Way Off Base

The current rage surrounding a Washington, DC pending legislation is revealing how logic based upon wrong headed assumptions can go astray. The DC legislation will mandate the end to discrimination around sexual orientation. As a consequence, any employer who is funded by the District must provide health care coverage to same sex couples. The Catholic [...]

Our Commonwealth

Today we pause for Thanksgiving. It is a time when we can, if we choose, reflect upon the bounty that surrounds our lives. Family, good health, a warm and safe home, friends, and a positive outlook for the future are the signs we hope to see. Not everyone, however, can say their lives include these [...]

Thankstaking Day

Washington, DC has wound down, and all the Congress members are hurrying home to be with family and constituents. Oh, and there may be a chance for them to visit a few sugar daddies and receive a campaign contribution or two. That’s why they call this Thankstaking Day. For most in Congress, everyday is Thankstaking [...]

Provincialism and Wayout-ism

C-SPAN showed last evening a production based upon Sarah Palin’s book signing visit to Cincinnati. The production showed in great detail the range and interests of the many people who attended. All thought that Sarah Palin was the one bright light for the future, and just as assuredly, thought that Barack Obama was the best [...]

Silliness of Rhetoric

The Sunday talk shows had a field day yesterday eliciting all sorts of sound bites. The conservative side fell prostrated with grief, only to rise and lambast the extreme cost of the proposed health care reform bill, and gratuitously blaming it solely on President Obama. The progressives decried any attempts to limit the so-called public [...]

The Prophets

Last evening the Senate passed a procedural measure that allows the debate on health care reform to take place. It required all 60 Democratic votes to pass the measure with several, never the less, saying that they would not vote for the bill in its current form. The “public option” seems to be the target [...]

Trusting Big Brother

More and more political polls are revealing a growing section of the American electorate that are neither Democrat or Republican, no matter how they are registared. Instead this group is simply “anti-government. They distrust Government to do anything, and tie most of their personal ills to actions by Federal, State, or local government agencies. This [...]

Getting What You Wish For

Yesterday in testimony before Congress, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner received a rough reception. For someone who has been Secretary only 11 months, many of the Congress members have already made the judgement that 11 is too many. They better be careful because they may get their wish. I am not referring to Geithner’s resignation, although [...]

The Fog of Rhetoric

Senator Joe Lieberman has begun hearings on the Fort Hood tragedy. When asked what was the purpose of the hearings, Lieberman said it was to determine how this “terrorist” act took place and what role Government agencies played (or as Lieberman has signaled, did not play). How can a US Senator start out an investigation [...]

China, First Try

President Obama finished his State visit to China yesterday and flew onto South Korea. The news media has pronounced his visit a qualified success. President Obama did not commit any great faux pars, and did not commit the US to any obligations. He also did not score any huge or noteworthy successes either, they say. [...]