hanukkah for 12/23/2011

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

This is the time of year to turn our thoughts to noble sentiments and inspiring stories. William Bennett, who has established something of a cottage industry in uplift, has a new book out that celebrates and explicates all that is bracing, wholesome, affecting and necessary about men and manliness

That such a book is required, it must be acknowledged, is not good news about our cultural ...

Updated: Fri Dec 23, 2011

That Ol' Time Religion for 12/20/2011

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

President Obama spoke at the annual meeting of the Union for Reform Judaism last week, and he gave the attendees that ol' time religion — liberalism. Not surprisingly, since Reform Judaism is, in Richard Brookhiser's timeless phrase, "the Democratic Party with holidays" — it was well-received.

While the audience in the hall purred appreciatively at the president's i ...

Updated: Tue Dec 20, 2011

NTSB: the Banning Nannies for 12/16/2011

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

A few months ago, tooling along in my brand new Honda (aka "cute car"), I came to a stop at a red light. On my right, a police cruiser with lights flashing was investigating a fender bender. A total of three cars, the two that were in the accident plus the police car, were off on the shoulder. I was waiting for the light to change when — bam — someone crashed into me from ...

Updated: Fri Dec 16, 2011

The Volt Administration for 12/13/2011

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

The headline reads like a piece from the Onion: "U.S. Navy Paying $15/Gallon for Green Fuel." But it's real enough.

It seems that, fresh from its success with Solyndra, the Obama administration is slated to spend $12 million to buy a biofuel/gasoline blend that runs $15 a gallon to power a portion of the Navy's fleet in a demonstration project.

"We are doing this fo ...

Updated: Tue Dec 13, 2011

Obama Default Mode: Blame Israel for 12/09/2011

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

After a two-hour meeting in Cairo, Khaled Mashaal, unelected leader of Hamas, and Mahmoud Abbas, unelected leader of the Palestinian Authority, were all smiles. "We want to assure our people and the Arab and Islamic world that we have turned a major new and real page in partnership on everything to do with the Palestinian nation," Mashaal announced. "There are no more differences ...

Updated: Fri Dec 09, 2011