Steve Chapman from Creators Syndicate

False Fears About a Nuclear Iran for 02/12/2012

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

"The stupidest thing I have ever heard." — Meir Dagan, former head of Israel's intelligence agency, the Mossad, on attacking Iran's nuclear facilities.

Stupid it may be, but it's also the hottest trend since the iPhone. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said last year that if Iran proceeds toward acquiring a nuclear arsenal, "we will take whatever steps are nec ...

Updated: Sun Feb 12, 2012

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Appease This! for 02/09/2012

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

On April 1, 2001, a U.S. spy plane and a Chinese fighter collided over the South China Sea, forcing the Americans to make an emergency landing on Chinese soil. But the Chinese government said it would not release the crew until it got an apology.

The Bush administration tried to find other ways to satisfy the Chinese. Secretary of State Colin Powell expressed regret. Then the president d ...

Updated: Thu Feb 09, 2012

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The Flaws of Mitt and Newt for 02/05/2012

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Newt Gingrich has an exquisitely sensitive moral antenna, and Mitt Romney's remark suggesting indifference to the poor sent it quivering. "I am fed up with politicians in either party dividing Americans against each other," he said. Yes, he did. Then he fell on the floor and laughed till he cried.

For Gingrich to disavow divisiveness is the equivalent of Mark Zuckerberg renounc ...

Updated: Sun Feb 05, 2012

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Inoculating Against Religious Freedom for 02/02/2012

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

A few weeks ago, Rick Santorum got some criticism for saying the Supreme Court erred in saying states may not outlaw contraception. The idea that Americans could legally be forbidden to buy condoms or birth control pills struck most people as a gross violation of personal liberty.

They are right, of course. But many of those who think it's wrong to forbid Americans to buy contra ...

Updated: Thu Feb 02, 2012

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Stay in School or We'll Make You for 01/29/2012

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Many teenage kids regard school as the functional equivalent of prison — where they are forced to endure oppressive rules, bad food and unpleasant company. For them, Barack Obama has a message: There will be no parole.

In his State of the Union address, the president came out in favor of warehousing youngsters for longer than ever. We know, insisted Obama, "that when students ...

Updated: Sun Jan 29, 2012

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Obama's Justices vs. Obama for 01/26/2012

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Barack Obama, the law professor who railed against the Bush administration's disdain for privacy, has been to civil liberties what the Hindenburg was to air travel: an unexpected debacle. Time after time, he has chosen to uphold government power at the expense of individual protections.

Warrantless wiretapping in national security cases? For it. Detaining citizens indefinitely without tr ...

Updated: Thu Jan 26, 2012

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Amend the Constitution? Not Happening for 01/22/2012

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

The Republican presidential candidates love the Constitution, but if they have their way, you'll barely recognize it. Like a plastic surgeon meeting with a prospective patient, they see all sorts of ways it could be vastly improved.

Rick Santorum favors a constitutional ban on abortion. Mitt Romney has endorsed an amendment to require a balanced federal budget. Both support a constitutio ...

Updated: Sun Jan 22, 2012

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Why the Right Shifted on Immigration for 01/19/2012

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Editor's Note: Steve Chapman is on vacation. The following column was originally published in December 2007.

As a rule, the Republicans campaigning for president sound more like they are running for sheriff of Yuma County. In this race, the acceptable lines on illegal immigration are hard, harder and hardest. It's rare to hear someone call for policies that include "love and compass ...

Updated: Thu Jan 19, 2012

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I Was (Almost) a Teenage Mormon for 01/15/2012

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman have brought Mormons into the spotlight, and other Americans may be a bit intimidated at what they see. Judging from these guys and their families, you might conclude that all Mormons are wealthy, upstanding, accomplished, worldly and very nice-looking.

In fact, they're enough to make you wonder why we put up with non-Mormon politicians — who often brin ...

Updated: Sun Jan 15, 2012

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The Republicans' Cow Pie Bingo for 01/12/2012

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

The Republican presidential race now moves from New Hampshire to South Carolina, but it's really taking place in an upside-down Lake Wobegon — where all the men are homely, all the women are weak and all the candidates are below average.

We are often told that modern campaigns generate rivers of pointless trivia and shameful misinformation. But this one has served ably to do someth ...

Updated: Thu Jan 12, 2012

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Rick Santorum's Moral Delusions for 01/08/2012

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Why is Rick Santorum running for president? Because America is in trouble and he knows why.

Faith and family are under attack. "Moral relativism," he warns, is breeding "aberrant behavior." Gay rights advocates are bent on "secularization." Liberals have brought about a "decaying culture."

Santorum insists that gay marriage will destroy the ...

Updated: Sun Jan 08, 2012

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Czar Barack for 01/05/2012

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Back in 2007, when Barack Obama was running for president, a mildly surprising bit of news emerged: He and Dick Cheney were eighth cousins. Today, though, it appears that report was wrong. Judging from Obama's record in office, the two are practically brothers.

As a candidate, Obama criticized the last administration for holding Americans as enemy combatants without trial. He faulted it ...

Updated: Thu Jan 05, 2012

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Is McCain Sailing Into a Storm? for 01/01/2012

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Editor's Note: Steve Chapman is on vacation. The following column was originally published in May 2008.

The past 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 ch ...

Updated: Sun Jan 01, 2012

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The Implausibility of Nuclear Terrorism for 12/29/2011

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Editor's Note: Steve Chapman is on vacation. The following column was originally published in February 2008.

"Death tugs at my ear and says, 'Live, I am coming.'" Were Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. alive today, he might ascribe that line not to death but to nuclear terrorism.

Ever since Sept. 11, 2001, Americans have had to live with the knowle ...

Updated: Thu Dec 29, 2011

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For Public Safety, a New Golden Age for 12/25/2011

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

The 1950s are often recalled as a golden age in American life — stable families, rising incomes, wholesome TV shows and low crime rates. Doesn't sound like 2011, does it? When it comes to crime, though, there is a striking similarity: We are, believe it or not, in a new golden age.

Crime has never subsided as a topic for local news or prime-time detective shows. Anyone looking for ...

Updated: Sun Dec 25, 2011

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In 2011, Democracy Blossomed for 12/22/2011

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

In the time since the end of the Cold War, there have been many years in which advocates of freedom and democracy found endless reasons for gloom and few for hope. This was not one of those years.

January witnessed protests that led to the departure of Hosni Mubarak, who had ruled Egypt since 1981, and December brought the death of North Korea's Kim Jong Il, whose country erases any dist ...

Updated: Thu Dec 22, 2011

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Is It a Sin To Promote Gay Rights Abroad? for 12/18/2011

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Back when Ronald Reagan was president, conservatives relished skewering liberals who, in approaching international affairs, "always blame America first." A generation later, with Barack Obama in the White House, they are proving they can indict the U.S.A. with the best of them.

Earlier this month, the administration announced a new effort to "end discrimination against les ...

Updated: Sun Dec 18, 2011

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Vladimir Putin's Divided Russia for 12/15/2011

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Moscow is not a city of ghosts, but on Saturday, tens of thousands of figures were seen marching in the Russian capital chanting, "We exist! We exist!" That might seem like an exercise in the obvious. But the crowd thought a reminder was in order for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who has generally regarded his critics as though they were invisible.

He can see them now. In last ...

Updated: Thu Dec 15, 2011

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The Surprising Truth About Obama's ‘War on Religion' for 12/11/2011

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has a new TV spot accusing President Obama of waging "war on religion." It's a reckless, overstated spot that exploits prejudice against gays while deliberately distorting major issues. But here's the surprise: Perry has a point.

The First Amendment forbids any law "prohibiting the free exercise" of religion. It's a broad statement, which is open ...

Updated: Sun Dec 11, 2011

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Barack Obama, Class Warrior? for 12/08/2011

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Someday, when today's adults are old and gray, their grandchildren will sit down and ask, "What did you do in the class war?" You may not have noticed, but it seems we are in the midst of one.

On this point, Republican candidates and officeholders are in agreement. Newt Gingrich accuses President Barack Obama of advocating "class warfare and bureaucratic socialism." M ...

Updated: Thu Dec 08, 2011

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