I like Pandora. Being a middle-aged conservative guy with a wife and four kids, let’s just say I don’t get out as often as I used to. Internet radio services like Pandora allow me to plug in my favorite artists—Springsteen, Sinatra, you get it—and then get surprised by Pandora’s offerings that are tailored to my taste. Please don’t snicker at my taste.
The recent attention on Google's vulnerability to antitrust enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission and European Commission has brought out the usual responses from Google and from the antitrust naysayers on the right.
The technology sector has long been wary of antitrust laws. Yet the tech sector has become aware of the very real consequences of abusing a dominant share of the economy. The figurative thorn in the side of the current tech sector’s ability to innovate and expand is the mother of all search engines: Google.
A few weeks ago, I wrote an article about Christina Aguilera’s disrespectful rendition of our national anthem prior to the kick-off of last month’s Super Bowl. In the article, I advised Aguilera and other pop stars to “sing ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ with the courtesy and humility that tells the audience that it is about America, not you.”
I’ve heard quite a bit of criticism of Christina Aguilera’s embarrassing rendition of our national anthem prior to kick-off Sunday night. Most of the comments have been focused on her botching the lyrics. Fair enough.
Modern communications requires the use of shorthand to describe a whole host of concepts. When it comes to politics, we are liberal, moderate or conservative -- left, center, or right. I cannot remember a time when the majority of political pundits did not believe that America was a right-leaning country with a few bastions of left-leaning elites condensed on either coast.
For the rest of his life, Army Staff Sergeant Salvatore Giunta will be on the receiving end of salutes from every member of the uniformed military regardless of rank. Rendering a salute to a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient is one of the coolest military traditions in an organization known for traditions. And being a great soldier, SSG Giunta will probably never get used to returning the salute of a superior officer.
We conservatives agree that the federal government should be smaller, less costly and less intrusive. We also believe in the rule of law, the enforcement of our law, and the Constitution as written. In other words, true conservatives understand that there are some functions of government that serve a necessary purpose and that are required by the Constitution. In that vein, laws giving the federal government the authority to prevent massive theft of American products would normally be welcomed by conservatives.
There has been much talk amongst the Washington power elites about “compromise” in the aftermath of the Republican midterm victories. The punditry -- especially the left-leaning punditry -- has been in a tizzy about the need for President Obama and Congressional Republicans to meet half-way. The message of the election, we are being told by all of the smart politicians and their strategists, was that the American people want Republicans and Democrats to find common ground, compromise and work together.
I was greeted by yet another headline in Friday’s Washington Post that points to another bailout for homeowners: “Obama administration announces effort to slash mortgages for unemployed borrowers.”
