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March 2013

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Last week Dr. Ben Carson further damaged his credibility and his chances of becoming the 2016 Republican presidential candidate by equating proponents of gay marriage with those that engage in pedophilia and bestiality. Here is his statement: “Marriage is between a man and a woman. It’s a well-established, fundamental pillar of society and no group, be they gays, be they NAMBLA, be they people who believe in bestiality — it doesn’t matter what they are, they don’t get to change the definition.” In response to his critics he said the following: “Now perhaps the examples were not the best choice of words, and I certainly apologize if I offended anyone. But the point that I was making was that no group of individuals, whoever they are, whatever their belief systems, gets to change traditional definitions.” The funniest word in his reply is ‘perhaps’ — (perhaps?!). If he wanted to choose…

When my son was about one and a half he would occasionally walk over to the bookshelf, toss all of the books from the bottom shelf onto the floor, then put them back (in no particular order of course). Once he had put the books back, he’d scream ‘yay!’, applaud himself, then run over for a celebratory ‘high five!’. He had solved a problem that he had created and I of course went along with it high-fiving and congratulating him, but it did occur to me that I might be creating a monster – or a politician. The controversy over gay marriage has been aggravated by the Democratic Party’s unwillingness to take a principled position and stick to it. So, laws like the Defense of Marriage Act pass with Democrat support. Prop 8 passes with Democrat silence. And now that public opinion has shifted in favor of gay marriage, Democrats…

While the ignorant are condemned to merely repeat history, the historian suffers a kind of dual condemnation. Not only must he repeat history along with the rest of us, but he must do so with full knowledge of the implications of our mistakes – sort of like being a character in a movie for which one knows the plot. The historian knows that we will need a ‘bigger boat’ before we go out on the small one. He knows that the idyllic campsiteĀ  is actually the hunting ground of a sadistic killer before the weekend romp begins. The historian knows that the monster will break its leash and turn on its creator whether thatĀ  monster be Frankenstein or infected zombies or the Tea Party, which brings me to Mr. Kabaservice and his book ‘Rule and Ruin’. “Rule and Ruin” chronicles the far right conservative takeover of the Republican Party and…

The highest paid individual in the federal government is not the President of the United States or the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff or the head of the FDA or the person who authenticates the launch codes in case of nuclear war. No. The highest paid person in the federal government is the coach of the Army football team. This hints at the importance of sports to the American people, especially college sports. The NCAA was founded in 1905 to establish safety guidelines and scheduling for college football, but over the years has evolved into a behemoth with the noble sounding goal of “promoting excellence in both sports and academics” and billions of dollars of revenue of which athletes get a very tiny fraction. The secrecy and the size of the NCAA intimidates or confuses many pundits and journalists, but to economists like Brian Goff, the NCAA’s behavior…