Editor’s note: A version of this article first appeared in Crisis magazine. The 2016 presidential race, like all presidential races, has raised questions and controversies regarding the religious faiths of the candidates. Donald Trump’s beliefs have been questioned, as were … Continue reading
Now that Donald Trump has locked up the Republican nomination, we can look more closely at his policy proposals. In April, when the two candidates were still battling for the Republican nomination, I compared Donald Trump’s tax plan to Ted Cruz’s … Continue reading
If the election were held today, who would you like to see as president? Take the short survey below (only two questions!) and let your voice be heard. Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world’s leading questionnaire … Continue reading
Editor’s note: This article first appeared in Crisis magazine.Do you remember the name Daniel Berrigan? Berrigan was a Jesuit priest well-known for his protests of the Vietnam War. He became a household name in the 1960s, along with his brother, Philip Berrigan, also a … Continue reading
The Armed Services Committee (ASC) recently approved a measure requiring American women aged 18 to 26 to register for the draft and sent it to the full House for consideration. If this measure becomes law it will do nothing to … Continue reading
As Republicans prepare to gather in Cleveland to nominate Donald Trump as their nominee, the question that many may ask is: Whatever happened to conservatism? To the extent that conservatism is defined by limited government, free enterprise, respect for federalism, … Continue reading
With Ted Cruz having dropped out of the 2016 presidential race, there will be a string of eulogies seeking to autopsy his campaign. At least some of those critiques may hit the mark. In particular, Cruz’s campaign strategy went awry … Continue reading
There is much talk and action right now on the issue of a minimum or “just” wage. Typically, those who favor raising the minimum wage tend to the liberal camp. However, some of those who want to raise the minimum … Continue reading
As Donald Trump and Ted Cruz battle to become the Republican nominee for president, it is time to closely consider their policies. Although both propose cutting taxes, the details of their plans are very different. Ted Cruz is proposing a … Continue reading
“Si vis pacem, para bellum” (“If you want peace, prepare for war”) On April 11-12, two Russian SU-24 fighter-bombers made repeated low-level passes over the USS Donald Cook, an American destroyer sailing in the Baltic Sea. The ship’s crew recorded … Continue reading
Arguing that no full-time worker should be paid so little as to live in poverty, Bernie Sanders supports increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2020. This is part of his plan for reducing income inequality in the United … Continue reading
“The mob is the mother of tyrants.” –Diogenes of Sinope In late August 1968, two months after an assassin killed presidential candidate Senator Robert Kennedy and shortly after Republicans nominated Richard Nixon for president, the Democrats gathered in Chicago to pick … Continue reading
With Donald Trump now such a prominent voice, many of us are confronted with the necessity of explaining him and his behavior to our children. I recently wrote of one such moment. I was watching a Republican presidential debate as … Continue reading
Donald Trump was, of course, famous long before he began his presidential run. That fame rested on his decades-long career in real estate. Though there are heated arguments currently between Trump and commentators regarding his net worth, there is no … Continue reading
I was watching a Republican presidential debate as my eight-year-old, John, sat next to me. Donald Trump, the front-runner, looked left and ripped Ted Cruz as a “liar” before seamlessly pivoting right and skewering Marco Rubio as a “sweating choke … Continue reading
With the death of Justice Antonin Scalia the Supreme Court is left with one chief justice and seven associate justices. President Obama has nominated Merrick B. Garland, chief judge of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, who was a Clinton … Continue reading
How can we explain the surprising electoral success of Donald Trump, especially in light of his lack of political experience, limited knowledge of and specificity about policy issues, and crude and insulting rhetoric? Who supports him and why do they … Continue reading
This is not an argument for what should happen or what I’d like to happen in the November presidential election, but about what would likely happen in a Donald Trump versus Hillary Clinton race: Clinton would win, and probably by … Continue reading
After the Michigan primary, there has been a predictable round of handwringing from the GOP about why Donald Trump keeps winning despite being neither a Republican nor a conservative. A lot of answers have been bandied about: there are too … Continue reading
Like many Americans, I learned my first real civics lesson watching my mother vote. Unlike many, my first lesson was fairly depressing. I grew up in southern Louisiana, and in the 1991 gubernatorial election David Duke, a former Grand Wizard … Continue reading
