We’ve come to expect unusual political gymnastics from our congressional representatives in election years. We understand that politicians talk and act in strange ways during these times, driven exclusively by self-preservation, i.e., getting re-elected. This behavior is necessitated by…
Unintended consequences are side effects of actions that were not anticipated. Although most people think of unintended consequences as the negative results of government laws and regulations, the term is neutral. It includes, as well, positive outcomes of both government action and actions of individuals. Unfortunately, big government legislation necessarily contains so many negative, yet unanticipated, outcomes that it puts people…
Hurricane Sandy was very helpful to Barack Obama in his successful bid for re-election in 2012. Mitt Romney’s incompetent campaign and the President’s stage presence weren’t enough to secure victory. Obama was trailing in the national polls for most of the month preceding Election Day…
If there ever were any doubt, developments this week made it clear that Vladimir Putin is driving the international bus in the Ukraine. The United States has few options and those depend on the long-term cooperation of EU countries, something that isn’t likely to happen. Where will the U.S. end up when Putin decides to put the brakes on the current ride?…
There is a lot of talk lately about a return to the Cold War. Within the past ten days or so, Administration officials insisted that the chillier climes of years past have not returned. However, with Russian troops now in the Ukraine, many believe that the polar vortex of this winter brought an international political freeze with it…
After a period of calm, climate change came storming back into the verbiage of Obama Administration officials earlier this month, including the President himself. In a speech in Jakarta, Indonesia, Secretary of State John Kerry labeled climate change as possibly the world’s “most fearsome weapon of mass destruction”…
