Regular readers know that Margaret Thatcher is one of my heroes, and her latest book, Statecraft, did not disappoint. In fact, it added to my appreciation of her depth and common sense approach to policy. The book’s subtitle, Strategies for a Changing World, is appropriate, for it is a sweeping tour of the world’s conflicts […]
Archives for 2003
Judicial Tyranny
At the beginning of this nation, the Founders had in mind that, of the three branches of government based on Montesquieu’s idea of the separation of powers that evolved into the American concept of “checks and balances”, the legislative branch, as representative of the sovereignty of the people, would be dominant and the judicial branch […]
“A Nation At Risk” At 20
In April, there was quite a lot of attention given to the 20th anniversary of “A Nation at Risk”, the 1983 report of a blue-ribbon task force on the state of education in the U. S. Almost anyone vaguely familiar with the report remembers the oft-quoted finding that “The educational foundations of our society are […]
Dealing With The “Curse” In Iraq
Of all the interlocking components of the massive project before us in Iraq, I believe that an early indicator of long-term success will be the way we handle the country’s oil properties. This wealth has been characterized as a “curse” and, in fact, it has been exactly that for all the oil-rich Arab states in […]
Elections Should Have Consequences
Once again, I am intrigued by E. J. Dionne, who believes that the passage of President Bush’s tax cut bill is a watershed in American politics because of the raw partisanship (he calls it “hyperpartisanship”) it demonstrates. I have news for him—elections have consequences—and I am reminded of John F. Kennedy’s remark shortly after his […]
The “Road Map”
Count me as one who is highly skeptical about the chances for success of the “road map” to peace in the Holy Land as currently conceived. In fact, I have always been troubled by any characterization resembling a “peace process” for the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, which, almost by definition, is an invention of the internationalists in […]
The Texas School Finance Debate
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has floated his proposal for a successor to the flawed “Robin Hood” system of Texas public school finance, and while I applaud his initiative in doing so, I believe that his plan, along with most of the other ideas that have been suggested, approaches the problem from the wrong direction. Put […]
Why We Fought
My friend Stuart Schube related to me some conversations he has had recently with friends preparing for the upcoming Jewish Day of Remembrance observing the Holocaust. To one of them he commented (and I paraphrase), “If George W. Bush had been President in 1933 and available to respond to the Nazi threat in 1933-39, there […]
Voice Vs. Choice
Lately I have been reminded from several directions of the efficacy in various applications of the concept of “public choice theory” as developed by economics Nobel Laureate James M. Buchanan. In a recent issue of “Imprimis”, Buchanan expounds on this theory, which to me is nothing more complicated than one that espouses a market-based system […]
Moynihan Remembered
Daniel Patrick Moynihan, one of my favorite liberals and public servants, recently went on to his reward. My friend Matt Ladner sent me an excerpt from Moynihan’s book, Miles to Go, which is very instructive about him as well as liberal thought as we have come to know it. It seems that Moynihan and a […]