Despite being married, 23-year-old Alyssa Branton was stalked for months by a much older man who recently shot her dead outside her office building after she refused his advances. Despite providing more than 70 pages of documentation detailing Roger Troy’s bizarre and unwanted behavior, Branton was denied the restraining order that might have saved her…
Category: Society
Justice System Fails, Cop Killer and Child Rapist Run Free
East of Houston, Baytown residents are looking over their shoulders tonight as a repeat rapist and child molester runs free, possibly in their town. Meanwhile, most of a continent away, Seattle residents are likewise afraid after 4 police officers were gunned down by Maurice Clemmons in a coffee shop in that city. Not a good…
There’s No Such Thing as Equality
Bill Maher says: “Everyone deserves equal rights. That’s why they’re called “equal” and “rights”, which, as far as it goes, is certainly the goal of the American culture. But beyond the sound bite where the real thinking takes place, it’s painfully obvious that there’s no such thing as absolute equality. Nor should there be. Society…
The True American Virtue
David Brooks summarizes Michael Kazin thusly and captures the true American virtue in print almost by accident: The idea is that free labor is the essence of Americanism. Hard-working ordinary people, who create wealth in material ways, are the moral backbone of the country. In this free, capitalist nation, people should be held responsible for…
Perfecting Man, the Impossible Dream
Thomas Sowell thinks the difference between conservatives and liberals has to do with their views about the perfectability of man. Sowell argues that when it comes to the culture wars, each of us will be drawn to a specific trench not because of policies or parties but rather because of the vision we may hold…
Thoughts on Independence Day
I spent most of America’s Independence Day in Vicksburg, Mississippi at the Vicksburg National Military Park and the experience caused me to reflect on the lessons of the war and the policies and disagreements that led up to it.
Must We Draw a Line on Free Speech?
In response to the murder of abortionist Dr. George Tiller, the Houston Chronicle’s editors asked a pertinent question today – “When does anti-abortion rhetoric cross the line from free speech?” Before I begin, a question in return: from free speech into what, exactly? Presumedly the editors mean a criminal act. Fair enough – speech is…
Is Debt Default Immoral?
Megan McArdle has wrestled with this question and came up with a wonderfully clear answer:
If people really acted as if the choice to default were morally neutral, we’d either lose most of our credit system, or the legal rules would have to be much more punitive.
The culture war is over? Oh, no it’s not. There’s much more to come. Some important battles have been lost; however, the will and the need to carry on is still strong in America’s Christians.