BY JOE CONASON Once upon a time, conservatives liked to say that “ideas matter.” They attributed this pithy slogan to Ayn Rand, venerated author of Atlas Shrugged and The Virtue of Selfishness, and tried to live by it, generating books, papers and legislative proposals by the dozen. Although many of their theories later proved flimsy, […]

BY JIM HIGHTOWER “No” can be a very good word. Whether dealing with children or Congress, a firm “uh-uh” can set useful borders for acceptable behavior. And, for such a short word, “no” can also carry a world of principle – America would be a lot better off today, for example, if only a few […]

BY SUSAN ESTRICH He talks for hours every day. He gets paid to talk. Just talk. Doing it well is no small thing; witness the number of people who have tried to be him, or be the NOT-him, and failed. But he doesn’t have to build a coalition. He doesn’t need the votes of the […]

BY FROMA HARROP When a pizzeria closes, the pizzeria down the block usually sees a surge in business. That principle applies to commerce in the larger North American neighborhood. Whenever the United States locks the gate on a plausible economic activity, Canadians move in and profit. The Bush Administration’s hostility toward stem-cell science created opportunity […]

BY SUSAN ESTRICH One of my favorite federal judges used to laugh whenever I began a sentence “with all due respect,” because he knew I was about to tell him I thought he was wrong. And he was right. So with all due respect to the longest serving Democrat in the United States Senate, Robert […]