As a psychology professor I teach students who plan to be practitioners of social science. They have been moved with compassion by the problems so many people face, such as being in a painful marriage or having a child with … Continue reading
I’m not one to bother with the latest alleged blockbuster buzzing from the salons of Hollywood high culture. Over the course of two valuable hours, I can only take so many car chases, explosions, and run-of-the-mill depravity. Alas, I had a … Continue reading
Editor’s note: This article first appeared through the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a research and educational institute headquartered in Midland, Mich. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author and the Center are properly cited. … Continue reading
This year’s Conservative Political Action Conference was unique. The Tea Party movement burst forth in August 2009 and the tension that this leaderless juggernaut generates among establishment conservatives was palpable at the nation’s largest annual gathering of grassroots conservatives and … Continue reading
“Going Rogue: An American Life” By Sarah Palin | HarperCollins (November 2009) | 432 pp. | List Price: $28.99 Most likely, millions of copies of Going Rogue have been sold in recent months because Sarah Palin inspires either great enthusiasm or great antipathy among Americans. In … Continue reading
Each day, political claims and terminology—astonishing or at least remarkable—pop up in the media. Consider two such current terms: “middle class” and “populism.”In the wake of the Massachusetts senatorial election, a sudden cascade of speeches and press releases by President … Continue reading
“How can ANYONE take this man seriously?” writes Marilyn, a frequent reader of our Center for Vision & Values articles. Attached to Marilyn’s email was this headline, “Gore compares climate change fight to war against Nazis.” As the accompanying article … 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. In … Continue reading
On the Monday morning following the Oscars, U.S. news websites splashed the announcement that the “little film that could,” “Slumdog Millionaire,” had garnered the Best Picture of 2008 award. Buried on many of the same web sites was the news … Continue reading
Ready for some political and economic rock and roll? It’s happening. In 2008, Americans were rocked by the beginnings of a deflationary credit collapse and Uncle Sam’s extraordinary bailout/nationalization agenda. In 2009, Americans will be rolled. If you think 2008 … 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
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
“George Bush is not my neighbor!” —Howard Dean, January 2004 Five years ago, George W. Bush finished the last good year of his presidency. Things were looking up. The Democratic front-runners seeking their party’s presidential nomination lauded the historic accomplishments … Continue reading
Quick, attempt the following: Name the three branches of the federal government. Recognize the speech where the words “of the people, by the people, and for the people” come from. Identify the female judge on American Idol. The Intercollegiate Studies … Continue reading
“Man,” I cried, “how ignorant art thou in thy pride of wisdom! Cease; you know not what it is you say.” —Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, volume III, chapter 7 With the help of Hollywood—though often to its detriment—Mary Shelley’s 19th century … Continue reading
Politics in America is a contact sport. Passions flare and the rhetoric can get heated and nasty. Political parties stoke these fires, playing on people’s fears as a key fund-raising tactic. Conservative authors have produced books with insulting titles like … Continue reading
Reactions to Governor Palin’s selection as Senator McCain’s running mate ranged from laughter to incredulity and then from alarm to panic. Indeed, editorials on the danger she poses to Senator Obama’s once inevitable coronation in November now radiate furrowed brows … 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
Contrary to a widely circulated report in Tuesday’s Washington Post, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, did not slash funding for a program supporting teen mothers. The Washington Post’s Paul Kane reported that “Palin Slashed Funding for Teen Moms.” The far-left Huffington … Continue reading
So powerful are the media that they have been referred to as the fourth branch of government. Indeed, they can make or break reputations. Example: when former Vice President Dan Quayle misspelled “potato” by adding an “e,” the press magnified … Continue reading
