I do not hate my mom. Many in the media and some friends on social media seem to believe I do hate my mom, as well as other older people with compromised immune systems. For more than a decade my … Continue reading
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Gasoline Prices in the Era of COVID-19
Check out the photo. That is what I paid for gasoline last Thursday in Girard, Ohio. $1.13 for a gallon of regular is a price that I had thought I would never see again. What a bargain! And what a … Continue reading
COVID 19: Yes, this is War
In mid-March, President Donald Trump declared himself a “wartime president.” While the usual legion of media critics bellyached, Trump during the COVID-19 pandemic has rallied the country to a semblance of togetherness not seen since the terrorist attacks of September … Continue reading
Unprecedented Times—But Two Things Never Change
Leading a college Career Services Office department for nearly 25 years, you can imagine that I have seen some significant market fluctuations. During those periods, strategic alterations to our action plans were made based on established historical indicators. Well, today, any semblance … Continue reading
Carrying the Cross of COVID-19 this Good Friday
Editor’s note: A version of this article first appeared at The American Spectator. One of my favorite annual rituals for Holy Week is the Via Crucis—the Way of the Cross. Held at the Roman Colosseum, where early Christians were fed … Continue reading
1918: When Another Pandemic Struck Close to Home
Editor’s note: This article first appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. In 1998, the eightieth anniversary of the Spanish Flu pandemic, I was fortunate to hear two survivors relate their indelible experiences. Marian McConkey and Lois Monahan were schoolgirls then, old … Continue reading
Thinking the Unthinkable—and Responding Wisely
In 1994, I was in my first year as director of research for the U.S. Army’s Strategic Studies Institute. Part of our mission was to consider how the Army might respond to various strategic threats. Fifteen very bright people, to … Continue reading
Conservatives: Go To College
Conservatives, don’t give up on higher education. That’s essentially the opposite of what conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, leader of the conservative youth organization, Turning Point USA, told a crowd of young people at CPAC, the annual Conservative Political Action … Continue reading
Medicare for All is Bad Medicine
With Senator Bernie Sanders once again emerging as a front-runner for the Democratic Party presidential nomination, Medicare for All has again come to the forefront of political debate. But what exactly is the senator proposing? Is it simply the expansion … Continue reading
Eerie Echoes of Influenza Epidemic
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Exhibit 1: Elizabeth Sovel Flinn. Born in 1891, she died about this time 100 years ago, age 29, a victim of the catastrophic influenza epidemic of 1919-20, also known as … Continue reading
Voting with Your Feet to Serve the Common Good
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at The Institute for Faith, Work & Economics. It’s election season in the U.S., and we are hearing a lot about voting. I saw a public service announcement on television, and a Hollywood actress … Continue reading
Afghan Imbroglio in Context
Last weekend, U.S. Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, representing a Taliban delegation, signed an agreement that could lead to substantive peace negotiations between all parties involved in what has become America’s longest war. In October 2001, … Continue reading
Big-Time Big Spenders: How Money Influences Presidential Campaigns
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at the Washington Examiner. Michael Bloomberg is spending loads of money to win the Democratic nomination. Financial disclosures made by the Bloomberg campaign indicated that as of Dec. 31, he had sunk more than … Continue reading
Clarifying the Record: Carter Economy Not Better Than Trump Economy
In a report that unfortunately received a good deal of attention, MSNBC commentator Joe Scarborough asserted that today’s economy under President Trump is in worse shape than the dismal economy under President Carter in 1979. Scarborough pointed to “Jimmy Carter’s so-called year … Continue reading
The Character and Convictions of Washington and Lincoln
In the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial and in light of the scathing attacks on both Trump and potential Democratic candidates as the 2020 election approaches, the celebration of Presidents Day is a good time to rise above … Continue reading
Getting Reagan Right
Editor’s note: This review first appeared at Law & Liberty. Marcus Witcher’s Getting Right with Reagan: The Struggle for Conservatism, 1980-2016 is an impressive work but also one that at times frustrates and confuses. To be sure, I would … Continue reading
Higher Education in an Increasingly Diverse Culture
“The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future in life” Plato Howard Mumford Jones, an English professor at the University of Michigan and later at Harvard, long ago commented that American colleges and … Continue reading
The Faith of Troy Polamalu
Troy Polamalu, who played safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2003 to 2014, has been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. He will enter the hall with Bill Cowher, who coached the … Continue reading
AOC’s Ravings Against Billionaires
“No one ever makes a billion dollars. You take a billion dollars.” That was the punchline of democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a Martin Luther King Jr. Day public interview with writer Ta-Nehisi Coates. The audience erupted into enthusiastic … Continue reading
Budget Deficit Capitulation: Our Spending Problem
During the week before Christmas, Congress rushed a spending bill into law. Two spending bills were introduced that Monday, a flurry of political horse-trading ensued, numerous pork-barrel favors were hastily added, and–presto–by Friday Congress had approved $1.4 trillion in discretionary … Continue reading