RUSTHOVEN: Double standards on Israel
Like many conservatives, I am struck by the liberal media double standard on issues involving Israel. Two recent events bring this to the forefront.
Taking Issue
Articles
KENNEDY: Privatization expands government
The ugly mud-wrestling match that was the fiscal cliff negotiation is over for the time being. Congress has done what Congress has been doing with some regularity the past few years—it has kicked the can down the road a few months.
RUSTHOVEN: Clinging to facts about guns
Folks on the left tend to view themselves as intellectually superior to most on the right, especially blue-collar sorts who follow NASCAR and (to quote our president) “cling to their guns and religion” to deal with “their frustrations."
RUSTHOVEN: Pence must win tax debate
Ben Franklin said nothing is certain but death and taxes. One could add a third item: If there is surplus revenue, legislators will spend it.
KENNEDY: Defining equality for the new year
Equality is one of those principles that almost everyone subscribes to—a concept we can all endorse in the abstract, because in the abstract, we don’t have to decide what it really means.
RUSTHOVEN: Pence, Obama contrasted
Indiana’s just-elected governor and the nation’s just re-elected president take markedly different approaches to current economic issues.
KENNEDY: The long and short of it
There’s an old saying to the effect that a politician’s idea of “long term” is the next election. Our system rewards folks who can front-load the goodies and postpone the pain, even when doing so is clearly not in the long-term public interest. Budget deficits are an obvious case in point.
RUSTHOVEN: Where next for Republicans
Republicans can ignore the standard Democratic line that voters now reject conservatives and Republicans must “change,” meaning “become Democrats.”
KENNEDY: Be careful what you wish for
I’ll admit to taking guilty pleasure from two highly significant miscalculations of this year’s election cycle: the infusion of gazillions of corporate dollars to sway voters, and efforts to (ahem!) “true the vote.
RUSTHOVEN: You’ll like Governor Pence
Mike Pence’s victory in our gubernatorial contest was the highlight for Hoosier Republicans on Tuesday, and among the few bright spots nationally on a largely dismal night for the GOP.
KENNEDY: Lots of tea, not much sympathy
Mike Pence has been running a strategically brilliant campaign, taking care to mask his inner culture warrior while displaying a previously invisible interest in economic development and job creation.
RUSTHOVEN: Mourdock one-ups even Akin
A few weeks back, Missouri GOP Senate nominee Todd Akin, channeling his frustrated inner M.D., said that when women are raped, their bodies react to prevent pregnancy.
KENNEDY: Elections have consequences
Try as I might, it is close to impossible to escape the political ads blanketing the airwaves in these last days leading up to the election.
RUSTHOVEN: Conservative caricatures mislead
One of the left’s conceits is believing its own caricature of conservatives. Hence, the reflexive liberal reaction is that a conservative who belies the caricature must be lying.
KENNEDY: Phoenix stays true to its mission
In this space, I’ve referenced studies confirming the “instrumental” value of the arts—especially economic growth and better academic performance. A new study from Rand argues for greater recognition of the intrinsic benefits as well: growth in individual capacities such as empathy for other peoples and cultures, enhanced powers of observation, and fuller understanding of the world in which we live.
RUSTHOVEN: The ‘Hee Haw’ candidate distorts again
John Gregg is at it again. In a gubernatorial campaign marked by dishonest attacks on GOP nominee Mike Pence, Gregg’s newest ad shows him under an umbrella with water running off it. Gregg, speaking in Mr. Folksy mode, tells us Pence wants to spend Indiana’s entire “rainy day” fund. Citing his experience as former Vincennes University president, Mr. Folksy warns this is a bad idea, one more way Pence threatens education.
KENNEDY: True family-values campaigns
Recently, all eyes have been glued to developments in the presidential race and to Indiana’s campaigns for governor and U.S. senator. We’ve paid less attention to the folks running for seats in the Indiana House and Senate.
RUSTHOVEN: Revisionist change and little hope
The most revealing Democratic National Convention speeches were by Presidents Obama and Clinton. Let’s start with the incumbent.
KENNEDY: Music intrinsic to world-class cities
When I was in city hall in the late 1970s, the goal was to make Indianapolis a “world class” city. That wasn’t just rhetoric used by Mayor Hudnut. It was echoed by the City Committee (now long defunct) and by Lilly Endowment, which generously facilitated the goal.
KENNEDY: Which of these is not like the other?
Bowing to the demands of the GOP base, Mitt Romney has chosen his running mate. Paul Ryan is the final confirmation of Romney’s capitulation to the True Believers.