Santa Claus is a thoroughly American invention. Christmas in America is an exuberant display of human ingenuity, capitalist productivity, and the enjoyment of life. Yet all of these are castigated as “materialistic”; the real meaning of the holiday, we are told, is assorted Nativity tales and altruist injunctions (e.g., love thy neighbor) ... MORE
Reflections on a senator and the 2nd Amendment. About 15 years ago, I served on the staff of a Senator who was an ardent opponent of gun control. Once I asked him why he was so adamantly opposed to any restrictions on gun sales, when even the police favored banning sales of certain kinds of assault weapons. The Senator dismissed these ... MORE
Rounding up the usual suspects. The film "Casablanca" has many famous lines, but none more immortal than Capt. Renault's order after seeing a Nazi officer shot by Humphrey Bogart's character, Rick Blaine: "Round up the usual suspects." He issues that command to give the impression he's trying to solve the crime. In the aftermath of the Newtown massacre, the ... MORE
Children to be treated like cattle. Anytime I hear leftists look for solutions I am skeptical. Speaking in Newtown, Connecticut, Obama stated with absolute resolution, "These tragedies must end, and to end them we must change." We have heard that word "change" before. We must change. OK. How exactly? A madman goes on a rampage and the ... MORE 
So why an epidemic of unnecessary arrests? “You never have a ‘right’ to resist arrest,” insists Des Moines-based attorney Harley Erbe (who is wrong, of course). There are two reasons why Mundanes must immediately submit to “commands” issued by the state’s costumed enforcers, Erbe explains: “First, officers’ safety is a paramount ... MORE
by Ron Fournier. What if there is nobody or nothing to blame for Adam Lanza's heinous acts? Other than Lanza, of course. What if school security and the school psychiatrist kept an eye on Lanza since his freshman year? The Wall Street Journal has a compelling narrative about the red flags addressed. What if he had a form of autism that has little or no ... MORE
The answer is more bullets 'going the other way.' It’s likely you and I disagree over gun control a lot more than you think we do. This argument cuts a lot deeper than any “fiscal cliff,” Middle East, taxing the rich or any of the so-called hot controversies. I realized that in early January of 1959 in Havana, Cuba, which was lawless as of New ... MORE
Kumar Rao on the drug war. In the wake of President Obama's re-election and the fervor around "fiscal cliff" negotiations, issues related to middle class empowerment and fairness are rightfully at the center of our national policy agenda. Decisions related to tax burden allocations and spending priorities are being made that have the potential ... MORE
Stumbling into a backward future. The political slogan "Forward" served Barack Obama well during this year's election campaign. It said that he was for going forward, while Republicans were for "going back to the failed policies that got us into this mess in the first place." It was great political rhetoric and great political theater. Moreover, the ... MORE
Why the account is overdrawn by $16 trillion. Listening to progressive media pundits, I'd think the most evil man in the universe is Grover Norquist, head of Americans for Tax Reform. His crime? He heads a movement that asks political candidates to pledge not to raise taxes. I think Grover accomplished a lot. But I wish he'd convinced ... MORE
Unfortunately, not an exaggeration: "[Police are] going to be in SWAT gear and have AR-15s around their neck," Stovall said. "If you're out walking, we're going to stop you, ask why you're out walking, check for your ID." Stovall said while some people may be offended by the actions of his department, they should not be. "We're going to do it to ... MORE
It’s no big surprise. A gun massacre brings out the gun-control crowd, which loudly demands that gun control be imposed on the American people, as if that would have prevented the massacre in Connecticut. It’s really a shame to have to trot out the same arguments exposing the fallacies of statist thinking, but, alas, it must be done. ... MORE