Doug Patton

GOP Leadership Shows Very Little

Since every commentator in the country is opining this week about the horrific shooting of a congresswoman, a judge and 17 others in Arizona, it seems wise to withhold analysis until more is known. Besides, important stories frequently go unnoticed when such big stories dominate the news, and last week was no exception.

The Only Real Hope at Christmas is in Christ

The politically correct gestures of salutation (Seasons Greetings, Happy Holidays, etc.), which for too long have served as substitutes for the real thing, have become hollow, stale and boring. This season, I sense a desire on the part of many to return to the tradition greeting, "Merry Christmas." Perhaps this has to do with the disillusionment of Americans with the false hope proffered by those who told us that redemption lies in government.

Clinton is the New ‘President Czar’

"Now I get it! Clinton is the new president czar!" — Errol Phillips I was as dumbfounded as most Americans must have been last week when the sitting President of the United States called upon one of his predecessors to help him explain one of his decisions to a formerly fawning media that doesn't seem quite as adoring of late as it was back when that thrill ran up its collective leg two years ago.

Perhaps WikiLeaks Has Done Us a Favor

The more that dribbles out of the whole WikiLeaks fiasco, the more I'm beginning to wonder if that little Tinkerbell character, Julian Assange, and his slimy "leakers" may have not done us all a favor.

Why I’m Thankful in 2010

Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday, a time for us to contemplate our blessings, such as having the prosperity to stuff ourselves with turkey before vegetating in front of a football game on a big screen TV. But the older I get, the more I realize the importance of the little things that are right there in front of me to appreciate all year long; so once again, here is my list of blessings for which I am thankful in 2010.

Clueless Left Misreads the Tea Leaves

This will come as a shock to the devoted socialists of the east and west coasts, but the most provincial areas of this country are not located in the Midwest, the Southwest or even the Bible belt of the Deep South. Quite the contrary; these areas respect diversity of thought in ways east and west coast liberals cannot fathom. It is within the big cities that liberalism has become almost a religion. There, in the ivory towers of Washington, D.C., Manhattan and Hollywood, intellectually inbred elitists have become backward caricatures of themselves.

The Culture War Rages On

Amid last week's Election Day hype, a little-noticed grassroots earthquake began in the heartland. Three Iowa Supreme Court justices were tossed out of office by the voters. Why? Because last year the three voted to change the definition of marriage in the Hawkeye State in direct contradiction of the will of the people.

Crist, Murkowski Represent the Worst of American Politics

If you are starting to feel a bit dirtier than usual, you are not alone. This is not because of all the "negative campaigning." That is par for the course and, contrary to popular lore, goes back as far as politics in this Republic of ours. No, this nasty feeling of contamination comes from a feeling that our election system has become every bit as corrupt as our governing process — perhaps worse, if that is possible.

Christine O’Donnell Not Radical Enough

There is a lot of hoopla about how "radical" Delaware GOP U.S. Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell has shown herself to be. Having examined some of her statements, I would like to go on record as suggesting that some of her positions are not nearly radical enough. More on that later.

Keep Digging, Mr. President

Barack Obama just keeps digging himself and his party deeper into the political morass that American politics has become on his watch. For many Democrat candidates, the man has become downright toxic. It would be sad to watch if it were not so necessary to the preservation of the Republic.

A Politician Saying, ‘I’m Not Ready’ — How Refreshing!

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was in Des Moines last week. Christie was there to campaign for former Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, who is challenging the sitting Democrat, Chet Culver, for his old job back. Branstad was one of the Hawkeye State's longest serving and most popular governors for 16 years, from 1982 to 1998.

Don’t Crown the GOP Just Yet

It may be true that Barack Obama has done the Republican Party the greatest favor since the inept Jimmy Carter handed the presidency to Ronald Reagan, but at some point somebody has to say it: in the 2010 congressional races, the fat lady has not yet sung.

The War on Prosperity During the Summer of Recovery

As Barack Obama parties with his vacuous celebrity friends this week, with galas at the White House and elsewhere, the American middle class sinks further into the morass he has created with his doomed policies. If FDR had his WPA as part of his New Deal and LBJ had his War on Poverty as part of his Great Society, then surely BHO has his War on Prosperity as part of his Fundamental Transformation of America during his Summer of Recovery.

Is it Time to Start Using the ‘I’ Word?

I have little doubt that critics (and perhaps even fans) of these columns are tiring of my weekly harangue over the sorry performance of Barack Obama. And just when I think I can spend a week actually thinking about something else on which to comment, he renders such fancy impossible by proposing yet another inane scheme for spending our great, great, great grandchildren's hard earned tax dollars. This week is no exception.

Despite Media, Public Sees Truth About Obama

Jake Tapper of ABC News had, until recently, struck me as a fairly straight shooter. He's no Brit Hume, Major Garrett or Brett Baer, by any means, but during his tenure as host of ABC's "This Week" (the program started by the legendary David Brinkley and later turned into a partisan Democrat vehicle by former Clinton hack George Stephanopoulos), Tapper seemed to be aiming for something approaching the fairness of the late Tim Russert.

Let’s Start Blaming Millard Fillmore

Just when it appears that no one could possibly get away with blaming former President George W. Bush for even one more thing, another crazed liberal Democrat exercises the right to do just that. The latest knee-jerk, Bush-bashing excuse came from none other than Maxine Waters, perhaps the second dumbest member of Congress, right after Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas.

Speaking Truth to Race

"It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly American criminal class except Congress." -- Mark Twain The dictionary defines racism thusly:

1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others;
2. a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination;
3. hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.

Et tu, Andy?

Not many sitcoms make it to half a century in reruns. I Love Lucy, Leave it to Beaver and just a few others. It is a short list, indeed. Perhaps newer "classics" like M*A*S*H, WKRP in Cincinnati, Newhart, Seinfeld or Everybody Loves Raymond will eventually make it that far on TV Land or TBS or some other cable channel, but right now the list of shows still running after fifty years can be counted on one hand. The Andy Griffith Show is one of those programs. From 1960 to 1968, this program provided some of the most wholesome entertainment ever delivered to the American public.

Let Every Federal Department Justify its Existence — Constitutionally

The executive departments of our federal government read like an alphabet soup of bureaucracies entwining and entangling themselves into every area of our lives. The litany of "on-the-books" divisions and subdivisions does not even count the unaccountable czars, advisors and otherwise nebulous bureaucrats whose only business it is to annoy the American people and to demand of us affiliation and information to which they have no constitutional authority.

How About a Brewer-Jindal Ticket in 2012?

The more I read about Governors Jan Brewer of Arizona and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, the more I think they would make a formidable ticket against Barack Obama and his court jester, Joe Biden, in 2012. Brewer and Jindal are pro-life, pro-family, pro-2nd Amendment, pro-free enterprise, pro-energy production and pro-legal immigration. All the qualities we need in Washington, DC, right now.