Columns

The Founders would not be amused

May 31, 2010

…at the populist movement that has hijacked the Republican Party. While it’s wonderfully satisfying to march in the streets, carry racist signs and denigrate anyone, anything, any idea with which they disagree, the federal government can’t operate based on the fears and hatred of populist groups. It’s that tyranny of the majority thing that James Madison and the Founders recognized when they closed and locked the doors of Independence Hall in Philadelphia in 1787, then debated and wrote the Constitution. The Tea Partiers and right wing zealots label people who do not agree with them as “elitist.” The Founders...

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Do ‘We the people’ know best?

May 16, 2010

We the people know best. Maybe yes, maybe no. I support the Bill of Rights. American democracy is messy. People have the right to take to the streets, carry signs, hate the government, burn the American flag, call people nasty names as long as their activities are within the Rule of Law. The activities of populist groups like the Tea Party are reminiscent of the era of the Articles of Confederation that governed the 13 states from March 1, 1781 until the Constitution was passed in March 1789.  The colonies/states operated individually from 1776 until 1781 and continued to...

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We don’t need leaders, we need people who respect us

May 16, 2010

by Jim Pruette Just before I sat down to write, I changed my mind. I was going to start by saying things like: “My dad’s bigger than your dad” or “My dad can beat up your dad.” I was going to illustrate how juvenile and sophomoric those things are and how they sounded just like my fellow columnist Jerry Cox… until I realized that I was falling into the very trap that these anti-Americans want all of us to fall into. Allow me to explain. It is called different names: “chasing rabbits”, “divide and conquer”, “smoke and mirrors”. One...

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Providing our veterans the care they deserve.

May 14, 2010
Providing our veterans the care they deserve.

According to the report issued by the President’s Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors, 21 percent of active duty, 15 percent of reserve component, and 24 percent of retired or separated service members have a family member or friend who has been forced to leave a job to care for a veteran full-time. To me, these numbers are both uplifting and heartbreaking at the same time.  On one hand, we have family members and loyal friends who have dedicated their own lives to caring for the brave men and women that have sacrificed for our country.  On...

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