Civility, Beliefs and America’s Toxic Political Scene by Peter Orvetti You don’t have to give up your beliefs to respect those with different ones. There is a common misconception in our increasingly toxic political environment that only pragmatists and compromisers can find ways to be civil. How, this argument goes, can those with decidedly conflicting views on stark matters like abortion, gay equality,...

And it was all going so well for Democrats and liberals in the media. Display a picture or vid clip of angry, contorted faces of the tea partiers, add the race card, accuse the “core” of the movement of being birthers, and generally play to the idea that this vast, grassroots movement is a small, insignificant bunch of sour grape Republicans who hate Obama. Well, it worked for a while. But something...

The Coca-Cola Column by Peter Funt I’m calling this column “Coca-Cola.” Although I have little to say about Coke, it’s my hope that the giant soft drink company will send me a few bucks for the naming rights. Apparently during the current economic upheaval, names are the easiest things to pawn off. New York City got $4 million by allowing Barclays to put its name on a few subway stations. Ohio...

HI there, Dr. E here. Immigration: Many of us hear not so distant thunder indicating that there will soon arise in full sight another engagement of over the bow broadsides between the tall ships regarding the issues of immigration. Though some think the issue is illegal immigration for it shows above ground so often; that is only a speck of poppy seed in the dirt pile. There are also grave issues of –the...

There is nothing new about one’s political opponent’s trying to define your philosophy. This is a part of politics as old as the republic, and the more stinking and fearsome you can define how your enemy thinks, the more hay you will make with the electorate. It worked so well for movement conservatives that they have chased the designation “liberal” from public discourse, perhaps for...

Guest post by Peter Henne Peter S. Henne is a Security Fellow with the Truman National Security Project and a doctoral candidate at Georgetown University. The recent news that Ayad Allawi won a slim majority of parliamentary seats in the recent Iraqi elections was, to say the least, surprising: a secular Shiite formerly derided as a U.S. puppet won with the support of Sunni Arabs. Yet, it would be a stretch...

The Fight Against ObamaCare Continues by Floyd and Mary Beth Brown With benefits as notorious as Viagra for pedophiles and rapists, we watched in horror as the American way of life was fundamentally changed by Democratic members of the House of Representatives and Senate. Obama and Pelosi twisted arms and bribed members of Congress into supporting their massive new entitlement program. A feeling of defeat and...

Doobie or Not Doobie? by David Goodloe It may be an issue whose time has come. And, if that is the case, there may be no more appropriate place for it than California. Voters in that state will decide in November whether to legalize and regulate marijuana use, an issue that has come before voters in other states in other election years but has always failed. In 2010, however, there is an unusual confluence of...

Would the last intellectual conservative to leave Washington please turn out the lights? The fall of AEI senior Fellow David Frum is not only a loss for intellectual conservatism, but a warning to conservative apostates everywhere that tolerance for opposing viewpoints on the right in the Age of Obama will not be a paying proposition. The previous firing of Bruce Bartlett, former Reagan senior policy analyst...

The Great Health Care “Surprise” by The Magical Sky Father “Going on vacation with the wife I decided I could trust my teenage son with my Porsche so I left him the keys and I know he will not drive it because I told him not to. He is a good kid starting his college interviews so I am sure this will all work out just fine, I mean the kid is still a virgin and runs around singing Bob Seger...

Guest post by Robert W.P. Wolfe A combat-tested strategic airlift pilot, Robert is a former major in the United States Air Force, serving as the Chief of Future Operations for the Director of Mobility Forces on his last deployment in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. He is currently a Robert F. Toigo fellow and a Morgan Stanley MBA fellow at Harvard Business School, as well as a Truman...

The answer is, Alex — both, of course. From the beginning, opposition to the tea party movement has sought to portray participants as a fringe element of conservatism; radical, anti-government protestors who never met a program they could support, or a Democrat who wasn’t either a communist or socialist. Racist, homophobic, rabidly partisan, and dangerously myopic, such analyses of the tea partiers...

America’s Security Put in Peril by Failing Schools by Michael Reagan Today, Washington is so focused on expanding the size and influence of our federal government at the expense of taxpayers that they are overlooking one of the greatest security risks facing our nation — our failing education system. Our broken education system is failing America’s children while countries around the world, our own...

This guest cartoon is by Sarjex, who describes herself as “a lonely little wingnut in the crazy liberal mecca of San Francisco.”

Living with Cancer by Martha Randolph Carr I am a second stage, Clark Level IV, and an in situ first stage, survivor of melanoma and I’m living with cancer. I want to get that out right up front because the idea of living with cancer doesn’t regularly make the news, especially when talking about melanoma. Melanoma is the fastest growing cancer in America and is second only to leukemia in killing people...

Why I won’t vote in the Texas Primary by David Goodloe Last month, I wrote that I have turned my back on a lifetime as a Democrat and now consider myself an independent. Here in Texas, we have open primaries, which means there is no official party registration. I can go to my polling place and simply declare in which party primary I wish to participate. I voted in the Democratic primary in 2008. This year,...

Clashing Realities in the Muslim World by Brian O’Neill Words have been around for as long as we have been human – they may even be what makes us human. They inspire us, shape our minds and control our perceptions. Certain phrases can raise or deflate, and alter the We live in an age of instant controversy. The polarization of our politics, combined with the accessibility of information, has led to the...

Welcome to the “American Idol” Abbattoir by Pat Reeder It’s truly bizarre to me that so many people get so caught up in “American Idol.” I watched it for the first few years, but lost interest at least four seasons ago. Still, I see flashes of it as I wander through the living room because my wife Laura is that rarest of endangered species, a professional singer with musical training....

WASHINGTON — This week will determine the shape of American politics for the next three years. No, that’s not one of those journalistic exaggerations intended to catch your attention, although I hope it did. It’s an accurate description of the stakes at the health care summit President Obama has called for Thursday. The issue is whether the summit proves to be the turning point in...

I am not attending CPAC this year. Finances have become problematic and since neither one of my employers were going to pay my way, the $1,000 or so that the trip would cost me will be put to better uses I’m sure. Not that they would have rolled out the red carpet for me anyway. RedState is running Blogger’s Row this year and it’s strange, but my invitation somehow got lost in the email. Or...

Guest post by Peter Henne Peter S. Henne is a Security Fellow with the Truman National Security Project and a doctoral candidate at Georgetown University. Of all the critiques that a Republican might level at President Obama, one would think that “you’re killing too many terrorists” would not be one of them. But it is. Marc Thiessen, a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, has...

News From Home by David Goodloe I grew up in Conway, Ark. It was a small town when I was a child, outwardly not much different from many towns in Arkansas in those days. Today, it is at least five times, maybe six times, as large as it was then, and it is noteworthy for having been the home, even if for a short time, of some prominent people. Actress Mary Steenburgen, for example, went to college there. So...

Tim Pawlenty is a mainstream conservative governor in a traditionally liberal state. When I use the term “mainstream,” I mean simply that he is in the mainstream of Minnesota conservatism – decidedly less conservative than the heart of Republicanism in the south, but conservative enough for most of the rest of the GOP. This alone gives him a decent shot as an alternative to either Palin or...

Needed: More Snow in Washington, D.C. by Tom Purcell Boy, do we need more snow in Washington, D.C. You see, when it snows in Pittsburgh, my home town, or any town in the heartland, people pick up their shovels and clear their sidewalks and driveways. We are invigorated by the crisp air and a good sweat — we are cheerful as we sip hot coffee and catch up with neighbors. That’s not how Washington reacts...

Guest post by Amir Farokhi Amir Farokhi is an Atlanta attorney and a principal with the Truman National Security Project. Ed. note: Today is the 31st anniversary of the Iranian Revolution. At a rally in Tehran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that Iran is now a “nuclear state.” This past Sunday, Ahmadinejad gave the order to proceed with uranium enrichment. This process would produce uranium...