In one way or another, almost all of my columns (and blog posts) in recent weeks have involved defenses of longstanding traditions of law and culture. As usual, follow the links below to read the columns.
For instance, while I excoriated Mike Huckabee for prevaricating about his record (and for his record itself, especially on commutations), I defended him for standing up for the idea that there are indeed gender differences, for which women deserve extra respect.
On marriage, I left the moralizing (both ways) and policy judgments to others, and stuck to analyzing the legal aspects of Alabama’s battle over same-sex marriage. Certain legal standards and procedures must be observed — and it’s also worth making a plea for legal clarity rather than the chaos engendered by the courts. Here, here, and most fully explored here and here.
On the standards for protesting speakers, I say that what is sauce for the goose should be sauce for the gander, and ask why there will likely be no protesters when the awful Rev. Jeremiah Wright speaks at Southern University. Meanwhile, I defend Bobby Jindal for speaking the truth about Islamist zones in Europe. Also in Louisiana, I am happy to see incoming business-group chairman Jay Lapeyre won’t be asking for special favors for special businesses, but instead will push for what I paraphrased as “bright, clear rules, evenly applied.” Finally, I celebrate a judge’s ruling dismissing an environmental lawsuit, because it upheld important standards about who can sue for what. (For sports fans, I even work in a reference to a 1916 football game, a “blowout for the ages.”)
Speaking (as I did in the parenthesis above) about football, I argue that the standard for adjudging a coach’s decision should not be based on whether it worked, but on a logical analysis of the circumstances he faced. Thus, Seattle Coach Pete Carroll did not make the wrong call at the end of the Super Bowl.
Finally, throughout American history, presidents have lived by a clear standard: American strength is good for us and good for the world. And a second, basic understanding: Those who say they are our enemies should be treated as, yes, enemies. Alas, Barack Obama holds to neither of those beliefs. We fight for civilization itself, but he’s not engaged on our side of the fight.
There: That’s an even dozen links. That’s enough for now. Enjoy!
