Politics

Still Happy to Be an American

Posted by on July 8, 2018 at 6:14 pm

“Gallup reports that just 32 percent of Democrats call themselves ‘extremely proud’ of their national identity, compared with 74 percent of Republicans who say the same.”  — Ben Shapiro, Newsweek The amount of anti-American sentiment these days is truly amazing. Even those who benefit from the (relative) freedoms and wealth of American society and business […]

Is America a Democracy?

Posted by on July 1, 2018 at 7:33 pm

“I sought there [in America] an image of democracy itself, its tendencies, its character, its prejudices, its passions; I wanted to know democracy, if only to know at least what we must hope or fear from it.”  — Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America I’m no political historian, but if I had to guess, I’d […]

White House Unveils Government Reform Plan

Posted by on June 24, 2018 at 6:44 pm

“This effort, along with the recent executive orders on federal unions, are the biggest pieces so far of our plan to drain the swamp. The federal government is bloated, opaque, bureaucratic, and inefficient…. By the direction of @POTUS, we released a plan to make government more effective, efficient and accountable to better serve the American […]

Time for Paul Ryan to Go

Posted by on June 17, 2018 at 8:04 pm

I am on record as being frustrated with current Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI), in that sometimes he does things I can get behind, even wholeheartedly applaud, while other times he does things that leave me wondering “What the #&*(! is he thinking?!” Ryan was not my first (or second or third) choice […]

The Right to Try

Posted by on June 3, 2018 at 7:43 pm

“Right to try. That’s such a great name. Some bills, they don’t have a good name. Really. But this is such a great name, from the first day I heard it. Right to try. And a lot of the trying is going to be successful. I really believe that. I really believe it.”  — President […]

Animals, Humans, or Something In-Between

Posted by on May 27, 2018 at 8:25 pm

“These aren’t people, these are animals, and we’re taking them out of the country at a level and a rate that’s never happened before.”  — President Trump, in response to a California sheriff’s frustrations with state “sanctuary” law making it difficult to deal with MS-13 You’ve probably heard about this story already, but allow me […]

Backing Out of the Iran Deal

Posted by on May 6, 2018 at 9:52 pm

“People know my views on the Iran deal. It was a terrible deal. It should have never ever been made. It’s insane. It’s ridiculous.”  — President Donald Trump When the leaders of the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia, and China signed onto the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in July 2015, many […]

Glimpsing the Future with Newt

Posted by on April 29, 2018 at 9:39 pm

“The future is going to be amazing, and we should be optimistic that as a free people we can lead the world into that future – just as we led the world with new developments in cars, airplanes, computers and the Internet.”  — Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and unabashed […]

Remolding Culture One “Classic” at a Time

Posted by on April 22, 2018 at 8:21 pm

“The exercise seems aimed primarily at avoiding contact with antiquated beliefs, racist language, and sexist assumptions.”  — Thomas D. Williams, PhD I confess, I’m not really a “classic lit” sort of guy. Although, I have read a few of the usual entries in whole (e.g., The Holy Bible, The Hobbit, Mere Christianity) or in part […]

Do the Rich Pay Their “Fair Share” of Taxes?

Posted by on April 15, 2018 at 7:24 pm

We hear a lot of talk (mostly from the political Left) about this “fair share” idea. My question has always been, “Who decides what is ‘fair’, and how do they come up with that?” To me, “fair” would be roughly equivalent to “proportional to income”, which is what everyone should pay (with exceptions for the […]