When 28 year old Jared Massey was tasered alongside the highway by a Utah state trooper in 2007, the incident elicited a lot of strong opinions. Comments ran the gamut from, “The motorist was a criminal who deserved it” to “The trooper is living proof that the police are out of control.” As is the case with most incidents of this nature, the … [Read more...]
American Decline
November 14, 2011 by 2 Comments
Is it Avoidable or Inevitable? “We’re not going to bail our way out of this crisis, we’re not going to stimulate our way out of this crisis, we are only going to educate, ultimately, and imagine and invent our way out of this crisis.” —Thomas L. Friedman, Meet the Press “By 2020, the U.S. will be spending $1 trillion a year just to … [Read more...]
The Iranian Terror Plot: A Matter of Trust
October 21, 2011 by Leave a Comment
I’m finding it harder to trust our federal government or the mass media to tell us the truth. Especially when it comes to the latest “terror plot” that’s allegedly surfaced. Like the little boy who cried “wolf”, too many federal officials have sought to further their foreign policy ambitions by telling us outlandish tales of foiled terror … [Read more...]
Article V: A Potential Path to Restore State Sovereignty & Citizen Responsibility
September 16, 2011 by Leave a Comment
By Shanon Brooks According to Article V of the U.S. Constitution, a Constitutional Convention could be activated by the application of at least 34 states. There are two strongly-held opinions regarding the advantages and disadvantages of such a convention. One purports that such a move would likely put the nation and her 224 year-old charter in … [Read more...]
The Party System’s Newest Flaw
August 26, 2011 by 1 Comment
By Oliver DeMille I recently watched a televised debate on whether America’s two-party system is making our nation ungovernable. During the debate, New York Times columnist David Brooks said something fascinating. He mentioned that political scientists keep track of how much cooperation there is between the two parties in Congress, and … [Read more...]
Lies We Choose To Believe
August 24, 2011 by 1 Comment
“Of course I’ll still respect you in the morning.” “We know exactly where the WMD are located.” “This election is the most important election of our lifetimes.” Of all the lies we choose to believe, that last one is the most pathetic. We hear it repeated ad nauseum during every single election cycle. It’s a manipulative platitude, … [Read more...]
Debts and Deficits: A Jane Austen Story
August 19, 2011 by Leave a Comment
by Oliver DeMille Chapter I: A Truth Universally Acknowledged It is a truth universally acknowledged, that when a nation treats business badly, corporations with extra capital take it abroad and the home nation faces job losses and economic challenges. Such nations experience widespread anxiety about their future, problems feel overwhelming, … [Read more...]
Our Government Isn’t Broken: The Third Party Solution
August 12, 2011 by Leave a Comment
by Oliver DeMille Our government isn’t broken. It is just caught in the past. Specifically, the current divide between the parties is a mirror image of the country. Politics is a reflection of society, and the bickering right now in Washington is a direct projection of the nation. There is one big exception. The nation is divided into three … [Read more...]
Groupthink and Crimes of Opinion
August 8, 2011 by 2 Comments
by Bryan Hyde The Age of Political Correctness The beauty of totalitarian concepts like groupthink and crimes of opinion is that everyone is a potential thought criminal in need of sensitivity training. For instance, when a student at Alta High School jokingly donned a white pillowcase with eye-holes during a school pep assembly last spring, a … [Read more...]
Would You Rather Be Safe or Free?
July 8, 2011 by Leave a Comment
By Bryan Hyde With another renewal of the PATRIOT Act recently, it's clear that the debate still centers over whether the act goes too far or doesn't go far enough to protect against terrorism. A better question would be: Is the proper role of government to keep us safe or to keep us free? At stake is whether national security--namely … [Read more...]
