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There is inequality and inequality. The first is the inequality people tolerate, such as one’s understanding compared to that of people deemed heroes, say Einstein, Michelangelo, or the recluse mathematician Grisha Perelman, in comparison to whom one has no difficulty acknowledging a large surplus. This applies to entrepreneurs, artists, soldiers, heroes, the singer Bob Dylan, Socrates, the current local celebrity chef, some Roman Emperor of good repute, say Marcus Aurelius; in short those for whom one can naturally be a “fan”. You may like to imitate them, you may aspire to be like them; but you don’t resent them. The...

In eight years, you have done so much. Seen so much. You stood at the gates of the Robben Island cell where South Africa’s Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for decades, your arms around your father. You traveled to Liberia and Morocco with your mom to talk with girls about the importance of education—girls who saw themselves in you, saw themselves in your parents, saw who they could become if they continued to study and learn. You attended state dinners, hiked in national parks, met international leaders and managed to laugh at your dad’s jokes during the annual Thanksgiving turkey pardon,...

The end of Obama presidency and Martin Luther King Day day provide an opportunity to analyze race relations after eight years of the first (half) black president. From one perspective, it hasn’t been successful. That racial tension has increased since 2008 is undeniable. One poll finds that 55% of Americans believe race relations have deteriorated under Obama, while only 8% feel they have improved. The New York Times writes 60% of Americans (including the majority of blacks and whites) feel that race relations are generally bad, much higher than 2008. Riots have recently rocked communities like Ferguson, Milwaukee and Charlotte....

Occasionally, professors at the Modern Language Association (MLA) have good points to make. Unfortunately, they soon get buried in the MLA's favorite themes and concepts. "Chicago remains one of the most deeply segregated cities in the United States," Soyica Diggs Colbert of Georgetown said at this year's MLA convention in Philadelphia. She then went on to explore "theories of white gender as a performative," "white gender problems," "white supremacist desire to control black people," and "misapprehension" of "vertices of domination." Colbert spoke at "a special session" of the MLA conference on "Queering the Civil Rights Movement." Actually, Colbert and her...

Mark Levin wants to once and for all put the difficult election behind the American patriots, be they Republican or of other persuasions, avid Trump supporters or reluctant, whole-hearted or less so. He says, “It is time. It is time that we stand our ground in defending Donald Trump’s legitimacy and the fact that he is the President-elect and to become the president.” Levin, who it’s better to have arriving late to the party than out driving around lost in the wrong neighborhood, says, “Because I’m telling you right now and I’ve told you before, the media, the Praetorian Guard...

Taxpayers wrote a $900,000 settlement check to a federal employee to compensate her for once being likened to a “Little Rascals” character by her boss, The Daily Caller News Foundation’s Investigative Group (TheDCNF) has learned. The secret settlement appears to be one of the largest-ever discrimination settlement payouts to an individual federal employee. The payment came after an Equal Opportunity Employment office ruled that the remark was racist and accepted without challenge the claim that it caused nearly a million dollars worth of emotional harm. The offending boss was Mary K. Kinney, then-executive vice president of Ginnie Mae, which is...

On Wednesday, Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA) — head of the Congressional Black Caucus — blasted the Senate Judiciary Committee’s decision to have three black members of Congress testify last at Sen. Jeff Sessions’ (R-AL) Tuesday confirmation hearing for attorney general, saying it was the equivalent of being sent to the “back of the bus.” “First I want to address my concerns about being made to testify at the end of the witness panels,” Richmond said, according to The Hill. “To have a senator, a House member, and living civil rights legend testify at the end of all of this is...

The Gold Star father of Capt. Humayun Khan, who blasted President-elect Donald J. Trump at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, told Breitbart News that he has “no animosity” towards Trump, though he still opposes Trump’s policies. “I really have no animosity towards him, but towards his policies? Yes,” said Khizr Khan, a attorney and supporter of Hillary R. Clinton in the last presidential election. “If he says: ‘We must reconcile. We will treat all citizens equally in all of this and there is no discrimination based on religion or race and all that’ I will support him,” Khan said. “My...

It is fitting that presidents give farewell messages.  But given the venue and setting President Obama had chosen, it was fairly easy to surmise that this would be a final political rally and national lecture. I will simply recount the one lasting legacy of Barack Obama that will always be emblazoned in my memory.  When I think of him, I will think of this.  When I reflect on his promised era of hope and change, I will be drawn to this image.  Despite your personal feelings on his coolness, his character, his charisma, or his competence, Barack Obama will forever...

Be honest. You know the people in Hollywood are better than you are. I’d be willing to bet Leonardo DiCaprio has slept with way more Victoria’s Secret models than you have, and Natalie Portman has a much more impressive stock portfolio. You fly coach? Gross. You think George Clooney flies coach? Or even first class? Private, baby. And that makes actors better AND smarter than you are. That’s why people who hear the word “no” only when it’s in a script or their agent is yelling it at a studio head until they add another zero to your check are...

Video. Clinton spoke for 7 minutes, 25 seconds; Reagan spoke for 20 minutes, 42 seconds; and George W. Bush spoke for 13 minutes, 7 seconds. Obama spoke for 51 minutes, 10 seconds, nearly 10 minutes longer than the other three put together. Obama also broke from the tradition of delivering his final speech from the White House. Clinton and Reagan both spoke from the Oval Office, and George W. Bush spoke in front of a small audience in the White House East Room; the Obama administration distributed public tickets for his speech at the McCormick Place convention center in Chicago....

Research has found that being attractive influences many things in a person's life -- their salary, their popularity and grades in school, even the prison sentences they receive. So why not their politics? A recently published study in the Journal of Public Economics concludes that the attractiveness of a candidate does correlate with their politics. They find that politicians on the right are more good looking in Europe, the United States and Australia. The research also suggests that voters correctly see candidates who are more good looking as more likely to be conservative.

One of the speakers at this year’s Modern Language Association (MLA) meeting brought up a fascinating quote by William Wordsworth that may well be an indictment of the annual conclave of English professors: "To dissect is to murder." If that is so, much of the professoriat at the MLA meeting could be up on assault charges. If he hadn't already passed away, Herman Melville might want to file such a complaint. Melville, of course, is the author of Moby Dick. Many will probably recognize this as the one about a one-legged sea captain pursuing a great big whale. Yet and...

A List Of My Favorite Things I Learned From My Liberal Facebook Friends Social media now makes us more readily aware of our friends' and families' opinions, which can cause quite the collision in your friendships. However, it's important to remember that having friends with a difference of opinion around can provide for an opportunity to learn a little something from one another. Proving just that, let me present you with a list of things I learned from my friends on the left. political-dissonance Gender is an arbitrary societal construct, but Hillary must be elected because we need a female...

This is an audio excerpt from the book, "Seven Miracles That Saved America: Why They Matter and Why We Should Have Hope" (http://tinyurl.com/j2x2pym) detailing some of Chomsky's anti-American views. An audio snippet of Howard Zinn can also be found here: https://youtu.be/u1f0rllGZdU

This is an audio excerpt from the book, "Seven Miracles That Saved America: Why They Matter and Why We Should Have Hope" (http://tinyurl.com/j2x2pym) detailing some of Howard Zinn's anti-American views. An audio snippet of Noam Chomsky can also be found here: https://youtu.be/CZfS_p4ZEVk Likewise, one should visit my tribute to Zinn at his passing [now updated somewhat]: http://tinyurl.com/ovgxoz7

Gun rights advocates have long defended their right to bear arms out of a need for self-defense. And now they have a new report from the Centers for Disease Control that says they make a darn good point. The $10 million study commissioned by President Barack Obama as part of 23 executive orders he signed in January says “self-defense can be an important crime deterrent.”

My pro-choice friends kill me sometimes with their kindness and compassion. In return, I try to kill them with sarcasm. However, a recent comment made to me by a self-proclaimed liberal was so calloused it deserves a serious response. I will paraphrase the remark, which is one most pro-lifers have heard at some point in their lives:“I would rather have hundreds of my tax dollars used to abort an unwanted child now than have hundreds of thousands used for public assistance later.”In case you did not grasp the obvious, that comment is not an example of liberalism. It is an...

Sunday night at the Golden Globes, actress Meryl Streep gave an anti-Trump speech when she accepted the Cecil B. DeMille award. While most of Hollywood and the press were smitten by Streep, calling the speech "powerful" and "brave," at least two celebrities were not: Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn. A somewhat hilarious screenshot caught the two in various stages of "side-eye" during Streep's acceptance speech. Vaughn in particular looks as though he's about to explode, whereas Gibson just kind of looks annoyed.

Conservative commentator Meghan McCain on Sunday criticized actress Meryl Streep's Golden Globes dig at Donald Trump, saying it shows that Hollywood doesn't understand the forces behind Trump's victory. "This Meryl Streep speech is why Trump won," McCain, the daughter of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), tweeted Sunday night. "And if people in Hollywood don't start recognizing why and how - you will help him get re-elected."