Editorial

ESTRICH: Obama’s Clintonesque moment

Clintonesque means Barack Obama projected confidence and optimism. It means he connected with his audience, that he looked and sounded BIG. Not a whine in sight. Not an excuse to be heard. He was the president.

Susan Estrich

Clintonesque. That’s what all the talking heads were saying about the president’s State of the Union. And they didn’t mean long. Clintonesque means Barack Obama projected confidence and optimism. It means he connected with his...... Full story

TEXAS VIEW: Rick Perry’s next act

THE POINT — After 11 years, the governor’s list of accomplishments is rather thin.

The Dallas Morning News

After a short intermission, the next act will begin unfolding in the long-running governorship of Rick Perry. He ought to make it an action-packed one and surprise critics — now at an unprecedented number, according to a new Dallas Morning...... Full story

CHANDLER: Child labor not such a bad idea

Charlena Chandler

My candidate Newt Gingrich was dealt a severe blow in the Sunshine State last Tuesday. Sorry I wasn’t there to help him out. Unfortunately, I am not an eligible voter in Florida. Or in Iowa, New Hampshire or South Carolina. Mr. Gingrich is...... Full story

WILLIAMS: Obama’s racial politics

Walter Williams

There’s been a heap of criticism placed upon President Barack Obama’s domestic policies that have promoted government intrusion and prolonged our fiscal crisis and his foreign policies that have emboldened our enemies. Any criticism of...... Full story

HART: Captain 'Chicken of the Sea'

Ron Hart

The Captain of the Italian Carnival Cruise Lines ship that turned over has to be one of the most hapless chaps of the decade. He ran aground his cruise ship, which carried many gluttonous cruise-crazed passengers. I think the ship was called...... Full story

SULLUM: Complexity compounded

JACOB SULLUM

In his State of the Union address last week, President Obama used billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s secretary, Debbie Bosanek, as a prop to illustrate the unfairness of our tax system. “Right now,” he said as Bosanek sat near...... Full story

TEXAS VIEW: Perry should pay campaign security costs

THE POINT — Just because it’s legal for him to stick the Texas Department of Public Safety with the bill doesn’t mean it’s right.

Houston Chronicle

Now that Gov. Rick Perry isn’t running for president anymore, Texas taxpayers are beginning to find out how much we’ll have to pay for his campaign. Mainly, that cost has been for out-of-state travel for the security detail that covered...... Full story

MILLER: What ever happened to songs that tell a story?

BY NATHANIEL MILLER

One of my favorite things about music is that each song tells a story.Well, at least, they used to.These days pop stations will play anything that has a catchy beat with lyrics that loop and make no sense.“Rap” artists will make...... Full story

CHAPMAN: Amend the Constitution? Not happening

Stephen Chapman

The Republican presidential candidates love the Constitution, but if they have their way, you’ll barely recognize it. Like a plastic surgeon meeting with a prospective patient, they see all sorts of ways it could be vastly improved. Rick...... Full story

CHAREN: The return of the weak horse

Mona Charen

“If you wish for peace, prepare for war.” — Latin adage In the immediate aftermath of Sept. 11, a rough consensus emerged about the messages the Clinton administration was sending to potential adversaries. The failure to respond...... Full story

TEXAS VIEW: We deserve answers in time for the election

THE POINT — The controversial voter ID law is still a solution in search of a problem.

Austin American-Statesman

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott intensified the push to get the state’s voter identification cleared by federal authorities earlier this week. When it was just a bill, the voter identification law was the object of intense debate in the...... Full story

HAWKINS: That’s just the way it is or was, we hope

BY CELINDA HAWKINS

The other day, as I was re-listening to all of my favorite Bruce Hornsby tunes, I remembered that he wrote a lot about the oppression of African-Americans in the South. Songs like “The Way It Is,” and “Fire on the Cross,”...... Full story

FREEDOM VIEW: Obama has greens worried

THE POINT — President’s talk of opening more offshore areas to drilling not more than that.

FREEDOM COMMUNICATIONS

When President Barack Obama promised this week to open 75 percent of potential offshore gas and oil resources to drilling and praised the controversial fracking method for extracting untapped oil reserves on land, a collective shudder went through...... Full story

SOWELL: Age of ignorance, age of brass

THOMAS SOWELL

This may be the golden age of presumptuous ignorance. The most recent demonstrations of that are the Occupy Wall Street mobs. It is doubtful how many of these semi-literate sloganizers could tell the difference between a stock and a bond. Yet there...... Full story

SOWELL: South Carolina’s message

Thomas Sowell

Just days before the South Carolina primary, polls showed Mitt Romney leading Newt Gingrich. Then came the debates and the question about Gingrich’s private life, which brought a devastating response from the former Speaker of the House...... Full story