Politics, Moderate
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Comic Villain Just Needed Some Therapy
A careless comparison meant to skewer Jordan Peterson is backfiring in a big way.
The psychology professor expressed astonishment when Twitter followers alerted him to obvious parallels between him and the Red Skull, the supervillain in Marvel Comics' Captain America franchise.
In the comic's latest edition, published March 31, the masked ...Read more
Boycotts Can Moderate Georgia Voting Law
Voter suppression, meet your match: corporate responsibility.
Eight days after Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a controversial election reform bill into law, Major League Baseball announced plans to relocate the All-Star Game and MLB draft from Atlanta to a new host city, citing Senate Bill 202's voting restrictions.
Georgia-based Coca-Cola ...Read more
Forced Patriotism: Unlawful and Un-American
Following high-profile national anthem protests, lawmakers passed a local ordinance requiring citizens to "stand solemnly and deport themselves with dignity" while the anthem is played.
Before conservatives cheer this development too loudly, they should know the law was enacted last year in Hong Kong and refers to "March of the Volunteers," ...Read more
Bring Back the Talking Filibuster
President Joe Biden wants to make the filibuster great again.
Facing the prospect of legislative logjams that could derail his policy agenda, Biden recently told ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos that he supports a Senate rule change to restore the talking filibuster, where marathon floor speeches are used to block bills from receiving a ...Read more
Don't Force Gig Workers to Go Pro
When the COVID-19 pandemic closed restaurant dining rooms, Americans skipped drive-thru and takeout lines with the help of mobile delivery apps like Doordash, Grubhub and Uber Eats.
The four largest apps more than doubled their revenue last April through September compared with the same six-month span in 2019, according to a MarketWatch ...Read more
Court Case Pits Schools Against Parents
Battle lines are being redrawn in a First Amendment case on the Supreme Court's docket. What started as a tussle between teenagers and adults is now a power struggle between parents and government.
Twenty-three state attorneys general and one deputy attorney general filed a friend-of-the-court brief in Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L., a ...Read more
Private Flag, Sign Rules Stifle Speech
Mark Silverstein is seizing his chance to wedge a foot in the door for free speech.
After suing a subdivision over its discriminatory flag and yard sign rules, the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado legal director hopes to leverage the publicity around his case to challenge homeowners associations that muffle political messages.
...Read more
Add Student Press Freedom to the Syllabus
In Indiana, student journalists say Plainfield High School prevented them from reporting a classmate's arrest in a string of sexual assault cases.
In North Carolina, Piedmont Community Charter School reportedly used black markers to censor senior quotes in its yearbook, and Richmond Early College High School reportedly confiscated some ...Read more
Trigger-Happy Gun Ban Will Backfire
A sweeping gun control bill stoking red-state resistance may prove more of a blessing than a curse for Second Amendment supporters.
Since Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, introduced the Sabika Sheikh Firearm Licensing and Registration Act on Jan. 4, news reports have triggered a swift backlash. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott cited the legislation in...Read more
Fight conspiracies with amnesty, not blame
No one remembers the Affordable Care Act as H.R. 3590 or the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act as H.R. 1. When Congress passes legislation, tradition demands a catchy title.
Now that House Democrats have prevailed in their effort to expel freshman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from two committees, H.Res. 72 is too dull a designation. If the removal ...Read more
Black smokers don't need white saviors
When it comes to deceptive marketing, Big Tobacco is no match for big government.
A coalition of 23 attorneys general is asking the Food and Drug Administration to ban menthol cigarettes, and the broadside against consumer freedom is carefully cloaked in appeals for social justice.
In a Jan. 22 letter to the FDA, the prosecutors take pains to ...Read more
Fire the political hacks and leave journalism to the professionals
Voice of America can't have it both ways.
The broadcaster insists it's not a government propaganda arm, but its staff blew the whistle on former U.S. Agency for Global Media CEO Michael Pack and his lieutenants for running it like one.
Robert R. Reilly, whom Pack appointed Voice of America's director, invited Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to ...Read more
Congressman cries freedom and then plays censor
His name may be a nod to the Founding Father and fourth president, but Rep. Madison Cawthorn is no James Madison.
In only his second week in office, the freshman Republican congressman from North Carolina waded into constitutional quicksand, backing a bid to strong-arm social media companies into relaxing their rules after Twitter and Facebook ...Read more