The rumors circulating that the administration might in the next week finally present a draft AUMF against the Islamic State causes me to ask: What is the point of a new AUMF?
Members of the Obama administration have insisted that the Taliban are not terrorists. Those responsible for the recent Paris killings are not radical Islamists. The Muslim Brotherhood is largely secular. Jihad is a "legitimate tenet of Islam." And "violent extremism," "workplace violence" or "man-caused disaster" better describe radical Islamic terrorism. Domestic terrorism is just as likely caused by returning U.S. combat veterans, according to one report by a federal agency.
When President Obama introduced his mammoth $4.4 trillion budget this week, he effectively announced that the era of big government is back. Even his fellow Democrat, Bill Clinton, had famously proclaimed in 1996 that “the era of big government is over.” This followed Ronald Reagan’s warning in 1981 that “government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem.”
Two weeks ago today, I gave a talk at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania. I had a good time, by the way, and I estimate that, in the midst of a small snow storm, over 150 students and faculty attended.
Following independent testing of herbal dietary supplements that found them to be fraudulently labeled, the New York Attorney General has sent cease-and-desist letters to major retailers, directing them to stop selling the products. Such action is long overdue, but it is insufficient.
In this episode of Uncommon Knowledge, Peter sits down with one of America’s favorite political satirists, P. J. O’Rourke, to discuss his best-selling books and the political philosophies that inspired them.
Former Florida governor Jeb Bush's speech on Wednesday before the Detroit Economic Club was something larger than a test-drive of a presidential campaign message. It was the highest-profile example to date of a Republican presidential hopeful embracing economic inequality and middle-class stagnation as problems that define America.
