Recent Viewpoints

Kerby Anderson Who are the luckiest people on this planet? Dennis Prager said on his radio program something progressives would never say. As a Jew, he says that American Jews are the luckiest Jews in Jewish history. He also says that about many other ethnic groups. He has mentioned that his father wrote his senior thesis on anti-Semitism in America. Nevertheless, he taught his two sons that they were the luckiest Jews in Jewish history. Dennis Prager still believes that,…

Kerby Anderson It’s time to talk about William Shakespeare. In previous commentaries, I have documented that he coined or invented about 1,500 English words we use today. I have also talked about the phrases we use today that come from him. When we use phrases like “love is blind” or to “catch a cold” or you have a “heart of gold” or “it’s all Greek to me,” we are referring to scenes in Shakespeare. Of course, I have also done…

Kerby Anderson Let me begin with a question. What do we often hear when a woke business does poorly financially or when a woke bank is shut down? The common cliché is “go woke, go broke.” I have used the phrase sometimes, and many other commentators use it to explain what happens when a company or a bank focuses too much attention on DEI or ESG or LGBTQ or climate change. But is the cliché true? Isn’t it possible that…

Kerby Anderson We unfortunately live in a world in which people often face no consequences for their immoral or criminal actions. Victor Davis Hanson reminds us of “The Price of Eliminating Consequences.” One example is shoplifting. Criminals have learned that some district attorneys will not prosecute them unless they steal significant amounts of goods. He talks about some remarkable online videos of a Good Samaritan confronting shoplifters and forcing them to drop their loads of pilfered goods. What you see…

Penna Dexter The recent release of the Centers for Disease Control’s bi-annual Youth Risk Behavior Survey has sparked discussion about the role social media plays in the substantial rise of mental illness among young people. Prominent researchers have conducted hundreds of studies on the influence of screen-based activities on teen mental health, mostly reporting only “small effects.” Mindful of social media’s drain on teens’ sleep, exercise and family time, social scientist and author Jonathan Haidt dug deeper. He recruited psychology…

Kerby Anderson Years ago, a doctor wrote an article entitled, “What’s Keeping David McCullough from Sleeping?” This noted historian and award-winning author had trouble sleeping because he was worrying about what was happening in the country. He was concerned that our leaders “have forgotten about history. They are unaware of the past, and uninterested in how they will be remembered in the future. Timothy Goeglein (who was special assistant to President Bush) opened his article with that story to remind…

Kerby Anderson Stephen Moore asks an important question: “What if federal workers never showed up for work and no one missed them?” He says that may be one of the greatest federal government scandals. Over the last three years, many hundreds of thousands of federal employees have been getting a full-time paycheck but have not been showing up for work. Just because they aren’t at their desks doesn’t mean they aren’t working. No doubt some are working just as hard….

Kerby Anderson In years past when I would speak on a university campus, I expected to encounter antagonism and a contemptuous attitude. Even though my advanced degrees were often superior to those of the hostile faculty and students, they would often be dismissive of my academic credentials. That is what I came to expect. But that is not what liberals expected and are now facing on a regular basis. Jon Stewart (former host of the Daily Show) recently reflected on…

Kerby Anderson Three years ago, when we were dealing with a pandemic that started with a virus first discovered in China, the idea of a lab leak made sense. Was it just a coincidence that this coronavirus was discovered in the same location as the Wuhan Institute of Virology? As time went on, no scientist found this specific virus in any other animal host. The “wet market” theory made little sense and turned out to be all wet. And molecular…

Kerby Anderson A week ago, President Biden rolled out his budget plan. Normally, I wouldn’t talk about it since it has no chance of passage. A similar plan he submitted in the past when Democrats controlled both the House and Senate didn’t pass. There is no chance it will be approved now that Republicans control the House of Representatives. But I want to use his budget proposal to illustrate some important lessons about taxes and income. Just look at the…

Penna Dexter Over decades, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion — D.E.I. — has gained a foothold in higher education. It enshrines gender and identity politics and encourages non-white students to see themselves as victims. One university president explains this march to the left, stating: “Universities have drifted away from ideas to ideology.” Walter Wendler is President of West Texas A&M University, located in the Texas panhandle where most citizens are involved in producing food and fuel. Dr. Wendler says they want their university to graduate students capable…