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Barack Obama’s self-made myths still stand

The media deification of Barack Obama has really never ended. His election to the presidency in 2008 was treated as a milestone, like man landing on the moon. Allegedly objective journalists lined up in every studio and on every front page to do him homage. It wasn’t journalism. It was more like idolatry. It was like Bryant Gumbel harshly replying in 1989 to new information about Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s adultery. He said, “When the truth collides with a legend, print the legend.” This line came to mind in reading a recent Tablet magazine interview with liberal historian ...

A case for Trump to not debate

With Mike Pence now qualifying for the Republican debate in Milwaukee on Aug. 23, there are now eight candidates qualified to participate. However, one of those eight is former President Donald Trump, who suggests that he is not inclined to show up. “When you have a big lead, you don’t do it,” noted Trump. “Am I going to stand up there by guys with zero, one, two, three percent -- maybe four -- and have them ask me hostile questions?” He now says he’ll poll supporters. Fox News, the network carrying the event, RNC Chairperson Ronna McDaniel, and some of the other ...

The Afghanistan withdrawal re-examined

One of the advantages to a change in majority in one or both houses of Congress is that the public gets to see what the other party won’t address or has been covering up. Such was the case on Monday when Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) held a forum in Escondido, California, with parents of the 13 service members killed when a terrorist bomber detonated his vest during a chaotic withdrawal from Kabul Airport nearly two years ago. The parents claimed there has been a cover-up and insensitivity to their concerns from the Biden administration. Unlike so many hearings we are used to seeing in ...

Government and freedom of speech

Here is a pop quiz: If the states ratified an amendment to the Constitution repealing the First Amendment, would we still enjoy the freedom of speech? That depends on which value prevails: Are our rights only what lawmakers have written down, or are they personal attributes immune from government reach? When James Madison was crafting the First Amendment, he insisted that the word “the” precede “freedom of speech” in order to manifest the Framers’ belief that the freedom of speech pre-existed the government. The First Amendment is a negative right. It doesn’t grant the ...

Should we blame the budget players or game?

It's common knowledge among budget experts that the budget process is "broken." Anyone who regularly reads this column knows about debt limits, government shutdowns, out-of-control spending and borrowing ... the list goes on. Well, part of the problem is that almost 50 years since the last budget process reform, it needs a serious update. However, when we do that, let's not miss the elephant in the room: Things would work much better if Congress agreed to follow its own rules. This has serious implications for those of us pressing for budget process reform. Indeed, the success of any ...

I hear the train a comin’

I recently had the opportunity to visit a national treasure, and only traveled 35 miles to do so. The East Broad Top Railroad, located in Rockhill Furnace near Orbisonia, is in our backyard. I never thought of myself as a train buff, but I was absolutely enthralled by this well-preserved piece of history. It was as if time stood still, and this railroad complete with railcars, station, and machine shops had been frozen in time. It is quite an experience for all the senses as the old steam engine approaches the station. The black smoke rolls, the whistle blows, and the engine hisses, as ...