November 15, 2020

'Preyed' or the 'preyed upon' — which are we?

I find it interesting that past president Barack Obama focused on our current president's resistance to apparent corruption of the vote as "one more step in delegitimizing, not just the incoming Biden administration, but democracy generally...

November 5, 2020

The ongoing election madness

The central thing used to be winning votes.  Now it is winning power — two very different things. The first is predicated on the idea that ours is to be a government "of, by and for the people."  Today, the ...

September 29, 2020

Dealing with the hate that is everywhere

"Hate" is today everywhere.  The word is there in scare quotes because I am referring to the word as it's commonly bruited around in the media or in the speeches of Harry and Meghan.  That's the supposed sister t...

September 19, 2020

'Wake-up time': Voters are waking up to the stakes in the presidential election

Polls show a fast-growing voter trend away from Joe Biden and toward President Trump's re-election. The "why" of this is simple — and predicted by many knowing people. Basically, it is that we have reached "wake-up...

September 8, 2020

Is Facebook buying conservatives' silence?

Here's a post that appeared on my Facebook timeline this past Friday morning. (The colored highlights are my own.) Is it truly just an innocent offer to take part in a political survey?  Is it something I was chosen for because ...

August 4, 2020

'There really are two Americas!'

Has this struck you, too? That there truly is coming to be two Americas. One, based on the old national ethics of work, responsibility, and reward, and another that is based on none of those things.  And that each of these two America...

July 31, 2020

Donald Trump's clarity

President Trump, when he was first running for the presidency, spoke with a clarity that was totally un-nuanced.  As guys I knew at the local auto service shop spoke to (and about) one another. Frankly, I was put off by it.  My...

July 28, 2020

Assessing COVID, 'from both sides of my mouth'

A friend recently commented to me that concerning COVID-19, I sometimes seem to be 'talking out of both sides of my mouth.' That one minute I was seemingly finding fault with government-imposed restrictions and the other calling for personal ...

April 6, 2020

This, too, shall pass

What we are facing today has been likened to a "war," and is such in various ways. There is a nefarious 'enemy' looking to kill and maim. There are uniformed armies going into battle. New recruits are being called up to this army an...

April 3, 2020

The killer, the destroyer, that makes us again one

It once seemed that every generation was somehow fated to have its lives, hopes, and dreams turned upside-down with a world catastrophe.  Diseases, wars, financial collapses. Just within reach of my own memory were the Great Depression a...

March 30, 2020

Explaining why television has become so repulsive

I'm not a TV-watcher, but I have long made an exception for British TV.  The BBC's stuff largely, but not entirely. Even that, though, has of late been changing.  Shows that were once dramatic are today quite often some...

March 17, 2020

Epidemics and mass panics, then and now

A friend living in Italy asked me, "Has your opinion of the seriousness of Covid-19 changed with events or are you still convinced it has been exaggerated?"  It was a good and fair question.  Here was my response: ...

February 3, 2020

Film and the new sexism

Not too long ago, I saw one of the newer Star Wars films.  (No, don't ask me which one.  I'm not into them enough to remember its name.)  Watching it, I could not help but notice that the male characters were all...

February 1, 2020

Finding meaning in Brexit

As of this past night, mid-night, Belgian time, the U.K. will again be free. Not free of the problems common to all of mankind, but free from spirit-crushing European Union–style false democratic style of conformity. To celebrate the abov...

January 16, 2020

In California, it's better to be a thief

In California, thieving is officially okay. No, no, they won't say it is.  But it is, nonetheless.  For if what a person steals is worth less than nine hundred and fifty bucks, it goes pretty much unpunished.  May...

December 2, 2019

Happy and hopeful, sad and depressed — who and what we are depends on us

Yesterday I forced myself to read a piece about the declining health — both physical and mental — said to be seen among the American people.  Drug addiction is said to be rampant, suicide increasingly common (especiall...

November 19, 2019

Impeachment: The great 'Why should I care?'

It is almost amusing the watch the consternation of those in the elite bubbles as their Impeachment Circus Grande goes largely unwatched and their own pointed interests seem to be of little interest to others. Why, oh why? In t...

November 15, 2019

The irony of 'youth's thoughtless fling'

There is a certain irony that the press for more government involvement on our lives, and especially in our economic lives, is coming from youths. Note that I said "irony," not "surprise." Youth is a time of two things: inex...

November 13, 2019

Where are we now?

We live an era where political discussions are very noisy, with what electrical engineers call the "signal to noise ratio" very low.  In order to filter out the noise, there is a simple solution: look at where we are now as a...

October 23, 2019

Orange man bad?

Every headline basically reads the same: "Orange man bad!" Coming from the supermarket tabloids, right next to the alien abduction and the miracle weight loss stories, that would be kind of amusing.  But coming from the "i...

October 8, 2019

Getting out of Syria: Wise or foolish?

President Trump has announced that he is withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria.  The reaction to this decision has raised cries of alarm across the political spectrum. I claim no expertise in international affairs but will share s...

September 29, 2019

Americans have reason to smile

The fog is breaking.  Many, many people's not too cleverly hidden motives are now becoming clear.  The lights are on in the kitchen, and the cockroaches are there to be seen. Okay, those are pretty sloppy illustrations and metaphors,...

September 16, 2019

Energy security, the unstable Middle East, and the wisdom of electing Donald Trump

A wise man once wrote that "wisdom is vindicated by her children" (Matthew 11:19).  To put it another way, we can judge who is truly wise by how his actions work out. If we accept that axiom, then the wisdom of electing ou...

July 16, 2019

For all those who are 'aghast' at President Trump's words for 'The Squad'

A few words for the people here in America who are absolutely aghast at what the president said about some pols on the "opposite side."  That they "should go back where they came from"... I understand that you are agh...

July 1, 2019

A few last words on those Democratic Party 'debates'

Even the New York Times is admitting that the Democratic Party got off to "a wretched start" with that dumbbell series of debates. Bret Stephens wrote: In this week's Democratic debates, it wasn't just individual c...

May 21, 2019

Donald Trump's desperately needed immigration wake-up call

The media meme of late has included ridicule for President Trump (how surprising!) because with the courts preventing the nation's border police from expelling those who illegally enter the country, the president has spoken of sending them variou...

May 3, 2019

What stupid decisions the Left is making lately!

With the frankly nonsensical "Russian" thing in tatters, the Left is getting more desperate than ever.  This was not supposed to have happened.  Hillary was to be president.  The grossly self-serving and unlawf...

March 24, 2019

The rare wisdom of our president is a gift

Politicians are used to seeing cowardice and being cowards.  So used to it are they that they cannot even imagine there being another way. Our president has proven to be quite different.  He is fearless.  He is bold....

March 10, 2019

Yes, We CAN Get Rid of Daylight Savings Time. Here's How...

I hate Daylight Savings Time. You hate Daylight Savings Time. But so what? No one really cares any longer what you or I like, don't like, love or absolutely despise. The arguments for DST -- those of it saving energy, making kids safer on thei...

March 3, 2019

The chief justice takes a soft left turn

Those watching the pattern of decisions by the Supreme Court are having déjà vu.  As new constitutionally minded justices are added another once seen as slightly to the right of the current liberal "norm" has moved l...

January 25, 2019

Trust 'scientists'? Really?

Does anyone remember when we trusted "scientists"?  We might not have understood them, but we understood their goals and purpose and saw both as noble at least in intent. And now?  As a group, they include too ma...

January 15, 2019

Manliness vs. Romneyism

It is, at least to some (especially those who rely on the mass media for the information), rather surprising that President Trump's poll numbers are going up, and that the public at large is increasingly of the opinion that the attacks on the pre...

December 13, 2018

A new 'Frenchman'?

The E.U. media are making a thing over the fact that Cherif Chekatt, the on-the-run terrorist who perpetrated the Strasbourg mass shooting, was born in France and was not an "immigrant." Yes, he was known to authorities as a dangerously ...

December 5, 2018

The big flinch

The French government blinked.  Or flinched, if you will.  They had to. Three weeks of rioting did that.  But now the question is, will the harm done to the authority of the government be undone? Frankly, it s...

November 26, 2018

Continuing as ‘The Land of the Free’

When we Americans speak of our nation as "the land of the free" it offends some, some abroad and of late even some here. When we speak of our government being 'of, by and for' the people -- and then act to ensure that it remains ...

October 8, 2018

Hate? I want none of it

Anyone else simply tired of hearing all the drummed up anger and hate? The lies about now-justice Kavanaugh were to me disgusting, but the stories had to be aired, the questions resolved, so a just decision could be made. But now?  Bo...

September 21, 2018

The Kavanaugh hearings are an opportunity

Many people are upset – incensed, really – about the entire Kavanaugh Senate "approval" process.  The rudeness.  The thoughtlessness.  The willingness to make what should be a sober discussion into ...

September 19, 2018

Hillary's 'magic mirror'

In the centuries-old Brothers Grimm fairy tale "Snow White," we are introduced to an evil witch who expects the world to see her as fair and beautiful, no matter what the mirror shows. So fixated is she on her own self-seen beauty that...

September 16, 2018

Positivity? Or foolishness?

"Positivity."  That word has come to have an almost mystical quality to many. "Think positive!" we are repeatedly told, and not just in words, but in endless posts with pictures on social media.  A lion snug...

September 14, 2018

Is it 'we the people' or 'they'?

The blogosphere and non-mainstream media are awash with concerns about how previous administration people such as former president Barack Obama and secretary of state John Kerry are not only publicly commenting about the current administration, but g...

September 8, 2018

Crazy times

Where does one start trying to keep up with the nonsense?  The never-ending "news cycles" (each minutes in length) that demonstrate that utter madness prevails in major portions of society – and that, more, such is being pub...

August 24, 2018

A Facebook Story

I am a regular Facebook user.  Not a typical one, I expect.  You'll see only an occasional family picture post from me, and absolutely no photos of kittens.  No, nor those little "Hallmark Card" (as I call ...

August 7, 2018

Oh, Chicago!

The death count from the insanity that is Chicago's gang-filled inner-city continues to rise.  (74 shot, 11 dead – just this past weekend – including victims aged 11,  12, and 13).  The mayor's respon...

July 15, 2018

Decoding the great Ruskie bust

What are we to make of the headline-busting "bust" of twelve Russians for hacking Dem Party computers, releasing the supposedly confidential info there, and thus messing around with an American election or three? Notice my question: ...

June 16, 2018

Making sense of President Trump's numbers

A headline based on a Gallup poll tells us that "Donald Trump is more popular with Republicans than almost any president since WWII with an approval rating of 87 per cent."  That, we are informed, is even higher than the...

April 29, 2018

What RedState and Abraham Lincoln have in common

War is an ugly thing. After years of looking to fine gentleman generals – men with only one flaw: that they repeatedly lost battle after battle – President Lincoln found Ulysses S. Grant.  Grant was in some ways less than a p...

March 30, 2018

It's Over. America Remains Ours

There comes a time when one must realize and accept that one's argument lost. This is something that every adult experiences. It needn't mean accepting that you were wrong. Or that you didn't "deserve" to win. No, j...

February 19, 2018

Gun-grabbing: A modest proposal

On Powerline, John Hinderaker, citing earlier writings of Charles C.W. Cooke, focuses sharply on the desire of the left to end the 2nd Amendment.  "Talk is cheap," he tells us – let them actually act.  Th...

February 13, 2018

A tale of two bankruptcies

On a musician's forum I participate in, there is a rather sad discussion going on right now about what has happened to the once revered Gibson guitar company – on the verge of total bankruptcy.  How did that come about? The ans...

September 1, 2017

The silver lining of Harvey's dark clouds

It’s been said that "every cloud has a silver lining."  I've always been either a) too cynical or b) to much of a "realist" to believe that.  Some clouds bring nothing but rain and damp. The "rain"...

August 12, 2017

That America we knew and loved? It's still here

It's kind of sad how many people find themselves asking, "Where did the America I knew and loved go?"  The reason so many are asking that is because of what is put before our eyes every day: a nation without any but the most superf...

June 10, 2017

What the heck just happened in the UK?

Okay, I am no expert in U.K. politics.  Far from it.  (But that never prevents the media from offering thoughts and opinions – in their case as facts – so, what the hell?  I'll share a few.) Looking at the U.K., we s...

June 3, 2017

Trump vs. the plutocrats

In turning away from the Paris Climate Accord, President Trump once again shows that he sees things that others either cannot, or will not, see: the pivot point in the central issue of our time – the ongoing war between the interests of the ...

March 27, 2017

Bringing the classroom to order

I read with interest the many articles, columns, and social media comments over the last several days that spoke with great regret, or in other cases unmitigated joy, about the "failure" of President Trump to quickly and easily nix Obamacar...

September 1, 2016

Trump's Mexico trip: ‘Hasty’ or ‘nimble’?

"Hastily."  That's a strong word, is it not?  If one does something "hastily," it means one did it with excessive speed, hurriedly, carelessly. It thus struck me, at least at first, as somewhat odd that Fox News t...

September 16, 2015

The Parable of the Mouse Hole

Once upon a time there was a family. A hard working, well behaved family, who moved into a nice apartment in a good, if not wealthy, part of town. Every morning the kids went off to school well fed upon a breakfast of cereal and milk - a breakfast...

July 10, 2015

Why Trump is starting to lead in some polls

No, he will not be president.  No, he does not deserve to be president.  And yet he is presently in some polls #1 among the Republicans seeking that office.  Why? Because, whatever his motive (and I for one do not think it pure), he...

October 16, 2014

Keeping a cow in the barn: The CDC method

The way farmers used to keep a cow in the barn: They shut the gate. The way Obama's CDC would keep a cow in the barn: A committee would be assigned to access the potential risk factor for each cow and evaluate the...

October 9, 2014

Confessions of an (Almost) Hopeless Reactionary

During my morning workout I was thinking about what a reactionary I'd become. Why I still sometimes smile when I think about the success of the American Revolution. Can you imagine? Worse yet, I actually fly an American flag at my home. No!...

April 26, 2014

Does Cliven Bundy 'Matter'?

Many Americans are watching the Cliven Bundy story unfold with sadness and consternation. Is it just human nature, or Pavlovian training, that makes people confuse personalities with principle? "How can you back a man like Bundy who expresses...

April 20, 2014

The People against So and So

What enabled civil societies in general, and American frontier societies in particular, to put aside the concept of “six-gun justice” and turn over responsibility for their protection to the police and the courts?  The one-word the a...

January 19, 2014

On Running from Reality

It seems to be almost universally true that people who cannot comfortably deal with reality run from it, and often at a gallop. This is nothing new; mankind has been doing so likely since the beginning of time. And the methods used to do so now are r...

August 10, 2013

Forced Diversity

Among the several hidden initiatives in the Obama Administration's goal to bring "fundamental change" to America are plans, already being implemented, to use Federal power and Federal money to require greater "diversity" in each and every American co...