Recent Viewpoints

Kerby Anderson Events over the last two months illustrate how difficult it is to argue for unhindered abortion rights. Put another way, if you were in a debate competition and were given the assignment to defend abortion, you would know that you would have a more difficult time than the person who was given the assignment to defend the pro-life position. Last month, for example there was the article in The Atlantic with the provocative title: How Ultrasound Pushed the…

Kerby Anderson Ayaan Hirsi Ali begins her commentary with these words: “I was a Muslim refugee once. I know what it’s like.” She was en route to Canada to consummate a marriage arranged against her will by her father. At the Frankfurt Airport, she fled to the Netherlands. There she learned Dutch and received a master’s degree in political science before coming to America. She has worked as an interpreter for abused Muslim women and understands the Muslim refugee experience….

Kerby Anderson When a new president is elected, he inherits an executive branch that is stocked with government workers from the previous administration. Sometimes the transition is very smooth. Think of the transition from Ronald Reagan to George H.W. Bush. Sometimes the transition is rough. That is what Donald Trump is experiencing. An article in the Washington Post described how federal workers are resisting the executive actions by President Trump and looking for ways to push back against his agenda….

Kerby Anderson Today is Valentine’s Day. Traditionally in this country, it has been a day for cards, candy, and flowers. I think it would surprise most people to know that Valentine’s Day is rooted in church history and not an invention of greeting card companies. Pope Gelasius designated February 14 as a day to celebrate the life of St. Valentine. Actually there were at least three men who were named Valentine that have been tied to this day. During the…

Kerby Anderson The free speech movement on the University of California campus began more than 50 years ago. I remember it because, as a youngster, I attended a church in Berkeley very near where it was taking place. So I thought it was indeed ironic that a raging mob forced the university to shut down a scheduled speaking event. It is not unusual these days to cancel a speaker, especially if he or she is a conservative.  Years ago, Ambassador…

Penna Dexter As the country implements President Trump’s executive order that limits travel to the U.S. from seven countries plagued by jihadi violence, and places a temporary hold on any refugee travel here, some people are willing to absorb the inconvenience in favor of safety and national security. Others are asking: Where’s the compassion, especially for refugees from war zones. Some critics of the ban wonder why these particular countries? James Carafano, national security expert at the Heritage Foundation worked…

Kerby Anderson Shortly after the “Women’s March on Washington,” Dr. Steve Turley wrote about the “feminist futility” of the march and its major policy initiatives. Feminists and LGBT activists have been pushing programs and policies that almost guarantee that future feminists and activists will be smaller in number. It all comes down to what I have written about in the past: the fertility gap. Steve Turley cited a recent demographic study done by a professor at the University of London….

Kerby Anderson The latest confirmation hearings for cabinet secretaries and a future confirmation hearing for a Supreme Court nominee illustrate why the Senate needs to reform the filibuster. Representative Tom McClintock explains how to do this in the January issue of Imprimis. The framers intended that the Senate would be a deliberative body where legislation would be debated with great care. Unfortunately, the Senate rules now allow a smaller minority to stop just about any legislation or confirmation. Back in…

Kerby Anderson Critics of President Donald Trump’s wall say that is it too expensive. I think this criticism provides a great opportunity to remind people how much money the federal government spends. So let’s take a moment and look at what such a wall might cost and compare it to other items in the federal budget. When I was on the radio the other day, I reminded my audience that the federal budget last year was $3.8 trillion. If you…

Kerby Anderson The battle over every Supreme Court nominee illustrates how the court has become more powerful and influential than the framers ever envisioned. Alexander Hamilton, writing in the Federalist Papers, concluded that the judiciary would probably be the least dangerous branch of government. His reasons were simple. The court lacked “the power of the executive branch and the political passions of the legislature.” The high court has much more power and is deciding more cases than the framers would…

Kerby Anderson A week ago on radio we started talking about an article that is accurately described as a regulatory game changer. In the article, Kimberley Strassel described a meeting many attorneys had with Todd Gaziano, who is a senior fellow in constitutional law at the Pacific Legal Foundation. In the meeting, he explained to the lawyers how they (and the current president) could use a bill known as the Congressional Review Act. This law can be used to roll…