Mixing and matching a big mistake
Apparently the soaring national debt and the threat of a nuclear Iran are not enough to occupy the government's time, because the Obama administration is pushing to force Westchester County, N.Y., to create more low-income housing, in order to mix and match classes and races to fit the government's preconceptions.
Votes gained through emotions
Random thoughts on the passing scene: How long do politicians have to keep on promising heaven and delivering hell before people catch on, and stop getting swept away by rhetoric?
Obama's political word games
One of the highly developed talents of President Obama is the ability to say things that are demonstrably false, and make them sound not only plausible but inspiring.
Charade of discrimination an invincible dogma
A long-standing legal charade was played out again recently, when Federal Express paid $3 million to settle an employment discrimination case brought by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Geraldo's concern for lives
It is not often that I agree with Geraldo Rivera, but recently he said something very practical and potentially life-saving, when he urged black and Hispanic parents not to let their children go around wearing hoodies.
Cleanup reveals rhetoric
One of the things that turned up, during a long-overdue cleanup of my office, was an old yellowed copy of the New York Times dated July 24, 1992. One of the front-page headlines said: "White-Black Disparity in Income Narrowed in 80's, Census Shows."
Black votes secured by hoax
There have been many frauds of historic proportions -- for example, the financial pyramid scheme for which Charles Ponzi was sent to prison in the 1920s, and for which Franklin D. Roosevelt was praised in the 1930s, when he called it Social Security.
One man silently saved many
There are undoubtedly many people who are alive today because of James Q. Wilson, who died last week.
Pettiness and mud run same old cycle
The only good news for the Republicans coming out of the seemingly endless presidential candidate "debates" is that some Republican leaders are now belatedly thinking about how they can avoid a repetition of this debacle in future elections.
Wilson left a progressive legacy
The same presumptions of superior wisdom and virtue behind the interventionism of progressive presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson in the domestic economy also led them to be interventionists in other countries.
Caucuses show an anti-Romney vote
A funny thing happened to Mitt Romney on the way to his coronation as the inevitable Republican candidate for President of the United States.
Trains are getting nowhere, very fast
California has a huge state debt and Washington has a huge national debt. But that does not discourage either Governor Jerry Brown or President Barack Obama from wanting to launch a very costly high-speed rail system.
South Carolina primary sends a message
Just days before the South Carolina primary, polls showed Mitt Romney leading Newt Gingrich.
Creating wealth is an Ignored 'Disparity'
With all the talk about "disparities" in innumerable contexts, there is one very important disparity that gets remarkably little attention -- disparities in the ability to create wealth.
Kodak, post office show changing times
The news that Eastman Kodak is preparing to file for bankruptcy, after being the leading photographic company in the world for more than a hundred years, truly marks the end of an era.
Gingrich best GOP choice
No one seems to be really happy with this year’s field of Republican candidates for that party’s presidential nomination — except perhaps the Democrats.
Don't concentrate on past
If Newt Gingrich were being nominated for sainthood, many of us would vote very differently from the way we would vote if he were being nominated for a political office.
Gridlock to the Rescue?
Washington gridlock may turn out to be the salvation of the Obama administration.
Christmas books nice gift for holidays
The joys of Christmas do not include coping with crowds at shopping malls or wracking your brains trying to figure out what to get as a gift for someone who already seems to have everything.
Alice finds wonders in ‘Liberal Land’
"Alice in Wonderland” was written by a professor who also wrote a book on symbolic logic. So it is not surprising that Alice encountered not only strange behavior in Wonderland, but also strange and illogical reasoning — of a sort too often found in the real world, and which a logician would be very much aware of.
Will the Republicans mess it all up?
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes said that a good catch phrase could stop thinking for 50 years. One of the often-repeated catch phrases of our time — “It’s the economy, stupid!” — has already stopped thinking in some quarters for a couple of decades.
Taking a look at the media and ‘bullying’
Back in the 1920s, the intelligentsia on both sides of the Atlantic were loudly protesting the execution of political radicals Sacco and Vanzetti, after what they claimed was an unfair trial. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote to his young leftist friend Harold Laski, pointing out that there were “a thousand-fold worse cases” involving black defendants, “but the world does not worry over them.”
Reverse racism prevalent
Among those who have been disappointed by President Obama, none is likely to end up so painfully disappointed as those who saw his election as being, in itself and in its consequences, a movement toward a “post-racial society.”
Stop listening to rhetoric; check out facts
Listening to political rhetoric often leads to opposite conclusions from those resulting from checking out hard facts — and not just for blacks.
Superman vs. warm body fight matters
One of the problems in trying to select a leader for any large organization or institution is the tendency to start out looking for Superman, passing up many good people who fail to meet that standard, and eventually ending up settling for a warm body.
Focus only on viable candidates
The so-called “debates” among Republican presidential aspirants are classic examples of the media spreading misunderstanding instead of enlightenment. The ancient admonition, “With all you’re getting, get understanding” has been replaced in the media by, “With all you’re getting, get sound bites — and, if possible, ‘gotcha’ sound bites.”
U.S. has choice of two different worlds
Ideological clashes over particular laws, policies and programs often go far deeper. Those with opposing views of what is desirable for the future also tend to differ equally sharply as to what the reality of the present is. In other words, they envision two very different worlds.
Barbarism leads to social degeneration
Although much of the media have their antennae out to pick up anything that might be construed as racism against blacks, they resolutely ignore even the most blatant racism by blacks against others.
Budget deal not even a Pyrrhic 'victory' for GOP
In Don Marquis' classic satirical book, "Archy and Mehitabel," Mehitabel the alley cat asks plaintively, "What have I done to deserve all these kittens?"
For blacks, rhetoric's just empty promises
Many years ago, the Saturday Evening Post was one of the best-known magazines in America. But somehow I learned that the Saturday Evening Post was actually published on Wednesday morning. That was a little disconcerting at first. But it was one of the most valuable lessons, that words do not necessarily reflect reality.
Debt law should be judged for what it does
Too many policies and institutions are judged by what they are supposed to do, rather than by what they actually do.
You can get too much of a good thing
Life has many good things. The problem is that most of these good things can be gotten only by sacrificing other good things. We all recognize this in our daily lives. It is only in politics that this simple, common sense fact is routinely ignored.
Too many unknowns lurking nowadays
When Donald Rumsfeld was Secretary of Defense, he coined some phrases about knowledge that apply far beyond military matters.- Thomas Sowell, syndicated columnist
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