Column

I receive loads of mail in response to my weekly nationally syndicated column. Some recent mail has been quite disturbing. 

Many people argue that liberals, socialists and progressives do not understand basic economics. I am not totally convinced about that.

Who but Charlie Hebdo would find the tragic drowning death of a little boy funny? The French magazine, notorious for its vile offenses against the sacred beliefs of Muslims, Christians and Jews, has now published two disgusting cartoons mocking the death of little Aylan Kurdi, the three-year-old Syrian boy whose body washed up on the shores of Turkey during the Syrian refugee exodus.

I wish the presidential debates could focus on what's wrong with the status quo and solutions rather than on what one candidate thinks about another's silly remarks. I don't want to hear Jeb Bush cajoling Donald Trump to apologize to his wife in front of millions of people. I don't want moderators to force a food fight between Trump and other candidates about whether he should have his finger on…

Self-declared socialist and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders entered what his supporters must consider the belly of the beast on Monday. He spoke at the conservative evangelical Liberty University in Virginia. Some of those supporters sat in reserved seats, ensuring his remarks would be received with some applause.

Attempts by conservative Christians to impose through politics and government the principles inherent in their kingdom have mostly failed. Witness Kentucky court clerk Kim Davis.

Back when I was in school, I performed a scientific experiment in which I poured a liquid of one color into a beaker that contained liquid of a different color. At first the liquid in the beaker was diluted, but as I kept pouring, the poured liquid eventually overtook the liquid in the beaker, creating an entirely new substance. That's what is happening in Europe as thousands of migrants flee…

A recent analysis in the Fact Checker column of The Washington Post by Michelle Ye Hee Lee examined competing claims by Planned Parenthood and Susan B. Anthony List regarding what percent of the former’s business consisted of abortions. The analysis concluded that both claims were misleading, and awarded each organization three Pinocchios. I would suggest that Planned Parenthood’s Pinocchios were…

Liberals are famous for shaming conservatives for their past associations with questionable characters, while they exempt themselves from the same standards. What a shocker!

Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders represent two sides of the same coin. Both men have tapped into a deep anger -- a discontent -- in the public mood. But our anger should be directed less at politicians (although many are deservedly targets) and more at ourselves for expecting more from government than it can deliver. 

George Orwell said, "There are some ideas so absurd that only an intellectual could believe them." If one wants to discover the truth of Orwell's statement, he need only step upon most college campuses.

It's been amusing in recent weeks to watch Washington pundits grappling with Trumpmania and the surge of Bernie Sanders. To say that the rise of these unusual candidates has been unsettling for the political elites would be a gross understatement.

While every viewer probably had questions they wish had been asked, overall I thought the panel's choices were fine. As one with some experience in responding to aggressive questioning from liberal TV and radio interrogators, here are some suggestions for the candidates should the sort of questions they faced last Thursday come up again.

When it comes to debates the Oxford Union, which bills itself as the "world's most prestigious debating society," remains the gold standard.... Oxford Union debates produce useful information. The same cannot be said for U.S. presidential debates.