Author Archive
21 Jul
Obama and the Deficit
14 Jul
McConnell’s Proposal
Sen. Mitch McConnell’s much discussed proposal to temporarily grant President Obama power to raise the federal debt limit raises serious questions. At first it appears to be a clever way to break the present impasse. As I have heard it described, it would enable the President to borrow money as long as he made commensurate [...]
8 Jul
Dangers of Compromise
We hear much these days about the urgent need in our government for compromise. Compromise is put forward as an obvious, but often neglected, method for breaking deadlocks and settling disagreements. Much can be said for compromise to settle disagreements. Plea bargains in some criminal cases are forms of compromise. Parties to divorce often compromise [...]
10 Jun
Weiner’s Apologies
Anthony Weiner has been making apologies to his family, colleagues, constituents, and most notably, to Bill Clinton, for his sexual Tweets. I have yet to hear, however, of his apologizing to the people who most deserve an apology, Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli people. All around the world we have radical Islamist teachers wracking their [...]
2 Jun
American Exceptionalism
In his column of May 11, Richard Cohen expressed a colossal misreading of the phrase “American Exceptionalism.” He equated it with narcissism, smugness, and arrogance. This no doubt is the same misunderstanding that prompted President Obama to take an “apology tour” early in his term. Cohen claimed that Republican leaders base their interpretation of American [...]
25 May
Random Thoughts of an Arranged Mind 5/25/11
• Looks as though we’re going to run out of doctors before we run out of money. • Did you hear President Obama’s speech in England? He actually said that all beings are endowed by their creator with certain rights. Seems he’s more afraid of offending the English than he is of offending Americans, and [...]
4 May
Bin Laden’s Fatwas
In the wake of the removal of Osama bin Laden from the world, there will inevitably be apologists who claim that he was an innocent victim, that the US forces were not justified in doggedly tracking him down and ultimately killing him. He will be portrayed as a “civilian,” not a legitimate military target. Inevitably [...]
28 Apr
By Mistake or On Purpose?
Apparently we are given only two choices in understanding President Obama: either he is intellectually brilliant, a graduate magna cum laude of Harvard Law School, or he is hopelessly ignorant and inept, allowing our economy to slide into disarray without any idea about how to prevent or reverse the slide. We can’t have it both [...]
5 Apr
Paper or switchgrass?
Would you like paper or switchgrass? Oops. Sorry, that choice isn’t available. While switchgrass is under study as a potential fuel source, it is a long way from being widely practical. And while much is being said these days about achieving energy independence by exploiting alternate “renewable” energy sources, no one appears to be equating [...]
24 Mar
Unprincipled Cartoon
Recently my local newspaper, the Asbury Park Press, published a cartoon that showed Governor Chris Christie saying that “Obamacare is unconstitutional.” At the same time a hand, presumably President Obama’s, is shown offering Christie a large bag labeled Federal Healthcare Funds for NJ. The caption reads “Don’t sound bite the hand that feeds.” The only [...]
