Barack Obama
« Previous EntriesHonesty Is The Best Policy
Thursday, March 23rd, 2023While honesty is the best policy, it doesn’t always make the best politics. Twenty years ago, President George W. Bush lied about Iraq. The invasion made conservatives happy but was a disaster for America, Iraq and the entire Middle East. George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice told America and the […]
There Is No Freedom Without Public Education
Thursday, February 2nd, 2023The authors of the Texas Constitution supported public education. They wrote: “A general diffusion of knowledge being essential to the preservation of the liberties and rights of the people, it shall be the duty of the Legislature of the State to establish and make suitable provision for the support and maintenance of an efficient system […]
Straw Man
Thursday, October 13th, 2022Boxers and soldiers often train fighting dummies. It is easy to understand why. Dummies don’t fight back. Eventually, however, a good fighters needs to train against another human as an opponent if they want to win a real fight. Debates work similarly with words. Some debaters only fight straw men; others, preferring a challenge, argue […]
Let’s go Joe!
Thursday, August 25th, 2022Between January 20, 2001 and July 14, 2008 prices at the gas pump rose from $1.47 per gallon to $4.11 per gallon. During that extended price rise, two Texas oil men sat in the Oval Office and made decisions. Dramatically, gas prices fell to $1.61 by December 2008. George W. Bush and Dick Cheney created […]
Did You Get the Memo?
Thursday, August 18th, 2022Every August I remember our history. For professional historians, history is based on documents. Documents give us a look into real time events rather than looking backwards. Documents help us separate reality from storytelling. On August 6, 2001 a Central Intelligence Agent handed George W. Bush a Presidential Daily Brief. Its title could not have […]
Break Big Oil’s Monopoly
Thursday, March 17th, 2022Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result. The first oil shock happened in 1973. Energy prices are set by “the market. The global energy market keeps failing us. We have known the market is failing us for 49 years. We know what can fix it: conservation and competition. Conservatives […]
Don’t Bear False Witness
Thursday, October 14th, 2021Justice requires the truth. As Americans we require anyone testifying to do it under oath. Oath breakers face penalties for perjury. The truth is no less important in other aspects of life. Both Civil Law and the Bible made bearing false witness a crime. Civil law calls it liable. Psalm 6 calls bearing false witness […]
Cruelty is a Feature, Not an Accident
Thursday, September 16th, 2021The terrorist attacks on 9/11 ignited the rise of Big Government Conservatism. Just a few months before, George W. Bush had won a razor thin election by presenting himself as a compassionate conservative. Within days of the September attacks his mask fell off. Bush started to channel the blood lust rising in conservative circles. I […]
American Recovery Plan
Thursday, March 11th, 2021Joe Biden promised to “Build Back Better.†The liberals in Congress just passed the American Recovery Plan. They set the agenda because Democrats won elections for the House, Senate and the Presidency,. Liberals believe government programs can, and should, alleviate suffering. Conservatives reject this approach. They believe individuals should be left to struggle on their […]
Heal the Sick
Thursday, February 4th, 2021One month after the installation of my pacemaker, I’m well on the way to recovery. I missed a couple of days of work, but with paid sick leave and good insurance coverage, only a slight tingling on my chest remains. Reading the news, I can’t help but notice that I am abnormal for a working […]
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