Author: Eric Scheie

Every day I get a lot of emails from various right wing organizations, all of which seem to be telling me that the only alternative to Barack Obama is the far right. These organizations include the American Family Association, the Traditional Values Coalition, Richard Viguerie’s Conservative HQ, not to forget longtime emailer Matt Barber, who…

I find the ongoing story of the federal government’s campaign against an anti-pain activist to be horrifying. It’s bad enough that doctors are afraid to prescribe pain medication because the government is breathing down their necks. But now the government is going after people who are speaking up in defense of targeted doctors. OK, regular…

Stephen Green drunkblogged President Obama’s speech last night, so I didn’t have to. Here’s his final conclusion: I’m disgusted. And I need another drink. If I’m feeling up to it, I’ll post a little Oh I’m So Wise summary later tonight at VodkaPundit.com. Or possibly not. But here’s the short version: Obama will see a…

Obama supporter Camille Paglia thinks it’s too late for the coalition that elected him to repair the damage. Along with a tantalizingly accurate definition of that group of people I’ve called “THEY,” she asks some great questions: Why has the Democratic Party become so arrogantly detached from ordinary Americans? Though they claim to speak for…

This San Francisco Chronicle editorial reveals so much about the leftist mindset that I found it almost charming. Their position on Van Jones is not that there’s anything wrong with his thinking, but that the Obama administration is too busy to be bothered having to defend him: This administration has far too many pressing issues…

Will the Democratic Party be so stupid as to pass a health care reform bill? The other night a group of eager beaver policy wonks told me they would, and explained why. This morning I found virtually all of their arguments outlined here. Despite the fierce opposition that gripped the nation all summer, the bill…

As one of those who has not (yet) been driven crazy by the prospect of Barack Obama delivering a propaganda lecture to the children, I’m finding it a bit hard to figure out how I fit into this analysis that Glenn Reynolds linked earlier: The Silly Season ceases to be “silly” when what passes for…

As I’ve been swamped with Labor Day weekend business aggravated by a mechanical breakdown (try fixing a radiator leak when you’re in another state on a weekend with no tools wearing a suit!), I haven’t been able to keep up with the blogosphere. Normally, I trust Glenn Reynolds to keep up with the blogosphere for…

There are few things in life I detest more than enthusiasm for government. And as my luck would have it, last night I ate dinner surrounded by people who feel exactly the opposite way. Young, enthusiastic, left-wing policy wonks, who are simply drooling over the prospect of implementing government programs. It was a sickening experience,…

While he was talking primarily in the context of healthcare, Thomas Sowell recently praised Barack Obama’s skill as a magician. Just as magicians know that the secret of some of their tricks is to distract the audience, so politicians know that the secret of many political tricks is to distract the public with scapegoats. No…

And he’s not wearing a condom! At least, that’s the general theme of this anti-AIDS video that has upset a number of AIDS activists. Apparently, the objection is to showing an AIDS-infected Hitler is that it will portray AIDS sufferers in a negative light: The commercial was produced by the young Hamburg-based advertising agency das…

It took me about a year to get around to it, but yesterday I finally visited the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. There’s a lot I could say about it, but if I had to sum it up in a word, that word would be “INSPIRING.” Truly, Henry Ford was an inspirational genius on a…

Christianity has always been considered almost synonymous with charity. Yet in order for charity to be charity, it has to be voluntary, for absent free choice, it ceases to be charity and becomes a tax. Now, I’m no theologian, but even by the most cursory analysis, it would seem that Jesus was reminding his followers…

Dr. Helen’s headline “Health care for Clunkers” reminded me of the “care” they actually give the “clunkers” — many of which are perfectly good cars. The care? It’s called “pour in gunk to make the system lock up then gun the motor until it seizes” and it’s dictated by the federal bureaucracy which wants to…

It is being widely reported that mayhem occurred at a pro-Obamacare rally in Los Angeles area yesterday, but I’m having trouble figuring out what happened. According to most accounts, a MoveOn.org member punched an anti-Obamacare protester and the pro-Obamacare protester had a finger bitten off in the process. However, in these versions of the story,…

Esquire Magazine has an interesting piece with the exciting (for me, at least) title of A Radical Solution to End the Drug War: Legalize Everything: One cop straight out of The Wire crunches the numbers with Esquire.com’s political columnist to discover that America’s prohibition of narcotics may be costing more lives than Mexico’s — and…

In my previous comparison of Ted Kennedy to Henry VIII, I touched on how unaccountability — a feature of both traditional royal prerogative and Kennedy family prerogative — can be buttressed by populism: Ted Kennedy does remind me of Henry VIII in one important sense. Both men believed in their ultimate unaccountability, and neither really…

I just voted “Yes” in a Facebook poll which asks, Would you vote for an openly gay candidate for president if you agreed with his or her other positions? So far, it seems to be winning handily. However, because I’m a contrarian, it almost makes me want to do a poll along the lines of…

If this anonymous commenter is right in his assessment of the current political climate, then I’m clearly not living up to my responsibilities: In recent months, the totalitarian left has finally begun reveal themselves in public. Masks Off indeed. The radical dems are acting like they never need face the voters again – like the…

Jos&eacute M. Guardia quotes from a piece by Javier Rupérez — Spain’s ambassador to the US between 2000 and 2004 and currently Consul General in Chicago remembering Ted Kennedy: Shortly after the Iraq war started I saw Senator Kennedy in a public session of the U.S. Supreme Court. As we were taking our seats he…