The following are exclusive feature articles by RenewAmerica analysts. The views expressed generally reflect the values and philosophy of RenewAmerica although each writer is responsible for the accuracy of individual pieces, and the position taken is the writers own.
October 3, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST With two very high-profile enemies of the United States now out of the way, President Obama can claim - - what? Not "Mission accomplished." It is gratifying of course that U.S. fighting forces saw to it that Osama bin Laden and Anwar al Awlaki met their deserved fates... (more)
September 26, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST There's a lot of money and political activism idling on the sidelines - - held in abeyance by key figures amongst Republican-oriented groups and individuals. That "smart money" (in currency and political acumen) is waiting for the perfect candidate to take on Barack Obama... (more)
September 22, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST As this is written, we're looking forward to the next Republican debate. It's early in the election cycle, but not too early to be thinking about which candidate is (1) right on the issues, and (2) electable... (more)
September 19, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The unveiling of Martin Luther King's memorial - - now set for October 16 - - brings to mind all the controversies surrounding his crusade, as well as the general political upheaval that made 1968 the pivotal turning point of the late - - and perhaps the entire - - 20th century... (more)
September 15, 2011
JOAN SWIRSKY, RA ANALYST Over the past almost-three years, I've had to laugh - - in contempt - - when the so-called intelligentsia have shaken their collective heads in bewilderment and seeming incomprehension as they've watched Obama and his essentially Communist regime plunge our nation into: (1) A disastrous economy... (more)
September 12, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Most Americans who pay attention to politics believe Hollywood's political influence in American life and culture is heavily weighted on the left. Steven J. Ross, a historian who teaches at the University of Southern California, begs to differ. He believes the evidence shows that while "the Hollywood left has had the political glitz ... the Hollywood right sought, won and exercised electoral power"... (more)
September 8, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST "America's mayor," Rudy Giuliani, told a National Press Club audience Tuesday that there had been about 40 attempted/planned attacks on America in the ten years since 9/11, and he assumed there will be more. He believes future attacks on America could come at us in a form and on a level we don't anticipate. That conjecture is prescient... (more)
September 5, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST History has pictured the great railroad-driven 19th century settlement of the deserts, mountains and flatlands of the American West as a mixed blessing. The railroad barons of the era were devious and knew how to cut ethical corners, but they achieved the noble end result of bringing our then-very-young nation together, much to our economic and cultural benefit to this day... (more)
September 1, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Ho hum. Another conservative presidential candidate is trashed by the civility-talking media. Rick Perry shoots to the top of the polls just days after entering the Republican field, and in no time, he gets the "he's stupid" treatment accorded Ronald Reagan (whose predecessors were not smart enough to figure out a way to bring down the Soviet empire or how to usher in two decades of unprecedented prosperity)... (more)
August 22, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Right up front, let us stipulate the following: 1 - - I respect Warren Buffett. How can anyone not? Wall Street's most famous investor did not attain that status without abundant smarts. He is a prime example of what makes the free enterprise system work... (more)
August 15, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST So how are things going for us in Libya? What's the latest? Haven't heard? Neither have I. That must mean things are going to hell in a rocket-ship, because with Obama in the White House, the media have accorded the silent treatment to any bad news on that war front. Why? The activist left can't play the "Bush is Hitler" card anymore, so their media allies ignore it... (more)
August 4, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST "I love you guys," House Speaker John Boehner is reported to have said at a meeting with the tea party freshmen. That comment despite the fact that those same men and women who came to this city to "change the way Washington works" gave the Ohioan a hellfire test of his leadership in the debt ceiling debate... (more)
August 1, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST In 2008, Americans wanted a "different kind" of president. They got one, but the buyer's remorse in 2011 is pervasive. The much-maligned Tea Party movement - - initially a populist pushback to Obamacare - - symbolizes that regret... (more)
July 25, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST "I think he's trying to destroy The New York Times," a newspaper editor opined to me shortly after worldwide media mogul Rupert Murdoch had acquired and poured money into upgrading The Wall Street Journal (WSJ)... (more)
July 18, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST In trying to cope with the debt ceiling, the Republicans are re-learning that the country cannot be run from Capitol Hill - - not from both legislative houses, let alone one. Compounding the challenge is that one house - - in this case Harry Reid's United States Senate - - chooses to spin its wheels while doing - - well, almost nothing... (more)
July 11, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Glenn Beck stepped on a lot of powerful toes while at Fox News, so it was no surprise that his three-year contract ended six months prior to its planned expiration. However..... One very likely reason for that goes to an issue that is largely overlooked... (more)
July 2, 2011
PATRICK GARRY, RA ANALYST In two decisions announced this week, the Supreme Court's liberal wing shows a curious and seemingly inconsistent stance toward First Amendment freedoms. In Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, the wing, with the exception of Justice Breyer, found that a California law requiring minor children to have their parent's consent before purchasing graphically violent video games violated the First Amendment rights of video game manufacturing and distributing corporations... (more)
June 30, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The "I" word is something one is well-advised to use sparingly lest it be abused and over-used. Impeachment is a constitutional option that has - - during our nation's history - - been approached with super-caution. After all, officials at the very top echelons of our government either were elected or were nominated by an elected official (the president) or were appointed by the duly elected head of state... (more)
June 27, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The timing for release of this book could not be better. The debt ceiling's claimed deadline approaches as Congress wrangles over how or whether to confront the consequences in a meaningful - - if politically risky - - way or take the easy course of running up the national credit card yet again... (more)
June 23, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The fact that bad people are elected to office and then appoint other people with questionable backgrounds should not shock anyone observing the trends that have crept into our society... (more)
June 21, 2011
SHER ZIEVE, RA ANALYST Treason is generally defined as "betrayal of country: a violation of the allegiance owed by somebody to his or her own country, e.g. by aiding an enemy." High treason is defined as "treason perpetrated by somebody against his or her own country"... (more)
June 20, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST A key leader of the Cold War-era Communist underground in the U.S. has verified the Communist affiliation of a man (Hugh DeLacy) who was a friend of the current CIA Director Leon Panetta... (more)
June 14, 2011
PATRICK GARRY, RA ANALYST Ever since the 2010 elections, with the prominent role of the Tea Party, there has been much discussion about big, centralized government. Conservatives, libertarians, and Tea Party activists argue that America has drifted too far from the constitutional principle of limited government - - that the federal government is becoming too big, too powerful, with an unlimited scope of authority... (more)
June 13, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST If you have been depending on the mainstream media for your news the past few days, you are probably learning here for the first time that CIA Director Leon Panetta has been called out for his links to an important open member of the Communist Party... (more)
June 6, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Not too long ago, a congressional staffer made the argument in a private meeting that in America as a democracy, the majority must always rule no matter what. If 51 percent of the people want Shariah (Islamic) law in this country, he argued, then we should have Shariah law nationwide... (more)
May 31, 2011
PATRICK GARRY, RA ANALYST Republicans seem to be on the defensive in the debate over Medicare and the federal budget deficit. They are being branded extremists willing and eager to shut down the government. They are depicted as turning their backs on American values - - bent on robbing senior citizens of health care and impoverishing young children. They have been loudly vilified by Democrats, perhaps even more so than either Saddam Hussein or Moammar Gadhafi... (more)
May 26, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Let's cut to the quick: The Democrats want to let Medicare go bankrupt. An accurate TV commercial would portray a Harry Reid lookalike (or Pelosi or Obama) pushing Grandma over the cliff. That is exactly what Democrats are doing to the Republicans, with a Paul Ryan lookalike pushing the chair... (more)
May 26, 2011
SHER ZIEVE, RA ANALYST The recent Indiana Supreme Court ruling against the U.S. Constitution - - rendering the Fourth Amendment null and void in that state by terminating citizens' right to resist illegal police entry into their homes - - is only the latest unconscionable step in a series of actions designed to unravel each and every portion of the Bill of Rights... (more)
May 26, 2011
JOAN SWIRSKY, RA ANALYST Jew hatred comes in many forms — all of them irrational and unsupported by empirical fact, but all of them powerful and largely effective in deflecting personal and political failure onto a tiny people, who by their mere existence highlight the glaring deficiencies that exist in their adversaries. Like a deadly systemic infection, be it viral or bacterial, Jew hatred comes in many strains... (more)
May 23, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Our signatures on the petition went out with Friday's mail. All we did was urge the state of Maryland to put a new ill-advised "special interest" law before the voters. Let them decide whether it remains... (more)
May 19, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST As more details emerge in the case of false accusations against Fairfax, Va., elementary school coach Sean Lanigan, it becomes relevant to add more perspective to what we wrote on May 16. This is necessitated by the fact that Washington Post reporter Tom Jackman has added details to his original story of the lies about Lanigan's supposed inappropriate liberties with a minor. Those facts (previously unknown to us) prompt a revision to our own Monday comments... (more)
May 16, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST So some social workers tell us "Children never lie" about sexual abuse? Garbage! Totally discredited herewith: Dr. Richard A. Gardner, a Columbia University professor of child psychiatry, is skeptical of the practice of many Child Protective Service (CPS) workers who describe their job as that of "validators"... (more)
May 14, 2011
PATRICK GARRY, RA ANALYST The advice of my grandmother, whom no one would call a spontaneous optimist, was: Be careful of success, because there's always a failure somewhere in it. The public relations corollary of that advice might be: If you boast too much about your successes, people will eventually begin to see the failures... (more)
May 12, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Hussain Al-Hussaini's comments to his therapist suggest there is much he knows about the Oklahoma City bombing that he has not revealed to the authorities - - and about which the FBI has avoided asking him... (more)
May 10, 2011
JOAN SWIRSKY, RA ANALYST The cartoonist Fuller depicts the billionaire builder Donald Trump dressed in a circus-master's outfit and holding in one hand a red, white, and blue megaphone and in the other hand a hoop blazing with a fire that says Birth Certificate Question, through which a terrified and desperate Obama is leaping... (more)
May 9, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST First the good news: President Obama scored big by authorizing the Navy SEALs to kill Osama bin Laden. The bad news: The anti-terror policy of President Bush - - including enhanced interrogations - - that led to the success of the operation has been scrapped by the Obama presidency... (more)
May 2, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Two very horrifying 21st century problems are front and center this week. They are inextricably linked. It is urgent that we deal with one - - Obamacare - - in part because failure to do so would threaten to exacerbate the second problem - - our national debt... (more)
April 25, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST There is ample reason to be skeptical that any meaningful solution to the debt crisis will result from the Senate's so-called "Gang of Six." First of all, the history of so-called gangs (of whatever) "solving" anything has ended up with conservative common sense taking its customary back seat... (more)
April 14, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Terry Nichols, serving life without parole in the supermax prison ADX Florence in Colorado for his part in the Oklahoma City bombing (1995), says "John Doe 2" - - a mysterious accomplice in that terrorist act - - does exist. Nichols has offered "not so subtle hints" of foreign complicity in the terror attack... (more)
April 11, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST What would "Silent Cal" do? In his time, debt in the billions would have been considered beyond the scope of sanity; forget trillions. So how would Calvin Coolidge have assessed the budget deal just agreed to by 21st century Republican House Speaker John Boehner? Let's explore that... (more)
April 4, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST There is a high risk - - very close to a dead certainty - - that no matter what happens in Libya, the results will be bad for the United States. In the run-up to his 2012 re-election bid, why would President Obama go against such odds?... (more)
March 29, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST What we have here is a part-tutorial on the Constitution, part-legal brief for making Barack Obama a one-term president and (some would argue) a credible case of grounds for impeachment of the president, though that option is not emphasized by the authors... (more)
March 28, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The chairman of the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations may soon hold new hearings on the credible allegations that a third man - - this one from the Middle East - - collaborated with Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing... (more)
March 24, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST So it's really no big deal when a guy is arrested for slugging another guy with a beer bottle, right? In this case, wrong! Police in Quincy, Massachusetts (a part of the Boston metro area), earlier this month jailed a beer bottle brawler who turns out to be a credibly accused terrorist... (more)
March 21, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST As Obamacare marks its first anniversary, signs of changes in the insurance and healthcare industries are gradually becoming apparent - - even though the worst and most intrusive moves will not kick in until 2014 - - well after the next presidential election... (more)
March 14, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST There were some dramatic and silly moments at the congressional hearings on Radical Islam's war against America this past week. Homeland Security Committee Chairman Pete King (R-N.Y.) deserves our thanks for getting the much anticipated probe off the ground; especially given that his life has been threatened as he now has police protection — not at his request... (more)
March 12, 2011
JOAN SWIRSKY, RA ANALYST It's a funny thing about itches...the more you scratch, the more you itch. This is because scratching floods your system with histamine, which causes - - itching! Oh, you can get rid of the itching with an over-the-counter medication, or go to the doctor for something stronger. But people with chronic itching conditions inevitably start to believe in Hell, and view itching as among the worst punishments on earth... (more)
March 7, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Let's cut to the quick: Two more broadcast commentators dared to speak out on the infiltration of our society by the Radical Islam/far left coalition whose fondest hope is to bring us down, tear our Constitution to shreds, and rule from the White House... (more)
March 1, 2011
BARBARA KRALIS, RA ANALYST Abortion providers - - such as Planned Parenthood (PP), with their 850 U.S. abortion mills - - certainly know of the power of a single, truthful graphic photograph to change a person's conscience and heart... (more)
February 28, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST A highly interesting flow of information is making its way over the airwaves right under the noses of Washington's "political correctness" establishment. Are similar conversations going on with talk shows in your community? At the end of this column, we will ask you about that... (more)
February 24, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST As far back as the 2008 presidential campaign, then-candidate Barack Obama let slip a vision for his own personal civilian army. Not to protect you and me from enemies of this country, which is his number one constitutional responsibility... (more)
February 21, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The lofty, privileged hear-no-evil see-no-evil advantage that Islamofascism has enjoyed in the United States may soon be a thing of the past. For starters, this likely means a look at the Muslim Brotherhood and Islam's persistent and silent invasion of the U.S.... (more)
February 14, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The overwhelming majority of Muslims in Egypt favor the death penalty for those who leave the Muslim religion. This, you see, is in line with Muslim custom - - or Sharia law - - that also says it's okay for husbands or fathers to impose an "honor killing" (or stoning) on a woman who has been raped... (more)
February 7, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Now that the Republicans have kept their promise to vote on Obamacare repeal (successfully in the GOP-dominated House, unsuccessfully - - as expected - - in the Democrat-run Senate), let's focus on some specifics on the tough road ahead for getting rid of the president's socialized health care monstrosity, and replacing it with a truly American system... (more)
January 24, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST How many American lives are to be sacrificed on the holy altar of "political correctness?" Hundreds more? Thousands? Millions? Whole new agencies have been created (thus contributing to the size of an already ballooning federal workforce) - - all supposedly in the interest of preventing any further 9/11-style mass murders... (more)
January 10, 2011
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Anyone who's watched Congressman Peter King on TV knows that he is fearless. The self-appointed gatekeepers of "political correctness" don't scare him... (more)
December 20, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The rejected, tone-deaf leftists in Washington, clinging to their last hours of congressional power, have attempted (with mixed results) to do everything possible to strike back at the voters who dared to hand them pink slips last month at the polls... (more)
December 16, 2010
JOAN SWIRSKY, RA ANALYST The fanatical hard Left - - those communists, socialists, and radicals currently in power - - view anything that is bad for our country - - massive Intelligence leaks, disastrous oil spills, escalating unemployment, chaos on our borders, military setbacks, et al. - - as a thundering success... (more)
December 9, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Few outrages are so infuriating as a mainstream media blackout of relevant facts that pose threats to its agenda. The most obvious Pravda-style see-no-evil going on right now is the refusal to use terms such as "Islamofascism," "radical Islam," "Islamist," or even "War on Terror," lest the public become aware of "politically incorrect" facts about the forces behind terror threats, suicide bombings, and mass murder plots... (more)
December 6, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democrat Leader Harry Reid remind one of the burglars who hear the footsteps of the house owners approaching the front door, but just can't resist grabbing more fistfuls of silverware before climbing out the back window and heading for the get-away car... (more)
November 29, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST There is a reason we call the current dead men and women walking on Capitol Hill "lame ducks." They have been rejected, discredited, disavowed, and repudiated by their betters - - the voters... (more)
November 22, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The following is not a prediction. It is presented as a possible scenario for the near future: The recent move by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to infuse $600 billion of paper money into the economy is seen by the Obama White House - - if not by Bernanke - - as a means of ginning up the economy in time for November 2012... (more)
November 20, 2010
JOAN SWIRSKY The drivel the media are blathering about Obama's 2012 race for reelection is absolute baloney! All those talking heads and print (so-called) journalists should be ashamed of themselves for prattling on about this unserious subject while studiously avoiding the urgent issues that threaten the very life of our country... (more)
November 15, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), a Washington-based think tank, recently carried a favorable review of a book by Howard Zinn... (more)
November 8, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The time for reviving the House Committee on Internal Security is long past. In 1975, the post-Watergate Congress abolished the panel that had functioned well for 37 years... (more)
November 4, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST As of late Wednesday - - with just a few close races yet to be settled - - the Republicans stood to make a net gain of as many as 67 seats in the House of Representatives - - "the people's House"... (more)
November 1, 2010
RENEWAMERICA RenewAmerica received a mass emailing last week asking RA to publicize a new "premier nonpartisan social networking site providing civic services and connecting politicians, voters, and political causes across the U.S."... (more)
November 1, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The incoming (more conservative) Congress should add one more item at or near the top of its agenda: Bring back the House Committee on Internal Security (HCIS). We need to know who our enemies are on our own soil - - abusing our freedoms to plot the death of Americans and of America itself... (more)
October 28, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Democrats in Nevada have been accused of using strong-arm tactics best symbolized in recent years by the likes of ACORN and SEIU, so as to steal the election for Senate Democrat leader Harry Reid. The "funny business" started when voters in Boulder City (near Las Vegas) showed up to cast their (early voting) ballot for Reid's Republican opponent, Sharron Angle... (more)
October 25, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The "Ruling Class" has been outed. Their icons are not as threatening as they used to be. In the old days, if ABC, CBS, NBC, NPR, PBS, the New York Times, and the Washington Post deemed a conservative candidate to be the equivalent of a nut-job, or "out of the mainstream," that settled the argument... (more)
October 21, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST In nation after nation, voters for decades have given charismatic Marxists the green light at the ballot-box. In each case, there were glowing promises of a better life - - with government "activism" to solve all the problems or "transform" the nation from its allegedly bad old ways... (more)
October 18, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST This week, President Obama is spending some time in California trying to rescue the political fortunes of his most bitterly partisan Senate ally seeking re-election in 2010. The United States Senate throughout its history has had its share of cantankerous iconoclasts... (more)
September 27, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Transportation issues — like any other debatable causes — can provide fertile ground for those who dash about with propellers atop their heads. This week, we spotlight examples of well-meaning but misguided efforts on both sides... (more)
September 20, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST "It is getting increasingly difficult to distinguish between the agenda of the Democratic Party, and the agenda of the Communist Party." That analysis came from property rights advocate Henry Lamb - - before the Obama administration took over at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue... (more)
September 13, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST If you tried to help a "protected" Obama constituency, you had better hope that your best efforts didn't fail. The Gestapo will have you in its crosshairs... (more)
September 6, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Before Communist Howard Zinn died in January, he was actively spearheading an effort to inject his lying version of American history into the innocent heads of little tots almost as soon as they are able to talk... (more)
August 30, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Even if the Republicans do well in House races this fall, many good policy moves that result can be undone in the Senate. That means we need to send the very top-tier "Damn the torpedoes" candidates to "the world's most deliberative body," especially now that the Ruling Class is reminding Senator John McCain that he no longer needs to worry about those pesky Arizona voters... (more)
August 23, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The Ruling Class has declared war on the rest of us. As Angelo M. Codevilla writes in the American Spectator, "Unlike the Ruling Class, the Country Class [the great majority] does not share a single intellectual orthodoxy, set of tastes or ideal lifestyle... (more)
August 16, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Maybe we should have the right to elect (or defeat) the faceless bureaucrats who presume the right to dominate our lives. Why not? Dr. Angelo M. Codevilla, an international relations professor at Boston University, has challenged the "ruling class" in the U.S.... (more)
August 9, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The Hate-America left scored big-time with its late Stalinist front man Howard Zinn, author of A People's History of the United States... (more)
August 2, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Why am I not surprised that a leading Hollywood director is bemoaning poor, misunderstood Adolf's place in history? Oliver Stone says his upcoming Showtime documentary series Secret History of America will put the 20th century's star butchers Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin "in context"... (more)
July 26, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Denizens of the "liberal" media apparently really do get together and plot their propaganda line to be spread to an audience that - - in their dreams - - is primed for a sheep-like march off the cliff. Why not? Josef Goebbels whipped the Germans into a hatred of Jews. Who says Americans can't be coaxed to loathe conservatives? Or so these would-be propaganda ministers seem to believe... (more)
July 19, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Democrats have filibustered Republican court nominees without the slightest hesitation - - for purely political reasons, as leaked memos have indicated. Senate Republicans should muster a talkathon against confirming Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court. Not for political payback - - but because she is a one-woman threat to the Constitution... (more)
July 15, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Seasoned intelligence veterans are bewildered by the speed with which the U.S. agreed to exchange our 10 accused Russian spies in this country for 4 spies imprisoned in Russia who supposedly worked for the West... (more)
July 12, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Add the free-swinging Internet to President Obama's control-or-destroy targets. That means they are going after you because the Internet is open to everyone. It is the most democratic (with a small "d") of all the media. It's free and open, and the Stalinists in Washington intend to change all that... (more)
July 5, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Why should we be surprised to learn of a massive Russian spy ring in the United States? The Soviet Union is gone, but... (1) The old KGB agent who wields the power in the Russian Federation appears determined to avenge the loss of the Soviet empire. Oh, the humiliation of it all! Especially at the hands of that American "movie cowboy"!... (more)
June 28, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan is right out of central casting as a stereotypical example of America's "ruling class" - - i.e., out of step with the great majority of Americans, but with a sense of entitlement to wield power in such a way as to make policy against our wishes because we are her inferiors... (more)
June 17, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The recent departure of Helen Thomas from the White House press corps struck a blow in favor of good journalism that has taken a battering in recent years partly because of this grand dame of Washington scribes... (more)
June 14, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST As a phenomenon, political dirty tricks should shock no one in the adult world. Nonetheless, not every political precinct is in Chicago, and there is less tolerance for that way of attracting votes in some places than in others... (more)
June 7, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Public outrage over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is quite properly at a high level as we see pictures of dead wildlife and oiled-soaked birds struggling to breathe. Bad as that is, the far greater threat - - in substantive and political terms - - comes in the form of what that fallout portends for our national security... (more)
May 24, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Is a law school dean who plays down Constitutional Law fit for the nation's highest court? Let's connect the dots... (more)
May 17, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST President Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Elena Kagan, should share with us her view of Arizona's controversial immigration law. No excuses. The law's validity will be under her purview either as the current Solicitor General or as a future Justice... (more)
May 10, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Two events of the past week serve as warnings to Americans: jealously guard your freedom of speech - - it is your right under the first Amendment. Some government is of course necessary. But never forget it is the nature of government to want to curb the right of dissent... (more)
May 3, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Because of illegal immigration, eighty-two-year-old widow Theresa Murray was a prisoner in her own home in Douglas, Arizona - - a town of about 18 thousand near the Mexican border. The great-grandmother was living in the Arizona desert where she had grown up... (more)
April 26, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST President Obama and ex-President Clinton are inadvertently stumbling toward the intersection of two seemingly unrelated events. That combination of circumstances could blow the lid off a huge cover-up of America's biggest 20th-century terrorist attack... (more)
April 19, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST So here's the problem: The new nuclear START Treaty signed by the United States and Russia in Prague - - combined with President Obama's Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) announced just two days earlier - - essentially leaves the U.S. powerless to strike back effectively at nations likely to attack us... (more)
April 15, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The radical anti-American left is going back to doing what it enjoys best: infiltrating and disrupting gatherings of patriotic Americans, as well as trying to discredit or undermine normal citizens so as to make them look like kooks... (more)
April 12, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The big question is: Will America's head soon be on the chopping block? The world is witnessing a road-map as to how America can be destroyed... (more)
March 29, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Fake anger and indignation are the oldest weapons in the Marxist arsenal. And the Marxists now running the Washington show are following the "Reichstag fire" strategy: Seize on a momentary outrage - - magnify it, blame it on the enemy even in the absence of evidence, and use it as a distraction from what you yourself are doing... (more)
March 25, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST It's hard to decide the best historical metaphor for Bart Stupak - - the "pro-life Democrat" who caved to Marxist-style pressure and gave Speaker Nancy Pelosi the votes she needed to destroy America with "Obamacare"... (more)
March 22, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Lawmakers in the House of Representatives thumbed their noses at their constituents as they voted to provide a glidepath to federal takeover of a very personal part of your life - - the relationship between you and your doctor... (more)
March 18, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Since our last visit earlier this week, House Democrats - - in collaboration with the White House - - have plotted what appears to be the ultimate end-run around the Constitution of the United States... (more)
March 15, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST This may be the "make or break" week for America's survival as the free society that we cherish and consider our birthright. Whether the United States of America survives as the greatest nation on the face of the earth is in our hands - - yours and mine... (more)
March 8, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Barack Hussein Obama has just presented us with more evidence that his agenda and his ego are so important that he is more than willing to sacrifice his own political allies in order to make the history books on passing his signature Health "Care" bill... (more)
March 1, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST So President Obama invited the Republicans to drop by for a friendly chat on health care. Forget that jobs (Vice President Biden's "three-letter word") continue to bleed. The president has a more important problem to solve - - salvaging his wounded ego in the face of a public that has the gall to reject his top priority... (more)
February 22, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST "They won't give up," and neither should you. That warning was sounded by Glenn Beck, as he rallied the pro-American troops to do battle with the "they" who would undermine the land we love... (more)
February 15, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Because of two back-to-back snowstorms, this city of Washington and your federal government were shut down for four days in a row. You can bemoan or celebrate that - - as you wish - - depending on whether you think the bureaucracy is a threat or a blessing, considering its enhanced size and increased powers (some of dubious constitutionality) and the proposed enlargement of its powers (read Health "Care" and Cap and Tax power grabs)... (more)
February 8, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST "Watch what we do, not what we say." That helpful hint - - once let slip years ago by a high government official - - was meant to convey the message that we do smart things but that doesn't mean it's always smart for us to brag about them... (more)
February 1, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The Constitution of the United States says - - "He [The President] shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient"... (more)
January 25, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The U.S. Supreme Court struck a huge blow for freedom by effectively saying to the jack boots, "You will not shut-up those who dissent from your perceived wisdom"... (more)
January 18, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST "We have been chastened," a Republican congressional leader solemnly told this column. After the humiliating defeats of 2006 and 2008, one would hope so... (more)
January 11, 2010
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Prior to President Obama's most recent TV appearance to discuss the failed Christmas Day attempt to blow up an international flight at Detroit, his White House minions promised "shocking" revelations in the president's announcement... (more)
December 24, 2009
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST By now, most of my readers have heard of the scandal nicknamed "Climategate," involving the suppression of information that contradicts a supposed consensus of the science establishment about global warming... (more)
December 21, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST As this column has written, Washington is buried beneath well over a foot of snow and the city for two days ground to a standstill - - except for the U.S. Senate... (more)
December 14, 2009
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST In the movie Ben Hur, one of the Persian Magi who worshipped Christ in Bethlehem returned to Judea 30 years later to see the adult messiah-king. The old Magi mentioned to Ben Hur that the Christ was close to Ben Hur in age and was geographically close to them... (more)
December 14, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Almost any other presidency would by embarrassed by a report from within its own administration that exposes its number one legislative priority as an anti-family fraud. But not the Obama White House. Its response to a negative study of its Health "Care" bill resembles Al Gore's reaction to contradictions to the "sky-is-falling" hysteria over "man-made Global Warming": Ignore it and hope it goes away... (more)
December 7, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Our topic this week concerns enemy tactics against the United States and the urgent necessity to fight back. The occasion is the re-release of Blacklisted by History... (more)
December 3, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The day after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor 68 years ago, President Franklin D. Roosevelt went before the nation and declared December 7 a day "that will live in infamy"... (more)
November 30, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The big media may think they can go on forever ignoring the Climategate scandal - - whereby "respected" scientists have been caught red-handed doctoring evidence so as to perpetrate the fraudulent perception of man-made "global warming"... (more)
November 26, 2009
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST Conservatives will soon have one of the great joys of this life: the joy of rebuilding with like-minded comrades. I happen to believe that the time for rebuilding is coming soon. First, consider the following facts that convince me that this is so. Subsequently, I shall portray rebuilding as a time of special blessing for united groups of like-minded people... (more)
November 23, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The Health Care Reform packages in both the House and Senate - - in addition to putting the government between you and your doctor and legislating limitations that effectively ration care to those who need it, also impose massive tax increases... (more)
November 16, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Rudy Giuliani is at his best when he's all fired up. Just as he was "America's mayor" during 9/11, so too - - in a different sense - - is he a hero when speaking out against policies that ignore the lessons of 9/11... (more)
November 9, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The media are playing the role of Mr. Magoo again. Once more, an act of supreme violence occurs on our soil and the self-censoring media - - led by the man in the White House - - go wandering around Mr. Magoo-style, bending themselves into pretzels to avoid calling an act of Islamofascism - - well, an act of Islamofascism... (more)
November 2, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST This (non-consecutive) series explores the danger that communism (in whatever form or cover) is alive and well around the world, albeit without the top-down direction of the old Soviet Empire... (more)
October 26, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST In 1993, in the first year of Bill Clinton's presidency, the Republicans scored big, with victories in Virginia, New Jersey, New York City, and Los Angeles. That was the triumph that provided the momentum that would enable the GOP to sweep to a big victory in 1994, winning control of both houses of Congress for the first time in 40 years... (more)
October 19, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Before we even start this series, let's get one myth out of the way: Ronald Reagan did not "end communism." What Ronald Reagan did was to bring down the Soviet Empire. For that he is always to be honored and in this column's view, he was by far our best president of the 20th century... (more)
October 5, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Good shot! John Mackey - - the boss of Whole Foods - - has struck a blow for freedom. Unlike other businesses that have caved like cheap umbrellas when pressured to steer away from doing or saying anything that runs afoul of "political correctness," Mackey has stood his ground against those urging his customers to take their business elsewhere... (more)
September 28, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Will the politically radioactive "Cap and Trade" and "Health Care" bills be rammed through and take effect without a full stand-alone up, or down vote by your elected legislators whom you send to Washington to represent you? It is not beyond the realm of possibility... (more)
September 21, 2009
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST Last November, the American people elected a man president who has never had management or executive experience, and who has only had two years experience in the Senate and a background of associations with persons of far-left ideology and those of shady character. Why did the people make this choice?... (more)
September 21, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Know all ye who enter these hallowed halls on the Coney Island Boardwalk: You are about to receive a gift of the prescience, insight, and knowledge of the great Georgia peanut farmer... (more)
September 14, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST It's bad enough that terrorist-collaborating communists are taking over much of Latin America. Bad enough that their Venezuelan ringleader, Hugo Chavez, confers with Iran's nuclear bomb-making dictator... (more)
September 7, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Is it time to explore a new means of keeping parents up to date as to what their children are learning in school? Modern technology should facilitate that. Consider what follows... (more)
August 31, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST "We're seeing the beginning of a peaceful - - and I emphasize peaceful - - revolt in America." Thus spoke Senator John McCain at a townhall meeting in Arizona this past week... (more)
August 24, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Robert Novak's most appropriate epitaph would be that he succeeded because he was true to himself. He was an insider's insider who was not swallowed up by the conventional wisdoms of Washington insiders. Though he himself was very much a part of the national media, he was openly scornful of their infamous herd instinct... (more)
August 17, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST This past week, we have witnessed a brainwashing campaign worthy of Pravda from the old Soviet Union. The very ferocity of an Obamacare chorus could not have been more emphatic if it had been coordinated... (more)
August 10, 2009
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST Natural law is a vital part of the conservative intellectual heritage. Among the five ancient kinds of conservatism, natural law is the second oldest. Natural law ideas were vital to the American founding fathers... (more)
July 20, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! - - Get your "health care" snake oil. Right this way, folks! Only a limited time offer! It's the greatest going-out-of-business sale (for the U.S. as we know it) in the history of the world!... (more)
July 13, 2009
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST Self-deceiving pride leads the sons of Adam into many foolish vanities and conceits. Some people concentrate on the petty vanities, and others indulge in grandiose delusions about themselves. It has long been clear to me that grandiose delusions of pride are sometimes the motor force behind the personal ambitions of political careers... (more)
July 13, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST When it comes to reasons why Sonia Sotomayor is not qualified for a seat on the highest court in the land, critics of the judge have an embarrassment of riches. There are so many, one has to pause at the opening gate and say - - for example - - how am I going to get all this in one column?... (more)
July 6, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST America used to be the "shining city on a hill," as Ronald Reagan defined it. That was then, this is now. Under President Obama, the U.S. is shrinking from speaking out for freedom wherever it is snuffed out... (more)
June 29, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Grassroots Americans need to use the Fourth of July congressional recess to contact their senators and urge them not to take the Waxman-Markey tax-grabbing lemon handed them by their counterparts in the House. It is the biggest tax hike in American history... (more)
June 22, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST President Obama should drop the disingenuous line that his plan to put America under the thumb of government-run health care won't interfere with your own health care plan. It's not true, and the American people are beginning to see through it... (more)
June 15, 2009
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST People are searching for the meaning of life as much now as they ever did. However, meaning is harder to find today because of a very tough skepticism in today's world about whether there is such a thing as truth. I like to call this the "acid bath of skepticism"... (more)
June 8, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The Stalinists in and out of government are sending the message loud and clear: You have questions about President Obama's nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court? Shut up or suffer the consequences... (more)
June 1, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST There was a lot of hair-splitting during last month's two-day conference of the Cold War International History Project at the Wilson Center in Washington... (more)
June 1, 2009
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST This is part 2 of an essay in which we are considering the "emergent church" - - a postmodern cult disguised as a church - - and the "seeker-sensitive church" that is a real church, but is in bondage to postmodern culture... (more)
May 25, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Since the downfall of the Soviet Union, volumes have been written about that late superpower's penetration of American Society and its institutions before and during the Cold War years... (more)
May 18, 2009
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST Part 1 of this essay deals with the rise of the "emerging church," which is postmodern and heretical. As such, it is a double threat to doctrinally orthodox Christianity. Part 2, which is coming soon, will describe the watering down of evangelicalism at the mega-churches in a way that has made many of their people worldly, soft, and vulnerable to the seductions of the emerging church... (more)
May 18, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Former Secretary of State James Baker has written an article suggesting the Obama administration "reach out" to (certain kinds of) Republicans on "Climate Change" or (in plain English) Global Warming, and its Cap and Trade tax... (more)
May 11, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The trouble with many of the past ratings of America's presidents is that the "consensus" has been arrived at by academics who act alike, do alike, and think alike. In the view of many, they are suspect of viewing history exclusively through the prism of Ivy League faculty lounge discourse... (more)
May 7, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST In a classic case of poetic justice, President Obama is getting some flak from his own Democrats in Congress on the issue of shutting down the Guantanamo Bay prison that holds the world's worst terrorists... (more)
May 4, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST If you hope to leave your small business or your farm to your heirs, you'd better get all your papers in order and plan on dying in 2010. That is the year the Death Tax goes down to zero... (more)
April 27, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST "Activist" groups lavishly funded by multi-billionaire George Soros - - the de facto leader of the Democrat Party - - have ordered their puppet in the White House and their Reid-Pelosi minions on Capitol Hill to stop talking, even talking with private health interests behind closed doors... (more)
April 23, 2009
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST We have traveled a long way through the history of conservatism and are nearing the end of the story. It is 2009, and I am doing post mortems of the disastrous election year of 2008... (more)
April 20, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST This column thought it would be necessary for conservatives to make much more headway than they have so far this year before the Obama administration would mount a government smear operation against "right-wing extremists" (i.e., disagreeing with His Nibs)... (more)
April 13, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The Obama administration and the Reid/Pelosi Congress are coming at us with so much threatening asininity - - obviously aimed at overwhelming critics... (more)
April 6, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST For 32 years, the Soviet Union infused money and know-how into Cuba - - its client-state just 90 miles from U.S. shores - - until the flag went down on the Soviet empire... (more)
April 2, 2009
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST President George W. Bush appointed a handful of neoconservatives to positions of power and influence. These officials were highly visible and controversial. "Neocons" were a convenient place to assign blame when foreign adventures went wrong... (more)
March 30, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST April is "Cuba month" for the Obama administration. The Observer, the Sunday edition of the UK's left-wing Guardian, approvingly tells its readers that the Obama White House "has moved to ease some travel and trade restrictions as a cautious first step towards Havana...raising hopes of an eventual lifting of the four-decade-old economic embargo"... (more)
March 23, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST You are earnestly urged to believe that President Obama's Justice Department is seriously investigating a 39-year-old murder case involving his political friends and communist terrorists Bill Ayers and his wife Bernadine Dohrn... (more)
March 16, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Communist China has America by the throat. North Korea is making new warlike noises. And the Obama White House seems clueless... (more)
March 9, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The just-concluded health care "summit" at the White House was so much window dressing, giving the appearance of hearing from "all sides" before Barack Obama, this nation's most committed socialist president, gets his government-controlled health care plan enacted... (more)
March 2, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The powers that be in Obama's Washington piously declare conservatism dead, but right under their noses the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) drew record numbers to its annual three-day Washington gathering... (more)
February 26, 2009
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST In the last essay in this series, part 15, we discovered in history a strong correlation between Christian spirituality and the vitality of Western culture. However, spirituality by itself is not enough. Issues of truth and doctrinal orthodoxy are equally important... (more)
February 23, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST This column reiterates its proposal to grant the citizens of the District of Columbia exemption from paying the federal income taxes that the rest of us pay. I know the populist inclination to say Washington takes enough of our money already; so why not let them get a taste of their own medicine... (more)
February 16, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Hear ye! Hear ye! Judge, Jury and Prosecutor (JJP) Patrick Leahy, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wants a "truth commission." Little things like "the truth" rarely concerned the New England demagogue in the past (unless they fit his political dogma). But lo and behold, he's got "religion." Well, sort of... (more)
February 9, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST President Obama has lost his pivotal health care "Czar." But forget about uncorking the bottles to celebrate. Someone will soon take his place... (more)
February 5, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST During the campaign, some of us were concerned that Barack Obama, with his socialist background, would govern accordingly. Many conservatives therefore believe you can disregard as window dressing the appointment of some Republicans to his cabinet... (more)
February 2, 2009
HELEN VALOIS, RA ANALYST "We are standing before the ruins of inner national unity, which in these last days has been brutally destroyed. . . . Can there be national solidarity with . . . men [who commit fundamental anti-life injustices]? No! I can have nothing in common, either in thought or in feeling, with these men and all others responsible for these deeds"... (more)
February 2, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST I've thought long and hard before sitting down to write this assessment of the recently concluded presidency of Bush 43. Sorting it out requires considerable time and contemplation... (more)
January 26, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST "With a stroke of the pen, he [President Obama] effectively declared an end to the 'war on terror,' as President George W. Bush had defined it." So reads a front-page story in Friday's Washington Post... (more)
January 22, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Just a few hours after Barack Obama finished his inaugural address and as he was making his triumphant entry to the Oval Office of the White House, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had taken a predictable dive - - by 332.13 points to be exact... (more)
January 15, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Despite some public relations moves to assuage our doubts, the Obama transition team appears to be formulating an administration that is quite happy to let some international authority dictate your personal lifestyle and how you raise your kids... (more)
January 12, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST In Springfield, Illinois, the state House of Representatives voted to impeach Governor Rod Blagojevich for trying to corrupt the electoral process. Illinois and Chicago-style politics had been the butt of jokes for decades, but the House members decided their governor had become an embarrassing cartoon caricature of their state... (more)
January 8, 2009
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Picking up the pieces from the 2008 election is going to be an uphill climb as it is. Add to that an issue deemed so delicate that not one of the six candidates for Republican National Chairman dares utter a meaningful word about it during a 90-minute debate... (more)
January 5, 2009
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST In our walk through the history of conservatism, we have reached the period running from 1973 to 1988. In 1973, abortion was legalized, and 1988 was the last year of the Reagan presidency. That was the heyday of the culture war when the Christian right rose to challenge the powerful secular left... (more)
December 22, 2008
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST "Hark the herald angels sing, glory to the new born king." Have you ever noticed that during the Christmas season, we sing a lot more about the birth of Christ as king than we do about the birth of Christ as the incarnate God-man?... (more)
December 22, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The problem with writing a tribute to the late Paul Weyrich is two-fold: (1) Where to begin, and (2) Can anything be said that begins to do justice to what this God-fearing Christian gentleman did in service to the country he loved, his fellow Americans, and his fellow human beings... (more)
December 15, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST It is perhaps long past time that this column revisits the evidence that multibillionaire George Soros is implementing a well-crafted plan to mold America to comport with his radical socialist view of the world. His heavy involvement in political front organizations and his questionable financial manipulations give new meaning to the warning in Sun Tzu's The Art of War - - "Know your enemy"... (more)
December 11, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Barack Obama's upcoming presidency gives many reasons for conservatives to be concerned. All the more reason that we stick to substantive provable issues, as opposed to chasing such illusive rainbows as his alleged lack of a birth certificate... (more)
December 4, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The nine (at last count) candidates for the job of Republican National Chairman have been sent an eight-page questionnaire by one of the RNC's members - - essentially attempting to determine what they would do to pick up the pieces following the 2008 disaster... (more)
December 1, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST As U.S. counter-intelligence chases down terrorists and fights in the courts and in the halls of Congress to listen in on terrorists' telephoned plots and also keep the al-Qaeda's murderous brethren locked up at Guantanamo Bay, our weapons and government facilities are crawling with spies doing dirty work against us on behalf of the largest nation in the world... (more)
November 19, 2008
BARBARA KRALIS, RA ANALYST In this second part, let's examine what the Catholic Church, its Popes and those Bishops in unions with the Pope, teaches us about its Church members forming right consciences, wrongly voting for pro-abortion politicians, and being worthy to receive Holy Communion... (more)
November 17, 2008
BARBARA KRALIS, RA ANALYST Recently, a Charleston Catholic diocesan pastor, Father Jay Scott Newman, JCL, wrote a column to his flock which he published within his November 9, 2008 St. Mary's Catholic parish bulletin... (more)
November 24, 2008
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST The meltdown of the conservative movement is a greater calamity than losing an election! The civil war among conservatives has left an unknown number of conservatives alienated and adrift... (more)
November 20, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Thirty states now have spoken through the ballot box against equating same-sex marriage with traditional marriage as it has been accepted for centuries. For the violent liberal fascists - - that is a sign of "hate"... (more)
November 17, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST When you're talking about taxpayer help for an industry that arguably is the very engine of our economy, flip answers won't do. One of the considerations is whether a bailout for the auto industry will cure its chronic ailments, or serve as a band-aid until it is necessary for the car-makers to come back to the well again...and again and again... (more)
November 13, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST He's more than two months away from being sworn in as the 44th president of the United States, and already Barack Obama has surrounded himself with people with serious baggage, and who raise questions about the new president's intentions on the domestic and foreign policy fronts... (more)
November 10, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST A wise and longtime conservative leader told me the day after the election that "we will have to start over" but that - - in terms of the silver lining - - "this time [unlike thirty years ago] we [the modern conservative movement] will not have to start from scratch"... (more)
November 10, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Here's a preview of what we're in for in the next four years of the much-vaunted "spirit of bipartisanship": In the land of the free, we will witness the spectacle of commentators having to fight tooth and nail just to exercise their free speech rights under the First Amendment... (more)
November 3, 2008
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST Does Barack Obama believe in the universal moral law? Hard to tell. Obama insists he is a Christian and admits that evil exists, but answers questions about morality and evil in an equivocal way... (more)
November 3, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Two columns ago (see "Fixing the Economy," 10/27/08), we outlined policies intended to curb or stop the thirties Great Depression which instead actually prolonged it... (more)
October 30, 2008
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST Is Barack Obama a socialist? Well, yes and no. If you mean by that what Americans used to call "creeping socialism" and the Brits called Fabian socialism, yes, Obama is definitely that. Creeping socialism and Fabian socialism is a movement towards socialism by gradual democratic means... (more)
October 30, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Horrors! The Barack Obama campaign has encountered a reporter who does not treat its candidate as royalty? What's the matter with this woman? Can't she "go with the flow" and join her colleagues in turning a blind eye to all issues that do not reflect on Obama as the messiah?... (more)
October 27, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Confident an Obama victory will give them even more wind at their backs, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democrat Leader Harry Reid anticipate a post-election lame duck session of Congress to pass yet another "stimulus package," just as a warm-up for next year... (more)
October 23, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Barack Obama has all but telegraphed his intent to shut up anyone who dares to blow the whistle on his connections to terrorists and crooks. Accordingly, Jerome Corsi - - whose best-seller Obama Nation tells the real Obama story (complete with full documentation) would be at or near the top of Obama's enemies list... (more)
October 20, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST "Our time has come...I can see a role for the Communist Party USA in the next period." Those words from Libero Della Piana, an operative speaking at the headquarters of the Communist Party USA and eagerly anticipating an Obama presidency... (more)
October 16, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST There are secretive Muslim military compounds right here in America. We're not talking about Mosques in our midst (where more than a few "Death to America" threats have been uttered - - tolerated, under the rubric of "religion," by the most open society on earth)... (more)
October 13, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Just when John McCain gets up a good head of steam in this campaign, he pulls a switch and reverts to his futile posture of "reaching across the aisle" only to get his arm bitten off... (more)
October 6, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST On January 21, 2009 - - after the inaugural balls of the night before - - regardless of whether the transition period between election and inauguration will have experienced a terrorist attack (a possibility many do not dismiss lightly), the new president of the United States will face arguably unprecedented threats to the safety of the Republic... (more)
October 2, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The style that emerged in the Sept. 26 debate between Senators John McCain and Barack Obama is exactly what presidential debates should have used right from the beginning: One moderator was there, basically to keep the process moving, while as much as possible, letting the two candidates have free rein to go at each other and do their back and forth... (more)
September 29, 2008
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST I was invited by the Defender's Council of Vermont to debate with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) concerning an Al Jazeera channel on Burlington Telecom (BT). The debate was scheduled for September 17th, which is Constitution Day, the 221st anniversary of the signing of the American Constitution... (more)
September 25, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST If Congress seriously wants to come to grips with the underlying causes of the credit crisis, there are some obvious starters available. We did not get into the mess overnight, while Congress dithered and - - in some cases - - heaped gasoline on the fire. In tune with the American psyche, we may get our "instant gratification," without getting a long-term solution... (more)
September 22, 2008
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST Now that the brouhaha about The Da Vinci Code has died down, it is time to turn our attention to other historical myths that cast doubt upon the historical doctrinal orthodoxy of the church. When The Da Vinci Code became a bestseller, I read a book review that enumerated the historical claims made by the book... (more)
September 22, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Both presidential candidates took a few days to get their bearings and talking points in order after the beginning of the wild week on Wall Street. McCain's quick comment: Fire Chris Cox, Chairman of the SEC. That effort to find a convenient scapegoat misses the mark and is also unfair... (more)
September 15, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The number one issue in this presidential campaign is Barack Obama and whether his ascension to the Oval Office in January will be good for the United States. That is the question. And the perfect documentation comes in the form of a New York Times bestseller The Obama Nation... (more)
September 8, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The propaganda carpet-bombers keep telling us that Governor Sarah Palin's lack of foreign policy experience makes her unfit to be "one heartbeat away" from the presidency. By contrast - - our betters instruct us, Joe Biden, as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is all-wise and is prepared to help Obama (be his seeing eye dog?) to guide America through the waters of international danger and intrigue... (more)
September 6, 2008
JOSHUA HERRING, RA ANALYST There are many causes that could be cited for the three-ring circus that's made a shambles of the American political process this election. Foremost among them is this simple fact: in an obvious effort to overthrow American campaign tradition, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were so power-hungry from the outset that their drives for the presidency were already in full swing by Feb. 10, 2007... (more)
September 6, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Any party that has to fight the enemy right on the floor of its own convention is going into political battle with one hand tied behind its back. Probably the most telling moment for the Democrat ambush of Republicans at St. Paul came after a conventioneer answered a question from Katie Couric about Sarah Palin's qualifications to be vice-president... (more)
September 3, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST When the elite media forms a lynch mob to destroy - - not just someone's career - - but that person's life, they don't want any voices in their midst to sass them back. So they are determined to see that the dissenting "new media" is eliminated... (more)
September 1, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST John McCain hit a home run right out of the ballpark with his pick of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. It has been a real shot in the arm to Republicans gathering for their convention in St. Paul this week...a convention that was somewhat low-key as all eyes were on Hurricane Gustav in the South... (more)
August 27, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The Biden selection for VP on the Obama ticket apparently was enough to dissuade many Hillary Clinton supporters not to fight until the last dog is hung at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Some grousing remains, but as of Tuesday morning, most of the noise was coming from pro-Hillary protests outside the Pepsi convention center... (more)
August 25, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST In taking the second spot on the Obama ticket, Senator Joseph Biden, Jr. adds a measure of assurance to Democrat party elders. The Delaware lawmaker is a veteran of 36 years in the United States Senate. He's an old hand. He's familiar. They know him, warts and all... (more)
August 18, 2008
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST Pope Benedict XVI has identified several causes for the intellectual, moral, cultural, and spiritual decline of the European civilization. I was thrilled to learn about this because I have independently come to some of the same conclusions. Allow me to recapitulate his conclusions as five theses:
1) The West has declined because of the modern separation of faith and truth; 2) The West has declined because of the modern separation of metaphysical truth and practical truth... (more)
1) The West has declined because of the modern separation of faith and truth; 2) The West has declined because of the modern separation of metaphysical truth and practical truth... (more)
August 18, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST If you're feeling a sudden excruciating pain in your back, you can be sure the label on the knife embedded there bears the names of five Republican senators who are part of the "Gang of Ten." It isn't just a matter of what you're paying for gas in your car. The overriding concern is that this is a gift to America's enemies.
The GOP contingent in the "Gang of Ten": Saxby Chambliss (Ga.), Johnny Isakson (Ga.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), John Thune (S.D.), and Bob Corker (Tenn.). They endorse a surrender bill on the issue of oil drilling... (more)
The GOP contingent in the "Gang of Ten": Saxby Chambliss (Ga.), Johnny Isakson (Ga.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), John Thune (S.D.), and Bob Corker (Tenn.). They endorse a surrender bill on the issue of oil drilling... (more)
August 11, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST All rise! Queen Nancy Pelosi's version of the "People's House" is you agree with her or you shut up.
All hail, Your Majesty! We humble commoners are wondering: Why did you turn off the lights, cameras, and microphones in the "People's House" when elected members wanted to discuss relief for your struggling subjects who were paying record prices at the gas pump?... (more)
All hail, Your Majesty! We humble commoners are wondering: Why did you turn off the lights, cameras, and microphones in the "People's House" when elected members wanted to discuss relief for your struggling subjects who were paying record prices at the gas pump?... (more)
August 7, 2008
JOSHUA HERRING, RA ANALYST It became obvious that something was going wrong shortly after WW II. By the end of the fifties, Americans were beginning to witness a breakdown in their political institutions as meaningful, dependable forces for good.
At that point, most Democrats were convinced that the solution to virtually every societal problem was yet another federally-funded program. Sad to say, Republicans began to develop a similar mindset. Politicians like to believe they can fix anything if they can just spend enough money. This is a fantasy, of course. Nonetheless, the idea became an irresistible plaything for both parties... (more)
At that point, most Democrats were convinced that the solution to virtually every societal problem was yet another federally-funded program. Sad to say, Republicans began to develop a similar mindset. Politicians like to believe they can fix anything if they can just spend enough money. This is a fantasy, of course. Nonetheless, the idea became an irresistible plaything for both parties... (more)
August 4, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Rush Limbaugh has led the charge to penetrate and ultimately break up the liberal monopoly in the national media. Had that not happened, there would today be hardly any debate that involves a challenge to liberal conventional wisdoms. Conservative voices would be a mild whimper, relegated to the fringe of American life - - ignored except for the occasional ridicule.
Where would we be without Rush? Where to begin? Of course, one can only speculate. Here is this column's guess: Kyoto would be settled policy on "global warming"... (more)
Where would we be without Rush? Where to begin? Of course, one can only speculate. Here is this column's guess: Kyoto would be settled policy on "global warming"... (more)
July 28, 2008
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST In this essay, we shall examine the early days of the culture war, which include a frenetic prelude (1967-68), and the development of a hideous counter-culture running from the Woodstock Music Festival to Roe v. Wade (1969-1973).
Was the rebellion of the sixties a reaction to the fifties? Yes and no. It was not a natural reaction to the bad things of the fifties, as is often supposed. It was an evil reaction to the wholesomeness of the fifties... (more)
Was the rebellion of the sixties a reaction to the fifties? Yes and no. It was not a natural reaction to the bad things of the fifties, as is often supposed. It was an evil reaction to the wholesomeness of the fifties... (more)
July 21, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Let's not kid ourselves. We need to drill for more oil.
That is the crux of the message in the $4-plus per gallon at the pump. But the six-figure salaried "save the earth now" lobbyists here in Washington don't want us to drill off either the east or west coast, don't want drilling in ANWR in Alaska, don't want any more oil refineries, don't want any nuclear power... (more)
That is the crux of the message in the $4-plus per gallon at the pump. But the six-figure salaried "save the earth now" lobbyists here in Washington don't want us to drill off either the east or west coast, don't want drilling in ANWR in Alaska, don't want any more oil refineries, don't want any nuclear power... (more)
July 18, 2008
JOSHUA HERRING, RA ANALYST "I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers and it was not there; in her fertile fields and boundless forests and it was not there; in her rich mines and her vast commerce and it was not there; in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great"... (more)
July 14, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Though he never ran for public office or expressed interest in doing so, the late Robert Anthony "Tony" Snow had all the qualifications of a successful conservative aspirant to high office.
What characteristics would make the ideal candidate for high office? Intellect, personal magnetism, honesty, optimism, firm convictions, an ability to disagree without being disagreeable, a good TV presence, great speaking ability, a good rapport with fellow Americans, a beautiful family- - have I left anything out?... (more)
What characteristics would make the ideal candidate for high office? Intellect, personal magnetism, honesty, optimism, firm convictions, an ability to disagree without being disagreeable, a good TV presence, great speaking ability, a good rapport with fellow Americans, a beautiful family
July 14, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST This week's column started out as an attempt to sum up Jesse Helms' pivotal place in history and all that he has done for America. Soon came the realization of a task so daunting that one hardly knows what to leave in and what to leave out - - assuming the column is not meant to morph into a book. So herewith, some highlights of how he stood up for this nation.
We can start with Helms' days in the early fifties as administrative assistant to Democrat Senator Willis Smith- - a highly respected former president of the American Bar Association... (more)
We can start with Helms' days in the early fifties as administrative assistant to Democrat Senator Willis Smith
July 7, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) has been in Congress for barely a year, and already his activism on behalf of America's values has marked him as a lawmaker destined for leadership upon gaining more seniority.
That assumes the good conservative voters of Georgia's Tenth Congressional District will keep him here in Washington, where he has hit the ground running... (more)
That assumes the good conservative voters of Georgia's Tenth Congressional District will keep him here in Washington, where he has hit the ground running... (more)
July 4, 2008
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST The last installment of this series (Part 12) ended with the nomination of Barry Goldwater for president in 1964. Senator Robert Taft, who was the preeminent conservative figure from 1938 to 1952, paved the way for Goldwater's rise. The young Goldwater was an enthusiastic foot soldier for Taft's conservative coalition.
However, by the time Goldwater ran for president in 1964, he was materially different in political philosophy from the late Robert Taft. In contrast to Taft's paleoconservatism, Goldwater had become an exemplar of "fusionism," which was a blend of traditionalism, libertarianism, and anti-communism... (more)
However, by the time Goldwater ran for president in 1964, he was materially different in political philosophy from the late Robert Taft. In contrast to Taft's paleoconservatism, Goldwater had become an exemplar of "fusionism," which was a blend of traditionalism, libertarianism, and anti-communism... (more)
June 30, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST It is now a matter of record. The Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States of America is against your right to free speech as guaranteed in the First Amendment to the Constitution of that same United States of America.
She wants to shut you up in the public square if you disagree with her. That's how she interprets her privilege in attaining high office... (more)
She wants to shut you up in the public square if you disagree with her. That's how she interprets her privilege in attaining high office... (more)
June 23, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The media have been criticized for their wall-to-wall coverage of the death of NBC's Tim Russert. But in truth, the Meet the Press anchorman genuinely was one of a kind. Deep down, they know he had connectivity to the public that most others can only envy. And they respected him for that. That, I believe, is the reason for their intense coverage of his totally unexpected death at the peak of his career.
The son of a garbage man in Buffalo, N.Y., his whole approach reeked of a hometown boy's love of country, his Catholic faith, his spirit of good will that coexisted well with the necessary toughness for his job, and his humble roots, never forgetting his beloved Buffalo Bills... (more)
The son of a garbage man in Buffalo, N.Y., his whole approach reeked of a hometown boy's love of country, his Catholic faith, his spirit of good will that coexisted well with the necessary toughness for his job, and his humble roots, never forgetting his beloved Buffalo Bills... (more)
June 16, 2008
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST Albert Einstein (1879-1955) was a philosophical pantheist, and his theory of general relativity is based upon pantheistic assumptions that rule out a transcendent creator God. Einstein's cosmology has a baleful influence on Western moral culture because it conveys the idea that everything is relative and nothing is absolute. Some Christians of liberal theology have become pantheists and moral relativists as a result of Einstein's influence.
Progressive president Woodrow Wilson pointed out that the Constitution was written in the mechanistic age of Newton, and that we are now living in Einstein's relativistic world... (more)
Progressive president Woodrow Wilson pointed out that the Constitution was written in the mechanistic age of Newton, and that we are now living in Einstein's relativistic world... (more)
June 16, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The late Natalie Grant Wraga once wrote, "Protection of the environment has become the principal tool for attack against the West and all it stands for. Protection of the environment may be used as a pretext to adopt a series of measures designed to undermine the industrial base of developed nations. It may also serve to introduce malaise by lowering their standard of living and implanting communist values."
Natalie Grant Wraga (who died in 2002 at age 101) was an internationally-recognized expert on the art of disinformation... (more)
Natalie Grant Wraga (who died in 2002 at age 101) was an internationally-recognized expert on the art of disinformation... (more)
June 9, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST (See Part 1)
In a normal world, anyone who says the best way to deal with bad economic times is to raise taxes would elicit some not-too-polite snickers. But this time, that idea is being advanced by a United States senator, and it is no laughing matter. (Patience, we're leading up to that.)... (more)
In a normal world, anyone who says the best way to deal with bad economic times is to raise taxes would elicit some not-too-polite snickers. But this time, that idea is being advanced by a United States senator, and it is no laughing matter. (Patience, we're leading up to that.)... (more)
June 4, 2008
PAUL A. BYRNE, M.D. Recent news reports of responses in persons declared "brain dead" should have alerted everyone that "brain death" is not true death. In at least two cases, the observed response prevented the organ transplantation protocols from going further. Zack Dunlap later reported how he could hear discussions of his death, but he could not respond at that time. Val Thomas had flat brain waves for 17 hours before her response was observed. While these might be of only passing interest to many, it ought to be of grave concern to every citizen of the United States of America, and the rest of the world... (more)
June 2, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST First off, this is a column about national security - - period.
It is not about homosexuality per se. I don't want to know about whatever lawful activity two civilians- - in a civilian setting - - conduct behind closed doors. It's none of my business.
At the same time, the lives of millions of Americans depend on a strong dedicated cohesive well-disciplined military, and that is everyone's business... (more)
It is not about homosexuality per se. I don't want to know about whatever lawful activity two civilians
At the same time, the lives of millions of Americans depend on a strong dedicated cohesive well-disciplined military, and that is everyone's business... (more)
May 30, 2008
JOSHUA HERRING, RA ANALYST As a sort of thesis, I shall begin with the words of that great poet, philosopher, and political pundit of the sixties, Paul Simon of Simon and Garfunkel. In the third verse of a song titled "Mrs. Robinson," he wrote:
"Sitting on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon- - going to the candidate's debate. Laugh about it; shout about it, but when you've got to choose, every way you look at this you lose"... (more)
"Sitting on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon
May 26, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The frontrunner for this year's Democrat presidential nomination burst upon the scene from out of nowhere only in recent months. Two or three years ago, Barrack Hussein Obama was an unknown outside his Chicago bailiwick and in some other Illinois quarters. Even his time in the Illinois State Senate was unremarkable.
As this column has noted, Senator Obama has some Marxist skeletons in his closet... (more)
As this column has noted, Senator Obama has some Marxist skeletons in his closet... (more)
May 19, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST It is time to wipe the slate clean of campaign "reform" legislation enacted since Watergate gave us the scandal habit. Examples of "reform" failures abound.
Take "special prosecutors," whose legal gymnastics have been employed to criminalize policy differences and have given witch-hunting a bad name for undeserving witches... (more)
Take "special prosecutors," whose legal gymnastics have been employed to criminalize policy differences and have given witch-hunting a bad name for undeserving witches... (more)
May 12, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Hey! You don't mind paying another 53 cents a gallon to fill up your car's tank, do you? Obviously you're feeling a little guilt-ridden at getting away with paying a measly three-to-four bucks (and climbing) for each gallon as it is. So what's another 53 cents? Especially if you're out of a job. No big deal, right?
Some of your brilliant lawmakers here in Washington believe that neither letting you have your cake nor letting you eat it too is a great way to get your vote. Don't laugh. They mean it... (more)
Some of your brilliant lawmakers here in Washington believe that neither letting you have your cake nor letting you eat it too is a great way to get your vote. Don't laugh. They mean it... (more)
May 7, 2008
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST This essay deals mainly with the emergence of traditionalist conservatives in American politics during the 1912-1952 period. In 1912, Woodrow Wilson, a progressive, was elected president. He was the first in a series of progressive presidents. Many traditionalists entered politics to oppose the progressives. In 1952, Senator Robert Taft of Ohio, often called "Mr. Conservative," was at the peak of his political influence and was the bane of the progressives.
Although it is difficult to find a definitive starting date for the progressive movement, the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, the most famous of the early progressive bills, provides as good a date as any... (more)
Although it is difficult to find a definitive starting date for the progressive movement, the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, the most famous of the early progressive bills, provides as good a date as any... (more)
May 5, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Senator John McCain - - the presumptive Republican presidential nominee - - remains an enigma. He stands up to those who want us to soft-pedal the source of the terrorist threat. But he caves to Democrats when they express the slightest displeasure. Go figure.
All right, class, today's lesson is a multiple-choice quiz: The terrorists who on 9/11 slammed passenger airliners into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a Pennsylvania field were identified as: A-The Beatles; B-The Three Stooges; C-The Red Cross; D-The Chamber of Commerce; E-Radical Islamists; F-The United Way... (more)
All right, class, today's lesson is a multiple-choice quiz: The terrorists who on 9/11 slammed passenger airliners into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a Pennsylvania field were identified as: A-The Beatles; B-The Three Stooges; C-The Red Cross; D-The Chamber of Commerce; E-Radical Islamists; F-The United Way... (more)
April 28, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST One could spend all his waking hours trying to unsnarl the multiple misconceptions and outright lies about Senator Joe McCarthy that have been spread over the last half century. But since the latest to distort and beat down history appeared in a conservative (on economic and PC issues) newspaper, here we go again.
Wrong right out of the gate
Even on some of the most basic points, a Wall Street Journal op-ed is well wide of the mark... (more)
Wrong right out of the gate
Even on some of the most basic points, a Wall Street Journal op-ed is well wide of the mark... (more)
April 21, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Last week's Clinton/Obama debate opened a new door on an old coalition: What is it about Marxists (violent or otherwise) that attracts liberals (well-meaning or otherwise) to their defense? What is their common goal (to the extent that they have one)?
The counterculture sixties
Here is the mantra of the Weather Underground, as enunciated by one of its leading disciples... (more)
The counterculture sixties
Here is the mantra of the Weather Underground, as enunciated by one of its leading disciples... (more)
April 14, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Let's start with the assumption that the "global economy" is here to stay.
Let us also entertain the notion- - one that we used to take for granted - - that the "global economy" does not mean we leave ourselves at the mercy of foreign governments when it comes to providing for our own defense.
Can we all agree on that- - just for starters? I mean, we're not on a suicide mission here, right?... (more)
Let us also entertain the notion
Can we all agree on that
April 7, 2008
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST I have been writing a series of essays on the five kinds of conservatives, but only recently realized that there are also five kinds of postmodern liberals. In this essay, I style the varieties of liberals as five horses with a well-known liberal rider on each horse.
Barack Obama is trying to ride two horses simultaneously, as we shall analyze. As such, he is similar to Lawrence of Arabia, who tried to simultaneously ride the horse of the British Army and the horse of the Arab tribes... (more)
Barack Obama is trying to ride two horses simultaneously, as we shall analyze. As such, he is similar to Lawrence of Arabia, who tried to simultaneously ride the horse of the British Army and the horse of the Arab tribes... (more)
April 7, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Through our crystal ball
The year is 2025 or thereabouts; pick another year if you wish, because this hypothetical scenario is a real possibility.
Russia has argued in the United Nations for the independence of California.
California's leading minority-grievance activists presume to speak for the state's Spanish-speaking majority- - or near majority, depending on the coming census... (more)
The year is 2025 or thereabouts; pick another year if you wish, because this hypothetical scenario is a real possibility.
Russia has argued in the United Nations for the independence of California.
California's leading minority-grievance activists presume to speak for the state's Spanish-speaking majority
March 31, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The two-year presidential campaign has crashed and burned.
The Democrats
In this corner, ladies and gentlemen- - the party that is stuck with two badly flawed candidates. Take your pick... (more)
The Democrats
In this corner, ladies and gentlemen
March 24, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The Clintons are at it again. There is no length to which these scheming affronts to plain decency will not go in order to protect themselves - - i.e., his precious legacy and her perceived entitlement to ascend to the throne.
Obviously embittered by the failure of their acolytes and thugs to intimidate ABC into canceling the 2006 film The Path to 9/11, they are now going to the ends of the earth to prevent the release of that film on DVD. This time, ABC's brass is cooperating with them. But one shareholder is blowing the whistle on that little party... (more)
Obviously embittered by the failure of their acolytes and thugs to intimidate ABC into canceling the 2006 film The Path to 9/11, they are now going to the ends of the earth to prevent the release of that film on DVD. This time, ABC's brass is cooperating with them. But one shareholder is blowing the whistle on that little party... (more)
March 17, 2008
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST The birth of the conservative intellectual movement in the 1940's happened at about the same time that the nihilistic philosophy of atheistic Existentialism came to American shores. While Sartre was sitting in a coffee shop in Paris writing Being and Nothingness and ignoring the Nazi occupation, four great thinkers were laying the foundations for a renewal of Traditionalist Conservatism in the West. While the Existentialists were saying that man is empty and alone in an absurd world, the four conservative pioneers were saying that Western man has a rich cultural and spiritual heritage to draw upon to renew himself... (more)
March 17, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST "Man-made Global Warming," thy name is fraud.
Yet, fraud is precisely what the nation's indoctrination centers- - excuse me, schools - - are drumming into the heads of young Americans.
Mark Colley, who lives just south of Salt Lake City, learned a few months ago that his middle school daughter had been shown Al Gore's film An Inconvenient Truth in her middle school class- - without any rebuttal... (more)
Yet, fraud is precisely what the nation's indoctrination centers
Mark Colley, who lives just south of Salt Lake City, learned a few months ago that his middle school daughter had been shown Al Gore's film An Inconvenient Truth in her middle school class
March 11, 2008
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST In our journey through history, we have reached the culture war of the twentieth century that began in the 1920's and accelerated during the counter-cultural revolution of the late sixties and the sexual revolution of the seventies. The remaining installments of A Brief History of Conservatism will deal mainly with the postmodern era.
Ancient foundations of Western civilization are being destroyed by the contemporary culture. In order to understand the old foundations of civilization and culture that are now threatened by the multiculturalists, we are obliged to make one more brief visit to Ancient Greece and to the High Middle Ages... (more)
Ancient foundations of Western civilization are being destroyed by the contemporary culture. In order to understand the old foundations of civilization and culture that are now threatened by the multiculturalists, we are obliged to make one more brief visit to Ancient Greece and to the High Middle Ages... (more)
March 10, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Three events in my young life set me on a path that ultimately led to an adult-lifelong fascination with the writings, theses, and activities of the recently departed William F. Buckley, Jr.
Setting the stage
The first came as World War II was drawing to its inevitable end. As with many teen-agers of the day (and for that matter, most Americans), it was assumed that since we were conquering the bad guys, hopefully we could live more or less happily ever after... (more)
Setting the stage
The first came as World War II was drawing to its inevitable end. As with many teen-agers of the day (and for that matter, most Americans), it was assumed that since we were conquering the bad guys, hopefully we could live more or less happily ever after... (more)
March 3, 2008
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST A large percentage of those who became conservatives during the last 50 years can hark back to a moment when the words of William F. Buckley, Jr., were instrumental in their formation as a conservative. Many of them do not realize that Buckley changed conservatism in such a way as to give it political traction in the Goldwater era and the Reagan era.
During the 1930's and 40's, the intellectual foundations for Traditionalist Conservatism were laid by Christopher Dawson, Robert Hutchins, Richard Weaver, and Russell Kirk. However, the movement had little political or cultural traction... (more)
During the 1930's and 40's, the intellectual foundations for Traditionalist Conservatism were laid by Christopher Dawson, Robert Hutchins, Richard Weaver, and Russell Kirk. However, the movement had little political or cultural traction... (more)
March 3, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Dr. Bernard Lewis - - a British-American who is one of the most widely read authorities on the Middle East - - says, "Current trends show that Europe will have a Muslim majority by the end of the 21st Century at the latest.... Europe will be part of the Arab West - - the Maghreb."
George Weigel, a distinguished senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC), invites us to envision a Europe in which the muezzin summons the faithful to prayer from the central loggia of St. Peters in Rome, while Notre Dame has been transformed into Hagia Sophia in the Seine- - "a great Christian church become an Islamic museum"... (more)
George Weigel, a distinguished senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC), invites us to envision a Europe in which the muezzin summons the faithful to prayer from the central loggia of St. Peters in Rome, while Notre Dame has been transformed into Hagia Sophia in the Seine
February 25, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST In sum, Senator John McCain's problem is simply this: He has antagonized the wrong people in his party.
The Republicans
Not to take anything away from the senator's legitimate primary victories, but for the future, party responsibility would get the GOP past this rut of giving a candidate a pass almost entirely because "it's his turn"... (more)
The Republicans
Not to take anything away from the senator's legitimate primary victories, but for the future, party responsibility would get the GOP past this rut of giving a candidate a pass almost entirely because "it's his turn"... (more)
February 18, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST On the issue of party responsibility, it appears we are back at square one.
The Democrats
Remember the "smoke-filled room." Those were "the bad old days." Or were they? The Democrats may provide an answer to that this year. There's a new version of the "smoke-filled room." It's something called "super-delegates"... (more)
The Democrats
Remember the "smoke-filled room." Those were "the bad old days." Or were they? The Democrats may provide an answer to that this year. There's a new version of the "smoke-filled room." It's something called "super-delegates"... (more)
February 11, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST If there is anything the jackboots cannot take, it is humor at their expense. They don't like it when you sass them back in serious discourse, either. But a touch of "irony" that shows the emperor has no clothes? That is when they reach the breaking point.
Hell hath no fury like a police state mentality made a laughing stock.
Such appears to be the lesson currently being learned by columnist Mark Steyn. A Canadian citizen who spends half the year living in the U.S. writing for U.S. newspapers, magazines, and book publishers, Steyn is in hot water with stone-faced Canadian authorities... (more)
Hell hath no fury like a police state mentality made a laughing stock.
Such appears to be the lesson currently being learned by columnist Mark Steyn. A Canadian citizen who spends half the year living in the U.S. writing for U.S. newspapers, magazines, and book publishers, Steyn is in hot water with stone-faced Canadian authorities... (more)
February 4, 2008
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST When the Republican primaries were free-for-all with no front runners, some called it a signal of conservatism in crisis. After the Florida primary, the field narrowed down to two leading candidates with John McCain in the lead. Some are saying that McCain is not very conservative and his preference by the party is a crisis for conservatives.
After the South Carolina primary, Peggy Noonan said that the Republican Party is searching for its soul... (more)
After the South Carolina primary, Peggy Noonan said that the Republican Party is searching for its soul... (more)
February 4, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST On the eve of Super Tuesday, conservatives nationwide were coming smack up against the prospect of their worst nightmare.... Hillary Clinton vs. John McCain. All these years, we kept saying to ourselves - - oh, please - - surely that won't happen. Lifting our eyes skyward - - we have begged please don't let it happen. What have we done to deserve this?
The Republicans
This column cannot fully explain why the Republicans are having such a difficult time finding a more acceptable candidate for their party's nomination... (more)
The Republicans
This column cannot fully explain why the Republicans are having such a difficult time finding a more acceptable candidate for their party's nomination... (more)
January 28, 2008
Also: America's crumbling infrastructure (Part 2) -- Peters rewarding friends, punishing dissenters?
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Another top leader in the Reagan coalition and the conservative movement says he will not vote for John McCain if the Republicans nominate him as their candidate for president of the United States. That non-endorsement is based (but only in part) upon McCain's attitude on rail transport, amidst questions about the current administration's maneuverings with a DOT commission... (more)
January 21, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST This is the story of what may turn out to be another chapter in the nearly 90-year-long crusade by the Highway Lobby to stifle dissent on the part of anyone who dares to challenge its right to the mindless paving over of America. What is at stake: America grinding to a virtual halt, as our enemies use oil to blackmail us to our knees.
For two years, a 12-member panel- - the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission (NSTPRSC) - - wrestled with the far-reaching consequences of America's crumbling transportation infrastructure, a crisis most dramatically symbolized by last year's collapse of a major bridge in Minneapolis during rush hour... (more)
For two years, a 12-member panel
January 14, 2008
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST Edith Wharton wrote The Age of Innocence (1920), which was about the high society of Old New York in the 1870's. She borrowed from the wisdom of the past to understand and critique the follies of her own generation. Victorian conservatism of the 1870's was partly the result of a spiritual revival during the Civil War era and was partly due to a conservative reaction to the upsurge of modernism and bohemian romanticism earlier in the century... (more)
January 14, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Back in August of 1968, Senator George McGovern delivered of himself a diatribe at the National Press Club here in Washington. In it, the South Dakota Democrat excoriated those on the campaign trail who were then demanding "law and order."
All these calls for "law and order," the U.S. Senate's premiere peacenik of the day argued, were "empty-headed." The adoring newsies in attendance- - considering themselves above the (always conservative) "empty-headed" fray - - snickered in agreement... (more)
All these calls for "law and order," the U.S. Senate's premiere peacenik of the day argued, were "empty-headed." The adoring newsies in attendance
January 12, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Herewith, the classic example of a humanitarian and selfless effort linked in a very meaningful way to our strategic interests in a far-off part of the world, and incidentally the effectiveness of volunteer effort as opposed to taxpayer-funded giveaways.
Kenya's future and America's security
In the War on Islamofascism, the United States has a very firm ally in Kenya- - one of our best friends on the African continent. That assumes Kenya remains stable... (more)
Kenya's future and America's security
In the War on Islamofascism, the United States has a very firm ally in Kenya
January 7, 2008
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Many conservatives are disheartened by the choices they perceive in the lineup of Republican presidential candidates.
Let's start off with acceptance of the fact that the times and circumstances are different from 1980 when we elected Ronald Reagan.
Americans sent Ronald Reagan to the White House because they hungered for a halt to the steady groveling and surrender to the Soviet Union... (more)
Let's start off with acceptance of the fact that the times and circumstances are different from 1980 when we elected Ronald Reagan.
Americans sent Ronald Reagan to the White House because they hungered for a halt to the steady groveling and surrender to the Soviet Union... (more)
December 24, 2007
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST "...these things the angels desire to look into." 1 Peter 1:12
The heavenly heralds sounded their trumpets in all the precincts of heaven. The News echoed through the corridors of the shining city. A great company of angels gathered in the field of gold. The Ancient of Days had a special message for all the angels. The angels were very enthusiastic.
The angel Gabriel flew up to a battlement of the palace, and cried, "Hear ye, oh heavenly beings!" The chattering crowd became instantly still for they were all eager to hear the message... (more)
The heavenly heralds sounded their trumpets in all the precincts of heaven. The News echoed through the corridors of the shining city. A great company of angels gathered in the field of gold. The Ancient of Days had a special message for all the angels. The angels were very enthusiastic.
The angel Gabriel flew up to a battlement of the palace, and cried, "Hear ye, oh heavenly beings!" The chattering crowd became instantly still for they were all eager to hear the message... (more)
December 10, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST So - - as recorded in M. Stanton Evans' new book Blacklisted by History - - Senator Joseph Raymond McCarthy was censured (or "condemned") by the Senate on December 2, 1954. After the hue and cry had died down, the IRS sent the senator a check in the amount of $1,056 as a refund on the ground that he had overpaid his taxes. Thus crumbled the case against the senator by the Gillette committee. That panel had scoured McCarthy's finances going back to his days in law school, and even included the finances of members of his family and friends in Wisconsin and elsewhere... (more)
December 3, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST If a Drew Pearson radio commentary of the era is to be believed (and credibility of that hate columnist was perpetually in question), Senate Minority (soon to be Majority) Leader Lyndon Baines Johnson laid down the law in a closed-door meeting of his fellow Democrats in the late fall of 1954. Paraphrased, it was this:
"This is a test of party loyalty" (the censure of Senator Joseph Raymond McCarthy). If any of you votes against censuring McCarthy, you can just walk right over to the other side of the aisle [and become a Republican] because you won't get anything from us"... (more)
"This is a test of party loyalty" (the censure of Senator Joseph Raymond McCarthy). If any of you votes against censuring McCarthy, you can just walk right over to the other side of the aisle [and become a Republican] because you won't get anything from us"... (more)
November 29, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST In the spring of 1954, Americans sat glued with fascination to the black and white screens of the brand new entertainment medium: "Movies" piped into in your own home. Television - - restricted to a few metropolitan areas in the early post-war years - - had finally been given the green light to spread its availability everywhere.
Just in time for the big show
What awaited Americans in their living rooms was their first nationwide televised day-in/day-out true-to-life political drama played out in the ornate environs of the main hearing room of the Senate Office Building... (more)
Just in time for the big show
What awaited Americans in their living rooms was their first nationwide televised day-in/day-out true-to-life political drama played out in the ornate environs of the main hearing room of the Senate Office Building... (more)
November 26, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, chaired by Senator Joseph Raymond McCarthy, spent the better part of a year (1953-1954) investigating efforts by Communists to infiltrate the ranks of the U.S. Army. As we mentioned in our last installment, it all began when the senator was tipped that the Rosenberg spy ring remained at Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey, after the Rosenbergs themselves were executed for their leading role... (more)
November 26, 2007
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST According to intellectual historian Richard Weaver (1910-1963), a republic devoted to freedom and order requires a rational citizenry who will hearken to the voice of a man of principle. In this essay, we shall define what it means to be a man of principle. Then we shall review the presidential candidates to see if any of them stand out from the crowd according to these principles.
Aristotle defined politics as a moral enterprise. Free citizens deliberate the question "How ought we to order our life together?"... (more)
Aristotle defined politics as a moral enterprise. Free citizens deliberate the question "How ought we to order our life together?"... (more)
November 19, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST (See Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4)
When Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed on June 19, 1953, the spy ring through which they committed espionage did not just go away.
Julius Rosenberg was an inspector at Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey, and when he and Ethel were sentenced in 1951 to die, Judge Irving R. Kauffman declared:... (more)
When Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed on June 19, 1953, the spy ring through which they committed espionage did not just go away.
Julius Rosenberg was an inspector at Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey, and when he and Ethel were sentenced in 1951 to die, Judge Irving R. Kauffman declared:... (more)
November 15, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST (See Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)
Under the Senate's "50-year rule," today's Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released in 2003 the closed-door hearings conducted by its onetime chairman Joseph Raymond McCarthy back in 1953-1954... (more)
Under the Senate's "50-year rule," today's Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released in 2003 the closed-door hearings conducted by its onetime chairman Joseph Raymond McCarthy back in 1953-1954... (more)
November 12, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST (See Part 1 and Part 2)
As we read today's headlines about how China can trigger a 360-point plunge in the American stock market and threaten our economy merely by asserting the dollar has lost its luster, it just might spur some debate as to how this Communist giant was empowered in the first place... (more)
As we read today's headlines about how China can trigger a 360-point plunge in the American stock market and threaten our economy merely by asserting the dollar has lost its luster, it just might spur some debate as to how this Communist giant was empowered in the first place... (more)
November 7, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST (See Part 1)
Senator Joe McCarthy famously prefaced many of his anti-Communist speeches (including his very first in Wheeling, W. Va.) with "I have in my hand the names of [X number Communists or other evidence of pro-Red mischief- - fill in the blanks]."
Critics of the Wisconsin senator would often ridicule him as exercising an overblown flair for the dramatic... (more)
Senator Joe McCarthy famously prefaced many of his anti-Communist speeches (including his very first in Wheeling, W. Va.) with "I have in my hand the names of [X number Communists or other evidence of pro-Red mischief
Critics of the Wisconsin senator would often ridicule him as exercising an overblown flair for the dramatic... (more)
November 5, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Much of the history of the Cold War has been blurred and obscured - - almost always in the direction of downplaying it. "Not to worry" was the mantra of the era. From the Olympian "unconditional surrender" proclamation that had ruled when confronting Nazi Germany and imperial Japan, much of the public and national discourse turned on a dime to a curious pressure to "get along" with Stalin and his successors who tried to succeed where Hitler failed... (more)
November 3, 2007
JOSHUA HERRING, RA ANALYST At the age of ten, I watched a television episode that had a quite an impact on my life. The story was about a peace loving, philosophical Chinese monk caught between two opposing factions on the verge of losing control. One of the groups was made up of people who considered the monk a friend. Those on the other side were simply townspeople he knew of.
The only reason the monk got involved was a desire to see the two sides resolve their differences without any killing. As time passed and tensions escalated, tempers flared with increasing passion... (more)
The only reason the monk got involved was a desire to see the two sides resolve their differences without any killing. As time passed and tensions escalated, tempers flared with increasing passion... (more)
October 31, 2007
HELEN VALOIS, RA ANALYST As all the little ghosts and goblins make their rounds this year, it's hard to keep from wondering what kind of country they will be growing up to face. We drop treats into their plastic pumpkins, but will we - - in November of 2008 - - be essentially giving them something else instead? That will depend very much upon whether or not we agree to be scared, and ultimately tricked, ourselves... (more)
October 29, 2007
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST In the last essay (part 7), we considered how Hegel propagated the cult of modernism. The modernists had faith in the inevitability of progress based upon impersonal forces of history. "Progress" must eventually lead to "utopia" - - a utopia in which the great "oneness" of pantheism will be fully manifested all over the world. The magical thinking of German Idealism, the cult of pantheism, and - - for our generation - - the New Age Movement, are what lies behind this befuddled myth... (more)
October 27, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Pssst! Hey, middle class taxpayers: Congressman Charlie Rangel has good news for you. He's going to provide tax relief for 90 million "working families," as opposed to the non-working job providers who pick their millions off trees - - you know, those trees where the big money grows.
Here's how he's going to do it: And it is brilliant. It is so brilliant, all across America, every politician in every precinct is saying- - "Of course! Why didn't I think of that?"... (more)
Here's how he's going to do it: And it is brilliant. It is so brilliant, all across America, every politician in every precinct is saying
October 22, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST This column hopes to awake from a bad dream any minute now. Bad enough two of our protectors are in solitary confinement. But enemies who want to kill us are living very well on our money?
Time to wake up
This can't be real. It can't be true that a drug smuggler illegally crashing our border was given immunity to testify against the law enforcement officers who tried to arrest him, can it?... (more)
Time to wake up
This can't be real. It can't be true that a drug smuggler illegally crashing our border was given immunity to testify against the law enforcement officers who tried to arrest him, can it?... (more)
October 15, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The problem here is the Law of the Sea Treaty, translated by this column as the World Dictatorship Treaty in everyday street language. If that is a little over the top for you, try LOST - - an appropriate acronym and a word well understood by the public at large. Then you'd have a follow-up - - i.e., if the treaty is ratified, we Americans will have LOST the right to security, safety, American constitutional rights, our economy (jobs), and our sovereignty.
LOST is supposedly zipping through the Senate on a "fast track," with sponsors saying not to worry about President Reagan's refusal to sign on back in 1982. His problems with the document have now been "fixed"... (more)
LOST is supposedly zipping through the Senate on a "fast track," with sponsors saying not to worry about President Reagan's refusal to sign on back in 1982. His problems with the document have now been "fixed"... (more)
October 8, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Only three Republican members of the Senate Armed Services Committee knew what the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST) is, according to a recent survey. Only 3 out of the 12 GOP committee members. There was no known survey of Democrat members.
LOST has very serious military, security, indeed survival consequences for every man, woman, and child in America... (more)
LOST has very serious military, security, indeed survival consequences for every man, woman, and child in America... (more)
October 1, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Every time Americans tune out the chattering political class, that's when the one-worlders rush in for the kill.
The Law of the Sea Treaty
As Americans are working to support their families, playing by the rules, paying their taxes, minding their business- - forces are at work here in Washington to give them the business... (more)
The Law of the Sea Treaty
As Americans are working to support their families, playing by the rules, paying their taxes, minding their business
October 1, 2007
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST Conservatism passed through a series of fiery trials during the nineteenth century. The previous essay (part 6) viewed conservatism and Christianity in the crucible of war. I have devoted two essays to the eight dark waves of depraved modernism that passed over the land during the nineteenth century. In this essay (part 7) we will consider 1) German "higher criticism" of the Bible, 2) Hegel, 3) Marx, and 4) the cult of modernism. The next essay, part 8, we will tackle 5) Darwin, 6) Freud, 7) William James, and 8) John Dewey. Each of these ideologies is hostile towards conservatism, Christianity, and Western culture... (more)
September 24, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) wants to raise taxes. Hillary Clinton wants to "pay for" her thinly disguised socialized medicine scheme by eliminating President Bush's tax cuts, which is another way of saying she wants to raise taxes. Ah! But as every angry liberal knows, tax cuts per se are evil, in that they benefit only - - all together now - - "the rich"... (more)
September 17, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The late Fulton Lewis, Jr. - - one of the 20th Century's most astute radio commentators (for the benefit of our younger readers) - - grew impatient with "moderate Republicans," especially those who constantly urged elected GOP officials to "reach out" to Democrats and liberals to prove that they were not those "mean-spirited" conservatives or "hide-bound reactionaries." That way, so the soothsayers argued, Republicans would be loved by the liberal establishment which would thenceforth smile benignly on them... (more)
September 5, 2007
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST Conservatism passed through a series of fiery trials during the nineteenth century. I shall tell the tale in two parts. This essay shall view conservatism and Christianity in the crucible of war, namely the American Civil War. In my next installment (part 7), I shall consider seven dark waves that passed over the land during the nineteenth century... (more)
September 1, 2007
JOSHUA HERRING, RA ANALYST Perhaps it isn't going to be as easy for big government and big business magnates to abusively strip Americans of their homes, their businesses, and their property as they originally thought it would be following the latest Supreme Court ruling on eminent domain. In an analysis published by RenewAmerica not long ago titled "A three pronged attack to bring down America," I dealt to some extent with the Free Trade Agreements NAFTA and CAFTA, and I outlined some of the potential threats involved... (more)
August 27, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Can Rupert Murdoch's New York Post switch its editorial policy from conservative to liberal? Sure, it could. The popular tabloid switched from liberal to conservative when Murdoch first bought it back in the seventies from Dorothy Schiff, the Grande Dame of New York liberalism... (more)
August 20, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Russia's bold move to plant its flag on the seabed of the North Pole is only the latest step in its ongoing assault on American property in the entire Arctic area. Thus far, there is little indication that the U.S. is about to challenge the big bear's claim to supremacy there any more than we did over several decades of its other incursions on rightful American claims in the region... (more)
August 19, 2007
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST Summer sunset in the Iowa countryside is often a brilliant red-orange and trails behind it a long twilight afterglow. During the Iowa Straw Poll, I stayed at the small farm of a man of literature, philosophy, and politics, and we enjoyed spectacular sunsets and twilights... (more)
August 13, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Some forty years ago when the civil rights movement eliminated legally enforced segregation (Jim Crow), we were told repeatedly that this would end ethnic and racial divisions in America. We were all Americans, and we would all share in the benefits of our unique society.
There are some who did not get that message. For years, they have perpetrated and relished the politics of "ethnic identity"... (more)
There are some who did not get that message. For years, they have perpetrated and relished the politics of "ethnic identity"... (more)
August 8, 2007
PAUL A. BYRNE, M.D. You've probably seen TV commercials, billboards, and magazine articles encouraging you to give the "gift of life" through vital organ donation. It saves lives. It gives meaning to a wasteful, tragic death. But before you fill out an organ donor card, here are a few things to think about.
Vital organs (from the Latin vitae, meaning life) are those organs like the heart, liver, lungs, and pancreas that are necessary for life... (more)
Vital organs (from the Latin vitae, meaning life) are those organs like the heart, liver, lungs, and pancreas that are necessary for life... (more)
August 6, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The president of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) has written a threatening letter to a scholar at the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) warning him to stop publicly criticizing the theory that global warming is a threat to the planet, or risk the end of his reputation.
Implicit in the message: Shut up or you will be destroyed... (more)
Implicit in the message: Shut up or you will be destroyed... (more)
August 4, 2007
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST In my report "A Trip to Iowa," I mentioned Tom Immermann, a veteran of Iowa grassroots politics. Tom Immermann has proven to be the perfect mentor to me in all things concerning Iowa, because of his involvement in state-wide politics and because of his deep immersion in the Iowa grassroots... (more)
July 31, 2007
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST Prior to 1600 A.D., much of what we now regard as conservative ideas was taken for granted by most people of the West. Although some counter-cultural ideas emerged during the late Medieval and Renaissance eras, they had no long-term historical traction.
In the last essay (part 4), we considered how leading Western philosophers during the period 1600-1800 A.D. undercut rational metaphysics and faith and promoted a destructive skepticism... (more)
In the last essay (part 4), we considered how leading Western philosophers during the period 1600-1800 A.D. undercut rational metaphysics and faith and promoted a destructive skepticism... (more)
July 30, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The Senate has been wrestling with legislation that the media echo chamber has framed as "helping sick kids," but which in reality is a step toward universal government-run health care. Furthermore, there is every reason to believe that those who are enabling this slow train to socialized medicine know exactly what they are doing... (more)
July 25, 2007
HELEN VALOIS, RA ANALYST If anyone still needs decisive evidence of liberal media bias and its devastating impact on the current political climate, here it is: "Who's Alan Keyes?" This question was put to me recently at a neighborhood get-together, during a discussion of the shortcomings of Rudy Giuliani and company.
The people who wanted to know are solid, family-oriented folks who take time to keep track of political happenings, insofar as their schedule permits... (more)
The people who wanted to know are solid, family-oriented folks who take time to keep track of political happenings, insofar as their schedule permits... (more)
July 23, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Looking back over a half century of reporting in Washington, Robert Novak reveals in The Prince of Darkness that as a survivor of three bouts with cancer and a severe case of spinal meningitis, he might very well be dead now but for one saving grace: the much-maligned American health care system... (more)
July 17, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Syndicated columnist and TV commentator Robert D. Novak took a journey from a "middle of the road" flirtation with liberalism to the conservative side. Others - - notably Ronald Reagan - - have taken a similar journey. But Novak and his late partner Rowland Evans moved their famous Evans and Novak column along with them on their ideological metamorphosis - - sometimes to the puzzlement of client newspapers whose new generation editors were actually steering left... (more)
July 16, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Republicans have been playing the role of the stupid party again. The Bush Justice Department (DOJ) tripped all over itself and got its own administration tied in knots just to get the Democrats and the media off its back. All because a desk-bound bureaucrat at the CIA was mentioned in a column by Robert Novak. His new book The Prince of Darkness follows the trail in all its Keystone Cops detail.
In an interview with this reporter, the syndicated columnist/TV commentator emphasized a significant, but widely ignored fact: the Justice Department knew from Day One that Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage was Novak's source that Valerie Plame Wilson was an employee of the CIA... (more)
In an interview with this reporter, the syndicated columnist/TV commentator emphasized a significant, but widely ignored fact: the Justice Department knew from Day One that Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage was Novak's source that Valerie Plame Wilson was an employee of the CIA... (more)
July 9, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) - - whose U.S. operation conducts its business in secrecy in the bowels of the U.S. Department of Commerce - - is plunging ahead with a program that may end America as we know it.
We can argue all day over to whether this is another case of "unintended consequences." (This column does not buy that.) The SPP appears to lead ultimately to a North American Union (NAU) or "community." Under that scenario, the borders of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico would be (de facto, if not formally) erased... (more)
We can argue all day over to whether this is another case of "unintended consequences." (This column does not buy that.) The SPP appears to lead ultimately to a North American Union (NAU) or "community." Under that scenario, the borders of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico would be (de facto, if not formally) erased... (more)
July 9, 2007
PAUL A. BYRNE, M.D. Organ and tissue donation can be divided into four general categories:
(1) A living person can give nonvital organs and tissues to another person without causing death, severe injury, or disabling mutilation to self. For example, one might give one of two kidneys, or bone marrow... (more)
(1) A living person can give nonvital organs and tissues to another person without causing death, severe injury, or disabling mutilation to self. For example, one might give one of two kidneys, or bone marrow... (more)
July 5, 2007
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST On June 29, I checked into my hotel in Des Moines, Iowa - - the political capital of America. It was the night before the Republican Presidential Candidates Forum to be held on Saturday, June 30.
As I approached the lobby carrying a satchel of "We need Alan Keyes for President" fliers, I passed a group of people in formal clothes leaving the hotel. They were leaving a reception for Tom Tancredo, a presidential candidate... (more)
As I approached the lobby carrying a satchel of "We need Alan Keyes for President" fliers, I passed a group of people in formal clothes leaving the hotel. They were leaving a reception for Tom Tancredo, a presidential candidate... (more)
July 2, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST You struck a blow for citizen activism this last week. As we prepare to celebrate Independence Day, we can take comfort in the fact that "government of the people, by the people, and for the people" is going full tilt. We rule if we are focused.
Your outrage that the United States Senate appeared hell-bent on passing a bad immigration bill caused you to react exactly the way the framers intended when they crafted that document that gave birth to this nation... (more)
Your outrage that the United States Senate appeared hell-bent on passing a bad immigration bill caused you to react exactly the way the framers intended when they crafted that document that gave birth to this nation... (more)
June 25, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The other night, Hannity's America on Fox replayed a tape of a public prayer offered by President Franklin D. Roosevelt for our sons who were fighting freedom's battle during World War II.
Anyone familiar with this column over the years knows I am not a big fan of FDR's place in history- - for many reasons not relevant to our focus at the moment... (more)
Anyone familiar with this column over the years knows I am not a big fan of FDR's place in history
June 25, 2007
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST According to conservative traditionalism, a large part of our wisdom comes to us from the past. According to Christian conservatism, man is a fallen creature, and all the works of man have within them the seeds of their own destruction. Our challenge, therefore, is to weed out the falsehoods and follies that were sown in prior generations - - while we embrace the brilliant cultural heritage of the West as a whole... (more)
June 18, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST When the framers of the Constitution settled on that document that would guide this great nation in a way that would separate it from all others, a woman asked Ben Franklin, "Well, Doctor, what have we got - - a republic or a monarchy?"
Franklin's response: "A republic, if you can keep it"... (more)
Franklin's response: "A republic, if you can keep it"... (more)
June 17, 2007
JOSHUA HERRING, RA ANALYST In an article that I read recently, there was a tragic story. It filled my heart with sorrow to think of Americans devastated in the workplace by policies that exhibit an inexcusable lack of sensitivity and civic responsibility. This is the story of which I speak:
"Fox News reported on a particularly tragic example of job displacement that took place in 2003: 'Kevin Flanagan, a computer programmer with Bank of America, was fired from his job after being forced to train his replacement, an Indian worker who was taking over Flanagan's job as part of Bank of America's effort to replace its American workforce with foreign labor... (more)
"Fox News reported on a particularly tragic example of job displacement that took place in 2003: 'Kevin Flanagan, a computer programmer with Bank of America, was fired from his job after being forced to train his replacement, an Indian worker who was taking over Flanagan's job as part of Bank of America's effort to replace its American workforce with foreign labor... (more)
June 11, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Not only should Scooter Libby be pardoned, Valerie Plame Wilson should be made to face charges of perjury.
The Senate Intelligence Committee a few days ago issued a report that should convince any real prosecutor (one seeking justice and not a scalp for his own self-aggrandizement) that Valerie Plame Wilson should be investigated on charges of lying under oath in the CIA leak case... (more)
The Senate Intelligence Committee a few days ago issued a report that should convince any real prosecutor (one seeking justice and not a scalp for his own self-aggrandizement) that Valerie Plame Wilson should be investigated on charges of lying under oath in the CIA leak case... (more)
June 11, 2007
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST Historically, Europe enjoyed three periods of rapid cultural advance: 1) 1050-1250 A.D.; 2) 1375-1520; and 3) 1600-1750. During this seven-century developmental period, Western culture was vigorously advancing two-thirds of the time, and the culture was consolidating and preparing for the next advance one-third of the time... (more)
June 4, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Imagine all the money we've wasted putting bank robbers behind bars. After all, they just "wanted a better life." How else are they going to feed their families if we don't let them rob banks - - one of those "jobs [other] Americans won't do."
The Senate immigration bill is a threat to the rule of law. But then Washington's scofflaw approach to immigration for over 40 years has made a total mockery of "the law"... (more)
The Senate immigration bill is a threat to the rule of law. But then Washington's scofflaw approach to immigration for over 40 years has made a total mockery of "the law"... (more)
May 28, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Just as First Amendment supporters were uncorking the champagne bottles and toasting a victory in Seattle, along came the Capitol Hill commissars with plans to shut up commentators who dare to dissent from their conventional wisdoms. That, plus a campus witch hunt (again), add up to one step forward, two steps backward... (more)
May 21, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST If we learn nothing else today, let's get this straight:
Denial of seating at a lunch counter because of one's skin color is a civil rights issue.
Crashing our gates and waving the Mexican flag demanding to be allowed to stay is not a civil rights issue. It is an invasion... (more)
Denial of seating at a lunch counter because of one's skin color is a civil rights issue.
Crashing our gates and waving the Mexican flag demanding to be allowed to stay is not a civil rights issue. It is an invasion... (more)
May 14, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Those who scheme night and day to curb America's sovereignty never - - never ever ever - - give up. Possessed with something akin to the patience of the Asian mind, they brush off defeat as if it were some annoying flyspeck, and then redouble their efforts.
Such is the case with the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST)- - rejected in 1982 by President Reagan and stopped in its tracks in the Senate in 2004 and 2005... (more)
Such is the case with the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST)
May 13, 2007
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST My last essay was A Brief History of Conservatism, Part 1, 800 B.C. to 1300 A.D. During that journey of 2,100 years, we learned how four streams of Conservatism contributed to Western culture.
This essay picks up the story in the year 1300 A.D. We shall go on a journey through the proto-Renaissance of literature (1300-1375), the Italian Renaissance (1375-1520) and the Northern Renaissance (1520-1600)... (more)
This essay picks up the story in the year 1300 A.D. We shall go on a journey through the proto-Renaissance of literature (1300-1375), the Italian Renaissance (1375-1520) and the Northern Renaissance (1520-1600)... (more)
May 12, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Let's see if we have this straight.
1- - Six terrorists right here on U.S. soil plot to kill American soldiers. Those are the charges.
2- - Thankfully, they were nabbed by the FBI in a sting operation.
3- - Three of the alleged terrorists are illegal aliens. Nonetheless, we cannot treat any of the six as enemy combatants... (more)
1
2
3
May 10, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST As of this writing, nobody - - nobody - - in the mainstream media has seen fit to ask President Bush a fundamental question about the six identified "Islamic terrorists" who are accused of plotting to kill "as many soldiers as possible" at Fort Dix, New Jersey: Will they be treated as enemy combatants or are they to be allowed the luxury of this nation's criminal justice system?... (more)
May 9, 2007
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST Is a married couple who aborts their child more likely to divorce? If so, is there a direct relationship between high abortion rates and high divorce rates? Theologian Diertrich Bonhoeffer hinted that this might be the case.
In his book Ethics, written in a Nazi prison in 1943, Bonhoeffer wrote, "Marriage involves an acknowledgment of the right of life that is to come into being, a right which is not subject to disposal by the married couple... (more)
In his book Ethics, written in a Nazi prison in 1943, Bonhoeffer wrote, "Marriage involves an acknowledgment of the right of life that is to come into being, a right which is not subject to disposal by the married couple... (more)
May 7, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Ralph de Toledano told me not long ago that he had started to work on his memoirs. What a shame he did not live long enough to finish that work. It is a great loss to history.
Here was a newspaperman with 21 books to his credit (by my count), some of them best-sellers, most of them reflecting his own shoe-leather detective work to shed some light on the dark corners where certified scoundrels and plotters of all kinds of mischief dwell... (more)
Here was a newspaperman with 21 books to his credit (by my count), some of them best-sellers, most of them reflecting his own shoe-leather detective work to shed some light on the dark corners where certified scoundrels and plotters of all kinds of mischief dwell... (more)
April 30, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST It's not rocket science.
America's population is aging. That means a larger drain on Social Security, Medicare, and private pension funds.
It also means a heavier burden on our nation's health care system in general- - especially when coupled with the influx of illegal aliens... (more)
America's population is aging. That means a larger drain on Social Security, Medicare, and private pension funds.
It also means a heavier burden on our nation's health care system in general
April 23, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST It was December 1980 - - a month after the presidential election of that year and six weeks before Inauguration Day. The scene was a weekend cocktail party in Alabama. A businessman named Bob Callahan held a conversation in almost whispered tones with another guest, Ollie Deschamps, a supermarket mogul who had been close to the campaign of then President-elect Ronald Reagan and asked him what Ronald Reagan really intends to do"... (more)
April 20, 2007
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST During this time of political setbacks for conservatives, it is a good time to consider the vital role of Conservatism in Western cultural and political history.
Conservative ideals played a crucial role in the rise of the West, and Liberalism did not... (more)
Conservative ideals played a crucial role in the rise of the West, and Liberalism did not... (more)
April 16, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The speech police - - bereft of ideas they are willing to subject to open debate - - want you to stop pestering your congressman and senators with letters, e-mails, and phone calls telling them what you think about important issues. Members of Congress are considering legislation aimed at making you shut up and leave them alone. Intimidation is the method. You need to fight back. More on that below... (more)
April 9, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST This column, with the benefit of legal advice, proposes specific legislation to cut ambulance-chasing prosecutors down to size - - not to protect the guilty, but to return purely political decisions out of the courtroom and back to the ballot box, as the founding fathers of this nation intended.
Prosecutorial abuse has run rampant in recent years. That is what happens when political differences are criminalized. Ever since Watergate, much of Washington has been hip-deep in the scandal habit. Every issue, every dispute has fed into a cottage industry of frustrated politicians thinly disguised as lawyerlike dispassionate pursuers of justice who have wrecked lives to shut up political opponents and dissenters... (more)
Prosecutorial abuse has run rampant in recent years. That is what happens when political differences are criminalized. Ever since Watergate, much of Washington has been hip-deep in the scandal habit. Every issue, every dispute has fed into a cottage industry of frustrated politicians thinly disguised as lawyerlike dispassionate pursuers of justice who have wrecked lives to shut up political opponents and dissenters... (more)
April 2, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Under the Constitution, this nation's capital city is not entitled to have full representation in Congress. Many residents of Washington, D.C., complain of "taxation without representation," noting that is the very issue that prompted the Boston Tea Party and led to our independence in the first place.
This column proposes a remedy: Make D.C. a federal tax-free zone. More on that below.
Washington D.C.'s current status
First let's explore the Constitution and some history as to why it is that the people in the city that hosts our congressmen and senators are also the only people in the United States who are denied a meaningful vote of their own in the halls of Congress... (more)
This column proposes a remedy: Make D.C. a federal tax-free zone. More on that below.
Washington D.C.'s current status
First let's explore the Constitution and some history as to why it is that the people in the city that hosts our congressmen and senators are also the only people in the United States who are denied a meaningful vote of their own in the halls of Congress... (more)
March 31, 2007
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST The central philosophical problem of modern democracy is the clash between natural law theory and social justice theory. Beginning with the era of the French and Scottish Enlightenment, natural law theory was the natural starting place for conservative ideas in a democracy. Social justice theory was the starting point for liberal ideas in a democracy.
The thesis of this essay is that natural law theory is unreconcilable with social justice theory. If the thesis is true, liberals and conservatives will never agree... (more)
The thesis of this essay is that natural law theory is unreconcilable with social justice theory. If the thesis is true, liberals and conservatives will never agree... (more)
March 26, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST A hush-hush meeting held in Banff, Canada, last year seriously explored the issue of how to sneak (yes, that is the right word) - - sneak a North American Union (NAU) onto the people of the U.S. Canada, and Mexico. What we are talking about is making a de facto merger of the three countries a fait accompli by the time it's too late to reverse it.
What else can one believe when the term "evolution by stealth" is used? (For background on the NAU, see this column Illegal Aliens and the Secret Monster Highway (Oct. 9, 2006) and AIM Report America's Borders: Going-Going-Gone! (Dec. 22, 2006)... (more)
What else can one believe when the term "evolution by stealth" is used? (For background on the NAU, see this column Illegal Aliens and the Secret Monster Highway (Oct. 9, 2006) and AIM Report America's Borders: Going-Going-Gone! (Dec. 22, 2006)... (more)
March 12, 2007
JOSHUA HERRING, RA ANALYST The things that have been taking place in the courts of this nation regarding the raising and educating of our children are increasingly disturbing. In some of the news articles I've run across in recent weeks, I've seen things such as this - - which has the backing of Walter Cronkite:
"A new campaign to force Christian influence out of the public sphere was launched last week in San Jose, California, in response to what is seen as a returning strength of religious organizations in American society... (more)
"A new campaign to force Christian influence out of the public sphere was launched last week in San Jose, California, in response to what is seen as a returning strength of religious organizations in American society... (more)
March 7, 2007
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST Leo Strauss (1899-1973), the father of Neoconservatism, predicted that liberalism must give way to relativism and that relativism must eventually give way to nihilism. My last essay discussed the world view of liberalism and the intellectual and psychological causes of its decline. This essay will introduce the subject of nihilism and track the two main routes by which liberals can change into nihilists.
Why do liberals wind up as nihilists?
Why do young liberals sometimes develop into old nihilists? Man interprets and evaluates the world through his world view. When his world view is collapsing, he might have the impression that the whole world is coming apart at the seams. The sense that the times are out of joint can lead to cynical and nihilistic ideas... (more)
Why do liberals wind up as nihilists?
Why do young liberals sometimes develop into old nihilists? Man interprets and evaluates the world through his world view. When his world view is collapsing, he might have the impression that the whole world is coming apart at the seams. The sense that the times are out of joint can lead to cynical and nihilistic ideas... (more)
February 26, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Let's stipulate this up front: The U.S. health care system has its problems, and we cannot ignore them. It does not follow, however, that the answer is the poison pill of socialism - - a la Canada, Britain, and most of Europe.
Replace a flawed system with a proven disaster?
This column has been building a file on the entitlement crisis America faces and what can be done about it. In the future, we intend to address that broader issue of entitlements... (more)
Replace a flawed system with a proven disaster?
This column has been building a file on the entitlement crisis America faces and what can be done about it. In the future, we intend to address that broader issue of entitlements... (more)
February 19, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The late Reed Irvine, founder of Accuracy in Media, a few years ago labeled as "The Scandal of the Century" the revelation that Harry Hopkins, alter ego of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was a Soviet agent. In the interest of space and focus, this column will resist the temptation to speculate on what Senator Joseph McCarthy would have done with that information had it been known at the time of his post-World War 2 investigations of Communist infiltration in the U.S. government.
Actually, there is even more to the story of "a conspiracy so immense [to use one of McCarthy's terms]." When he uttered those words, he didn't know the half of it... (more)
Actually, there is even more to the story of "a conspiracy so immense [to use one of McCarthy's terms]." When he uttered those words, he didn't know the half of it... (more)
February 13, 2007
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST Democratic politics is ultimately a battle of world views. A rising world view will eventually prevail over a declining world view in elections and in the market place of ideas. This essay will review the rise of conservatism and the decline of liberalism over the last fifty years from the standpoint of the slowly changing world views of Americans.
All world views begin with presuppositions, or things assumed. Presuppositions are taken on faith or as self-evident truths. Self-evident truths are ideas that one deems unthinkable to doubt or question. Unfortunately, the self-evident truths of one world view sometimes clash with the self-evident truths of another world view. How can this be? How can a truth be self-evident to one rational man and not be self-evident to another?... (more)
All world views begin with presuppositions, or things assumed. Presuppositions are taken on faith or as self-evident truths. Self-evident truths are ideas that one deems unthinkable to doubt or question. Unfortunately, the self-evident truths of one world view sometimes clash with the self-evident truths of another world view. How can this be? How can a truth be self-evident to one rational man and not be self-evident to another?... (more)
February 12, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST When a columnist gets angry, it is usually a good idea for him to count to 10 before putting it in writing. I've counted to 100 and still can't shake a total lack of patience with the misguided souls who buy into and propagandize the hype of "the population bomb."
That focus was occasioned by reaction to a very interesting and instructive article in The Washington Post with some tips on how to deal with college expenses.
A Sunday feature in the paper's Business section spotlighted the McGoff family, former neighbors of ours, among the very best that ever lived next door... (more)
That focus was occasioned by reaction to a very interesting and instructive article in The Washington Post with some tips on how to deal with college expenses.
A Sunday feature in the paper's Business section spotlighted the McGoff family, former neighbors of ours, among the very best that ever lived next door... (more)
January 22, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST De mortuis nihil nisi bonum
"About the dead, say something good or nothing at all."
In observance of that Latin admonition, this column had planned to "say nothing at all" about Gerald Ford upon his recent departure until history has had time to digest "the longer view."
However, it seems our 38th president himself was determined to open old wounds and carry on the debate by granting interviews on old controversies on the condition that they not be publicized until after his death... (more)
"About the dead, say something good or nothing at all."
In observance of that Latin admonition, this column had planned to "say nothing at all" about Gerald Ford upon his recent departure until history has had time to digest "the longer view."
However, it seems our 38th president himself was determined to open old wounds and carry on the debate by granting interviews on old controversies on the condition that they not be publicized until after his death... (more)
January 17, 2007
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST Both the Roman Republic and the American Republic enjoyed a period of energy and vitality. The thesis of this essay is that the American Republic is still in its era of vitality.
The Roman Republic had about four centuries of vitality. The last century of the Republic, however, was a time of troubles during which the moral force and unity of the Republic was lost. That turbulent century was vexed with at least ten foreign wars and at least ten civil wars or insurrections, and it also had two dictators and two triumvirates. The Republic was exhausted and demoralized when Augustus Caesar became emperor in 27 B.C.... (more)
The Roman Republic had about four centuries of vitality. The last century of the Republic, however, was a time of troubles during which the moral force and unity of the Republic was lost. That turbulent century was vexed with at least ten foreign wars and at least ten civil wars or insurrections, and it also had two dictators and two triumvirates. The Republic was exhausted and demoralized when Augustus Caesar became emperor in 27 B.C.... (more)
January 15, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST So the polls say Americans want us out of Iraq. Of course, the pollster rarely asks his interviewee to think through the consequences of whatever position he or she takes. It's quickie journalism. I remember working newsrooms where some of my colleagues would get all excited and build entire stories on polls, even those of dubious credibility.
Sure, we could pull the troops out of Iraq tomorrow. The question is- - what happens then? Think that's not our problem? Think we can just quietly turn tail and withdraw to our shores as we did in Vietnam and forget about it? No consequences?... (more)
Sure, we could pull the troops out of Iraq tomorrow. The question is
January 11, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Suppose someone told you 25% of this nation's oil production is threatened by polar bears? Would you deem that person a bit daft?
Well, brace yourselves, because that is exactly what is happening. The Endangered Species Act (ESA)- - enacted in 1973 because of pressure from the environmentalist lobby - - has now led the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to recommend listing the polar bear as being threatened with extinction in the foreseeable future... (more)
Well, brace yourselves, because that is exactly what is happening. The Endangered Species Act (ESA)
January 8, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The cover-up of the trail linking Saddam Hussein's Iraqi regime and/or other terrorists to the Oklahoma City bombing of April 19, 1995 (last week - - Part 1: The Evidence) is pervasive, bipartisan, and spans two administrations.
It figures that the Clinton administration would put the lid on this scandal. That the Bush administration would also block the pursuit of any lead in the case goes to circumstances that are more complicated and mysterious... (more)
It figures that the Clinton administration would put the lid on this scandal. That the Bush administration would also block the pursuit of any lead in the case goes to circumstances that are more complicated and mysterious... (more)
January 1, 2007
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST As the hangman's noose gripped Saddam Hussein's neck for the murder of his own people, less well-known is credible evidence that his regime ordered an attack that killed Americans right smack in the middle of America's heartland. It is doubtful that this arrogant, bloodthirsty tyrant - - had he not met his deserved end - - would have produced a confession or "smoking gun" nailing his own role in the cold-blooded murder of 168 Americans on U.S. soil. He was not tried or convicted for that, and besides, you can't execute a man twice... (more)
December 21, 2006
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST Augustus Caesar's actions in Rome started a chain of events that governed the circumstances of Christ's birth in Bethlehem. Tiberius Caesar, who followed Augustus on the imperial throne, also set in motion a chain of events in Rome that led to the death of Christ in Jerusalem. We shall consider how these two events are linked.
Our journey to Bethlehem this year begins in Rome during a great festival... (more)
Our journey to Bethlehem this year begins in Rome during a great festival... (more)
December 18, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Maybe it's because I grew up during World War II, when we had a clear understanding that we were "the good guys" and our enemies were "the bad guys," and that was it. End of story.
Okay, so maybe it's naive to expect that kind of national unity in this so-called "sophisticated" age. But I also remember my outrage in the early years of the Cold War- - right after victory against the Nazis and Imperial Japan - - when much of the patriotic fervor was muted when it came to dealing with the Communists... (more)
Okay, so maybe it's naive to expect that kind of national unity in this so-called "sophisticated" age. But I also remember my outrage in the early years of the Cold War
December 11, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Sources in a position to know say President Bush will not go along with any Social Security scheme that involves anything that remotely smacks of a tax increase. That may be the President's mindset at the moment. Let's hope it holds.
This is a difficult time for a president who surely remembers that when his father tried to "get along" with a Democrat-controlled Congress, he was stiffed- - big time... (more)
This is a difficult time for a president who surely remembers that when his father tried to "get along" with a Democrat-controlled Congress, he was stiffed
December 7, 2006
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST Frances Schaefer once said, "There are not many men in the house." What he meant was there are not many world views and most world views are ancient. The youngest world view I am aware of is two hundred and fifty years old. Half of the extant world views were in existence by 400 B. C. There are hundreds of philosophies, but most of them can be categorized under the heading of perhaps eight to ten world views.
I have discovered a litmus test question that can put all the world views neatly into two categories... (more)
I have discovered a litmus test question that can put all the world views neatly into two categories... (more)
December 5, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Since this country is so sue-happy, maybe some trial lawyer can do something constructive for a change: Take legal action holding most of the federally-elected Democrats and about half of the Republicans accountable for aiding and abetting criminals.
The action would have to await the expected passage in the new Democrat Congress of a bill granting amnesty to some 12-to-20 million illegal aliens who have crashed our border with Mexico... (more)
The action would have to await the expected passage in the new Democrat Congress of a bill granting amnesty to some 12-to-20 million illegal aliens who have crashed our border with Mexico... (more)
November 27, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The late Defense Secretary James Forrestal famously remarked that if our "leaders" only made mistakes, they would occasionally make one in our favor.
Ralph de Toledano has presented us with ample evidence of that. But Forrestal was referring to the post-World War 2 advance of world Communism, and the sellout to Stalin at the conferences at Yalta and Potsdam.
In his new book Cry Havoc, Toledano clearly demonstrates that when the Soviet empire collapsed, the Marxists and their allies in our midst did not just go away... (more)
Ralph de Toledano has presented us with ample evidence of that. But Forrestal was referring to the post-World War 2 advance of world Communism, and the sellout to Stalin at the conferences at Yalta and Potsdam.
In his new book Cry Havoc, Toledano clearly demonstrates that when the Soviet empire collapsed, the Marxists and their allies in our midst did not just go away... (more)
November 20, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Dejΰ vu
Oh, no! Not this again! Say it isn't so, Mr. President!
Are we about to witness another wrenching period when a Bush falls all over himself to appease the Democrats, only to have them beat him over the head while electing a Clinton? Will Bush 43 morph into Bush 41?... (more)
Oh, no! Not this again! Say it isn't so, Mr. President!
Are we about to witness another wrenching period when a Bush falls all over himself to appease the Democrats, only to have them beat him over the head while electing a Clinton? Will Bush 43 morph into Bush 41?... (more)
November 19, 2006
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST In this essay, we shall consider the nature of moral reasoning and why it essential to the health of a republic. We shall also take a look at natural law theory to find a basis for clear moral reasoning in a religiously diverse Democracy.
The defeat of many Republicans in the recent election compels us to consider the moral radar of the voters. When the political party in power fails to behave morally and does not use clear moral reasoning in public policy debates, the morally sensitive voters are justified in removing that party from power... (more)
The defeat of many Republicans in the recent election compels us to consider the moral radar of the voters. When the political party in power fails to behave morally and does not use clear moral reasoning in public policy debates, the morally sensitive voters are justified in removing that party from power... (more)
November 13, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST It pains this column to revive an old stereotype - - especially one that we thought Ronald Reagan had consigned "to the ash heap of history" along with the Soviet Union. But the sweetness and light emanating from the White House and other outposts of the GOP since the election demand that we bring back the old cultural differences between Democrats and Republicans.
So here goes: Democrats have in their genes and DNA the approach of a barroom brawler. Republicans, on the other hand, have in their genes and DNA the culture of country club etiquette... (more)
So here goes: Democrats have in their genes and DNA the approach of a barroom brawler. Republicans, on the other hand, have in their genes and DNA the culture of country club etiquette... (more)
November 6, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST You are earnestly urged to believe that the attacks and dirty tricks used against Congressman Curt Weldon, a Pennsylvania Republican seeking re-election, have absolutely nothing to do with the following:
(1) Congressman Weldon took the lead in getting House approval of SDI- - the missile defense that was bitterly opposed by the Clinton White House. (See this column "Go along to get along? Not this congressman," Oct. 16, 2006).
(2) The idea of a U.S. missile defense system is also opposed (for obvious reasons) by the enemies of the United States (first the Soviet Union, then the terrorists) and their dupes- - willing or otherwise - - here at home... (more)
(1) Congressman Weldon took the lead in getting House approval of SDI
(2) The idea of a U.S. missile defense system is also opposed (for obvious reasons) by the enemies of the United States (first the Soviet Union, then the terrorists) and their dupes
November 5, 2006
JOSHUA HERRING, RA ANALYST The fact that as conservative Christian activists we've had such limited success in stemming the tide of godless liberalism that has swept over America should give us pause. It should lead us to introspection. It should cause us to prayerfully reconsider our methods and approach.
Since God is not impotent against the forces of evil, it would seem logical that those of us who wish to be on His side must be missing something in our efforts to succeed politically... (more)
Since God is not impotent against the forces of evil, it would seem logical that those of us who wish to be on His side must be missing something in our efforts to succeed politically... (more)
November 3, 2006
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST This essay asks two questions: Are Europeans in the throes of passive cultural and political suicide as they ignore the threat of fanatical Muslims in their communities? And if so, have the leaders of the Democratic Party in America joined the Europeans in sleepwalking towards a precipice?
My main source for answering the first question is a book review titled Suicide of the West, by Theodore Dalrymple which appeared in the Clairmont Review of Books, Fall 2006. Dalrymple reviewed three books in pursuit of his theme of the "Suicide of the West"- - namely, Why the Continent's Crisis is America's Too, by Claire Berlinski; While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam is Destroying the West from Within, by Bruce Bawer; Menace in Europe: and Londonistan, by Melanie Phillips... (more)
My main source for answering the first question is a book review titled Suicide of the West, by Theodore Dalrymple which appeared in the Clairmont Review of Books, Fall 2006. Dalrymple reviewed three books in pursuit of his theme of the "Suicide of the West"
October 30, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST For decades, liberals and their media echoes have pounded home their sacred gospel of Act alike-Do alike-Think Alike. Their thoroughly racist doctrine says, "Thou cannot be black and also conservative. Thou shalt be only liberal - - first, last, and all the time. So it shall be done."
In three statewide races this fall, that doctrine is being defied by qualified conservative blacks who are not following the script as laid down by the liberal establishment wherein it is decreed, "Woe be unto any African American who leaves the liberal plantation"... (more)
In three statewide races this fall, that doctrine is being defied by qualified conservative blacks who are not following the script as laid down by the liberal establishment wherein it is decreed, "Woe be unto any African American who leaves the liberal plantation"... (more)
October 23, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Voters in Arizona's 8th Congressional District have an opportunity to send someone to Congress who shares their pro-American values. These people - - living right up against the border - - have been on the front lines in the war against the invasion of this country by Mexico.
Yes, invasion by Mexico, whose government (because of its corruption, incompetence, and Marxist-tinged economic policies) has millions of its people living in abject poverty. So Mexican authorities have a solution. Not a logical, low-tax, private sector plan that would attract more and better jobs so that a rising tide could lift all boats. No way. That would go against the holy grail of class hatred... (more)
Yes, invasion by Mexico, whose government (because of its corruption, incompetence, and Marxist-tinged economic policies) has millions of its people living in abject poverty. So Mexican authorities have a solution. Not a logical, low-tax, private sector plan that would attract more and better jobs so that a rising tide could lift all boats. No way. That would go against the holy grail of class hatred... (more)
October 21, 2006
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST The tendency of generals to re-fight the last war has been a recurring phenomenon since Carl Von Clausewitz wrote about it in his book On War (published 1832). Sometimes intellectuals who play armchair general make the same mistake. Liberals seem to be caught in a repeating time loop based on a fixation with Vietnam. Many liberals who oppose the Iraqi War are using some of the same arguments that they or their fathers used in opposing the Vietnam War.
Historical memory is tricky. Agenda-driven people who don't check their facts often selectively reconstruct their memories of historical events... (more)
Historical memory is tricky. Agenda-driven people who don't check their facts often selectively reconstruct their memories of historical events... (more)
October 16, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The late Speaker Sam Rayburn used to tell newly arrived congressmen that "around here, you've got to go along to get along."
It's not certain whether Congressman Curt Weldon, a Republican from Pennsylvania, was ever given that advice when he arrived here 20 years ago. But since then, he has not been following that script.
This writer has been in Washington for nearly 39 years. In that time- - and long before - - people have come here who don't "fall into line." They will demand answers to embarrassing questions of officials in high or responsible positions. Often they finally get the message and "behave themselves"... (more)
It's not certain whether Congressman Curt Weldon, a Republican from Pennsylvania, was ever given that advice when he arrived here 20 years ago. But since then, he has not been following that script.
This writer has been in Washington for nearly 39 years. In that time
October 11, 2006
JOSHUA HERRING, RA ANALYST "Somehow, despite contrary facts that are palpably clear in the historic record, [American and European leaders] have managed to convince themselves and the world that the most terrible wars of the 20th century occurred because nations didn't do enough talking to resolve their differences [when in] fact, they occurred because shortsighted, peace-minded leaders allow[ed] good intentions and wishful thinking to take the place of an accurate assessment of the identity and intentions of their adversaries"... (more)
October 9, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Here's what the denizens of the political class are doing right now:
Standing at the front door, they're saying, "Look here! See this new border security bill we just passed. You can see we're on the job protecting the borders night and day!"
At the same time, sneaking through the back door is a quiet but well-greased effort to build a monster highway that is part and parcel of a plan to wipe out the borders altogether... (more)
Standing at the front door, they're saying, "Look here! See this new border security bill we just passed. You can see we're on the job protecting the borders night and day!"
At the same time, sneaking through the back door is a quiet but well-greased effort to build a monster highway that is part and parcel of a plan to wipe out the borders altogether... (more)
October 2, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST On the morning of Wednesday, November 8th, don't be surprised if you wake up, turn on your radio or TV, and hear the voice of billionaire George Soros saying something akin to, "My America! I bought it, I paid for it, and I'm going to keep it!"
Not that Soros would use those exact words (a rather crude paraphrase of a vow Ronald Reagan once made about the U.S. keeping the Panama Canal when Jimmy Carter was giving it away). Soros is normally much too discreet and smart for that. But that's just the kind of giddy braggadocio that would symbolize the man's glee if the Democrats take over Congress in the mid-term elections... (more)
Not that Soros would use those exact words (a rather crude paraphrase of a vow Ronald Reagan once made about the U.S. keeping the Panama Canal when Jimmy Carter was giving it away). Soros is normally much too discreet and smart for that. But that's just the kind of giddy braggadocio that would symbolize the man's glee if the Democrats take over Congress in the mid-term elections... (more)
September 25, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Let's see if we have this straight. Bill Clinton was Commander-in-Chief for eight years, but in all that time he could not pick up the phone and order an attack on Osama bin Laden, even when we had him in our crosshairs.
Not only the military, but the FBI and the CIA did not want to follow through on President Bill Clinton's determination to kill bin Laden, or so the ex-president says... (more)
Not only the military, but the FBI and the CIA did not want to follow through on President Bill Clinton's determination to kill bin Laden, or so the ex-president says... (more)
September 21, 2006
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST The defeat of moderate Democrat Senator Joe Lieberman by Ned Lamont, a relatively unknown liberal, in the Connecticut primary election was a historic election upset. Lamont was an obscure dark horse candidate who waged a one-issue campaign, namely - - Lieberman's support of the Iraq war.
Lieberman is a popular three-term Senator who is highly visible nationally. He was the running mate of Al Gore in the presidential election of 2000, which ended in a photo finish. In contrast to Gore's wooden demeanor, social awkwardness, and condescending manner, Lieberman's gracious and winsome ways won national praise... (more)
Lieberman is a popular three-term Senator who is highly visible nationally. He was the running mate of Al Gore in the presidential election of 2000, which ended in a photo finish. In contrast to Gore's wooden demeanor, social awkwardness, and condescending manner, Lieberman's gracious and winsome ways won national praise... (more)
September 18, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Ooops, sorry! The taxpayers of America - - you and I - - have shelled out hard-earned money to pay for the Valerie Plame hoax. What did we get for our money?
Ooops, sorry! A White House in wartime has been under fire because of a non-scandal prompted by little more than cocktail party gossip about a desk-bound CIA bureaucrat. Karl Rove's reputation has been under assault. Scooter Libby is now forced to cough up Lord knows how much money in lawyers' fees. Reporters have been hauled before grand juries to detail who said what to whom... (more)
Ooops, sorry! A White House in wartime has been under fire because of a non-scandal prompted by little more than cocktail party gossip about a desk-bound CIA bureaucrat. Karl Rove's reputation has been under assault. Scooter Libby is now forced to cough up Lord knows how much money in lawyers' fees. Reporters have been hauled before grand juries to detail who said what to whom... (more)
September 10, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Five Democrat senators have sent a thinly veiled threat to Disney's ABC: Pull The Path to 9/11 or we will put you out of the broadcasting business.
The Orwellian "big brother" police state is advancing its attempted assault on the freedoms we in the United States of America take for granted. Five senators presume to set themselves up as a censorship politburo right here on the soil of the home of the brave and the land of the free. The offense? Showing media darling Bill Clinton not doing his job... (more)
The Orwellian "big brother" police state is advancing its attempted assault on the freedoms we in the United States of America take for granted. Five senators presume to set themselves up as a censorship politburo right here on the soil of the home of the brave and the land of the free. The offense? Showing media darling Bill Clinton not doing his job... (more)
September 8, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST A talkshow host for ABC's radio station in Washington says he may resign if the Disney-owned network cancels the planned programming of The Path to 911.
"They better not pull this. They better not," said WMAL host Chris Core, adding, "It would be very embarrassing to work here if they did."
Core- - a popular host on WMAL which also carries such national conservative talkers as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Mark Levin - - said that if ABC pulls the docudrama because of protests from former President Clinton and the entire Democratic Party establishment, "I would have to consider quitting my job" because caving to that pressure would impair ABC'c credibility... (more)
"They better not pull this. They better not," said WMAL host Chris Core, adding, "It would be very embarrassing to work here if they did."
Core
September 8, 2006
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST In 1921, Karel Capek wrote the play RUR (Rossum's Universal Robots), about machines that became intelligent and turned against their human masters. The 1984 Hollywood movie The Terminator was based upon the same theme. Intelligent machines, both malevolent and friendly, are standard fare in science fiction, of which Star Wars (1977) and the The Matrix (1999) are perfect examples.
Forebodings about what might happen if machines become intelligent and have a will of their own have haunted the Western psyche. Is there some kind of deep psychic disturbance or irrational dread that has produced these nightmares?... (more)
Forebodings about what might happen if machines become intelligent and have a will of their own have haunted the Western psyche. Is there some kind of deep psychic disturbance or irrational dread that has produced these nightmares?... (more)
September 4, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Next time you stop at the pump and pay through-the-stratosphere prices to fill your car's tank, just ponder this: We are not - - repeat, we are not running out of oil. There is no good reason you should be paying through the nose. There are only bad reasons for it.
If you are also angry about illegal aliens pouring over the border, you should know that illegal immigration is the price we are paying to keep to keep gas prices from going even higher, maybe two or three times higher. More on that later. First, let's knock down the "oil is scarce" myth... (more)
If you are also angry about illegal aliens pouring over the border, you should know that illegal immigration is the price we are paying to keep to keep gas prices from going even higher, maybe two or three times higher. More on that later. First, let's knock down the "oil is scarce" myth... (more)
August 28, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST You won't believe this. Or maybe you will if you run and hide when you hear, "Hi, we're from your government, and we're here to help you."
In this case, the chilling greeting comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), those wonderful folks who since 9/11 (under strict orders from the recently-resigned Secretary Norman Mineta) have been wanding little old ladies from Keokuk, Iowa, at America's airports- - all in the name of political correctness... (more)
In this case, the chilling greeting comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), those wonderful folks who since 9/11 (under strict orders from the recently-resigned Secretary Norman Mineta) have been wanding little old ladies from Keokuk, Iowa, at America's airports
August 23, 2006
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST The war by America, Britain, and Israel against Islamist terrorism is destined to be a long war in which all the depths of good and evil will be sounded. This essay concerns the question of whether or not Islamist terrorism is a "cosmic evil."
There is no doubt that World War II was a war against cosmic evil. Today's Islamist terrorists are clearly evil- - but are they a cosmic evil on the order of the Nazis?... (more)
There is no doubt that World War II was a war against cosmic evil. Today's Islamist terrorists are clearly evil
August 21, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Thomas Howard Kean, a Republican, is the last governor of New Jersey to leave office with his head held high.
His successors left legacies of either defeat (Florio-D); sowing over-the-top discord (Whitman-R); ethics questions (DiFrancesco-R); scandal (McGreevy-D); or failure to compete with big money (Codey-D). The jury is still out on current Governor Corzine (D), who is off to a rocky start... (more)
His successors left legacies of either defeat (Florio-D); sowing over-the-top discord (Whitman-R); ethics questions (DiFrancesco-R); scandal (McGreevy-D); or failure to compete with big money (Codey-D). The jury is still out on current Governor Corzine (D), who is off to a rocky start... (more)
August 14, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST "I don't know whether you guys know it yet, but this country's at war."
Those words in the new movie "World Trade Center" were uttered on 9/11 in a law enforcement setting among people who dutifully plunged straight into the face of "complete chaos and utter hell," as one of them described it.
"World Trade Center" is more than a powerful gripping real-life drama. What it shows is a microcosm of what Americans in every part of this nation- - not just in New York and Washington - - will surely endure if we lose this war on Islamofascism. We might have to endure it even before we win - - if we do... (more)
Those words in the new movie "World Trade Center" were uttered on 9/11 in a law enforcement setting among people who dutifully plunged straight into the face of "complete chaos and utter hell," as one of them described it.
"World Trade Center" is more than a powerful gripping real-life drama. What it shows is a microcosm of what Americans in every part of this nation
August 9, 2006
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST During part one of this essay, we took a tour of history, beginning with the birth of European civilization and finishing with the high watermark in Western culture (1100-1750). We discovered how Europe began with an excellent foundation for reason and how false ways of thinking and knowing began to creep into Western thought during the seventeenth century.
In part two, we will consider how several fatal myths of Modernism took hold during the period 1750-1800. After 1800, several new ersatz philosophies were added... (more)
In part two, we will consider how several fatal myths of Modernism took hold during the period 1750-1800. After 1800, several new ersatz philosophies were added... (more)
August 8, 2006
BARBARA KRALIS, RA ANALYST Pro-life people unambiguously value human life from its conception in the womb to its natural death, and therefore certainly want to protect the safety and well-being of those among us who are vulnerable to trafficking and slavery. An increasing number of faith-based groups are joining the battle.
Film makers and producers such as Peggy Callahan and sociologist and humanitarian Dr. Kevin Bales, both of "FreeTheSlaves.net"; Nina Smith, executive director of "RUGMARK.org"; and other non-governmental organizations have also joined the efforts of the U.S. State Department's commitment to eradicate trafficking... (more)
Film makers and producers such as Peggy Callahan and sociologist and humanitarian Dr. Kevin Bales, both of "FreeTheSlaves.net"; Nina Smith, executive director of "RUGMARK.org"; and other non-governmental organizations have also joined the efforts of the U.S. State Department's commitment to eradicate trafficking... (more)
August 7, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST As the one-time mayor of Chicago, Harold Washington, used to say, "Politics ain't beanbag." It's a contact sport.
We recently saw another example of that just before the Senate went home for the August recess. Despite those of you who responded to this column's RenewAmerica Alert and to the pleas of others, the Senate fell three votes short of the 60 votes needed to pass the bill combining a minimum wage hike with lowering the death tax... (more)
We recently saw another example of that just before the Senate went home for the August recess. Despite those of you who responded to this column's RenewAmerica Alert and to the pleas of others, the Senate fell three votes short of the 60 votes needed to pass the bill combining a minimum wage hike with lowering the death tax... (more)
August 7, 2006
BARBARA KRALIS, RA ANALYST Slavery is an issue that affects everyone, everywhere. Thankfully, there are many effective efforts that show promise of helping to end human slavery.
This 16-segment report is hopefully part of those efforts to help people better recognize what slavery is, and understand that it (along with the human trafficking that supports it) can be stopped.
Apathy is the worst enemy of progress against modern slavery. People of faith can make a difference and this is our hope. However, unless people of faith listen and understand this horrific reality, change will not come about... (more)
This 16-segment report is hopefully part of those efforts to help people better recognize what slavery is, and understand that it (along with the human trafficking that supports it) can be stopped.
Apathy is the worst enemy of progress against modern slavery. People of faith can make a difference and this is our hope. However, unless people of faith listen and understand this horrific reality, change will not come about... (more)
August 4, 2006
BARBARA KRALIS, RA ANALYST The Catholic Church has assumed a pastoral responsibility to promote the human dignity of persons exploited through trafficking and slavery and to advocate for their liberation and economic, educational, and formative support.
U.S. Ambassadors to the Holy See (formerly Jim Nicholson, and currently Francis Rooney, the sixth and seventh Ambassadors to the Holy See) have made their Embassy prioritize the trafficking in persons and developed important initiatives and training programs... (more)
U.S. Ambassadors to the Holy See (formerly Jim Nicholson, and currently Francis Rooney, the sixth and seventh Ambassadors to the Holy See) have made their Embassy prioritize the trafficking in persons and developed important initiatives and training programs... (more)
August 3, 2006
BARBARA KRALIS, RA ANALYST The United States is leading the global battle to fight human trafficking and the slavery usually attached to it. The U.S. government has declared such human trafficking one of the greatest threats to human dignity.
Condemning this scourge and remaining firmly committed to protecting victims who fall prey to traffickers, the U.S. government has invested over hundreds of millions of dollars on anti-trafficking efforts worldwide. In 2004 alone, the U.S. government spent $81.8 million abroad, to combat human trafficking internationally... (more)
Condemning this scourge and remaining firmly committed to protecting victims who fall prey to traffickers, the U.S. government has invested over hundreds of millions of dollars on anti-trafficking efforts worldwide. In 2004 alone, the U.S. government spent $81.8 million abroad, to combat human trafficking internationally... (more)
August 3, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST It's "the most brilliant strategy of the last century," according to one seasoned Capitol Hill watcher.
He was talking about the move by Senate Republicans to tie the minimum wage hike favored by Democrats with lowering the death tax- - a move long favored by Republicans.
Whether it is the most brilliant or simply one of the most brilliant, it is in fact totally brilliant, if you favor lowering the death tax- - and you can be a part of it by getting in touch with your senators and letting them know you want this legislation... (more)
He was talking about the move by Senate Republicans to tie the minimum wage hike favored by Democrats with lowering the death tax
Whether it is the most brilliant or simply one of the most brilliant, it is in fact totally brilliant, if you favor lowering the death tax
To make your wishes known, 
August 2, 2006
BARBARA KRALIS, RA ANALYST For the most part, criminal traffickers and slave lords are not recognizable thugs, but are usually known as "respectable" businessmen within their communities. Due to the clandestine nature of human trafficking and modern-day slavery, it is most difficult to identify and bring closure to a concealed trafficking ring.
In many countries, law enforcement agencies are corrupt and actually enable trafficking and slavery to operate and flourish. Because of fear for their lives and fear against corrupt police, victims are themselves unable to escape from their involuntary servitude without outside expert help... (more)
In many countries, law enforcement agencies are corrupt and actually enable trafficking and slavery to operate and flourish. Because of fear for their lives and fear against corrupt police, victims are themselves unable to escape from their involuntary servitude without outside expert help... (more)
August 2, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Senator Rick Santorum is coming under vicious attack for his insistence that we stop calling our current conflict a "war on terror."
"Terror" is the merely the method of our enemies, the senator said again on Fox News Tuesday in an interview with Neil Cavuto. "Terror" is not the enemy, per se.
As noted in this column last week, the Pennsylvania Republican warned in a major policy speech July 20 at the National Press Club that we must bring clarity to how we define this war... (more)
"Terror" is the merely the method of our enemies, the senator said again on Fox News Tuesday in an interview with Neil Cavuto. "Terror" is not the enemy, per se.
As noted in this column last week, the Pennsylvania Republican warned in a major policy speech July 20 at the National Press Club that we must bring clarity to how we define this war... (more)
August 1, 2006
BARBARA KRALIS, RA ANALYST You may think, "This cannot happen to anyone in my family...." However, human trafficking and slavery happens to children just like yours all over the world every day. We do not want to scare you, but we want you to be aware.
One such trafficking and slavery operation took place only 20 miles from this writer's home in North Central Texas. A so-called "Christian" non-profit organization based in Sherman, TX, exploited and imported orphaned Zambian boys under the guise of forming a world touring "Zambian A Cappella Boys Choir"... (more)
One such trafficking and slavery operation took place only 20 miles from this writer's home in North Central Texas. A so-called "Christian" non-profit organization based in Sherman, TX, exploited and imported orphaned Zambian boys under the guise of forming a world touring "Zambian A Cappella Boys Choir"... (more)
July 31, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Al-Jazeera, a television network with a history of granting an outlet for militant hate-America Islamofascism, is now spreading the word to Americans to "vote Democratic."
That is not taken out of context. It is an exact quote. It came in an editorial on the Al-Jazeera website. The occasion was an all-out vicious attack on Senator Rick Santorum for his speech July 20 at the National Press Club... (more)
That is not taken out of context. It is an exact quote. It came in an editorial on the Al-Jazeera website. The occasion was an all-out vicious attack on Senator Rick Santorum for his speech July 20 at the National Press Club... (more)
July 31, 2006
BARBARA KRALIS, RA ANALYST Human trafficking takes root in industries that already are known to have labor violations - - sub-poverty wages, no benefits, no labor relations, and illegal immigrants. Trafficking does not have its own common business model or principle, but will cleverly mimic lawful global industries and cultures.
Traffickers lure poverty-stricken females with false promises of high-paying jobs as house cleaners, housemaids, nannies, cooks, and models... (more)
Traffickers lure poverty-stricken females with false promises of high-paying jobs as house cleaners, housemaids, nannies, cooks, and models... (more)
July 28, 2006
BARBARA KRALIS, RA ANALYST Trafficking of humans for slavery is a trans-national criminal enterprise that typically is found in regions plagued by poverty, instability of government, and corruption of law enforcement. Crime lords and gangs lure vulnerable men, women, and children with promises of work and education to other lands, only to funnel huge profits into the coffers of organized criminals.
Human trafficking and slavery flourish in the form of sex slavery, domestic servitude, forced debt bondage, involuntary servitude, combatant slaves, child sex tourism, child sports slaves, contract slavery, and cheap child labor... (more)
Human trafficking and slavery flourish in the form of sex slavery, domestic servitude, forced debt bondage, involuntary servitude, combatant slaves, child sex tourism, child sports slaves, contract slavery, and cheap child labor... (more)
July 27, 2006
BARBARA KRALIS, RA ANALYST Thousands of children as young as two years of age from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sudan are trafficked each year into the Persian Gulf states' dangerous camel racing industry. Trained as camel jockeys, they are often sexually and physically abused, as well as deliberately starved to prevent weight gain. Living in camps encircled with barbed wire near racetracks, the children are dependent upon their cruel captors for survival. Many of the boys crushed by falling camels never receive medical treatment to their broken bodies... (more)
July 26, 2006
BARBARA KRALIS, RA ANALYST Involuntary servitude: This sordid form of servitude is experienced mainly by migrant low-skilled laborers trafficked into prosperous areas from poverty-stricken communities under the guise of paid labor. Victims find shortly after arrival that they cannot escape their working conditions without beatings and the threat of deportation or imprisonment. Experiencing physical and emotional abuse, they perceive themselves to be slaves or captives, as they often are... (more)
July 25, 2006
BARBARA KRALIS, RA ANALYST Wars produce slaves used by the triumphant forces, who often sexually abuse women and children taken from ravished war-torn villages. The U.S. State Department reports that adult and child males in defeated villages may be turned into forced laborers or soldiers, even pushed to commit atrocities against their own families and communities. Their communities often reject returning child soldiers.
Child soldiers are a global phenomenon- - but the problem is especially critical in Africa, Asia, Middle East, and Eurasia. It's estimated that more than 300,000 children under 18 are exploited today in 30 armed conflicts worldwide, some as young as 7 years of age... (more)
Child soldiers are a global phenomenon
July 24, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Both houses of Congress need to set up committees or subcommittees to investigate treason that threatens the United States.
The internal threat
Nearly five years after 9/11, there is no known ongoing investigation in Congress that hauls traitors in our midst and their accomplices before a committee to affirm or deny that they are aiding and abetting the cause of Islamic Fascism... (more)
The internal threat
Nearly five years after 9/11, there is no known ongoing investigation in Congress that hauls traitors in our midst and their accomplices before a committee to affirm or deny that they are aiding and abetting the cause of Islamic Fascism... (more)
July 24, 2006
BARBARA KRALIS, RA ANALYST Human slavery exists as domestic servitude in thousands of households throughout the world. In most cases, domestic servitude among women and children also includes violence and rape, and takes place in wealthier countries of the Persian Gulf, Asia, France, and the United States. Islam encourages men to marry needy women. A Muslim man can have four wives at a time, and some are treated as slaves or sex objects.
According to Dr. Kevin Bales of FreeTheSlaves.net, the monitoring of working conditions of domestic laborers is difficult because the work takes place hidden in private homes... (more)
According to Dr. Kevin Bales of FreeTheSlaves.net, the monitoring of working conditions of domestic laborers is difficult because the work takes place hidden in private homes... (more)
July 22, 2006
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST Every civilization has a theory about what man knows and how he knows it. The theory of a particular civilization will influence every area of human thought and action. Such fields as science, politics, economics, sociology, psychology, education, religion, and popular morality will be directly a effected. Fields like art, music, poetry, and literature will be deeply, although indirectly, influenced, as well.
Theories about how man knows are found in a branch of metaphysics that philosophers call epistemology. Epistemology is a Greek compound word meaning the study of knowledge... (more)
Theories about how man knows are found in a branch of metaphysics that philosophers call epistemology. Epistemology is a Greek compound word meaning the study of knowledge... (more)
July 21, 2006
BARBARA KRALIS, RA ANALYST Child Sex Tourism [CST] entails tourists, mostly men, engaged in sex trafficking by purposely traveling to known sex destinations, seeking anonymity in pornography or prostitution, or engaging in pederasty with young children and homosexuality with young and older adults.
These sexual offenders come from all different cultures and socio-economic levels, many holding positions of government and religious leadership, faithfulness, and trust... (more)
These sexual offenders come from all different cultures and socio-economic levels, many holding positions of government and religious leadership, faithfulness, and trust... (more)
July 20, 2006
BARBARA KRALIS, RA ANALYST Despite centuries of struggle, slavery has not been eradicated from our world. Slavery is readily found on the farms of India, the heritable debt-bondage brick making kilns of Pakistan, and the cocoa plantations of Cote d'Ivoire.
Slavery thrives in the rug loom sheds of Nepal; the sex-slavery brothels of Manila, Thailand, Japan and the U.S.; the water-carrier chattel in Mauritania; the charcoal-making camps of Brazil; child prostitution in Ecuador; and child camel-jockey riding for the wealthy Sheikhs in United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar... (more)
Slavery thrives in the rug loom sheds of Nepal; the sex-slavery brothels of Manila, Thailand, Japan and the U.S.; the water-carrier chattel in Mauritania; the charcoal-making camps of Brazil; child prostitution in Ecuador; and child camel-jockey riding for the wealthy Sheikhs in United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar... (more)
July 19, 2006
BARBARA KRALIS, RA ANALYST "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." - -13th Amendment to the Constitution that freed all slaves on December 6, 1865
Many believe slavery ended here in our nation with the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment of the United States. Not only is this not true, but at a minimum guesstimate, there are 17,500 new people trafficked into the U.S. each year, not counting those Americans already here who are forced into slavery... (more)
Many believe slavery ended here in our nation with the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment of the United States. Not only is this not true, but at a minimum guesstimate, there are 17,500 new people trafficked into the U.S. each year, not counting those Americans already here who are forced into slavery... (more)
July 18, 2006
BARBARA KRALIS, RA ANALYST "Slave labor [in the Soviet Union] made no demands, could be transferred anywhere at any moment, was free of family ties, had no need for housing, schools or hospitals, and sometimes not even for kitchens or lavatories. The state could obtain such manpower only by swallowing up its sons." -- Alexander Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago
Nobel Prize winner Alexander Solzhenitsyn in "The Gulag Archipelago" writes of the slave-labor system, a dominant factor in the Soviet economy under Lenin and Stalin. Once a prisoner himself, he revealed that between 1918 and 1959, 66 million men, women, and children were trafficked to slave labor 'islands' or concentration camps within Russia... (more)
Nobel Prize winner Alexander Solzhenitsyn in "The Gulag Archipelago" writes of the slave-labor system, a dominant factor in the Soviet economy under Lenin and Stalin. Once a prisoner himself, he revealed that between 1918 and 1959, 66 million men, women, and children were trafficked to slave labor 'islands' or concentration camps within Russia... (more)
July 17, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Like the clown-faced jesters that dance out onto the front of the stage during a classic Shakespeare performance, as if to say, "Don't forget us! We're here!", an unemployed ambassador and his wife filed suit Thursday against Vice President Cheney, Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, and unnamed others, blaming them for the fact that the clown-faced jesters are all washed up.
Joseph Wilson, let us recall, was categorized by the Senate Intelligence Committee as one who had not told the truth- - translated by the Wall Street Journal as one who had proven himself to be "a liar"... (more)
Joseph Wilson, let us recall, was categorized by the Senate Intelligence Committee as one who had not told the truth
July 11, 2006
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST According to reports posted on the internet by several major news services on 6/13/06, 40,000 women were expected to be brought to Germany to sexually service the fans at the World Cup football (soccer) games (June 9 - July 9, 2006). As you read this essay, the transformation of the World Cup into a sexual Valhalla has most likely already happened, with very little coverage by the mainstream media.
One news analysis on June 13 included the estimate that among the 40,000 woman coming to Germany, 15,000 were to be sex slaves from Eastern Europe brought to Germany against their will... (more)
One news analysis on June 13 included the estimate that among the 40,000 woman coming to Germany, 15,000 were to be sex slaves from Eastern Europe brought to Germany against their will... (more)
July 10, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST "Six scuds and a dud" is the way Fox News anchorman Brit Hume describes the North Korean missile tests.
That is true, but it should serve as a wake-up call on two fronts- - apply tough diplomacy, and implement missile preparedness.
Twenty years ago, President Ronald Reagan tried to start up a full-scale missile defense system to protect America from missiles aimed at our cities. The Gipper was ridiculed in those days... (more)
That is true, but it should serve as a wake-up call on two fronts
Twenty years ago, President Ronald Reagan tried to start up a full-scale missile defense system to protect America from missiles aimed at our cities. The Gipper was ridiculed in those days... (more)
July 8, 2006
JOSHUA HERRING, RA ANALYST A scant three months before taking office, upon the death of President Warren G. Harding, Vice President Calvin Coolidge delivered an address on Memorial Day 1923, in which he had this to say:
"There are two fundamental motives which inspire human action. The first and most important, to which all else is subordinate, is that of righteousness. There is that in mankind, stronger than all else, which requires them to do right. When the requirement is satisfied, the next motive is that of gain... (more)
"There are two fundamental motives which inspire human action. The first and most important, to which all else is subordinate, is that of righteousness. There is that in mankind, stronger than all else, which requires them to do right. When the requirement is satisfied, the next motive is that of gain... (more)
July 4, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Much of the mainstream media has a simple formula for dealing with an author's arguments it can't answer: Ignore them.
Or better yet- - focus on a controversial statement made elsewhere in the book and make that the whole discussion to the exclusion of everything else in the same book.
The latter is exactly what happened in media treatment of Ann Coulter's Number 1 New York Times bestseller, Godless... (more)
Or better yet
The latter is exactly what happened in media treatment of Ann Coulter's Number 1 New York Times bestseller, Godless... (more)
June 30, 2006
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST American Muslims tell us that Islam is a religion of peace. Jihadist leaders abroad describe Islam as a religion of war against infidels. Who is correct? Both are correct.
If both are correct, does this mean that there are two Muhammads and two Qurans? Yes, in the sense that Muhammad was like two different persons at two different times and the Quran is like two contradictory books pasted together... (more)
If both are correct, does this mean that there are two Muhammads and two Qurans? Yes, in the sense that Muhammad was like two different persons at two different times and the Quran is like two contradictory books pasted together... (more)
June 12, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Trying to make a dispassionate assessment of Louis Freeh's stormy tenure as FBI director is not something for those who lack an appreciation for varying shades of gray. Quite honestly, that is this writer's take on his memoirs, My FBI: Bringing Down the Mafia, Investigating Bill Clinton, and Fighting the War on Terror.
If you have any integrity and you're the nation's top G-man, what do you do when you find out you're going to have to investigate the man who appointed you? Almost from the day he became FBI Director, Louis Freeh had to do just that... (more)
If you have any integrity and you're the nation's top G-man, what do you do when you find out you're going to have to investigate the man who appointed you? Almost from the day he became FBI Director, Louis Freeh had to do just that... (more)
June 5, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST As Congress returns this week, two very dangerous threats to this nation are on the table. Taken together, they facilitate a pattern: an attempt - - however uncoordinated - - to dismantle and bring down the United States. The Senate amnesty illegal immigration bill and the Native Hawaiian bill, if passed, could lead to the undoing of the U.S.
Illegal immigration has been well-publicized. What is not as well known is a campaign- - encouraged by the government of Mexico - - to carve out a racist nation in the western United States... (more)
Illegal immigration has been well-publicized. What is not as well known is a campaign
June 1, 2006
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST In my prior essay, I described seven historical waves of bad ideas for education that are responsible for the American educational crisis. In this essay, I will outline seven historical waves of good ideas that are a gold mine for digging up tried and true ways to revive education.
The seven best waves of educational ideas in the Western tradition are the following: (1) Alcuin of York and the Seven Liberal Arts (800 A.D.), (2) From Anselm to Aquinas: the Medieval university and the search for truth (1100-1400)... (more)
The seven best waves of educational ideas in the Western tradition are the following: (1) Alcuin of York and the Seven Liberal Arts (800 A.D.), (2) From Anselm to Aquinas: the Medieval university and the search for truth (1100-1400)... (more)
May 29, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Read my lips: Citizenship in this country is not a "civil right." It is a privilege. When 10 to 12 to 20 million illegals cross our borders and take to the streets waving the Mexican flag demanding the "right" to stay, that is not a "civil rights" movement. It is an invasion.
This column explores absolute proof of that. We also assess the damage done by the Senate and what you can do about it, and why we can learn something about immigration policy (ironically) from Mexico itself... (more)
This column explores absolute proof of that. We also assess the damage done by the Senate and what you can do about it, and why we can learn something about immigration policy (ironically) from Mexico itself... (more)
May 22, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Let's cut right to the quick. Porter Goss was sent to the CIA to clean up the mess there. As an old Washington hand, Goss had to know that, more often than not, when someone in Washington tells you to clean house, it means you're there to solve the politics of the problem, but not the problem.
Goss had to know that, but he went anyway. As a onetime CIA case officer, he saw it as his patriotic duty to give up a safe seat in Congress and straighten out a CIA bureaucracy that had lurched from incompetence to insubordination. For taking his mission seriously, he has been canned... (more)
Goss had to know that, but he went anyway. As a onetime CIA case officer, he saw it as his patriotic duty to give up a safe seat in Congress and straighten out a CIA bureaucracy that had lurched from incompetence to insubordination. For taking his mission seriously, he has been canned... (more)
May 17, 2006
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST The crisis in public education is well known. High dropout rates, low test scores, deficits in reading, math, and history, and inarticulate young people who do not read books are so frequently reported in the news that we have almost come to expect bad news about education. Why are these chronic problems so difficult to fix?
Answer: the stubborn adherence by the public education establishment to ideas about education that do not work. Today's post-Christian culture has produced false world views that have spun out false ideas about human nature, and about learning and knowledge. As a result, bad educational models built upon these broken foundations now permeate our tax-supported education system... (more)
Answer: the stubborn adherence by the public education establishment to ideas about education that do not work. Today's post-Christian culture has produced false world views that have spun out false ideas about human nature, and about learning and knowledge. As a result, bad educational models built upon these broken foundations now permeate our tax-supported education system... (more)
May 3, 2006
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown, and the second century Gospel of Judas are two books in the news that promote the heresy of Gnosticism.
Gnosticism is the topic of a nineteen-hundred-year-old theological controversy, but it is also relevant to contemporary politics and the culture war. The upcoming Hollywood movie The Da Vinci Code, based upon the book, will hit the theaters during election season. Can Gnostic attitudes influence elections? Yes... (more)
Gnosticism is the topic of a nineteen-hundred-year-old theological controversy, but it is also relevant to contemporary politics and the culture war. The upcoming Hollywood movie The Da Vinci Code, based upon the book, will hit the theaters during election season. Can Gnostic attitudes influence elections? Yes... (more)
May 1, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST "I love you! I love you more than anything!" Those terrified last words into a cell-phone to a loved one from a woman passenger on the doomed United Flight 93 the morning of September 11 was a pivotal moment. In the darkness of the theatre, that's when I "lost it."
If asked to pinpoint the highlight of the movie "United 93," one struggles with where to begin... (more)
If asked to pinpoint the highlight of the movie "United 93," one struggles with where to begin... (more)
April 24, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Both parties on Capitol Hill are on record: They are against free speech - - for you and me. Don't misunderstand. They are lions at the gate to block anyone challenging their own right to speak out. They just won't sanction free speech for their critics.
Ultimately, they fail to realize, free speech either applies to everybody or it applies to nobody... (more)
Ultimately, they fail to realize, free speech either applies to everybody or it applies to nobody... (more)
April 17, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The Republicans in Congress need help.
With only a little more than six months before the mid-term elections, there is growing concern the GOP may lose its majority on Capitol Hill. Among the reasons most frequently cited are President Bush's political problems and the traditional slump in the middle of an incumbent president's second term.
But in truth, the problems run much deeper. What congressional Republicans need is a series of victories on substantive issues that energize the party's conservative base... (more)
With only a little more than six months before the mid-term elections, there is growing concern the GOP may lose its majority on Capitol Hill. Among the reasons most frequently cited are President Bush's political problems and the traditional slump in the middle of an incumbent president's second term.
But in truth, the problems run much deeper. What congressional Republicans need is a series of victories on substantive issues that energize the party's conservative base... (more)
April 14, 2006
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST In an earlier essay, I called for a national conversation on illegal aliens. Thankfully, we are finally having that conversation and debate in the Congress, the press, and other public forums.
One question that is being asked is whether heavy illegal immigration from Mexico and Latin America is good for America. This is a complex question and it is being considered from the aspect of politics, economics, security, and compassion. Oddly, the effect of illegal aliens on American culture has been somewhat neglected... (more)
One question that is being asked is whether heavy illegal immigration from Mexico and Latin America is good for America. This is a complex question and it is being considered from the aspect of politics, economics, security, and compassion. Oddly, the effect of illegal aliens on American culture has been somewhat neglected... (more)
April 10, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Oooooooooooooh! Stop speaking the plain English language. Calling a spade a spade is so mean!
Once again, George Orwell's prophesy has reared its ugly head.
Three U.S. journalism groups want their fellow scribes to stop using terms "illegal immigrant," or simply "illegal" [often used as a shorthand noun], and "alien" when covering the immigration issue. It's "dehumanizing," you see. That applies especially to "illegal alien." The proper term is "undocumented people"... (more)
Once again, George Orwell's prophesy has reared its ugly head.
Three U.S. journalism groups want their fellow scribes to stop using terms "illegal immigrant," or simply "illegal" [often used as a shorthand noun], and "alien" when covering the immigration issue. It's "dehumanizing," you see. That applies especially to "illegal alien." The proper term is "undocumented people"... (more)
April 2, 2006
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST The culture war is in part a fight against evil. This essay will focus upon the nature of evil, how we should confront evil, and the agendas and tactics of evil we may encounter in the culture war.
The mystery of evil
There are some things in the infernal realm and in the dark recesses of human hearts that are unknown to us. Theologians refer to this as "the mystery of evil." Diabolical evil and resplendent holiness are supernatural and therefore are mysteries to the human mind... (more)
The mystery of evil
There are some things in the infernal realm and in the dark recesses of human hearts that are unknown to us. Theologians refer to this as "the mystery of evil." Diabolical evil and resplendent holiness are supernatural and therefore are mysteries to the human mind... (more)
March 28, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Picture a naive, clueless, out-to-lunch person paying someone for the privilege of digging his own grave. That is not half as ridiculous as what the U.S. is about to do in a dealing with Communist China. (Yes, Communist China - - or Red China. That terminology is not fashionable these days. After all, think of all those cheap "Made in China" goods at your local mall.)
Here's what is happening, according to a source I find trustworthy. And compared to this farce, the now-cancelled Dubai ports deal was small-time stuff... (more)
Here's what is happening, according to a source I find trustworthy. And compared to this farce, the now-cancelled Dubai ports deal was small-time stuff... (more)
March 27, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST Enjoy this website while you can. The enemies of free speech - - ever ready to shut up anyone with whom they disagree - - are out to terminate free-swinging commentary encouraged by this and other web pages. The Federal Election Commission has been grappling with the issue as to whether and how free political speech on the Internet should be "regulated [read muzzled]."
The issue goes back to the anti-free speech McCain-Feingold campaign alleged "reform" law that passed in 2002... (more)
The issue goes back to the anti-free speech McCain-Feingold campaign alleged "reform" law that passed in 2002... (more)
March 18, 2006
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST Theology has more influence on world views and on political ideologies than most people can guess.
One particular field of theology has a disproportionate influence on the attitudes of both liberals and conservatives regarding the culture war and questions of church and state. This controversial- -and speculative- -field is called "eschatology"... (more)
One particular field of theology has a disproportionate influence on the attitudes of both liberals and conservatives regarding the culture war and questions of church and state. This controversial
March 13, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST They buried Jack Anderson not long ago. Parkinson's disease caught up with him as, of course, he knew it would. A close relative of mine died of the same affliction, and he knew it could not be cured, only controlled over a painfully long period of time.
Jack's family is deserving of condolences and sympathy for this loss.
What is Jack Anderson's legacy for journalism? That is something for an in-depth biographer, and not something to be explored in this single column. A few personal observations will suffice here... (more)
Jack's family is deserving of condolences and sympathy for this loss.
What is Jack Anderson's legacy for journalism? That is something for an in-depth biographer, and not something to be explored in this single column. A few personal observations will suffice here... (more)
March 3, 2006
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST Last fall, I had extended e-mail debates with two credentialed scientists. One was a defender of Einstein, and the other a defender of the global warming theory. Both scientists contacted me after I published critiques of the science models that they support. They both initiated an e-mail discussion in order to set me straight. Not being a professional scientist, I was willing to be set straight, provided that the scientists were logically convincing and demonstrated good faith.
As I summarize these debates for our readers, there will be moments that will be embarrassing for the two scientists, if they condescend to read this review... (more)
As I summarize these debates for our readers, there will be moments that will be embarrassing for the two scientists, if they condescend to read this review... (more)
February 20, 2006
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The free world may soon learn it has just been bamboozled by one of the most clever and well-organized propaganda campaigns in the history of this planet. No WMDs in Iraq? That is not the case, according to eyewitnesses and expert intelligence analysts.
Yes, Saddam Hussein did have weapons of mass destruction. Yes, he intended to use them.
Most Americans don't know that, because the public has been spoon-fed the line that multiple intelligence reports around the world got it all wrong, and that there "never were" weapons of mass destruction... (more)
Yes, Saddam Hussein did have weapons of mass destruction. Yes, he intended to use them.
Most Americans don't know that, because the public has been spoon-fed the line that multiple intelligence reports around the world got it all wrong, and that there "never were" weapons of mass destruction... (more)
February 15, 2006
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST The world view of political liberalism suffers from an inner contradiction that must in time prove fatal. The historic liberal world view is now in danger of splitting in two- -like an unstable schizophrenia that has lost touch with the real world and can no longer reconcile the conflicting parts of its inner fantasy world.
To hold the two contradictory sides of their world view together, political liberals are turning to passionate advocacy of hot-button issues... (more)
To hold the two contradictory sides of their world view together, political liberals are turning to passionate advocacy of hot-button issues... (more)
January 29, 2006
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST During the hearings in the Senate Judiciary committee, Judge Samuel Alito exhibited a quality called "professional skepticism." He is perhaps the most perfect example of this quality who has come before the public eye in recent years, and those who teach professional skepticism could use him as a model... (more)
January 19, 2006
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST The cultural war debate often centers on life and death issues such as abortion and euthanasia, and the question of whether we are living in a culture of life or a culture of death. However, we seldom talk about whether our aesthetic culture of art, music, poetry, and literature is life-enhancing or life-debilitating... (more)
January 14, 2006
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST All the Senate Democrats on the Judiciary Committee have taken an adversarial position against Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito from the outset of Judge Alito's confirmation hearings. The following "scorecard" will award debate points to Alito or to the Democrats for each issue. A clear win on an issue will win two points. A significant legal point, debaters point, or rhetorical point without a win will get one point... (more)
January 4, 2006
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST The traditional definition of the sociopath is one who is "morally insane." When a culture becomes morally insane, it descends into barbarism, and the civilization moves towards collapse. The sudden collapse of the Soviet Empire is an example of how a system can eventually fall apart after the culture sinks into depravity... (more)
December 21, 2005
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST Memorials to Christmas have been removed from the public square in many places, due to legal threats from the ACLU and the timidity of politically-correct leaders. Many mainstream retailers no longer say "Merry Christmas," but substitute a bland "happy holidays" or "seasons greetings"... (more)
December 12, 2005
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST American troops won every battle in the Vietnam War, but lost the propaganda battle waged on the streets, in the media, and in Congress. A democracy must win the battle for people's minds, or it cannot win a war. Fortunately, the propaganda defeat that denied victory in Vietnam does not have to be repeated for the Iraq war, because the political and ideological environment is different today... (more)
November 29, 2005
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST When President Bush nominated Harriet Miers, a mediocre crony, for the Supreme Court, it was a prototypical example of how Multiculturalism has a deadening effect on quality. Miers is a woman and an Evangelical, the image bearer of two groups in the identity politics smorgasbord... (more)
November 19, 2005
JOSHUA HERRING, RA ANALYST On Nov. 3, Allie Martin and Jody Brown of Agape Press wrote the following, concerning a Nov. 2 decision by the Ninth "Circus" Court of Appeals that limited parental rights... (more)
November 13, 2005
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST The rioting and arson in Paris reminds me of the book Is Paris Burning? by Larry Collins and Dominique La Pierre, and the 1966 Hollywood movie of the same name. During August 1944, the Germans were preparing to evacuate Paris because the Allied troops were approaching the city... (more)
November 6, 2005
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST In my last issue analysis titled The Revolt against Reason, I wrote, "It is up to the conservative movement and doctrinally-orthodox Christianity to rescue the floundering cause of reason." It is indeed remarkable how Christians of many denominations have stepped into the fight against postmodern irrationality... (more)
November 2, 2005
JOSHUA HERRING, RA ANALYST There has been an increasing tendency in certain American political circles to emphasize the importance of social programs at the expense of traditional moral standards that have proven their value over time... (more)
October 29, 2005
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST The culture war is part of a collision of two world views. Can the disagreements between these world views be settled through rational discussion? This can only happen if both sides are amenable to reason. If one side withdraws from the interaction of ideas and throws up defenses against reason, the possibility of authentic conversation is negated... (more)
October 20, 2005
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST The strange nomination of Harriet Miers is one of the most astonishing political events in years. The more one learns about Harriet, the more peculiar and troubling is her nomination. This conundrum requires careful analysis. Something has gone wrong in the administration and perhaps in the Republican Party. These are deep waters... (more)
October 14, 2005
CURTIS DAHLGREN, RA ANALYST "The idea was to create an impression that a mass movement was afoot that everywhere Congress looked, . . . everywhere, people were talking about [campaign finance] reform." Wayne LaPierre, NRA Executive VP, on "McCain-Feingold"... (more)
October 13, 2005
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST President Bush had a historic opportunity to fill two seats on the Supreme Court and shift the legal philosophy of the court away from liberal activism. The opportunity came after Senate moderates made an agreement making it harder for Democrats to filibuster a nominee... (more)
October 6, 2005
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST Those who believe that man has an innate nature and design generally oppose abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, stem-cell research, and cloning, because these things are contrary to nature and the value of life... (more)
September 30, 2005
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST The culture war is deadlocked. Conflicts between contradictory world views generally produce clear winners and losers, instead of going into extended deadlock. In contrast, family quarrels within a world view tend to go on indefinitely... (more)
September 21, 2005
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST Judge John Roberts was too clever a poker player to show his hand in the Senate hearings. In order to be confirmed, he concealed some of his cards so as not to enrage the liberal Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, lest they filibuster his nomination... (more)
September 21, 2005
CURTIS DAHLGREN, RA ANALYST "The longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: 'that God governs in the affairs of men.'" - -Benjamin Franklin
"May we think of freedom, not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right."- -Peter Marshall, Jr.... (more)
"May we think of freedom, not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right."
September 15, 2005
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST The California legislature voted to legalize gay marriage on Sept. 6. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger pledged to veto the bill because it contradicted Proposition 22, a referendum passed by California voters that marriage shall be defined as a union between a man and a woman... (more)
September 14, 2005
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST If President Bush said what he meant and meant what he said during the campaign about the kind of judges he will appoint to the U.S. Supreme Court, he can make no better choice for the second High Court vacancy of his presidency than to nominate Judge Edith Hollan Jones of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
This family-oriented woman has shown her qualifications by her incisive mind, her judicial philosophy, her professional background as a lawyer and a judge, her patriotism, her sense of values, and her experience as a wife and mother... (more)
This family-oriented woman has shown her qualifications by her incisive mind, her judicial philosophy, her professional background as a lawyer and a judge, her patriotism, her sense of values, and her experience as a wife and mother... (more)
September 7, 2005
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST Some folks might be surprised that a hurricane can be relevant to the culture war... (more)
September 5, 2005
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST The Political Correct police have tried every which way to divide this country by gender, race, ethnicity, sexual preference, religion, and background.
They forbid us to use such designations as "chairman," and insist the presiding officer at a given meeting is a "chair," even as that "neutral" word more commonly describes an inanimate object. In personal relationships, "wife," "husband," "fiancι," (or even "boyfriend" or girlfriend") have given way to the less specific "significant other"... (more)
See also:
They forbid us to use such designations as "chairman," and insist the presiding officer at a given meeting is a "chair," even as that "neutral" word more commonly describes an inanimate object. In personal relationships, "wife," "husband," "fiancι," (or even "boyfriend" or girlfriend") have given way to the less specific "significant other"... (more)
See also:
August 27, 2005
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST I am writing a book about Western culture, and I also write essays about the culture war... (more)
August 18, 2005
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST President Bush said that public schools should expose students to both evolution and intelligent design science and discuss the scientific controversies as the two models clash... (more)
August 9, 2005
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST I spent a week in Oxford University in England, an ancient college town that is filled with architectural monuments to the founding and developing of a high intellectual culture... (more)
July 16, 2005
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST Seven of the nine justices of the Supreme Court were nominated by Republican presidents... (more)
July 6, 2005
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST The Supreme Court issued a split decision Monday, June 26, concerning state government displays of the Ten Commandments... (more)
June 23, 2005
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST America has a de facto policy of open borders and virtually unlimited immigration along the southern border with Mexico... (more)
June 14, 2005
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST The aggressive filibustering of judicial nominees by Senate Democrats finally provoked Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to threaten to use the "nuclear option," code words for changing Senate rules to make it easier to stop a filibuster. Senator Frist and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid haggled to find a compromise with no success... (more)
June 1, 2005
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST The issue of patriotism has become unusually contentious in American politics. To gain perspective of our present partisan quarrels over patriotism, an examination of patriotism in history is helpful... (more)
May 20, 2005
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST The policy of Senate Democrats to filibuster conservative nominees for the Supreme Court- -coupled with Republicans' threat to change Senate rules to curtail filibustering- -is shaping up as a classic collision of American politics... (more)
May 6, 2005
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST Mayor David Dermer of Miami Beach is promoting a law that would prohibit sexual predators from living 2,500 feet from a park or a school. At first, this plan sounds like a great idea, but on closer inspection it is problematical... (more)
April 27, 2005
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST One of the most contentious issues during the election of 2004 was the war in Iraq. The question of whether it was right to go to war, whether it was done in the right way, and whether the outcome was likely to be favorable was fiercely debated... (more)
April 12, 2005
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST By coincidence, both Terri Schiavo and Pope John Paul II, the great advocate of the value of life, had feeding tubes inserted by doctors. Both Terri and the pope evidenced the desire to live: Terri did so by her sunny attitudes, and the pope did so by his writings about the sanctity of life... (more)
April 1, 2005
CURTIS DAHLGREN, RA ANALYST "If someone is one step ahead of everyone else, he's a leader. If someone is two steps ahead of everyone else, he's a 'crackpot.'" Michael Savage... (more)
March 25, 2005
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST The state and federal judges who have reviewed Terri Schiavo's case are influenced by the medical diagnosis made by a few doctors that Terri is in a "persistent vegetative state" (PVS)... (more)
March 19, 2005
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST When a controversial issue in science is politicized and seems to become a fad, does an ordinary person have the tools to judge whether it is likely to be good science, or junk science carried along by scare headlines and politically-correct institutional group think?... (more)
March 12, 2005
CAREY ROBERTS, RA ANALYST In 1998, Gro Harlem Brundtland was named as the first female director-general of the World Health Organization. Many hailed her appointment as a long-overdue opportunity to introduce a new ethic of female compassion at the highest levels of the United Nations... (more)
March 11, 2005
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST According to a CNN/USA Today poll, 76% of those questioned said they support the display of the Ten Commandments at the Texas Capital. The Supreme Court will review the Texas case and a similar case involving two Kentucky county court houses. The high court seems to be split down the middle. The federal appeals courts are in disagreement with one another on this issue... (more)
March 10, 2005
CURTIS DAHLGREN, RA ANALYST "Sometimes you don't know if you're Caesar about to cross the Rubicon or Captain Queeg cutting your own tow line." Justice Anthony Kennedy (1992)... (more)
March 8, 2005
TRUDY W. SCHUETT, RA ANALYST On this International Women's Day, it is time to consider the roots of the women's movement of the 1960s... (more)
