Opinion - Mona Charen

  • Obama's Education Hypocrisy -- Again

    Mona Charen - Fri, May 25, 2012

        If you were a child in the District of Columbia school system (51st in state rankings for academic achievement, first for school violence), you and your parents probably greeted the election of Barack Obama with great joy. If someone had suggested to you then that the president would attempt to torpedo the scholarship program that permits some District kids to attend the private schools of their choice, you might have thought you were hearing racist smears.    But that is what happened. ... More »Obama's Education Hypocrisy -- Again

  • Is Your 5-Year-Old Transgender?

    Mona Charen - Tue, May 22, 2012

    A 5-year-old child with large dark eyes, full lips and a button nose stares out from the front page of the Washington Post Sunday edition. "Transgender at Five" declares the provocative headline. The child's hair is being cut in a close boy's cut by her father. More »Is Your 5-Year-Old Transgender?

  • Spitzer Wants to Focus on Economy. Really?

    Mona Charen - Tue, May 15, 2012

    Appearing on ABC's "This Week," former Gov. Eliot Spitzer (why do they give him a forum?) offered the Democratic Party's defense of the Obama economy. The Republicans, Spitzer sputtered "want to go back to medieval medicine, the bloodletting, leeches. They want to go back to the very crazy economics that brought us over the cliff and created a cataclysm." More »Spitzer Wants to Focus on Economy. Really?

  • To Bigotry No Sanction

    Mona Charen - Fri, May 11, 2012

    Now that President Obama has "evolved" on the matter of same-sex marriage to the position favored by "enlightened" Americans, this would seem to be a good time for some rhetorical hygiene. More »To Bigotry No Sanction

  • Extremism in Defense of the Welfare State

    Mona Charen - Tue, May 8, 2012

    The theme song of a popular TV show from the last decade featured the lyric "I worry all the time. If you paid attention, you'd be worried, too." It's a wise posture when analyzing the slow-motion crisis that is Europe. More »Extremism in Defense of the Welfare State

  • Obama's Disgraceful Abandonment of Chen Guangcheng

    Mona Charen - Fri, May 4, 2012

    It's hard to know which is worse: one's grief over Chen Guangcheng's fate or the fury over the Obama administration's abandonment of him to that fate. More »Obama's Disgraceful Abandonment of Chen Guangcheng

  • Was the Secret Service Pornified?

    Mona Charen - Tue, May 1, 2012

    What do you suppose are the chances that the Secret Service agents who embarrassed themselves, possibly endangered the life of the president of the United States, and very likely damaged their marriages and the lives of their children by engaging prostitutes in Cartagena, were consumers of pornography? More »Was the Secret Service Pornified?

  • Carter Redux?

    Mona Charen - Fri, Apr 27, 2012

    Every new datum on economic stagnation — such as Thursday's Labor Department announcement that unemployment claims remain at a three-month high — increases the temptation to compare the 2012 presidential race to 1980's. Both years feature a Democratic incumbent, elected on a surge of high hopes, who must face the voters after four years of disappointment. In both cases, the economy is a drag on the president. In both cases, the incumbent has attempted to demonize his opposition in order to avoid running on his record. ... More »Carter Redux?

  • Cuddly Symbols Not Cooperating in Climate Panic

    Mona Charen - Tue, Apr 24, 2012

    In a better world, debates about science — and nearly everything else — would be conducted without resort to demagoguery, sentimentality, cynical manipulation, or hysteria. In the world we inhabit, those tactics are dismayingly routine. Still, the great weakness of overwrought predictions of doom is that they can be checked. More »Cuddly Symbols Not Cooperating in Climate Panic

  • Don't be Cowed by The New York Times

    Mona Charen - Tue, Apr 17, 2012

    "Romney Camp Stumbles on Pay Equity Question" crowed The New York Times last week. "The Caucus" blog was referring to a conference call in which Romney top aides "seemed uncertain" about how to respond to a question about whether the former governor supported the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. More »Don't be Cowed by The New York Times

  • You Pay for Warren Buffett's Medicare

    Mona Charen - Fri, Apr 13, 2012

    The president is barnstorming around the nation hoping to enrage voters at the injustice that the wealthy pay fewer taxes than the middle class. "Now that's wrong," Obama objected, "That's not fair." More »You Pay for Warren Buffett's Medicare

  • Obama's Contempt for Law (Chavismo Comes to Washington)

    Mona Charen - Tue, Apr 10, 2012

    Last month the Obamas hosted a White House conference on bullying. It was intended as a show of support for victims, but watching this president in action, it might just as easily have been a tutorial. More »Obama's Contempt for Law (Chavismo Comes to Washington)

  • Why Not Junk the Nobel Peace Prizes?

    Mona Charen - Fri, Apr 6, 2012

    When the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Barack Obama, many, myself included, felt that the Norwegian committee had so embarrassed itself as to devalue the prize permanently. A Dallas service station sign, at the time, captured the sentiment precisely: "Free Nobel Peace Prize with Oil Change." More »Why Not Junk the Nobel Peace Prizes?

  • Trayvon and the Good Victim

    Mona Charen - Fri, Mar 30, 2012

    Just as Rahm Emmanuel didn't want to let a good crisis go to waste, the national press doesn't want to let a good victim go to waste. More »Trayvon and the Good Victim

  • It Does Matter How You Vote

    Mona Charen - Fri, Mar 23, 2012

    A recent weeknight found me among a group of about a dozen unhappy parents meeting with the principal of our kids' high school. The issue: An incompetent teacher who we had been promised would not be returning to the school had shown up unexpectedly, and an administrator had told the students that he might indeed be returning in September. More »It Does Matter How You Vote

  • Obama and the Future Fallacy

    Mona Charen - Tue, Mar 20, 2012

    Speaking to students at a Maryland community college, President Obama indulged one of the left's favorite vanities — the claim to represent "the future." His topic was energy. The president warned against Republicans who want "an energy strategy for the last century that traps us in the past." He compared today's Republicans who are less enthusiastic than he about government subsidies for "wind, solar and biofuels," to the "flat earth society" and to President Rutherford B. Hayes, who supposedly disdained the telephone. More »Obama and the Future Fallacy

  • Thanks President Obama, but I Need More

    Mona Charen - Tue, Mar 13, 2012

    Dear President Obama, More »Thanks President Obama, but I Need More

  • Gender Specific Writer

    Mona Charen - Fri, Mar 9, 2012

    Apple Inc. makes dazzling, life-enhancing products, so God bless them ... to a point. More »Gender Specific Writer

  • Genius for Subject Changing

    Mona Charen - Tue, Mar 6, 2012

    The Obama administration issues an edict regarding birth control that is 1) blatantly unconstitutional, 2) economically absurd, and 3) completely unmatched to any national need. What are they talking about? The "Republican war on women." More »Genius for Subject Changing

  • Who's the True Conservative?

    Mona Charen - Fri, Mar 2, 2012

    The theme for this year's primary season was set back in May 2011. Recall that the Republican-dominated House of Representatives had just done something that cynics said would not and could not be done. They voted for a budget — the Ryan budget — that actually began to tackle the problem of limitless entitlement spending. More »Who's the True Conservative?

  • Assad's Useful Idiots

    Mona Charen - Tue, Feb 28, 2012

    Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a firm statement to the Syrian elite this week, urging them to overthrow the regime of Bashar al-Assad. "The longer you support the regime's campaign of violence against your brothers and sisters, the more it will stain your honor," she advised. More »Assad's Useful Idiots

  • Now We Know Why Not Santorum

    Mona Charen - Fri, Feb 24, 2012

    Wish I had a nickel for every conservative who confidently predicted that the Arizona debate would, of course, feature obnoxious questions about birth control and the devil aimed at Rick Santorum. As it turned out, CNN's John King did not ask "gotcha" questions and for the most part, conducted a fair and informative debate. The exception, and this may not have been King's fault, was CNN's absurd reality-show-style introductions of the candidates: "Newt Gingrich, the determined challenger," "Mitt Romney, the long-distance runner." Hmm. ... More »Now We Know Why Not Santorum

  • The Great Obama Kowtow

    Mona Charen - Fri, Feb 17, 2012

    Wikipedia defines "kowtow" as "kneeling and bowing so low as to have one's head touching the ground. ... (Chinese history scholar) Immanuel (Hsu) describes the 'full kowtow' as 'three kneelings and nine knockings of the head on the ground.'" Wikipedia adds that, "In modern times, usage of the kowtow has become much reduced." More »The Great Obama Kowtow

  • The Free Lunch Is Back

    Mona Charen - Tue, Feb 14, 2012

    Leaving aside the blatant assault on religious liberty that the Obama administration's contraceptive mandate represents (a number of commentators have ably elucidated the assault on free exercise), the edict ought to offend all sensible Americans for its sheer economic and moral fatuousness. More »The Free Lunch Is Back

  • Do You Speak Conservative?

    Mona Charen - Fri, Feb 10, 2012

    Newt Gingrich knows the lingo. He makes conservative audiences roar with approval when he compares the efficiency of FedEx and MasterCard to the post office and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He never loses an opportunity to attack the press for its moral preening. Conservatives adore this table turning. Nothing makes them angrier than to be derided as heartless by people who define virtue by their willingness to give away other people's money. More »Do You Speak Conservative?

  • Removing Planned Parenthood's Fig Leaf

    Mona Charen - Tue, Feb 7, 2012

    Planned Parenthood would appear to have won this latest skirmish in the abortion wars. The Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation having first decided to withdraw future grants to the world's largest abortion provider, quickly retreated under a barrage of accusations, complaints and threats. More »Removing Planned Parenthood's Fig Leaf

  • Drop the Middle Class Talk

    Mona Charen - Fri, Feb 3, 2012

    In 1992, Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton built his campaign for the White House on doing more for the "forgotten middle class." Calling it the "new covenant" (Democrats since Roosevelt have tried to work the words "new" or "deal" into their campaign slogans), Clinton promised to focus on the people he called "the backbone of the country, the ones who do the work and pay the taxes and send their children off to war." More »Drop the Middle Class Talk

  • Social Pressure to Marry Is Dead

    Mona Charen - Tue, Jan 31, 2012

    The advice columns of newspapers are good windows into the conscience of a culture. There you will find a field guide to what is considered socially acceptable and unacceptable. One of the advice columnists for the Washington Post, Carolyn Hax, is consistently sensible and solid in her suggestions. Straightening out busybodies, drug abusers, interfering in-laws and ungrateful children with equal aplomb, she's usually a pleasant read with the morning coffee. More »Social Pressure to Marry Is Dead

  • Romney Should be Proud

    Mona Charen - Fri, Jan 27, 2012

    It's as predictable as vultures at a carcass. When a wealthy Republican is running for office, the press will make his wealth a handicap. Recall that when George H. W. Bush was running in 1988, he was derided as a "preppy." George W. Bush was the undeserving scion of the ruling class. We were told never mind that he had succeeded in business on his own. ... More » Romney Should be Proud

  • Just Attack the Media and We're At Your Feet

    Mona Charen - Tue, Jan 24, 2012

    So the message South Carolina voters sent was — "Anything goes so long as you attack the media." More »Just Attack the Media and We're At Your Feet

  • The Return of the Weak Horse

    Mona Charen - Fri, Jan 20, 2012

    If you wish for peace, prepare for war. — Latin adage More »The Return of the Weak Horse

  • It Isn't Just the Mandate

    Mona Charen - Fri, Jan 13, 2012

    Most people have heard that Obamacare is being challenged as unconstitutional because it contains an individual mandate forcing people to purchase health insurance. That challenge is due to be heard by the Supreme Court this year. But while the mandate is certainly problematic in a system that, at least notionally, is one of limited and enumerated powers, the mandate is not the worst part of this bill — not by a long shot. More »It Isn't Just the Mandate

  • Family History Haunts Romney

    Mona Charen - Tue, Jan 10, 2012

    At the 757th Republican debate over the weekend, Newt Gingrich zinged Mitt Romney for attempting to portray his decision to forego a re-election race in Massachusetts as reluctance to become a lifetime politician. " . . . Can we drop a little bit of the pious baloney?" Gingrich taunted, observing that Romney's poll numbers were dropping in 2006, and he was eyeing a presidential run, which he did indeed make in 2008. More »Family History Haunts Romney

  • Dinner With Terrorists

    Mona Charen - Fri, Jan 6, 2012

    If you were running the Illinois Humanities Council and a famous terrorist offered to help in your fundraising drive, what would you do? If you said, "slam down the phone" or something to that effect, it just shows how remote you are from the sensibilities of the Obama age. Because, in fact, when Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers offered to auction "dinner for six" at their house, the IHC cheerfully accepted. More »Dinner With Terrorists

  • The Wrong Kind of Minority

    Mona Charen - Fri, Dec 30, 2011

    The Washington Post proclaimed in a recent headline another historic "first" for the United States — the first female usher-in-chief at the White House. Stop the presses! The accompanying story reveals that the nominee hails from Jamaica, so it's probably a two-fer. Oh, boy. More »The Wrong Kind of Minority

  • Merry Manly Christmas and Hanukkah

    Mona Charen - Fri, Dec 23, 2011

    This is the time of year to turn our thoughts to noble sentiments and inspiring stories. William Bennett, who has established something of a cottage industry in uplift, has a new book out that celebrates and explicates all that is bracing, wholesome, affecting and necessary about men and manliness More »Merry Manly Christmas and Hanukkah

  • That Ol' Time Religion

    Mona Charen - Tue, Dec 20, 2011

    President Obama spoke at the annual meeting of the Union for Reform Judaism last week, and he gave the attendees that ol' time religion — liberalism. Not surprisingly, since Reform Judaism is, in Richard Brookhiser's timeless phrase, "the Democratic Party with holidays" — it was well-received. More »That Ol' Time Religion

  • NTSB: the Banning Nannies

    Mona Charen - Fri, Dec 16, 2011

    A few months ago, tooling along in my brand new Honda (aka "cute car"), I came to a stop at a red light. On my right, a police cruiser with lights flashing was investigating a fender bender. A total of three cars, the two that were in the accident plus the police car, were off on the shoulder. I was waiting for the light to change when — bam — someone crashed into me from behind. One of the police officers instructed us to pull over to the side of the road near the other two cars. "Everybody OK?" My husband and I nodded. ... More »NTSB: the Banning Nannies

  • The Volt Administration

    Mona Charen - Tue, Dec 13, 2011

    The headline reads like a piece from the Onion: "U.S. Navy Paying $15/Gallon for Green Fuel." But it's real enough. More »The Volt Administration

  • Obama Default Mode: Blame Israel

    Mona Charen - Fri, Dec 9, 2011

    After a two-hour meeting in Cairo, Khaled Mashaal, unelected leader of Hamas, and Mahmoud Abbas, unelected leader of the Palestinian Authority, were all smiles. "We want to assure our people and the Arab and Islamic world that we have turned a major new and real page in partnership on everything to do with the Palestinian nation," Mashaal announced. "There are no more differences between us now," agreed Abbas. More »Obama Default Mode: Blame Israel

  • Will The Economy Sink Obama?

    Mona Charen - Tue, Dec 6, 2011

    Writing for the liberal-leaning Brookings Institution, William Galston surveys the demographic and political landscape. He expresses alarm about President Obama's re-election chances. "If the election pitting Obama against the strongest potential Republican nominee, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, were held tomorrow, the president would probably lose." More »Will The Economy Sink Obama?

  • Where Ron Paul Is Right

    Mona Charen - Fri, Dec 2, 2011

    Five years ago last month, Milton Friedman died at age 94. To the very end, the Nobel Prize winning economist was astute, tireless and wonderfully avuncular. Thanks to the Internet, his commentaries on subjects ranging from greed, to slavery, to the Great Depression myth and many other topics, can be enjoyed forever. More »Where Ron Paul Is Right

  • Who's the Most Conservative of Them All?

    Mona Charen - Tue, Nov 29, 2011

    While the nation was digesting its turkey dinner, Rep. Michelle Bachmann was seizing an opportunity to score points at Newt Gingrich's expense. Suggesting that his position on illegal immigration amounts to "amnesty," Bachmann predicted that the GOP electorate would "come home" to the person who has been the most "consistent conservative." That would be, she offers, herself. More »Who's the Most Conservative of Them All?

  • Students Share Penn State Shame

    Mona Charen - Tue, Nov 22, 2011

    The initial shock of the child abuse scandal at Penn State was disturbing enough, but what came later may have been even more so. More »Students Share Penn State Shame

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