Random Thoughts
by Thomas Sowell
Recently
by Thomas Sowell: Abstract
Immigrants
Random thoughts
on the passing scene:
Edmund Burke
said, "There is no safety for honest men, but by believing all possible
evil of evil men." Evil men do not always snarl. Some smile charmingly.
Those are the most dangerous. If you don't think the mainstream
media slants the news, keep track of how often they tell you that
the Arctic ice pack is shrinking and how seldom they tell you that
the Antarctic ice pack is expanding. The latter news would not fit
the "global warming" scenario that so many in the media are promoting.
Someone has
referred to Vice President Biden as President Obama's "impeachment
insurance." Even critics who are totally opposed to Barack Obama's
policies do not want anything to cut short his presidency, with
Joe Biden as his successor.
People who
refuse to accept unpleasant truths have no right to complain about
politicians who lie to them. What other kind of candidates would
such people elect?
Given the shortage
of articulate Republican leaders, it will be a real loss – to the
country, not just to the Republicans – if Senator Marco Rubio discredits
himself, early in his career, by supporting "comprehensive" immigration
reform that amounts to just another amnesty, with false promises
to secure the border.
Ever since
I learned, as a teenager, that the "Saturday Evening Post" magazine
was actually published on Wednesday mornings, I have been very skeptical
about words. "Gun control" laws do not control guns, "rent control"
laws do not control rent and government "stimulus" spending does
not stimulate the economy.
It is hard
to think of two people with more different personalities than New
York's Mayor Michael Bloomberg and President Barack Obama. But they
are soul mates when it comes to thinking that they ought to take
a whole spectrum of decisions out of citizens' hands, and impose
the government's decisions on them.
Maybe the reason
for the New York Yankees' low batting averages has something to
do with the fact that so many of their batters seem to be swinging
for the fences, even when a single would score the winning run.
President Obama's
denial of knowledge about the various scandals in his administration
that are starting to come to light suggests that his titles should
now include Innocent-Bystander-in-Chief.
It has long
been my belief that the sight of a good-looking woman lowers a man's
IQ by at least 20 points. A man who doesn't happen to have 20 points
he can spare can be in big trouble.
When Attorney
General Eric Holder argued that a "path to citizenship" for illegal
immigrants was a "civil right" and a "human right," that epitomized
the contempt for the public's intelligence which has characterized
so much of what has been said and done by the Obama administration.
You know you
are old when waitresses call you "dear."
Although many
people have been surprised and disappointed by Barack Obama, it
is hard to think of a president whose policies were more predictable
from his history, however radically different those policies are
from his rhetoric.
When any two
groups have different behavior or performance, that plain fact can
be turned upside down and twisted to say that whatever criterion
revealed those differences has had a "disparate impact" on one of
the groups. In other words, the criterion is blamed for an injustice
to those who failed to meet the standard.
Have
you heard any gun control advocate even try to produce hard evidence
that tighter gun control laws reduce murder rates? Does anyone seriously
believe that people who are prepared to defy the laws against murder
are going to obey laws against owning guns or large capacity magazines?
I may be among
the few people who want Attorney General Eric Holder to keep his
job – at least until the 2014 elections. Holder epitomizes what
is wrong with the Obama administration. He is essentially Barack
Obama without the charm, so it should be easier for the voters to
see through his lies and corruption.
Despite political
differences, it is hard not to feel sorry for White House press
secretary Jay Carney, for all the absurdities his job requires him
to say with a straight face. What is he going to do when this administration
is over? Wear a disguise, change his name or be put into a witness
protection program?
June
28, 2013
Thomas
Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford
University. His Web site is www.tsowell.com.
To find out more about Thomas Sowell and read features by other
Creators Syndicate columnists and cartoonists, visit the Creators
Syndicate web page.
The
Best of Thomas Sowell
Copyright ©
2013 Creators Syndicate
|