2013 Commentaries Archive Stories

Have you ever listened to an advertisement listing the possible side-effects of a drug and then felt queasy? Reading about those effects can make you feel ill, as well.Dr. Lissa Rankin’s recently published New York Times bestseller, Mind over Medicine, in part, examines this disturbing phenomenon. Reading Rankin’s thoug

These are difficult days for Obama Administration officials as a trifecta of scandals plagues the opening months of the President’s second term. The Benghazi dereliction of duty and cover-up, the IRS harassment of citizens critical of Big Government, and the Justice Department secretly obtaining the telephone records of Associated Press re

The continually unraveling Benghazi scandal has finally got the attention of at least some of the national media as White House press secretary Jay Carney will doubtless admit after he had to endure more intense and relentless questioning from the Washington press corps than he has ever received. What suddenly made what the liberal media

The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. – U.S. Constitution, Article II, Section 4 No satisfactory or authoritative definition of “high crimes and misdemeanors”

“How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity o

Crying out for an explanation is the increasing resort by our political parties and factions to the use of what are called “narratives.” I don’t know the proximate cause of this rhetorical phenomenon, but its appeal is hard to miss: he who controls the narrative controls the discussion and ultimately public policy. &ldq

“[W]hat will convince [Progressives that we are not hate mongers]? This, and this only: cease to call [homosexual marriage] wrong, and join them in calling it right. And this must be done thoroughly - done in acts as well as in words. Silence will not be tolerated - we must place ourselves avowedly with them.”The speech q

The jubilation from Louisville’s victory over Duke’s basketball team was overshadowed by Kevin Ware’s on-court injury on Easter Sunday. Ware a 6-foot-2-sophomore guard broke his leg in two places. It was a disturbing picture. Players and fans immediately started praying. Across social media, people spontaneously began s

With the constitutional status of homosexual marriage now in the hands of the United States Supreme Court, it is instructive to note how a relationship not taken seriously until about 20 years ago should be regarded as “inevitable.” Why now? Political thinking, we are told, has “evolved” since then. But the fact i

After their defeat in the Presidential election, Republicans are engaging in considerable soul searching to determine what went wrong. I’m reminded of what Gov. Nelson Rockefeller said in June, 1964, when asked why he lost the California Republican Primary: “I didn’t get enough votes.” I didn’t vote for the governor

The United States of America has made tremendous progress toward equal justice but remains mired in racial and ethnic conflict. One would think that, with the passage of epochal civil rights legislation in the 1960s, distinctions of color would have no place in American life, but they do. How can this apparent paradox be explained? More

Who would have thought that the Presidency of Barack Obama would become practically synonymous with the frequent and systematic use in the war on terrorists of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) known as “drones?” Obama distinguishes himself from George W. Bush, whose sins comprehend two “unfunded” wars and the use of

There was once a medieval Italian tyrant who was so feared by his subjects that when tales were told of his great mercy, people fled the city. I’m reminded of that oppressive ruler when calls go out, usually from the White House, for a “conversation” on a controversial political issue. It has become quite clear that no differen

Today, some health care providers are realizing there is more to medicine than, well, medicine. For example, there is Mehmet Oz, best known as Dr. Oz. Oprah crowned him America’s doctor in 2004. He is a heart surgeon and the host of the weekday hit TV program, “The Dr. Oz Show.” Oz entered medical school believi

Since I changed my email service, I have been receiving annoying messages with no relationship to my emails. But then it dawned on me that a savvy Washington insider was communicating in code what was really going on in the budget debate, particularly about the “sequestration” of federal spending for the next ten years. I think I can

If you’re a wise consumer, you shop around to find what you need. Today, there’s a product for every taste and helpful advice for just about every inquiry.For example: If you don’t want to be noticed, Japanese professors have created glasses they say will prevent you from being identified by facial recognition s

There is a story told of a man in New Hampshire on his deathbed in 1838 whose last wish was to see the portrait of George Washington. At the funeral service for our first President, Henry “Lighthorse Harry” Lee of Virginia eulogized Washington as “first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.”

Utopians believe, or profess to believe, that the best society is one in which no one acts from selfish motives. Hence, they have nothing but contempt for commerce and trade, which are based squarely on the premise that all should be free to pursue their own self-interest. In their desire to “transform” our country to socialism (let&

Movie goers are being treated to unusually serious cinema these days with two productions about Islamic extremists, both exciting to watch but drawing different critical responses. In the contrast, we have a window into Hollywood and even its relations with the Obama Administration. We also get a window into the Central Intelligence Agency.

They can’t ignore it. It’s there. Doctors, patients, and pharmaceutical companies can’t escape it. You can’t either. What is it?The placebo effect.The placebo effect is the health response patients experience when they believe they’re receiving a drug or surgery but are actually being given dummy drugs o

January 24th was the fortieth anniversary of the infamous U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1973 that struck down the laws regulating abortion in all 50 states. In Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, seven of the nine justices in effect legalized abortion on demand during the entire nine months of a woman’s pregnancy. What has occurred durin

The current debate over the constitutionally guaranteed “right of the people to keep and bear arms” has shed more heat than light, despite a Supreme Court ruling that individuals, and not simply “well-regulated militias,” possess this right. For both liberals and conservatives have sold this right short. Liberals

For years young people have been told that a college education is the best investment they can make in their future. Armed with statistics that show college graduates make more money than those with only a high school diploma, college officials have seen a steady increase in enrollment. But that trend may soon peak. Between rising tuitio

Last Thursday, children from the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, began attending classes at a repurposed school in the neighboring town of Monroe.Heart-wrenching tragedies stir our desire to aid in the healing process and to prevent further harmful acts from taking place. As the gun control debate continues, a

Amidst the continuing federal budgetary crisis, the contending parties make proposals based on their understanding of its causes. President Obama insists there is insufficient revenue and therefore favors higher tax rates, and Congressional Republicans counter that the problem is runaway federal spending and therefore propose cuts. Who i