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LCMS before the Supreme Court

January 11, 2012 By Gene Veith

The case of Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran School vs. the EEOC is being argued before the Supreme Court. J. Christian Adams sees the Justice Department’s case as being a major assault on religious liberty. Here is his take: Like so much from this Justice Department, Holder’s radical legal positions are at odds with long American traditions. This latest species of Holder’s radicalism is a frontal attack on faith communities. In the case of Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v…. Read more

Romney wins New Hampshire; Paul is 2nd

January 11, 2012 By Gene Veith

76 Comments

M. Romney 39.4% R. Paul 22.8% J. Huntsman 16.9% N. Gingrich 9.4% R. Santorum 9.3% R. Perry 0.7% B. Roemer 0.4% M. Bachmann 0.1% G. Johnson 0.1% H. Cain 0.1% via Politics, Political News – POLITICO.com. You be the analyst. Read more

Do we need a manager rather than an ideologue?

January 11, 2012 By Gene Veith

98 Comments

Some Republicans, resigning themselves to what looks like an inevitable Mitt Romney nomination, are growing philosophical. Yes, Romney falls short ideologically. But maybe we don’t need an ideologue. Maybe a management consultant as president is exactly what we need. From Michael Gerson: Maybe, at this moment, the Republican Party doesn’t need a clear decision on its identity (which might not be possible anyway). Romney has this advantage: In supporting him, no Republican is called upon to surrender his or her… Read more

Information’s dependence on advertising

January 11, 2012 By Gene Veith

20 Comments

Ezra Klein points out that in the 19th century the different newspapers were tied to and funded by political parties. The news was slanted accordingly. But then newspaper revenue switched to advertising. This led to a greater degree of objectivity–as well as blandness–since newspapers didn’t want to alienate any particular audience, the advertisers wanting to sell to everybody. After that interesting discussion, Klein segues into a larger discussion based on this observation: One of the most mind-bending facts of our… Read more

Our new military era

January 10, 2012 By Gene Veith

138 Comments

At the Pentagon last week President Obama announced the new defense budget, which will include some cuts and will also herald a new military strategy. Briefly, the president declared that the last decade’s wars against Islamic radicals are over. And we will be pulling troops out of Europe and re-positioning them to face China. David Ignatius gives details: It was easy to miss the impact of Obama’s words: He was declaring that the era that began on Sept. 11,… Read more

A new kind of environmentalism

January 10, 2012 By Gene Veith

30 Comments

Classic environmentalism wants to restore things to their pristine condition, untouched by man. But a new kind of environmentalism thinks that man should actively take the lead in steering “spaceship earth.” More and more environmentalists and scientists talk about the planet as a complex system, one that human beings must aggressively monitor, manage and sometimes reengineer. Kind of like a spaceship. This is a sharp departure from traditional “green” philosophy. The more orthodox way of viewing nature is as something… Read more

The CIA, patron of modern art

January 10, 2012 By Gene Veith

48 Comments

Frances Saunders reports in the British newspaper The Independent that modern art, particularly abstract expressionism, was funded by the C.I.A. as part of its covert war on communism. For decades in art circles it was either a rumour or a joke, but now it is confirmed as a fact. The Central Intelligence Agency used American modern art – including the works of such artists as Jackson Pollock, Robert Motherwell, Willem de Kooning and Mark Rothko – as a weapon in… Read more

Santorum’s philosophy of government

January 9, 2012 By Gene Veith

176 Comments

Michael Gerson on Rick Santorum’s brand of conservatism: Perhaps the most surprising result of the Iowa caucuses was the return of compassionate conservatism from the margins of the Republican stage to its center. Rick Santorum is not just an outspoken social conservative; he is the Republican candidate who addresses the struggles of blue-collar workers and the need for greater economic mobility. He talks not only of the rights of the individual but also of the health of social institutions, particularly… Read more

Government debt now greater than the whole economy

January 9, 2012 By Gene Veith

6 Comments

Factoid buried in a Washington Post graph caption: The federal debt of the United States — including debt owed to the public and to parts of the government itself, such as the Social Security Fund — climbed to $15.22 trillion on Dec. 30. That marked the first time since the 1940s that the national debt was larger than the American economy, as measured by the gross domestic product. Since Dec. 30, the debt has increased an additional $4 billion. via… Read more

The Captain Ahab of the primaries

January 9, 2012 By Gene Veith

40 Comments

Charles Krauthammer takes the prize for the best literary allusion in election analysis so far: Gingrich is staying in. This should be good news for Romney. It’s not. In his Iowa non-concession speech, Gingrich was seething. He could not conceal his fury with Paul and Romney for burying him in negative ads. After singling out Santorum for praise, Gingrich launched into them both, most especially Romney. Gingrich speaks of aligning himself with Santorum against Romney. For Newt’s campaign, this makes… Read more