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Pushing voluntary servitude

Two weeks ago, President Joseph R. Biden announced his intention to order the Department of Labor to compel all employers of more than 100 persons to require all their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or be fined $14,000 per day for each unvaccinated employee. The Department of Labor will collect the fines. Biden’s legal advisers probably informed him that the federal government is without authority to compel individuals directly to receive vaccinations, and if it were, the compulsion would need to come from Congress — which writes the laws — not from the president, ...

Clarence Thomas and the Declaration of Independence

Last week, Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas arrived at the University of Notre Dame to speak about the Declaration of Independence. Speaking invitations like this that Thomas accepts are few and far between. Anyone who cares about our country and listens to this address will wish that he would agree to speak more. His presentation was a brilliant and profound articulation of what America is about at its core. It is what every American needs to hear in these troublesome and divisive times. Thomas tells his own story and how his life’s journey led him to ...

To honor a killer’s last request – or not?

A medium-rare rib-eye steak, a baked potato with butter and sour cream, an iceberg lettuce salad, garlic bread and lemon meringue pie for dessert. That was the last meal ordered up by serial killer Oscar Bolin right before the state of Florida executed him. It is customary in most states for death row inmates to ask for and receive a special last meal. Steak is a favorite request, as is Kentucky Fried Chicken and meat lovers pizza. Traditionally, the condemned also gets to choose a few close friends or relatives to be present at the moment they are put to death. Now one inmate’s ...

Are the US and China headed toward an ‘islands war’?

In a diplomatic coup, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a deal last week with the U.K. and U.S. to have those Anglo-American allies help build a nuclear-powered submarine fleet for Australia. A $66 billion French deal to provide Canberra with diesel electric-powered submarines, among the largest defense contracts Paris had ever negotiated, was blown off. “A stab in the back!” said Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who had been kept in the dark on the secret talks. “There has been duplicity, contempt and lies.” Le Drian compared President Joe Biden to former President ...

Dems trashing American work ethic with spending bill

The humongous bill that Democrats in Washington, D.C. are assembling this week is a slap in the face to Americans who work, pay taxes and support their families. The bill demeans work ethic and glorifies government handouts. It sends a message that work and self-sufficiency are for suckers. Better to climb on Uncle Sam’s gravy train that will now provide cradle-to-grave benefits. The social spending bill will give monthly payments to almost all parents based on how many children they have, regardless if anyone in the family works. Democrats are also promising virtually free child ...

Divided by war, united by a song

Sometimes it is the strangest things that can take opposing sides with vastly different objectives and provide an unforeseen area of commonality. In this particular case it was a song. It became popular during one of our nation’s most divisive times, the Civil War, and gave each side something comforting in the midst of unimaginable pain and loss. It has been documented that its haunting words, which spoke of love and loss, could be heard within both Union and Confederate camps as they sang around their campfires at night. It quickly became one of our area’s claims to fame since it ...