There's no need for pages, anyway (10/12/06)
The U.S. congressional page program should be history. Not because of disgraced former Republican congressman Mark Foley, nor because of other page-program low points, but simply because it makes no sense to have such a program. Mind you, I'm all for civics education; it should, in fact, be a top priority in schools. ...

Blair for the U.N.? (10/05/06)
When Kofi Annan steps down as U.N. secretary-general later this year, Tony Blair should replace him. It won't happen, mind you. He's not on anyone's list of diplomatic names in the running. But he's just the kind of voice the world body could use right now...

The exploitation of the egg (09/29/06)
Feminists, beware: Missouri may soon become the Clone-Me State. Rise up and stop it. In Missouri this November, a misleading ballot initiative called Amendment 2 -- the "Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative" -- promises to "ban human cloning." In actuality, the referendum -- like earlier deceitful state measures in the likes of New Jersey and California -- would work to do just the opposite...

Let the Dems bury themselves (09/21/06)
During the week of the fifth anniversary of 9/11, the Senate and House Minority Leaders, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, insisted on more airtime. I second that motion. In a letter to network news presidents, Reid and Pelosi said: "We write to you today to request that if you plan to continue to devote extensive live coverage to the president's national security speeches over the next few weeks, you similarly provide substantial coverage to the national security events and statements of House and Senate Democrats.". ...

Pro-life arguments find new medium (09/15/06)
"Nip/Tuck" is one of the most risque shows on television. The cable drama -- about the escapades of two Miami plastic surgeons -- has it all: beautiful people, pretty much every deadly sin and vice. But in one main storyline in its season premiere earlier this month, "Nip/Tuck" was positively dichotomous, positively pro-life...

The pro-life generation? (09/08/06)
One day last January, Jonathan Tonkowich was sitting in math class at Thomas Aquinas College in southern California, daydreaming about how to do something constructive for the pro-life cause. What he came up with was Wash for Life (www.washforlife.org), which will make its debut on Sept. 16...

United behind human rights (09/01/06)
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Irish statesman Edmund Burke's words still hold true three centuries later. Right now, good men and women are doing something crucial: raising their voices in outrage, trying to save the lives of Nazanin Fateh, Malak Ghorbany and many other women just like them...

AIDS prevention? Simple as ABC (08/25/06)
Evangelical writer Rick Warren's latest sermon is on AIDS prevention. At a recent AIDS confab in Toronto, Warren, author the of the bestselling "The Purpose-driven Life" (Zondervan, 2002) announced that the "Church needs to take the lead in the greatest health concern on the planet" -- causing some to dub Warren the leader of an upcoming AIDS "reformation."...

Hil who? Look for Russ as Dems' 2008 pick (08/20/06)
Move over, Hillary: Russ Feingold is going to be the Democratic nominee for president in 2008. For far too long the assumption has been that the former first lady would be the Dems' obvious pick. The storyline had dynastic flair, plus the sexy-milestone first-woman-president aspect. ...

Don't patronize the abortion debate (08/11/06)
Ideally, political debates, like people, should mature over time. There's little indication this happening in the abortion debate; in elite discussions of the topic, honesty can be a lonely virtue. Recently, on ABC's morning talk show "The View," Elisabeth Hasselbeck -- the program's Republican -- got a little impassioned. ...

Five reasons to never forget the children (08/04/06)
A brutal crime was committed in 2001. Five Texas children were killed. Their mother, Andrea Yates, was charged with their murders. A second brutal crime was committed just this summer, in Houston: Yates was found "not guilty" of the crime "by reason of insanity."...

What's eating John McCain? (07/28/06)
The vice president usually has an edge going into the primaries because he's close enough to the president to associate himself with the high office, and just far enough away to distance himself from the responsibility for unpopular presidential decisions. ...

The faces of American heroes (07/21/06)
Leave all your Oliver Stone biases at home when you go see his new film "World Trade Center." It's all-American and well-timed. This September will mark the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on American soil. And Americans -- unless they happen to have a family member deployed or had lost someone on 9/11 -- don't generally seem to have a keen sense that we're at war. This movie reminds us we are...

Don't play the Mormon card just yet (07/14/06)
A Washington Post reporter once described evangelical voters as "poor, uneducated, and easy to command." As we edge closer to the 2008 presidential elections, count on the press being the uneducated ones -- easily led by their farcical view of religious Americans...

In the name of honor (07/07/06)
Samaira Nazir was brutally and needlessly murdered. The 25-year-old in Southall, England, was killed in April of last year by her 30-year-old businessman brother -- all in the name of "honor." He stabbed her, cutting her throat in front of his young children, ages 2 and 4...

England: You can't mail that here (06/30/06)
In England, you can have an abortion for just about any reason. But one thing you evidently can't do is talk about what abortion is -- or at least show the bloody truth through images. A 74-year-old man named Edward Atkinson recently spent four weeks in prison for sending an executive at Norfolk's Queen Elizabeth Hospital "very upsetting" images and literature (and they were) in an effort, Atkinson said, "to educate" her about the abortion procedures done at her facility. ...

Healthy partisanship (06/23/06)
As Congressman Tom DeLay exited stage right earlier this month, he issued an important reminder: to love partisanship. Yes, partisanship -- the same thing that keeps the two different sides of the aisle on two different sides of the aisle. But good partisanship...

Religious schools must discriminate (06/16/06)
As the academic year winds down, there's cause for mourning in some neighborhoods in New York City, where some schools will be closing their doors for good. They're not just any schools -- and I'm not just saying that because the school where I spent my first eight years was nearly among them. They're Catholic schools that have achieved miracles...

Where DO we stand on Iran? (06/09/06)
On May 31, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced that the United States would negotiate with Iran if they agreed to stop uranium enrichment. If Iran did not agree to the sit-down on those conditions, there would be sanctions from the likes of Europe, Russia (who adamantly have not been fans of sanctions against Iran) -- and the United Nations. President Bush seemed hopeful, confident that "this problem can be solved diplomatically."...

Feminism beyond feminists (05/26/06)
In a Mothers' Day interview on ABC, first lady Laura Bush told George Stephanopoulos that she considers herself a "feminist." You would have thought she had uttered an entirely different f-word, considering the way some people reacted. Screenwriter Nora Ephron ("When Harry Met Sally") immediately assumed veto authority over who can and cannot call herself a "feminist." Laura Bush cannot, she blogged. ...

President Jeb Bush (05/18/06)
I'll be the first to admit this is improbable. But it should not be written off as impossible. It's still early. And there's still time to play with possibilities in order to help bring out the best in the field. One experienced political hand agrees that conservatives might vote for the 53-year-old term-limited governor -- the first Republican governor re-elected in the Sunshine State's history. ...

Republicans must make a plan before November (05/12/06)
Fire Congress! That's pretty tempting, isn't it? It's the sort of thing that could bring the country together. In a recent piece called "A Congress Gone to Pot" my colleagues Kate O'Beirne and Rich Lowry take aim at our congressional friends: "Congressional Republican governance has gone through phases that can be roughly described as Revolution (1994-1996), Consolidation (1996-2002), and Deterioration (2002-present). ...

We cannot wish away the war (04/28/06)
As moviegoers began to see trailers for the new movie "United 93" in theaters a few weeks ago, audience members cried "too soon" -- some of them literally crying, as if victimized by a mere movie trailer. Why? Because nearly five years later they still don't get it. We still don't get it...

What Hispanic voters really want (04/21/06)
Republicans are understandably and laudably concerned about expanding their electoral base to include more Hispanics. But it's insulting to assume that Hispanics will vote for you, as some leading Republicans seem to, only if you turn a blind-eye toward those who have entered the country illegally via "economy class" (as they dubbed making it across our open southern border in the movie "Spanglish"). ...

Who cares about Katie Couric (04/14/06)
Forgive me if I don't get all sisterly joyful over "Today Show" co-host Katie Couric's milestone move to CBS. Forgive me if I laugh at the use of the word "milestone." It's 2006, and I just can't get excited about the fact that "she's gonna make it after all." And don't we have more important people -- even media people -- to talk about?...

Never count out life (04/07/06)
Christopher Reeve, Terri Schiavo and Haleigh Poutre are all very different -- different circumstances, different ages, different classes. But they should all make us think about the same question: Shouldn't we always err on the side of life? It's a fact that former "Superman" Reeve and his family (including his wife, Dana, who recently died of lung cancer) made an impact on American culture after his 1995 riding accident. ...

We deserve better than Roe (03/31/06)
You might have heard about a "Roe v. Wade for men" by now. It's a despicable matter, but may also be an unintentional opportunity. On March 9, the National Center for Men filed a lawsuit in a Michigan court on behalf of their headline-maker in a 25-year-old computer programmer, Matthew Dubay, who doesn't want to pay child support to his ex-girlfriend for the baby he says she chose to have. He didn't want a kid, and he wasn't kidding. He wants the "right to choose," too...

Freeing religious freeedom (03/24/06)
Massachusetts became the battleground earlier this month for a principle that's as old as Massachusetts itself: religious freedom. On March 10, Catholic Charities in Boston announced that it would stop all of its adoption-placement work. The reason? They don't want to be in the gay-adoption business, but the government tells them they must be...

How churches are harboring criminals (03/17/06)
On the corner of a busy road in a New York City suburb recently, I noticed a sign outside a small Christian church welcoming day laborers -- an apt image for the state of immigration in the United States today. The day laborers the church is welcoming are, most likely, illegal immigrants. ...

Marching for women's lives (03/03/06)
March 8 marks what the United Nations designates "International Women's Day." I'll be thinking about an 18-year-old Iranian girl named Nazanin that day. Instead of letting activists waste the day denouncing George W. Bush and other protectors of human rights and freedom, the United Nations ought to use its bullhorn to insist that Nazanin become a household name...

Something criminal about 'legal' (02/24/06)
Those hoping to be entertained with Valentine's Day-themed programming on ABC tuned into the wrong channel, at least if they flipped to it during "Boston Legal." For those 60 minutes, you were treated to a political lecture, more like C-SPAN's late-night fare, only with prettier people. It was a prime-time hour to celebrate emergency contraception and demonize Catholic hospitals...

Changing the face of the Republican Party (02/10/06)
Black Republicans are making a run for a number of big elections this year. In Maryland, Michael Steele wants retiring Democrat Paul Sarbanes' Senate seat. Keith Butler is also running for Senate, from Michigan. Lynn Swann, the former Pittsburgh Steelers star, wants to be governor of the Keystone State. ...

Equal rights for whom? (02/03/06)
Most of America's young girls typically don't get to celebrate Phyllis Schlafly during women's history month, but they should. The conservative Schlafly not only had the right idea when she fought the Equal Rights Amendment during the 70s, but predictions she made back then are still accurate today...

A look into post-abortion misery (01/27/06)
The Beltway demagogues who sound alarms about abortion opponents seeking to ruin (and end!) women's lives, ought to stop and think about the women who've had and are currently suffering from abortions. The South Dakota recently did just that. The South Dakota Task Force to Study Abortion, created by the state legislature to look at how best the state could "protect the rights, interests and health of pregnant mothers," just churned out a report. ...

Trumping a modern-day slave trade (01/20/06)
In September 2003, President George W. Bush started something of a sexual revolution. Speaking to the U.N. General Assembly, the president, known more popularly by left-wing groups as the man who would "turn back the clock on women's rights," challenged his fellow leaders to crack down on the sex trade in their countries, promising to lead by example at home...

Media turns mining tragedy into a disaster (01/13/06)
The media coverage of the West Virginia mining disaster played out like archival news footage--"Dewey Defeats Truman," only with heartbreaking consequences. And more importantly, it was just like a more recent story--Hurricane Katrina. Mistakes were made in West Virginia, that's apparent. ...

Alternatives to stem cell research (01/06/06)
When it comes to cloning, all anyone can talk about lately--and understandably so--is recently disgraced South Korean scientist Hwang Woo-suk. One of "Time" magazine's most influential people of 2004 could prove to be one of the most influential people of 2006, too--but in ways he never intended...

Let's not forget what Bush has done (12/30/05)
Around this time every year, most of us give lip service to new year's resolutions, goals and personal benchmarks. Some will not happen, others will be successes and a few will be gambles. President Bush's freedom push is certainly in the "gamble" category. But despite what you hear from naysayers, he didn't do too badly. And that's a good thing for the world...

Don't be myth-understood at the office party (12/15/05)
'Tis the season to get into arguments at the office Christmas party or the Chanukah dinner table. And these conversations rarely go well. But it's likely to happen, so brace yourself. Here are some notes likely to be hit, all off-key, this holiday season:...

A religious empire built on adversity (12/09/05)
Mother Mary Angelica founded Eternal Word Television Network in 1981 with $200 in the bank. EWTN would become the world's largest religious broadcasting network. This Poor Clare nun did what the U.S. Catholic bishops couldn't do--set up a network people would tune in to. And she conveyed her message the world over--from her humble Irondale, Ala., studios...

Factory-made children not a 'decision' (12/02/05)
The Spine-chilling Euphemism of the Month Award goes to The Washington Post for its recent front-page headline: "Down Syndrome Now Detectable In 1st Trimester: Earlier Diagnosis Allows More Time for Decisions." One "decision" is, of course, whether to terminate the pregnancy--the "A" word (abortion, for those not into subtlety). ...

The glorification of a tyrant (11/25/05)
Is a Che T-shirt on the Christmas wish list of someone you love? If you love truth, justice and basic human rights don't fulfill that request. Give your loved one a quick history lesson instead. It might not sound familiar, but you've probably seen it. Ernesto "Che" Guevera is probably at your local mall, his mug likely on a T-shirt--an idiotic fashion statement...

The death of Rosa Parks' funeral (11/18/05)
Rosa Parks died in late October, 50 years after her brave move to the front of that segregated Alabama bus. Her defiant act was the symbolic push the civil-rights movement needed. Her legacy is inspirational, but her funeral was a shameful spectacle...

Dems selective memories on Iraq war (11/11/05)
The majority of Senate Democrats supported the war that would take down the evil tyrant Saddam Hussein in Iraq, and give his oppressed people a chance at democracy. But you would never know that by listening to many of these fair-weathered war supporters lately. You'd almost think it's a shame poor Saddam Hussein is standing trial later this month. But the second-guessing of the White House's reasons for going into Iraq exposes their own selective memories on prewar matter...

Trading political know-how with extremism (11/04/05)
Minutes after Harriet Miers' withdrawal as the nominee for Associate Justice to the Supreme Court was publicly announced, conservatives who opposed the nomination based on principle (count me among them) were being tagged as "extremists" by the political right and left...

Divorce is no party for the children (10/28/05)
A bizarre, damaging trend in love and marriage (or hate and divorce) is currently being glorified by the media, needlessly sending out harmful messages about marriage--playing with children's emotions in a poisonous way. As recently seen on "The Today Show" and "Good Morning America," "divorce parties" are all the rage. ...

No mincing words in the war on terror (10/20/05)
It all began on Sept. 11, 2001. Or so goes the conventional wisdom. Of course, that is not completely true. A war against America was already in full swing by then. Osama bin Laden, in fact, was on record having declared war on the United States in 1996. But once the towers fell, once there was a gaping hole in the Pentagon, once brave Americans died in a Pennsylvania field (possibly saving the lives of many more), that's when we started to get serious about fighting terrorism...

We've come a long way, baby (10/14/05)
I suspect that I should be having warm, fuzzy "we girls can do anything" feelings about being a woman this fall. Just think about the fairer sex's collective accomplishments: Geena Davis is president of the United States! And didn't President Bush answer calls to appoint a woman to the Supreme Court, just to meet some perceived quota rule, when he named his pal Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court?...

Sometimes it is black and white (10/07/05)
When recently asked about his state's parental-notification ballot initiative that would prohibit minor-age girls from getting abortions without a parent's knowledge, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger replied: "I have a daughter. I wouldn't want to have someone take my daughter to a hospital for an abortion or something and not tell me. I would kill him if they do that."...

A lesson in politicizing education (09/30/05)
The desire to help the people of the Katrina-ravaged Gulf Coast has been abundant, as private citizens, businesses and Congress sent much-needed money, supplies, shelter and services. It's important to remember that Katrina victims need more than cash, and Americans and governments at all levels have reached out to help...

Censuring Coburn just bad Rx (09/23/05)
"When I ponder our country and its greatness, its weaknesses, and its potential, my heart aches for less divisiveness." That's not just Joe Citizen expressing his frustration with the partisanship of the U.S. Senate. That's Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla, expressing his frustration during the first day of confirmation hearings for President Bush's nominee for chief justice of the Supreme Court, John Roberts. ...

Someone remind PETA Jesus isn't a pig (09/09/05)
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals needs a shot of perspective. Straight up. No offense to Pamela Anderson, Sharon Osbourne, Alec Baldwin, John McEnroe and other glitterati who seem desperate to hug PETA. Normally my instinct is to ignore this fauna-rights organization, dismissing it as just silly. ...

Another lode of facts left out (09/02/05)
Some mothers like to care for their children. Yeah, it's true. Think I'm pointing out the blindingly obvious? Tell that to some folks on the Left, specifically Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D.-Calif., the one woman on the Senate Judiciary Committee, who I think is stark-raving mad...

Backsliding: Hawaii's race-based nation (08/25/05)
Thirty-two years ago, Martin Luther King Jr., famously dreamed that his children would "one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Three decades later, at least in Hawaii, that dream is imploding...

Britain's great schism, the Blairs (08/19/05)
Cherie Booth, wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, has certainly made a name for herself -- and not one that suggests good things for Britain or the war on terror. Most recently, Booth has made headlines by cautioning Britain's leadership that "the government, even in times when there is a threat to national security, must act strictly in accordance with the law." She was also seemingly opposed, following the London bombings, to talk of even more tri-partisan, anti-terror legislation, saying that such a response would "cheapen our right to call ourselves a civilized nation.". ...

A news cycle without Amnesty? An outrage (08/12/05)
A recently released Amnesty International report highlights the cold-blooded attacks, assassinations, suicide bombings, and civilian and aid worker killings carried out by terrorists in Iraq. It may seem pointless that Amnesty has to explain that "international humanitarian law strictly prohibits the intentional killing of people who are not taking an active part in the hostilities. It also prohibits torture or any form of inhuman treatment."...

Roberts elevates abortion debate (08/05/05)
Well before Senate Judiciary Committee hearings even begin on the nomination of John Roberts to sit on the Supreme Court, one thing is clear about his impact on abortion in America. And it has little to do with the president's nominee himself--at least with anything he has done in his professional life...

Washington's girl-crazy summer (07/29/05)
The knee-jerk reaction some critics have had to John Roberts being selected as the president's first Supreme Court pick reeks of foolishness. This has been their thinking: A woman is retiring, and a woman must replace her. And so they just can't get that into a "John."...

Terror-anxious climate fans anti-Semitism (07/22/05)
The news on July 7, 2005--when a series of bombings in London killed scores of innocent train and bus commuters during morning rush hour--felt eerily familiar. On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, the World Trade Center, Pentagon and another Washington, D.C., landmark (believed to have been the U.S. ...

Don't Estrada Bush's Supreme Court nominee (07/15/05)
"Battle lines form" one headline read. "We are going to war" one senator said. No, we're not launching attacks against terror camps in Syria or Iran (at least not yet). Those quotes have nothing to do with retaliating against the 7/7 London attackers. They're about a Beltway battle over the Supreme Court...

Danica Patrick's on a road less raced (07/08/05)
It's absurd when smart, talented people want to be victims more than victors. The most obvious example comes from this past academic year, when feminist hysterics followed Harvard president Larry Summers hypothesizing about "innate differences" between men and women and how these differences might explain the lower number of women in science. ...

Behind the Clinton legacy (07/01/05)
By now, you've no doubt run into "The Truth About Hillary" (Penguin, 2005), the gossipy book by a former New York Times man who has the kind of credentials that make a fella welcome at all the finest Gotham cocktail parties. The book, paints an unflattering portrait of the former first lady, who author Edward Klein described to me as "the most fascinating woman in America."...

Hearing the message of 'Can I Live?' (06/24/05)
Rapper and actor Nick Cannon has just completed an interesting hat trick. He landed a show on MTV this fall, "Nick Cannon Presents Wild 'N Out." In the April "GQ" he told guys "Five ways to sex up your style." In cyberspace, he's been celebrated on "pro-life" e-mail lists...

Time to make peace with France (06/19/05)
With the recent French rejection of the European Union's odious "constitution," I propose a very different radical idea: It's time for a truce. No, not a truce with the "cheese-eating, surrender monkey" government that advocated Brussels' bureaucratic mess of ill-advised centralization...

The common sense of parental consent (06/03/05)
Do you know of any school that dispenses Tylenol without parental permission? For the most part, they can't. But in six states and the District of Columbia, it is currently legal for a child to get an abortion without a parent's permission. In 11 states, parental consent laws are bogged down in court rulings. The majority of states, 33, have working prohibitions on kids getting abortions without parental permission...

A Catholic school should stand for something (05/29/05)
How Catholic should a Catholic school be? Marymount Manhattan College is listed in the official N.Y. Catholic directory. Yet the Cardinal Newman Society for the Preservation of Catholic Higher Education recently came down on Marymount when its administration announced abortion-supporter Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., would be their 2005 commencement speaker...

United Nations needs a new direction (05/06/05)
The debate over John Bolton's nomination to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations could have been a constructive national conversation about the future of the United Nations and human rights. Instead the Senate Foreign Relations Committee--and the media folk cheering it on--has resembled a rowdy playground scene...

Getting beyond the arguments over stem cells (04/29/05)
These days it's common to hear that "conservative" or "pro-life" policy toward stem cells is a disservice to folks like the late President Ronald Reagan who suffered from Alzheimer's. Quite a bit of the media coverage about the new pope, Benedict XVI, has emphasized that he's against stem cell research. In a recent Washington Post article, Ivy Reyes, who had stopped by a Manhattan church to say a prayer for pontiff, emphasized to a reporter: "I'm hoping he can find a balance with the science."...

Mr. Moore, put your best face forward (04/22/05)
Last November, as John Kerry conceded and President Bush declared his second presidential victory--both graciously and in a spirit of unity (to the extent that is possible after two years of contentious campaigning)--Michael Moore did what a sore loser does: he displayed a collage of dead soldiers on his Web site, their faces collectively forming an image of President Bush...

John Paul II: the activist pope (04/15/05)
"If it doesn't happen on television, it doesn't happen." That quote is attributed to the recently departed Pope John Paul II. The pontiff, to an unprecedented degree, was a media pope, making it an integral part of his ministry. Like his partner in ending the Cold War, Ronald Reagan, John Paul was a Great Communicator in his own right. ...

How should we treat Iran? (04/08/05)
You might have the impression that Ivy League "neoconservatives" wearing pinstripe suits inside the wonky think tanks in Washington, D.C., are currently plotting the overthrow of the mullahs running Iran. They and their hawkish Pentagon pals have checked the box next to Iraq on their to-do list (now that elections have happened), and are strategizing the best way to take down the tyranny in Iran. (Then we'll move on to Syria, and get ready for the draft, folks, we're fixing the world!)...

Tweaking Title IX (04/01/05)
You don't have to be a women's soccer fan to remember when Brandi Chastain was everywhere, in her sports bra. It was 1999 and she had just led the U.S. women's soccer team to their World Cup victory, stripping on the field in celebration. Soon we were told she couldn't have done any of it without Title IX...