The historic Hillary plunge and Obama surge we are witnessing has several sources, but perhaps none as prominent as the simple fact that Barack Obama inspires people in a way that Hillary Clinton cannot. He is blessed by that incalculable … Continue reading
American History & Presidents
Audacity of Hope vs. Audacity of Courage
They swoon, they faint, they genuflect, they take pictures, scribble notes, cheer until their voices sound like Darth Vader with a cold, and clap until their fingers explode from their hands like short bursts from an assault rifle. And those … Continue reading
The 2008 Primaries and the “Deep Issue” Deficit
Exactly 218 years ago in February 1790, a group of Quaker representatives submitted petitions to the House of Representatives to end the slave trade immediately, an action that sent Representative James Jackson from Georgia into a sputtering rage. A colleague … Continue reading
Remembering Rudy: Giuliani’s Ghost at the Potomac
The website LifeNews.com has posted some interesting exit-poll data related to Republicans voters in last Tuesday’s Potomac Primaries. In both Virginia and the more liberal Maryland, Republican voters continue to remain overwhelmingly pro-life on the abortion issue. In Virginia, a … Continue reading
Ranking (and Timing) the Presidents
Are you excited about Presidents’ Day? Neither am I. It’s hard to think of a less inspiring, more perfunctory “holiday.” To most Americans, its only significance is that the banks and post offices are closed on a mid-winter Monday. Yawn. … Continue reading
Lessons from Lincoln
As we celebrate Presidents’ Day, we can learn much from Abraham Lincoln about how to apply Judeo-Christian values to political life. Governing our nation during its darkest days, Lincoln affirmed God’s sovereignty, sought to discover God’s will, used biblical principles … Continue reading
Barack’s Elusive “King Moment”
When Barack Obama burst onto the national scene after his victory in the Iowa caucuses, many felt that a breath of fresh air was sweeping across the land, one that also gave the Clintons the chills. For other denizens of … Continue reading
Looking to Lincoln: 2008 and the Lincoln Standards
If word association and body language were the principal criteria to judge the current crop of Democratic candidates, then Barack Obama would win the most vacuous campaign slogan award—I want change!—and Hillary Clinton would strut away with the Oprah Winfrey … Continue reading
President, Savior, or Santa Claus?
Let’s consider a simple question: What exactly are we electing when we choose a president of the United States? The traditional answer would be: “Commander-in-Chief of our armed forces and the CEO of the executive branch of government.” Those two … Continue reading
Hillary’s Dewey Moment
Political pundits took to the airwaves and their ink-wells after Hillary Clinton surprised the press by posting a first-place finish in New Hampshire this week. The talking heads have credited Senator Clinton’s atypical show of emotion for helping her to … Continue reading
Where Have All the Flower Children Gone?
The American left clings to the myth that the anti-war movement ended the U.S. war in Vietnam. In fact, the anti-war movement failed to prompt any substantive changes in U.S. war policy. Rather than “pricking the conscience of the nation,” … Continue reading
VISION & VALUES CONCISE: Q&A with Paul Kengor on “The Judge” (Part II)
Reagan’s Secret Weapon in Winning the Cold War. Editor’s Note: The “V&V Q&A” is an e-publication and a regular feature from the Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College. In this latest edition, the Center interviews its own executive … Continue reading
Picture of Death: The Killing Fields’ Camera Man
Guest Commentary Accountability has been long in coming to Cambodia. Thirty-two years after the Khmer Rouge seized power and unleashed horrific slaughter upon the Cambodian people, trials are approaching for several Khmer Rouge leaders, including former foreign minister, Ieng Sary, … Continue reading
Thoughts of Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is the quintessential American holiday. It fuses the secular and the sacred—that special synthesis that forms our national identity. Our celebration of a Day of Thanksgiving underscores both our commonality, as citizens of one republic, and our diversity, as … Continue reading
Thanksgiving Revisited: A Blessed, But Not a Chosen Nation
In November 1620, 102 English Pilgrims arrived at Cape Cod after an arduous 66-day voyage across the Atlantic. The first winter, half of their company died. Nevertheless, after the residents of Plymouth gathered their first harvest the next November, Governor … Continue reading
No Exit
“The man who runs away will fight again.”– Menander, 303 B.C. In April 1972, with North Vietnamese forces advancing as part of their Nguyen Hue Offensive, Seventh Air Force Headquarters in Saigon began drawing up evacuation plans. Approximately 60,000 U.S. … Continue reading
Get Back to the House!
One of the often overlooked features of the U.S. Constitution is the minimal qualifications for running for office. The Constitution says that any natural-born citizen—male or female—over the age of 35 can be president. Perhaps we should add one limitation: … Continue reading
On Bridges, Priorities, and Principles
As the Twin Cities struggle to return to normalcy in the aftermath of the collapse of the bridge along I-35, we will be subjected to the unseemly spectacle of politicians pointing fingers at each other. I am not interested in … Continue reading
The “Libertarian Movement”—An Oxymoron?
I first encountered the libertarian philosophy almost 30 years ago. Back then, I had high hopes that the libertarian movement would expand and generate an intellectual, moral, and political reform, rekindling the spirit of liberty in the land and steering … Continue reading
Victory Japan Tilford
In early August, members of the Witherspoon Society, a “progressive” religious advocacy group affiliated with the Presbyterian Church USA, attended the “Ghost Ranch Week of Peace” in rural New Mexico. Ghost Ranch participants generally are anti-war and anti-military, support the … Continue reading