While I was still in college, my father sent me a poem by one of my favorite Christian apologists, G. K. Chesterton. Entitled “Lepanto,” it was written in 1911 to commemorate the naval battle of October 7, 1571, when the Holy League’s fleet, commanded by Don John of Austria, defeated the Ottoman Muslim fleet. My […]
There are useful comparisons to be made—and important conclusions to be drawn—when we examine failed investments in both the public and private sectors. The settings may appear unrelated: professional baseball, college football, public education, welfare programs, and government contracting. Yet they increasingly share a common economic defect: they guarantee payment or subsidy while weakening the […]
With thanks to the writings of Milton Friedman and Elon Musk’s Grok. The debate between socialism and capitalism is often reduced to slogans. Socialism is presented as compassion for working people; capitalism as freedom, initiative, and reward for enterprise. Both claims contain part of the truth. Yet the more important question is not whether a […]
As Americans are inundated with polling data from every conceivable source, much of it predicting a “blood bath” for Republicans in November, it is worth remembering a lesson from history: polls, however sophisticated they may appear, are not destiny. There was one president who endured political unpopularity more severe than anything Donald J. Trump faces […]
In these increasingly polarized times, when hateful words and actions have become far too commonplace, it is appropriate to remember experiences that have shaped one’s convictions. Some of the most enduring lessons of my life did not come from a classroom, a political convention, or a newspaper editorial. They came from my Quaker grandparents in […]
I was surprised last week to see several public Facebook posts from Idaho legislative leaders thanking one of the largest health-insurance companies in Idaho for sponsoring their attendance at the Governor’s Cup in Coeur d’Alene. For a brief moment, I thought I was witnessing an unusual act of honesty and transparency. Here, apparently, were politicians […]
There are real—and in many cases seemingly irreconcilable—differences over the moral standards and enduring principles that should undergird not only our legal system and form of government, but also the way we treat one another in daily life. Moral standards are the principles by which conduct is judged right or wrong, good or bad, just […]
American politics is increasingly shaped by contempt, suspicion, and language meant to wound rather than persuade. It would be tempting to say that both sides of the particular spectrum are guilty of such practices, but the reality is that the hate and disdain that the political left—the progressive and communist elites in the media, academia […]
Former Senator Ben Sasse recently wrote in The Wall Street Journal about football’s historic role in shaping young men at the high-school and college levels. His observation is timely: playing the game and watching it are profoundly different experiences. Not all young men are equipped physically to play football, but America unfortunately, now has far […]
In this midterm-election year, Republicans and Democrats are running markedly different campaigns at every level of government. Republicans are generally campaigning on policy: public safety, border security, taxes, energy, economic growth, parental rights, and the cost of living. Democrats, by contrast, too often appear to be building a political narrative intended to evoke an immediate […]
Anthony Fauci became the public face of America’s COVID response, and for many citizens he also became the face of coercive government. He projected calm certainty, but that calm often masked a deeper problem: the transformation of public health into personal authority, political theater, and institutional self-protection rather than a disciplined application of science and […]
As we enter the final 100 days before the midterm elections, I find myself both astonished and concerned—not only by how progressive Democrats and Democratic Socialists have shaped the political narrative, but by how effectively they have reshaped the very language through which Americans interpret that narrative. Control of language is control of thought, and […]