Columns ‹ Opinion
Hollywood’s Glaring Hypocrisy
Hollywood hypocrisy has never looked more glaring. Leaders of the entertainment industry angrily condemn guns, even while their films and TV shows glorify gun violence and fetishize firearms. Meanwhile, producers and stars vehemently denounce exploitative sexuality, at the same time that acclaimed projects center on just this sort of eroticism.
For instance,...
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Why Christians Support Israel
They believe in supporting American allies and supporting countries that share their moral values. In speeches to fellow Jews around America, I often point out that many American Jews are experiencing cognitive dissonance. The institution Jews most admire — the university — turns out to be the most significant source of Israel hatred in America […]
The...
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Conservatives Outnumber Liberals in 39 States
A new Gallup Poll offers encouragement and challenges for Republicans. In the national survey, Americans who describe themselves as “conservatives” still outnumber self-defined “liberals” by significant margins—35 percent to 26. What’s more, in 39 of the 50 states, conservatives top the other side decisively. In only nine...
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Destroying a Gun Won’t Protect a Child
When I was a kid, my late mother used to urge her four boys to consume whatever unappetizing vegetables we left on our plates by reminding us that, “There are starving kids in India.”
I recalled those long-ago arguments when watching a well-intentioned but illogical anti-gun video that’s gone viral to millions. In it, New Yorker Scott...
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Why the Left Opposes Arming Teachers
Why does the left oppose allowing a small number of highly trained teachers and other adults who work at schools to arm themselves? When asked, their response is consistent: “It’s a crazy idea.” And “We need fewer guns, not more guns.” A New York Times editorial offered the following argument against having any armed teachers:...
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Black Panther’s Misleading Utopia
BLACK PANTHER has made movie history as the first smash hit about a black superhero. But even as international audiences savor this splashy entertainment, it’s worth noting some necessary reservations.
The dialogue is full of clunky clichés, the plot is convoluted, the lavish sets and costumes look tacky and sometimes tawdry, and the special effects often...
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Privatize Trump’s Patriotic Parade
Angry arguments greeted the President’s proposal for a grand parade celebrating America’s military might, but the administration could still turn the controversy into a big win. Justification for the parade involves rallying public enthusiasm for our unmatched military, while the argument against it cites a waste of money at a time of swelling...
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Liberals and Conservatives Are Unhappy for Different Reasons
One of the most important differences between the right and the left — one that greatly helps to explain their differences — is the difference between unhappy liberals and unhappy conservatives. Unhappy conservatives generally believe they are unhappy because life is inherently difficult and tragic, and because they have made some unwise decisions in...
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“Bamboozlement” and “Down-right Fraud”
In 1915, H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) delivered a harsh verdict on the politics of his time which applies even more forcefully to our political culture in 2018. Mencken said politics had become an “endless saturnalia of bunk, of bluff, of stupidity, of insincerity, of false virtue, of nonsense, of pretense, of sophistry, of paralogy, of bamboozlement, of actorial...
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Mencken on Politics
H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) deliver a harsh verdict on the politics of his time which applies ever more forcefully to our politics in 2018. Mencken said politics has become an “endless saturnalia of bunk, of bluff, of stupidity, of insincerity, of false virtue, of nonsense, of pretense, of sophistry, of paralogy, of bamboozlement, of actorial posturing, of...
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Gettysburg Lessons for Trump’s GOP
President Trump and his key Congressional allies are making a disastrous mistake in letting their Democratic opponents select the field of engagement for this year’s struggle for control of Capitol Hill. In so doing, they ignore the crucial lessons of history provided by a noble hero of the Battle of Gettysburg 155 years ago.
General John Buford helped...
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Gettysburg Lessons for Trump’s GOP
President Trump and his key Congressional allies are making a disastrous mistake in letting their Democratic opponents select the field of engagement for this year’s struggle for control of Capitol Hill. In so doing, they ignore the crucial lessons of history provided by a noble hero of the Battle of Gettysburg 155 years ago.
General John Buford helped...
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A Government Crackdown on Immoral Intimate Behavior?
While cultural conservatives worry over threats to traditional morality, few of us would favor aggressive governmental action to punish improper private relationships. In Indonesia, a nation of 200 million with the world’s largest Muslim population, a new criminal code on the verge of adoption bans all sexual relations outside of marriage, on pain of...
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A Government Crackdown on Immoral Intimate Behavior?
While cultural conservatives worry over threats to traditional morality, few of us would favor aggressive governmental action to punish improper private relationships. In Indonesia, a nation of 200 million with the world’s largest Muslim population, a new criminal code on the verge of adoption bans all sexual relations outside of marriage, on pain of...
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Indonesia’s Frightening Example Shows Limits of Government Power
While cultural conservatives worry over threats to traditional morality, few of us would favor aggressive governmental action to punish improper private relationships. In Indonesia, a nation of 200 million with the world’s largest Muslim population, a new criminal code on the verge of adoption bans all sexual relations outside of marriage, on pain of...
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Democracy’s Distressing Retreat
Ten years ago, Stanford professor Larry Diamond—a recent guest on my radio show —noted the world was suffering a “democracy recession” with self-government and civil liberties in retreat almost everywhere.
When the Soviet Empire collapsed 30 years ago, some observers proclaimed “The End of History” with permanent victory for the...
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