Yet believe it or not, one can (as I do) admire Palin's charisma and roots, appreciate her dissent on the policy experiments brainy folks in Washington are cooking up and, at the same time, believe she has no business running for president in 2012.

In fact, all you haters out there motivate me to root for her.

There's nothing wrong, for instance, with The Associated Press' assigning a crack team of investigative journalists to sift through every...]]> Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600 Not long ago, Meghan McCain, maverick progeny and rising media star (because, no doubt, of her impressive intellectual gifts), posted a cleavage-intense picture of herself on her Twitter account.

"For years," the 25-year-old would lament later, "I have struggled to accept the fact that the way I look in a tank top comes off more 'sexual' than a flat-chested woman."

First, let's all agree on the obvious: A nation that fails to deal with the deep-seated struggles of busty young blondes is a nation that fails us all.

Then feel free to wonder why an intelligent young woman feigns astonishment when her candid shot creates a hubbub online after she disseminates...]]> Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600 If liberals are so disturbed by Congress' dictating whether abortion is a legitimate health care issue or not, it only makes sense that they should be equally troubled by government management of other health care decisions.

Undoubtedly, this is zealously naive thinking on my part. Reaching such a conclusion demands a modicum of consistency. And as we've seen, health care "reform" is an ideological crusade immune from logic.

Take the torrent of hypocrisy that spilled from the jilted pro-choice wing of the Democratic Party after a House amendment to the health care reform bill that would tighten a ban on federal funds for abortions passed by a vote of 240-194 -- a more...]]> Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600 For perhaps the first time in American history, seemingly rational adults will sit down and spend significant time dissecting the off-off-year elections in Virginia, New Jersey and New York's much-discussed 23rd Congressional District.

Naturally, a consensus will emerge:

The angry, hard-right, radical, insane (etc.) conservative base has hijacked the Republican Party and, in the process, further alienated a beleaguered nation -- a nation that apparently is hankering for tripling deficits and government takeovers of the health care, energy, banking and car industries.

Like Democrats, I, too, hope Republicans suffer. By focusing on needless culture wars,...]]> Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 The King James version of the Bible runs more than 600 pages and is crammed with celestial regulations. Newton's Principia Mathematica distilled many of the rules of physics in a mere 974 pages.

Neither have anything on Nancy Pelosi's new fiendishly entertaining health-care opus, which tops 1,900 pages.

So curl up by a fire with a fifth of whiskey and just dive in.

But drink quickly. In the new world, your insurance choices will be tethered to decisions made by people with Orwellian titles ("1984" was only 268 pages!) like the "Health Choices Commissioner" or "Inspector General for the Health Choices Administration."

You will, of course, need to be plastered...]]> Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 What's more infuriating, a government "pay czar" who can dictate the salaries of private-sector citizens or some corporate welfare queen who has the nerve to complain about a salary cut?

On a gut level, it's a tough call. Watching the same swine who begged for charity after spearheading the devastation of their respective companies take massive salary cuts is thoroughly satisfying. Yet in a broader sense, this unprecedented intrusion into the economy accomplishes nothing -- well, other than setting an array of dangerous precedents.

Who knew? Chicken-little governance comes with a steep price tag. Could anyone have imagined, even two years ago, that an unaccountable pay czar...]]> Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 Those of you paying even the slightest attention these days realize that President Barack Obama has been the target of a near-criminally biased and antagonistic mass media.

Someone had to put a stop to the madness.

The organization most persistently engaged in reporting on issues that put the administration in a poor light has been Fox News. Or should I say Fox "News." Unfair. Unbalanced. Uncooperative.

"They're not really a news station," White House senior adviser David Axelrod recently explained.

"It's not a news organization so much as it has a perspective," chief of staff Rahm Emanuel added. Mao enthusiast and communications director Anita Dunn claims...]]> Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 No. Normally used to express the negative of an alternative choice or possibility.

No. A super way to convey negation, dissent, denial, or refusal.

No. Republicans-the "Party of No"-should embrace the glory of the word.

It is always curious to hear irascible members of one political party accuse members of the opposing political party of "playing politics" as if it were a bad thing. Can you imagine? Politics. In Washington, no less.

As you know, Democrats claim to be above such petty, divisive and lowbrow behavior, especially on those days they are running both houses of Congress and the White House. What this country really needs, we are reminded incessantly,...]]> Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 How can Americans be expected to wrestle with the myriad dangers that confront them each day? Insalubrious cereal? Unregulated garage sales? Pools of death? Sometimes it's too much to process.

You know what we desperately are crying out for? An army of crusading federal regulatory agents with unfettered power. Who else has the fortitude and foresight to keep us all safe?

Mercifully, as The Washington Post recently reported, many of President Barack Obama's appointees "have been quietly exercising their power over the trappings of daily life ... awakening a vast regulatory apparatus with authority over nearly every U.S. workplace, 15,000 consumer products, and most items...]]> Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 For Philistines like me, the mysteries of Washington can be both perplexing and wondrous. If you've been watching noted alchemist Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., conjure up health care gold this week, you probably know what I mean.

Mercifully, House and Senate Democrats recently blocked amendments that would have required health care bills to be posted online for 72 hours before a committee vote, sparing us the needless irritation of grappling with fancy facts about the most consequential piece of legislation in recent memory.

No need to get into the weeds for you and me. No way. Just think of legislation as abstract art. The Congressional Budget Office does.

The CBO's new...]]> Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 This week, New York Times columnist David Brooks introduced readers to his imaginary friends, Mr. Bentham and Mr. Hume, as a way of highlighting the nation's philosophical divide.

If only our ideological split were that complicated.

As it happens, I also have two imaginary friends (and boy, do I need them), named Mr. Hoover and Jim.

Mr. Hoover knows everything. He attended a highbrow graduate school and worked as a Senate aide before becoming a policy expert. (He even pretends to understand Jeremy Bentham.) He is a man who craves acceptance from the other smart people who surround him.

Jim is pretty smart, too, but hasn't squandered his talent working in...]]> Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 There are a number of ideas in this world that never should be introduced to each other; "Christian" and "rock" are one example. "Movie" and "wholesome" are certainly another. And really, one thing we always have been able to count on is the boundless depravity of Hollywood. For this, I used to be grateful.

Obviously, those of us with even a tenuous grasp of decency or respect for the rule of law understand that filmmaker Roman Polanski -- who, need we be reminded, loaded up a 13-year-old with alcohol and quaaludes before raping her -- should find himself putrefying in prison. Even actors must believe this, right? No?

The subsequent skirmish over Polanski's arrest -- not...]]> Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0500 Children can be irritating -- especially your children. That is why the notion of a school year extending 12 months is not completely revolting. But alas, the government is not a baby-sitting service. Not yet. Let's hope not ever.

In the midst of grappling with a scattering of thorny issues, President Barack Obama took time to lend a fatherly hand this week. Your little Jake, it seems, doesn't spend enough time under the gaze of the state. As it turns out, Jake is at a tragic disadvantage when competing against Yuri from Kazakhstan.

If you believe this tale, the administration has an answer for you: Kill summer vacation, and add a few hours to the school day. "Young people...]]> Sat, 26 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0500 The United States does not negotiate with terrorists - but we insist Israel do without preconditions.

We will not get entangled in the distasteful internal politics of Iran - but we define Israel's borders.

We will remove missile defense systems in Eastern Europe so we do not needlessly provoke our good friends in Russia - but we have no compunction nudging Israel to hand over territory with nothing in return.

This week, President Barack Obama spoke to the United Nations' General Assembly and insisted that Israel and the Palestinians negotiate "without preconditions." (Well, excluding the effective precondition that Israeli settlements are "illegitimate," according...]]> Sat, 19 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0500 If you've been paying attention lately, you may be under the impression that the United States is spiraling into mass incivility.

The evidence keeps mounting: Rep. Joe Wilson's yelling. Serena Williams' yelling. Kanye West's ... whatever. All of these uncouth characters have been strung together by critics to establish, indisputably, that there is a societal explosion of boorish and coarse behavior.

On the political front, columnist Kathleen Parker calls this "a political era of uninhibited belligerence." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, lamenting an imaginary climate of violence, wishes "we would all, again, curb our enthusiasm in some of the statements that are...]]> Wed, 16 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0500 C'mon, everyone knows the hullabaloo surrounding President Barack Obama is bigotry in action. The administration's policy initiatives couldn't possibly provoke any authentic anger or protest.

Proving this dastardly motive, on the other hand, has been problematic. But there are ways around this dilemma. Unearth some crazy outliers. Create caricatures. Recognize "code" words. Reduce to absurdity.
And presto!

"Surrounded by middle-aged white guys -- a sepia snapshot of the days when such pols ran Washington like their own men's club -- Joe Wilson yelled 'You lie!' at a president who didn't," declared Maureen Dowd in her Saturday New York Times column. "But, fair or not,...]]> Fri, 11 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0500 Those who claim that President Barack Obama's speech on health care this week wasn't a glorious success are fooling themselves. A Washington takeover of health care never sounded so enticing or fun.

Just ignore the specifics, because when the president says he welcomes substantive new ideas, he means that if you have the nerve to offer any ideas -- as Whole Foods' CEO, John Mackey, did in The Wall Street Journal last month -- his allies will attempt to destroy your business and reputation.

And when the president says he welcomes bipartisanship, what he means is that he hasn't met with a single Republican on the issue since April -- despite numerous requests and two separate...]]> Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0500 Why did The Associated Press -- and newspapers across the country -- run the controversial and disturbing images of an American Marine dying in Afghanistan? The AP said it was "to make public an image that conveys the grimness of war and the sacrifice of young men and women fighting it."

It succeeded. Fortunately, we are not a nation of trembling children powerless to discern between news and exploitation. And it is, despite the anger surrounding the AP's decision, the job of the press to offer citizens a glimpse -- albeit slight, in this case -- of the war they cover.

When photographer Julie Jacobson was patrolling with a Marine unit that came under attack in southern...]]> Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0500 Why would anyone want to deprive impressionable school-age children of hearing the inspiring wisdom of the president? Barack Obama is determined to impart his knowledge upon our pliable offspring via webcast across the country next week, and we should not stand in his way.

This is, as they say, a teachable moment. There is nothing to fear. Naturally, teachers and parents, incapable of handling the sheer concentrated intellectual force of such a historic event, have been forwarded a detailed lesson plan by the Department of Education (sic) so that no child will be blinded inadvertently by the dazzling light of hope.

Initially, part of the strategy was to guide our kiddies...]]> Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0500 This week, prominent conservative pundit George Will wrote a column advocating the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. His piece, not surprisingly, was met with instantaneous anger, disdain and derision from most of the right.

"But let's be honest," wrote noted neoconservative William Kristol on The Washington Post's blog. "Will is not calling on the United States to accept a moderate degree of success in Afghanistan, and simply to stop short of some overly ambitious goal. Will is urging retreat, and accepting defeat."

Tossing around the words "retreat"...]]> Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0500 Forget death panels. If you're really interested in putting a stop to the public option (and some truly entertaining town hall meetings), let's talk circumcision panels.

Growing up in the Jewish faith, I witnessed my fair share of 7-day-olds taken from their parents to face scalpel, prayer and barbaric snip. Why seven days? Undoubtedly, the number of Jewish boys converting to Methodism grows exponentially each day the foreskin remains attached.

According to Genesis, God commanded 99-year-old Abraham to circumcise himself, everyone in his household, and even his slaves -- as they, apparently, didn't have enough on their plates -- to close the covenant. Those who were not...]]> Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0500 One of the more ridiculed schemes to emerge from the Bush administration was the color-coded terror alert system. But the idea isn't totally useless.

First implemented in March 2002 as a "readiness measure," it has been criticized for its wide-ranging ineffectiveness and susceptibility to political manipulation.

Now, really, if we didn't believe in wide-ranging ineffectiveness and susceptibility to political manipulation, we wouldn't bother voting. So, in the spirit of sustainability, there must be some way to retrofit this alert system for a more practical purpose.

You know what Americans could really use these days? A high-quality, five-tiered, color-coded warning...]]> Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0500 "For with thee is the fountain of life; in thy light shall we see the public option."

Yes, it's finally come to this. We've dragged the Almighty Lord into the debate. It's Yahweh or the highway.

This week, President Barack Obama claimed his version of health care reform is "a core ethical and moral obligation," beseeching religious leaders to promote his government-run scheme. Questioning the patriotism of opponents, apparently, wasn't gaining the type of traction advocates of "reform" had hoped.

"I know there's been a lot of misinformation in this debate, and there are some folks out there who are frankly bearing false witness," Obama said, invoking the frightening...]]> Wed, 19 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0500 Not long ago, a district judge in Colorado declared that poker is a game of "gambling" rather than "skill" because "while poker ... might involve some skill, these games certainly are contingent 'in part' upon chance, and when, as here, the games involve risking a thing of value for gain, they constitute a form of gambling."

Guess what? Nearly everything we do in life depends "in part" on "chance." So we might as well think of our entire existence as one colossal game of craps -- with government as the hairy-knuckled, silk-suited mobster calling in the "vig" (whatever the heck that is).

And if poker were primarily a game of chance -- rather than skill -- probability...]]> Fri, 14 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0500 It's about time we conceded that proponents of the "public option" in health care reform have offered up a tremendously constructive idea.

In his pitch to the masses on health care, President Barack Obama said that a public option would "give people a broader range of choices and inject competition into the health care market ... and keep the insurance companies honest."

So let's agree, then, that the more we inject competition into a marketplace the more consumers benefit from lower prices and innovation. Consequently, there should be no problem infusing this open-minded brand of policymaking into an array of issues. You know, to keep everyone honest.

All one needs...]]> Wed, 12 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0500 They own the bully pulpit. They enjoy a mandate. They can move the votes. They dictate the debate. They write the legislation. They monopolize the coverage.

When it comes to politics, Democrats are U.S. Steel, Ma Bell and Google all rolled into one. And yet because of a mystifying cosmic event, they are also victims.

In a recent editorial in USA Today, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and sidekick Steny Hoyer grumbled about how reactionaries are shutting down the voices of the enlightenment on health care. They accused town hall insurrectionists of being "afraid...]]> Fri, 07 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0500 If you're a virtuous and patriotic American, you may find this column either offensive or misleading. If so, please forward it to White House authorities at the Department of Fishy Activity. (E-mail the good people at flag(at)whitehouse.gov.)

As many of you have heard, the White House now requests that the public tattle on those of us spreading "fishy" "disinformation" regarding Washington's proposed takeover of your health care. This step, naturally, is for our own good.

Now, don't get overly paranoid, you rabble of freaky right-wing zealots. Judging from the Obama administration's track record, the program will do absolutely nothing other than add billions to the...]]> Wed, 05 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0500 Here's an idea: Let's give $50,000 to anyone looking to upgrade to a brand-spanking-new, environmentally friendly home. All we ask in return is that you burn your previous residence into a heap of smoldering cinder.

That's the concept behind the bizarre "cash for clunkers" program so many people are deeming a success. It's so successful, in fact, that Congress will increase funding for it by 200 percent.

Then again, in Washington, a place where elected officials are astonished -- astonished! -- when a program doling out free cash is popular, success often translates into higher costs and fewer results.

Now, some of you radicals may have an ideological dilemma with a...]]> Fri, 31 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500 A new poll claims that nearly 1 in 2 U.S. voters believes that the nation's best days are behind it. This is the highest level of whining on this question in a year, according to Rasmussen Reports.

How is it possible that so many people believe the next generation will be in worse shape when nearly every positive indicator of the human experience is on a positive trajectory -- from our standard of living to our life expectancy to our technology to the health of the environment?

Perhaps there is a nebulous understanding of what "better" is supposed to mean these days. These days, progress signifies a guilt-ridden retreat from the very things that permit one generation to...]]> Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500 Science fiction writer Damon Knight once claimed that the popularity of conspiracy theories could be explained by our "desire to believe that there is some group of folks who know what they're doing."

Wishful thinking. And few "groups of folks" have displayed less aptitude in the art of keeping secrets than government.

Yet no matter who is in power, no matter how incompetent they may be, there always exists this irate minority that believes politicians possess supernatural powers of deception.

The mystery the nation faces isn't President Barack Obama's birth certificate. The mystery is how any American could believe that all the president's former political...]]> Fri, 17 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500 If government-run health care holds such wondrous possibilities for the nation, why don't we all "invest" in this magical cure? Why only the rich?

President Barack Obama once promised to spread the wealth. How about spreading the responsibility, as well? Let the everyday citizen feel the cost of these gazillion-dollar legislative miracles.

The House's plan for health care reform is a good start. If passed, it would begin levying an extra tax on families earning $350,000 or more -- for the benefit of society, of course.

We can do better. Much better.

Don't misunderstand me; detesting the rich is an enormously rewarding pastime -- those sleazy...]]> Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500 Dr. John Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy -- better known as the "science czar" -- has been a longtime prophet of environmental catastrophes. Never discouraged but never right.

And thanks to resourceful bloggers, you can read excerpts from a hard-to-find book co-authored by Holdren in the late 1970s, called "Ecoscience: Population, Resources, Environment," online.

In it, you will find the czar wading into some unpleasant talk about mass sterilizations and abortions.

It's not surprising. Holdren spent the '70s boogying down to the vibes of an imaginary population catastrophe and global cooling. He also participated in the...]]> Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500 Can you believe the gall of these Sarah Palin cultists? Presidential aspirations? This is a woman who named one of her kids "Track," for God's sake. (Well, if it really is her kid.)

William Buckley once wrote that he rather would "entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of Harvard University."

But running government is no longer a suitable vocation for the bumbling proletariat. It's for folks with schoolin' and such. It's a job for herculean thinkers with degrees from Ivy League schools. In other words, no one from Alaska need apply.

Former sports reporters certainly...]]> Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500 Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood can't be serious.

Or, at least, I hope not.

When I had the chance recently to meet him at The Denver Post, where I work, I was fully prepared to endure a healthy dose of rambling about how antiquated, inefficient, money-losing choo-choo trains will replace cars.

One also can be prepared to laugh only on the inside when a Cabinet member asserts, in all earnestness, that cycling our kids to school en masse (and this adult has yet to master the art of driving his kids to school) is the answer to our national congestion problems.

One even could deal with LaHood's hyperbolic statement that "America is one big...]]> Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500 After being asked when the public should begin judging the success of the nearly $800-billion stimulus plan, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs answered, "I think we should begin to judge it now."

Let's take his advice.

The administration warned that if we failed to support a stimulus package, unemployment would hit a dire 9 percent by 2010. With the stimulus, unemployment, it claimed, would stay in the 8-percent range.

This week, the Labor Department announced that the jobless rate jumped to 9.5 percent, higher than any time since August 1983.

It's not as if the administration was close. As the New York Times notes, "the difference between the situation...]]> Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500 Facts. Costs. Consequences.

Who cares?

We're in the middle of pretending to save the planet, baby.

If it's about helping "the environment," suspend reason and salvation is yours. As I'm sure you've heard a lot of smart and compassionate folks tell you lately, doing something -- anything! -- is better than doing nothing.

So the House did something. It passed a "cap and trade" bill that would ration energy, destroy productive jobs, levy the largest tax increase in United States history and, for kicks, penalize foreign trade partners who fail to engage in comparable economic suicide.

Now, assuming there are no speed-reading clairvoyants in the House, no...]]> Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0500 Did you know that about 300 million Americans went without food, water and shelter at some point last year?

I am a survivor.

If you were blessed with the prodigiously creative and cunning mind of a politician, that kind of statistic -- meaningless but technically true -- could be put to good use.

In the entertaining 1954 classic "How To Lie With Statistics," Darrell Huff writes, "Misinforming people by the use of statistical material might be called statistical manipulation... (or) statisticulation."

One of the most persistent examples of modern-day statisticulation is the sufficiently true claim that 46 million (it becomes 50 million when senators...]]> Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0500 Despite the extraordinary energy exerted in trying to delay the inevitable, the inconvenient fact is we all die.

So it is no surprise that "preventive" health care, that game-changing fix to policy trotted out relentlessly by both Democrats and Republicans, is so appealing. And like many cure-alls, it's a myth.

Surely, for some, preventive health care is worthwhile. And no one is stopping you from eating an apple. But unless policy changes have the power to stop the Grim Reaper -- rather than only postpone his arrival -- it will make health care more expensive.

Let's begin with the morbidly obvious. The longer people hang around the longer they utilize the health...]]> Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0500 Though I am a barely competent father of two young daughters, I do plan to excel at one of my patriarchal duties: avoiding any dialogue with my kids about sex, dating or ancillary topics that have even the slightest chance of degenerating into a discussion that involves human anatomy.

Working diligently behind the scenes, however, I already am keeping a close eye on the debate over sex education in anticipation of my forthcoming panic. And the debate is reigniting, as teenage pregnancy numbers, which, after years of decline, have begun to inch upward.

The birthrate among 15- to 19-year-olds rose 1.4 percent from 2006 to 2007 and jumped 3.4 percent from 2005 to 2006 -- this,...]]> Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0500 Weren't we promised some methodical and deliberate governance from President Barack Obama? What happened?

The president claims that we must pass a government-run health insurance -- possibly the most wide-ranging and intricate government undertaking in decades -- yesterday, or a "ticking time bomb" will explode.

If all this terrifying talk sounds familiar, it's because the president applies the same fear-infused vocabulary to nearly all his hard-to-defend policy positions. You'll remember the stimulus plan had to be passed without a second's delay, or we would see 8.7 percent unemployment. We're almost at 10.

A commonly utilized Obama straw man states that "the cost...]]> Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0500 On his recent trip abroad, President Barack Obama declared that the United States could not impose its values on other nations. But what if we were actually complicitous in undermining our fundamental values elsewhere?

One could argue that American corporations, such as Dell and Hewlett-Packard, would be abetting censorship if they acquiesced to China's recent demand that all personal computers sold in that country be equipped with software that allows government officials to block access to Web sites that disseminate "unhealthy information."

The software, called "Green Dam-Youth Escort" -- in this case, "green" does not signify the innovative, virtuous, environmental kind...]]> Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0500 Across the country, Americans are suffering at the hands of out-of-control state governments and spending.

But guess what? There exists an immunization that helps relieve some of the pain associated with that sort of fiscal calamity.

The remedy already is working wonders in Colorado. So, one might ask, why, rather than exporting the treatment, are local Colorado officials in the process of killing it?

Colorado has enjoyed more than a decade of above-average economic growth. The state, with its low taxes and highly educated work force, is cited regularly as one of the best places to do business and live. Colorado ranks high in income and consumption levels and, not...]]> Wed, 03 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0500 For those of you who carefully have avoided piddling away your hard-earned dollars on a General Motors vehicle, resistance is futile. You're a majority "investor" now. Rejoice.

Taxpayers, our president has decreed, are impelled to preserve a prehistoric, poorly run, unprofitable private corporation. Now the only question becomes: What does all this sacrifice mean?

Will GM be run as profitably and efficiently as Amtrak? Will GM be paid not to produce, like the agricultural sector? Will it feed into an economic bubble like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Will it boast the negligible oversight and waste of the so-called "stimulus" package? Will it feature the fiscal...]]> Fri, 29 May 2009 00:00:00 -0500 You know what would be a nice change of pace? A nominee for public office whose compelling life story didn't remind me of my pitiably self-indulgent life.

Fortunately, while overachievers can induce some self-loathing, when it comes to public service, spectacular life stories are irrelevant.

Adversity does not grant anyone superhuman intellect or a Solomon-like temperament. And gripping tales of perseverance should not make one impenetrable to criticism.

Much has been made of political repercussions for Republicans if they dare target Barack Obama's pick for the Supreme Court, Judge Sonia Sotomayor -- a Latina who grew up in a deprived neighborhood in the...]]> Wed, 27 May 2009 00:00:00 -0500 As an atheist and a secular kinda guy, I practice moral relativism regularly. Still, I always have struggled mightily with the ethics and politics of abortion. Apparently, I'm not alone.

A new Gallup Poll claims that for the first time since 1995 -- when the question was first asked by the organization -- most Americans consider themselves to be "pro-life" rather than "pro-choice."

The straightforward question asked of participants was this: "With respect to the abortion issue, would you consider yourself to be pro-choice or pro-life?" Fifty-one percent responded that they were pro-life, and 42 percent said they were pro-choice. These percentages are the reverse of what was...]]>