Steve Chapman from Creators Syndicate

McCain's Consistent Folly on Iraq for 03/06/2008

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0800

On the campaign trail, John McCain has retreated on immigration, changed his mind on tax cuts and admitted economics is not his strong suit. But all that's unimportant, we are told, because he was Right On Iraq — back at the beginning, when he endorsed the invasion, and again over the past year, when he has stoutly supported the surge. So, whichever Democrat he faces, the November electio ...

Updated: Thu Mar 06, 2008

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Disenfranchising Florida and Michigan? for 03/09/2008

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0800

The vote was once denied to women. It was denied to blacks. It was denied to those without land. And today, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm tell us, it is being denied to their people.

The Democratic and Republican parties are depriving them of delegates to the nominating conventions because they held their primaries too early, and the governors are horrifi ...

Updated: Sun Mar 09, 2008

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The Other Prostitution Scandal for 03/13/2008

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Politicians take people's money with a promise to fulfill desires that supposedly can't be attained any other way. Prostitutes do the same, though by reputation, they are more reliable in delivering. It's not surprising for people in the same line of work to gravitate toward one another, as Eliot Spitzer and a woman named Kristen reportedly did in a Washington hotel room.

I understand wh ...

Updated: Thu Mar 13, 2008

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In the Fiscal War, AWOL Candidates for 03/16/2008

Sun, 16 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0700

For some time now, the three presidential candidates have been striving to outdo each other on what Hillary Clinton calls "the commander-in-chief" test. She says that she and John McCain have passed it. McCain's response has been on the order of, "What do you mean, 'we'?" Recently, Barack Obama assembled a passel of retired generals and admirals to publicly salute him.

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Updated: Sun Mar 16, 2008

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Why Would Any President Want A Second Term? for 03/20/2008

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Editor's Note: Steve Chapman is on vacation. The following column was originally published in April 2004.

Calvin Coolidge was probably not the smartest president this country has ever had, but he once composed a statement that in retrospect can only be described as brilliant: "I do not choose to run for president in 1928." If he had been re-elected, he would have presided over ...

Updated: Thu Mar 20, 2008

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The Wright-Obama Divide for 03/23/2008

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0700

The important thing about Jeremiah Wright, the inflammatory former pastor of Barack Obama's church, is not that he thinks America is "controlled by rich white people," that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were the result of our "chickens are coming home to roost," or that God should "damn America" for its sins against blacks. It's that Wright is supporting a presidentia ...

Updated: Sun Mar 23, 2008

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The News Media Vs. the Innocent for 03/27/2008

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Years ago, Ray Donovan, Ronald Reagan's Labor Secretary, was prosecuted for corruption, only to be acquitted. After the verdict, Donovan asked plaintively, "Which office do I go to to get my reputation back?"

Steven Hatfill knows where to go to get his reputation back. But upon arriving there, he finds the door blocked by someone who says her privileges are more important than ...

Updated: Thu Mar 27, 2008

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You Can't Always Believe Your Eyes for 03/30/2008

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Editor's Note: Steve Chapman is on vacation. The following column was originally published in February 2005.

In September 1985, Dennis Brown heard the words that sent him to prison for rape. The victim took the stand and had no doubt who had attacked her. "I had his face this close for at least 20 minutes," she said, holding her hand inches from her face, "and he's the man ...

Updated: Sun Mar 30, 2008

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Undue Haste on the Economy for 04/03/2008

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy does not cultivate a taste for deferred gratification: Politicians eyeing the next election want to give people what they want sooner rather than later. And in a time of economic turmoil, the impulse to do something immediately is even stronger. But the haste is misplaced. In the current climate of panic, policymakers need to learn patience, and they need to learn it right now.

Updated: Thu Apr 03, 2008

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Validating Foreign Policy Folly for 04/06/2008

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700

It's an election year in wartime, and right now we seem to be having a real debate about American foreign policy. All three of the remaining contenders have been talking about Iraq for months, all have been touting their credentials to be commander in chief, and all have given major speeches mapping out their views.

But don't be misled. Instead of a real debate, we're having a make-belie ...

Updated: Sun Apr 06, 2008

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In Iraq, Patience is Not a Policy for 04/10/2008

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700

When he was the Democratic leader in the Senate, George Mitchell ruefully reflected that his job had given him "the best-developed patience muscle in Washington." The war in Iraq has done similar things for the rest of us. But the strengthening program is by no means done. Gen. David Petraeus was on Capitol Hill this week explaining why we need to keep on exercising forbearance, and k ...

Updated: Thu Apr 10, 2008

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The Best Route to Airline Safety for 04/13/2008

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700

The government crackdown on airlines over alleged safety lapses fits a familiar storyline: Conscientious regulators saving the public from heartless corporations that put lives at risk to fatten profits. It's a tale that would be perfect for a movie — since movies are famous for taking liberties with the truth.

In real life, this story may not have a happy ending. By forcing the ca ...

Updated: Sun Apr 13, 2008

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The Candidates' Bad Energy Ideas for 04/17/2008

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700

In the realm of energy policy, there are a great many bad ideas and a very few good ones. The usual practice of presidential candidates is to 1) sift through all these proposals, 2) separate the wheat from the chaff, and 3) keep the chaff.

This year, the two parties are competing to show who is most eager to discard sound economics and long-term prudence in favor of appeasing aggrieved m ...

Updated: Thu Apr 17, 2008

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Obama's Terrorist Connection for 04/20/2008

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700

When William F. Buckley Jr. died in February, one of the things widely praised, by liberals and others, was his stalwart insistence on moral hygiene. Even when his conservative movement was small and embattled, he rejected the temptation to join forces with anti-Semites, the John Birch Society and other extremists. Later, he disavowed longtime confederates Pat Buchanan and Joseph Sobran for the ...

Updated: Sun Apr 20, 2008

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Chicago's Misfire on Gun Violence for 04/24/2008

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700

When a rash of gun murders takes place, it makes sense for the police to do one of two things: renew tactics that have been effective in the past at curbing homicides, or embrace ideas that have not been tried before. But those options don't appeal to Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis. What he proposes is a crackdown on assault weapons.

I'm tempted to say this is the moral equivalent of a p ...

Updated: Thu Apr 24, 2008

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Clinton's Endearing Fictions for 04/27/2008

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700

During the Pennsylvania primary campaign, Barack Obama made a rather charitable gesture not only toward his Democratic rival but toward the presumptive Republican nominee as well. "You have real choice in this election," he told a crowd in Reading. "You know, either Democrat would be better than John McCain, but … all three of us would be better than George Bush."

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Updated: Sun Apr 27, 2008

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A Better Way To Fight Crime for 05/01/2008

Thu, 01 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

In June 2006, a minor brawl erupted at Ye Olde Six Bells pub in Horley, England. In the aftermath, police arrested Mark Dixie, a chef at the pub, who surprised them by breaking into tears.

He had good reason. As a standard practice in arrests, a DNA swab was taken from him. What the authorities didn't suspect, but he did, is that his DNA would match that of the man who raped and murdered ...

Updated: Thu May 01, 2008

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McCain Finds His Own Radical Friend for 05/04/2008

Sun, 04 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Can a presidential candidate justify a long and friendly relationship with someone who, back in the 1970s, extolled violence and committed crimes in the name of a radical ideology — and who has never shown remorse or admitted error? When the candidate in question is Barack Obama, John McCain says no. But when the candidate in question is John McCain, he's not so sure.

Obama has bee ...

Updated: Sun May 04, 2008

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Rejecting the Policy that Won the Cold War for 05/08/2008

Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

When it comes to the war in Iraq and other foreign policy issues, Republicans like to harken back to the stalwart presidents of the Cold War. John McCain has invoked Harry Truman and Ronald Reagan as kindred spirits, and so has George W. Bush. Which raises the question: Why do they embrace those leaders while rejecting their policy?

The centerpiece of the U.S. approach to the Soviet Unio ...

Updated: Thu May 08, 2008

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Is McCain Sailing Into a Storm? for 05/11/2008

Sun, 11 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

The last couple of months have been springtime in paradise for Republicans: the loveliest of all possible seasons. They have been watching two Democratic presidential candidates in an endless battle to destroy each other — a process that does not appear to enhance the chance that the eventual nominee will win in November.

A recent Gallup poll shows John McCain leading both Barack O ...

Updated: Sun May 11, 2008

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