Larry Elder from Creators Syndicate

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

"Which of our Hispanic leaders would you consider to serve in your Cabinet?" A woman attending the last Republican debate in Florida asked this of the four Republican rivals.

Oh, for crying out loud! Ethnic-based Cabinet appointees? Do we still need to go out and "seek" people of a certain color or religion to show "fairness and inclusion"? What about consid ...

Updated: Thu Feb 09, 2012

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Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Forgive Republican candidate Mitt Romney for his alleged failure to adequately explain why he paid "only" 14 percent of his income in taxes.

The honest answer — "Well, because my accountants couldn't figure out how to get them any lower" — does not work in this or very many other election years. Romney seemed flat-footed because, like most business people, ...

Updated: Thu Feb 02, 2012

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Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

The Republican re-embrace of former Speaker Newt Gingrich says a lot about whom he sees as his opponent — and it isn't just President Barack Obama. It's the media.

If not for major media's embrace, Obama would still be sitting in the Senate, perhaps mulling another run for the presidency. A UCLA economist-political scientist recently tried to measure how the liberal media bias infl ...

Updated: Thu Jan 26, 2012

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Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Why does President Barack Obama enjoy a no-fly zone on gay marriage?

The Republican presidential contenders, with the exception of libertarian Ron Paul, have never supported gay marriage. Barack Obama, on the other hand, in a span of 16 years, has gone from supporting it, to "undecided," to opposition, to a position that he currently describes as "evolving."

Ob ...

Updated: Thu Jan 19, 2012

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Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Consider the following hypothetical.

Fox News, during the 2008 presidential campaign, learns about a long-ago arrest of a relative of Sen. Barack Obama. Fox calls Obama. It makes an offer Fox assumes he cannot refuse: "Agree to appear on the show of your anti-ObamaCare nemesis, Sean Hannity, or we run the story on your relative's arrest."

Obama refuses. Fox runs the stor ...

Updated: Thu Jan 12, 2012

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Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

If libertarian Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.

Paul, as expected, did well in Iowa. His strong third-place finish is substantially better than he did in 2008, and his national poll numbers are twice what they were back then. Paul's appeal is easy to understand. His antiwar message of limited government, low taxes and federalism have strong appe ...

Updated: Thu Jan 05, 2012

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Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

They're coming for your children! They're coming for the womenfolk! Then they're coming after you! Norman Lear, the famous television show producer, offered this hysterically paranoid assessment of the allegedly growing and presumably insidious power of "the right":

"I want to suggest that we lefties start laying claim to what we see as 'sacred' and serve it up proudly to ...

Updated: Thu Dec 29, 2011

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Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

As "Person of the Year," Time magazine named "The Protester." The subhead read, "From the Arab Spring to Athens, From Occupy Wall Street to Moscow."

Well, yes, but what about the lack of American black protesters? Good Lord, where is the racial diversity/inclusion/proportional representation?

Back in the day, the tea party's alleged lack of black part ...

Updated: Thu Dec 22, 2011

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Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

The next best thing to calling a Republican "racist," "sexist," "homophobic," or "Uncle Tom" (where appropriate) is to call him "out of touch."

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is the latest wealthy Republican to be called "out of touch." The proof? Why, he offered to bet rival Texas Gov. Rick Perry. The amount offered was ...

Updated: Thu Dec 15, 2011

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Thu, 08 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Herman Cain is out. He "suspended" his campaign for the Republican nomination for president this week after a fifth woman made allegations against him. This time, an Atlanta woman claims she had a 13-year-long affair with the former CEO. As with the four other women who made allegations of sexual harassment — two still unidentified — Cain denies ever having done "anyt ...

Updated: Thu Dec 08, 2011

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Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

When Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., announced his intention not to seek re-election after a 32-year career, not one of the nightly news broadcast network anchors found time or space to mention either Frank's central role in the housing meltdown or his congressional reprimand. Not one. Similarly, an Associated Press article headlined, "Democratic Rep. Barney Frank Announces Retirement," m ...

Updated: Thu Dec 01, 2011

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Thu, 24 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. Everything demanded by the Occupy Wall Streeters — whether "free" health care, a "world-class education" or a "guaranteed living-wage income regardless of employment" status — costs money.

When a CEO makes a lot of money in the private sector, it is because his company — rightly or wrongly — ...

Updated: Thu Nov 24, 2011

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Thu, 17 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

I just interviewed MSNBC "Hardball" host Chris Matthews about his new book, "Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero."

You know things didn't go well when, a few minutes after the interview concludes, Matthews' booker emails my producer:

"I wish you would've let me know that Larry was planning on attacking Chris. Chris is always up for a good, healthy debate, but that ...

Updated: Thu Nov 17, 2011

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Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

"He's got it coming to him," said Ben Bradlee, former editor of The Washington Post. "You can't do that in this town anymore. Probably could do it 50 years ago, but you can't do it now."

The "he" was Herman Cain. The "that" means sexual harassment. And the "got it coming" means the media firestorm around the Republican front-runner as he ...

Updated: Thu Nov 10, 2011

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Thu, 03 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Charles Krauthammer of Fox News: "Do you think that race, being a strong black conservative, has anything to do with the fact you've been so charged (with sexual harassment)? And if so, do you have any evidence to support that?"

Herman Cain: "I believe the answer is yes, but we do not have any evidence to support it."

Playing the race card is vulgar, whether ...

Updated: Thu Nov 03, 2011

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Thu, 27 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

"Don't touch me!" the man in the wheelchair shouted to stop me from placing my hand on what used to be his left arm.

"I'm sorry — I was just — "

"I know what you were doing," he said calmly. "You were showing me you care. I get it. But you have no idea how much pain I'm in. Don't feel bad. People are always touching me — and bec ...

Updated: Thu Oct 27, 2011

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Thu, 20 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

The Occupy Wall Street folks tell us to blame Wall Street for the nation's financial troubles. Notice the no-fly zone over President Barack Obama. Where are the anti-President Barack Obama signs or the verbal chants denouncing the President? Imagine the protests/sit-ins/rallies/mass marches on Pennsylvania Avenue — not Wall Street — if after two years of Republican White House leade ...

Updated: Thu Oct 20, 2011

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Thu, 13 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

What to do about Herman Cain?

This question goes not to the Republican Party, where "establishment" candidates like Mitt Romney privately dismiss Cain as lacking the experience, gravitas and resources to beat President Barack Obama and then to soundly govern the country.

Herman Cain is not going to be the GOP nominee.

Without a serious star-power staff, a groun ...

Updated: Thu Oct 13, 2011

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Thu, 06 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

"The way I think about it is, you know, this is, uh, you know, a great, uh, great country that had gotten a little soft, and you know, we didn't have that same competitive edge that we needed over the last, uh, couple of decades. We need to get back on track." — President Barack Obama.

The gall is breathtaking, even from a man who as a presidential candidate said, "W ...

Updated: Thu Oct 06, 2011

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Thu, 29 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Why did the Obama administration, after dragging out the various court challenges to ObamaCare, suddenly step on the gas?

The administration surprised court watchers by passing up a chance to slow down ObamaCare's long march to an eventual Supreme Court ruling. In failing to request a hearing by all the appeals court judges of the 11th Circuit — to overturn an anti-ObamaCare decis ...

Updated: Thu Sep 29, 2011

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