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Column: Why God Favors Stem Cell Research

by Voltaire

John Paul II’s position on stem cell research is a blast from the past when Catholic theologians gnashed their teeth over the size of angels, the torture of heretics, and the foreskin of Christ (i.e., where did it go after circumcision?). Why George Bush would seek bio-moral guidance from a religious leader who believes that all sex outside marriage (a lot within, too) is--without exaggeration--satanic, that is, worthy of eternal damnation, defies reason. But not politics,

HNN Quiz: How Many People Did Bush Take to Europe?

by HNN Staff

The New York Times reported this week that President Bush was accompanied to Europe by between 800 and 900 people. The group included members of the Secret Service, officers in the State Department, and White House aides.CONTEXT When Richard Nixon traveled to China in 1972 to meet Mao he brought with him 300 people, including reporters. The Chinese were said to have been shocked. Even their emperors had never traveled like this. After Nixon all of the presiden

Presidency: George Will Be George

by Rick Shenkman

Following his first meeting with Vladimir Putin George Bush famously remarked that the Russian president can be trusted. What was it he said? Oh yeah. He’s a “remarkable leader,” an “honest straightforward man.” Bush looked into Putin’s “soul” and came away convinced he “loves his family.” Ugh. But what the pundits who rightly ridiculed Bush’s comments neglected to point out was that it was the same thing he has been saying for years about people he meets. When he has nothing to

Column: The Biggest Affirmative Action Program of Them All

by William Thompson

On June 25, I suggested that Affirmative Action was responsible for my securing an academic job in 1980. I am from the majority race, of the male gender, and I was 40 years old at the time. I found Affirmative Action to give great advantages to white males. Quite simply we are the leading category of job seekers, and Affirmative Action requires that jobs be widely advertised so everyone can find out about them. If every

Column: Did I Mention that Spending Billions on Missile Defense Is Stupid?

by P. M. Carpenter

To help protect us from “the world’s least-responsible states,” like North Korea, or “accidental missile launches” from Russia or China, the president has poproposed a 57 percent increase on missile defense spending next year – a total of $8.3 billion.Notwithstanding that any nation that launches missiles “accidentally” really should be included among the “least responsible,” the plan itself has problems. For example, it doesn’t work. We’re also broke; it violates a major treaty with Russia

Column: The Most Expensive State Election in History

by William Thompson.

The demise of moralistic politics was decried in my column of June 17 (Can Anybody Teach Gray Davis to Behave Himself?). One issue in particular has typified that demise: gambling. While an American California has had a modicum of gambling since its first Gold Rush days, most of its long moralistic era saw gambling repudiated by both the leaders and the people of twhe state. In recent decades, this has changed.In 1

Military: The Missile Indefensible Shield

by William Lambers.

This past week's successful missile defense test was a victory for George W. Bush, who sees such a system as critical to our national security interests. But buried by the debate over missile defense lies a smaller, less dramatic, but more vital national security measure. It is ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). President Bush's proposed defense system would be designed to shoot down nuclear missiles launched against the United States. It would act as a shield against

Column: Whatever Happened to Campaign Finance Reform?

by P.M. Carpenter

11If I were assigned topics as a newspaper editorial writer, I’d kill the managing editor. I’d kill him dead and pray that it take months to replace him. For even the punitive prospect of a scalding, stinking hell for my wicked deed would be preferable to hearing 3 times a week, “Carpenter, we need another piece on campaign finance reform.”11In just 6 months I already would have written 72 versions of the same editorial. In 36 identical cycles the first editorial would proclaim to a

When the State Kills

by William McFeely

The death penalty has not been a constant in American history. It has undergone numerous changes and reforms in the past two centuries, falling in and out of public favor. Immediately after the American Revolution, some legislators removed the death penalty as punishment for many crimes. In the genteel nineteenth century, government officials went even further, ending public hangings that once entertained large crowds of curious onlookers. Officials deemed it more seemly to conduct executions

Analogies: Was Timothy McVeigh Our John Brown?

by Paul Finkelman v. Clayton Cramer

YESBy Clayton Cramer. Mr. Cramer, who describes himself as"a software engineer by day, historian by night," holds an MA in history and is the author of several books. The public perception of John Brown has gone through a quite substantial transformation since his execution in 1859. While there were those like Thoreau who were prepared to publish “A Plea for Captain John Brown,”

Presidency: George’s Jimmy Problem

by Stephen Hess

Editor’s Note The following column was first published July 2, 1978. Different era, different president. But today George Bush faces the same problem Jimmy Carter did back then: declining poll ratings. In an effort to put the latest poll numbers in perspective, we decided to take you back in time. So sit back and relax. It’s 1978 again. A president with little experience is discovering that leading is difficult. And he’s receiving all kinds of advice.Presidential scholar Thoma

Column: The City that Hates History

by William Thompson

Las Vegas, Nevada, is a very unlikely place to find American history. After all, in this city people worship the future as they always look to the next pull of a handle, roll of the dice, or deal of the deck; and also, they make a point out of forgetting that last loss. For those who do reach for history in Las Vegas, we throw up little obstacles. Instead of making our historical sites entries on a national registry, we blow up the sites. Now the ostensibl

The Law Microsoft Hates (Should You, Too?)

by Richard Friedman

Microsoft is one of the preeminent firms of the Information Age. But its fate will be decided under the Sherman Antitrust Act, which Congress passed 111 years ago in an attempt to curb excessive industrial power in the Railroad Age. Like so many complex cases decided under that statute, this one will take years for a final resolution. The substance of the Sherman Act -- the scope of what it prohibits -- is amply flexible to meet modern conditions. But the proced

Presidency: Memo to George W.

by Rick Shenkman

To: George W. BushFrom: Teddy RooseveltGeorge, I’m coming out of retirement to give you a little friendly advice, one Republican to another. No, I am not here to berate you for your administration’s dismal environmental record. I’m writing a separate letter to Dick about that. I figure he’s the one to talk to about policy.The issue I want to raise with you is more important. It’s how you’re conducting yourself as president. George, you need to take command! The presidency

Column: Learning Nothing from the Reagan Deficits

by P.M. Carpenter

11It had to be the most awesome, lollapalooza understatement of the year. In a June 30th headline, the New York Times – which neurotics in the know regard as a capitalist rag of unsubdued socialism -- reported without a hint of sarcasm or bias that the “Budget Surplus Could Dwindle, Bush Aide Says.” Surely this admitted reversal of fortune came as “news” only to children under the age of nine who aren’t quite right, and perhaps George W. himself.11The aide selected to deliver the

Column: Red, White, and Blue, From Sea to Shining Sea, Long May It Wave

by William Thompson

As a gambling researcher in Las Vegas, I am often called upon to comment on the many maladies that afflict the social fabric of my community. I do so recognizing one major disconnect. Over 5000 vote each month with their feet. Their votes say Las Vegas has to be doing something right because they move here. They make us the fastest growing community in the country. Often I think we should have a day to celebrate good things about Las Vegas. We don't.People of the world vote with th

Column: This Smoker’s Glad Bush Is in Big Tobacco’s Pocket

by P.M. Carpenter

On the matter of what to do about smoking and purveyors of smoke, there is as much confusion in our nation’s capital as there was some 400 years ago in the Old World. Then, European governments were not worried about tobacco’s health detriment; indeed, many physicians considered tobacco a curative for a host of ills. But its use had the unfortunate by-product-—a kind of second-hand smoke problem, if you will-—of setting ablaze wood-constructed villages and leaving Lord only knows how many in

Presidency: What's Up Doc?

by Rick Shenkman

What are we to make of a high official who repeatedly suffers from heart trouble? The fact that we do not know the answer is almost as troubling as Dick Cheney’s repeated visits to the hospital.To most questions concerning our leaders we have stock answers, well-honed after two hundred years of experience. One of the reasons for our political system’s stability is that when most problems arise we know immediately the right questions to ask, even if we do not immediately know all the answ

Military: Bush’s Dangerous Nuclear Plans

by Ira Chernus

George W. Bush is talking about the most radical change in U.S. military strategy since Dwight D. Eisenhower took office as president in 1953. Like Eisenhower, Bush faces an uphill struggle selling the new strategy to Congress, the American people and U.S. allies. Eisenhower's innovation brought more risks than benefits. Bush's plans are even more full of dangers. Eisenhower wanted to limit military spending by reducing conventional forces and basing U.S. security on nuclear weapons. But

Column: A White Male Confesses: I Got My Job Through Affirmative Action

by William Thompson

I received my undergraduate and master's degrees in Political Science from Michigan State University. Following a brief stint in the Marine Corps and a two-year teaching position at Southeast Missouri State College in Cape Girardeau, I enrolled in the Ph.D. program at the University of Missouri in Columbia. I received my degree in l972, nine months after I entered the job market for a tenured track teaching position. I knew that finding a job in l971 would not be easy. After all, my degrees