Category Archives: Commentary

Leave Them Kids Alone

4/9/1998 – 10:33 am

You know, I really thought it was a spoof on April Fool’s Day when I looked at the New York Times and there, shyly staring back at me from a posed photograph, was 11-year-old Emily Rosa of Loveland, Colorado. According to the Times, Emily is the youngest person ever to publish a paper in a […]

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Democracy in Action

4/2/1998 – 10:35 am

Spring is here. The snow is gone, the crocus is up and the robins have returned. In Washington, the cherry trees blossom as Congress drones on fruitlessly over campaign finance reform – which reminds me we are approaching the season of the annual general meeting. In one of the last vestiges of control the federal […]

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Vegging Out

3/26/1998 – 1:17 pm

We’re right in the middle of Lent, and for six weeks, Catholics are abstaining from eating meat on Fridays. When I was a child, Catholics abstained from eating meat every Friday and my dad would pick up fish frys on his way home from work. Batter-dipped fish with wedges of lemon and french fries and […]

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Dangerous Days in the Economic Empire

3/19/1998 – 1:18 pm

Hello there, pleased to meet you. I’m the builder of the new American empire – the economic empire. Perhaps you’ve heard of me. There was a story about me a few weeks ago in the Sunday New York Times. They can’t seem to stop writing about me, the New York Times – Wall Street Journal […]

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Confinement Under Stress

3/12/1998 – 1:20 pm

Last week, there were stories in the newspaper about the growing number of hate groups in America. The experts found this unusual because unemployment is low, the economy is chugging along and the book of conventional wisdom says a poor economy is required for hate groups to flourish. Unable to account for this turn of […]

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You Could Look It Up

3/5/1998 – 1:22 pm

As I’m sure you know, Oprah Winfrey won her civil suit last week, when a Texas jury decided she has the right to speak her mind on the subject of beef. The cattlemen’s lawsuit was initially brought under the auspices of the Texas “veggie libel” law. News stories about the Oprah trial noted “veggie libel” […]

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Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Recruit

2/26/1998 – 1:24 pm

Most law schools require applicants to write an essay about why they want to be a lawyer and most applicants scribble away about justice and the rule of law elevating human society from the swamps of savagery. If their sentiments are sufficiently lofty, the applicants are accepted into law school and the professors begin to […]

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