On Feb. 12 we celebrate the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. The relatively short history of our nation makes this a particularly momentous milestone. Of all of our leaders after the founders, only Franklin Roosevelt approaches Lincoln’s renown and … Continue reading
What is it with Democratic inaugurations and poetry? Poetry and politics do not mix. Never have. One or the other never fully measures up to the task of the historic moment. Alexander the Great lamented that he did not have … Continue reading
Watching the inauguration of President Barack Obama, I was impressed by the graciousness and civility by the two presidents at the platform during the transition. To tepid applause, Obama began his Inaugural Address by thanking George W. Bush for his … Continue reading
I first heard it in an email from a professor in Illinois. We were arguing about something I wrote on Barack Obama. I asked if he agreed that the media had been breathlessly, transparently biased in favor of Obama in … Continue reading
George W. Bush had the misfortune to become president when two long-term trends that predated his presidency reached historical tipping points: First, decades of militant Islamic ferment culminated in 9/11. Second, a combination of a decades-long buildup of debt, reckless … Continue reading
As the country considers the inauguration of Barack Obama, I’m mindful of another inauguration that seems a long time ago, and which speaks volumes to the presidential transition we are about to witness. It was a January day in 1999, … Continue reading
Last Thursday, President-elect Barack Obama delivered a major speech on the economy. I didn’t know if it had that legendary tingling effect on its listeners, but reading the text in black and white, it reads like a manifesto on central … Continue reading
If you’re looking for a book as a Christmas gift, I suggest an oldie but goodie, and in honor of the fact that it was 20 years ago that this nation quietly honored the subject of the book: a hero, … Continue reading
Human nature has a blind spot. We often detect external flaws faster than internal ones—seeing the speck in our neighbor’s eye sooner than the beam in our own, to use the biblical metaphor. This same tendency exists at the national … Continue reading
Guest Commentary Abandonment of conservative principles root cause of Republican losses … Now what? The Republican Party nationally, and in Pennsylvania, lies in tatters today. Having lost the White House to Barack Obama, suffered historic losses in Congressional elections, been … Continue reading
Democratic vice-presidential nominee Senator Joe Biden recently predicted that within the first six months of an Obama administration the freshman president would be tested by a contrived international crisis. Obama supporters quickly pointed to John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s handling of the … Continue reading
Many conservatives wonder why retired Army Gen. Colin Powell endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. The quick answer—and the most inadequate one—is that Powell is obliged to endorse the first African-American with a real chance to win the presidency. That … Continue reading
Economic and political destabilization ranked high on al-Qaeda’s list of strategic objectives in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Washington, DC. In addition to killing nearly 3,000 innocent people, the attacks immediately inflicted over $80 billion dollars … Continue reading
Editor’s Note: The “V&V Q&A” is an e-publication from the Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College. Each issue will present an interview with an intriguing thinker or opinion-maker that we hope will prove illuminating to readers everywhere. … Continue reading
Guest Commentary Sarah Palin and Ronald Reagan appear poles apart in their backgrounds. Before coming to the center stage of national politics, Palin was a small-town mother of five and governor of Alaska, and Reagan, a Hollywood actor and governor … Continue reading
It has taken me a couple of weeks but I think I’ve finally gotten handle on why Sarah Palin’s bravado Republican convention speech was such a smash among conservatives: After nearly eight years of watching President George W. Bush curl … Continue reading
Seven years ago, Sept. 11, 2001, we all remember where we were and with whom and what we were doing. I was rushing off for my 9:25 AM class; it was my first semester as a tenure-track professor. Teaching John … Continue reading
In an unexpected, frightening moment in April 1945, Vice President Harry Truman got the news: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was dead. For many Americans who suffered through the Great Depression and World War II, FDR was more than a president; … Continue reading
I would like to share a story on Senator Joe Biden that happened 27 years ago. It involved his international humiliation of a good man, and it became a habit for Biden. I’m confident Biden will repeat the performance with … Continue reading
In December 1989, land, sea and air forces of the United States enveloped the security forces of Panama like a starfish attacking a clam. Operation Just Cause became the prototype for U.S. military operational doctrine for taking down an undersized … Continue reading
