Doug Patton

Pandering to the Ignorant

Omaha, Nebraska — Every election year, politicians and the media decry the low voter participation in our elections. Indeed, it is a pathetic record, with any turnout greater than 50 percent generally considered high. However, contrary to popular opinion, not everyone should vote. In fact, most people should not vote.

Obama Just Can’t Resist Injecting Race into Any Situation

“If I had son, he'd look like Trayvon.” — Barack Obama, When members of the New Black Panther Party stood menacingly with night sticks, intimidating white voters at polling places in Philadelphia, Barack Obama and his attorney general, Eric Holder, turned a blind eye. Nothing to see; nothing to investigate.

Obama’s Policies Returning America to Slavery

Longtime readers of my columns know that my favorite movie is “Braveheart,” Mel Gibson’s 1995 tale of Scottish leader William Wallace. One of my favorite lines from that film is Wallace’s rebellious reply to a statement uttered by the English princess regarding compromise with a tyrant — in this case Edward Longshanks, the ruthless King of England.

When Common Sense Becomes Controversial

Someone asked me at church last Sunday whom my "dream ticket" for president and vice president would include. (Yes, believe it or not, Americans can and do discuss politics at church — and it’s actually legal!) My answer was immediate: "Rick Santorum and Marco Rubio." Think of it. Pennsylvania and Florida. The Rust Belt meets the Sun Belt. A second generation Italian-American and a first generation Cuban-American. And both of them committed conservatives.

Just a Taste of a Second Obama Term

First, he came for the General Motors bondholders, but the religious leaders were not GM bondholders, so they did not speak up. Then he came for the oil companies, but they were not oil company executives, and again they did not speak up. Next, he came for control of the nation’s health care system, and again they saw no threat — in fact, many of them supported his plan.

Longing for Sarah or Mike or Marco or Paul

Unless someone drops out before you read this, there are four men left standing in the race for the Republican presidential nomination: Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul. One of them will face Barack Obama in November. Who will it be? More important, who should it be?

Murder, Mayhem and Tinkling on Terrorists

The story is told of General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing fighting Islamic terrorists in the Philippines in 1911. It seems that his troops had captured a number of the enemy. Knowing of the Muslim fear of even coming in contact with pigs, the story goes that Pershing forced the prisoners to dig their own graves, then stood all but one of them up in front of a firing squad. He ordered his men to slaughter several pigs and to dip their bullets in the pig’s blood. After the terrorists were executed, their bodies were thrown into the graves and the pig blood and guts were buried with them.

Let’s Have Rush Limbaugh Moderate a GOP Debate

Twice in a span of 12 hours this past weekend, in what have laughingly come to be called “debates,” the six remaining Republican presidential candidates — Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Rick Perry and Jon Huntsman — prostrated themselves yet again before the mainstream media. As usual, the network celebrity talking heads gathered the GOP candidates together and dared them to attack each other, and once more there was a clear winner: Barack Obama. Controlling the agenda on Saturday night were former Bill Clinton mouthpiece George Stephanopoulos and the soft-spoken, ever-patronizing Diane Sawyer of ABC. On Sunday morning it was even worse, with NBC’s hyper-liberal host of Meet the Press, David Gregory, directing the questions. As with most of the moderators in the previous 987 debates since last spring, these people could barely conceal their disdain for the candidates lined up before them, especially when the issues on the table were of a social nature, such as abortion or the defense of traditional marriage.

Christ is the Source of a Truly Merry Christmas

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

Will Mitt’s Big Bet be a Deal-Breaking Campaign Faux Pas?

For those of us who thrive on politics, there are certain watershed moments that convince us immediately when a candidate has just won or lost an election. My first such memory took place in 1960. John F. Kennedy was debating Richard Nixon. I remember watching that debate with my dad on our old black-and-white Philco and thinking to myself, “Nixon sure is sweating a lot. That doesn’t look good.” It wasn’t, and he lost.

Throwing Good Money After Bad

The Los Angeles Times is impressed with the patriotism of Atanacio Garcia. The paper reports that for the last two years, the 84-year-old San Antonio, Texas, veteran and retired postal worker has been sending fifty dollars a month of his pension money to Washington, DC. For what possible purpose? To reduce the national debt.

Lame Commercials Will Lead to GOP Loss

Is it just my imagination, or does the latest batch of Republican presidential commercials running on radio and television seem rather weak?

Why I’m Thankful in 2011

The older I get, the more I realize the importance of the little things that are right in front of me to appreciate all year long. So, once again, as we celebrate this uniquely American holiday, Thanksgiving, here is my list of blessings for which I am thankful in 2011.

Another High-Tech Lynching is Underway

In 1991, Judge Clarence Thomas was nominated to a seat on the United States Supreme Court. Shortly after that nomination was announced, a war for the philosophical soul of the federal judiciary broke out. The stakes were even higher than they were when Ronald Reagan nominated Robert Bork to the High Court. This time, it was not just a younger judge replacing an older one. It was not simply a conservative jurist replacing a liberal. This was a young black conservative, Clarence Thomas, replacing an old black liberal icon, Thurgood Marshall.

Spousal Benefits an Assault on Marriage

I have a small plaque in my office that reads, "I wasn't born in Nebraska, but I got here as soon as I could." A native Iowan, I have now spent two thirds of the life the Lord has thus far granted me here in the Cornhusker state, and I have generally not regretted my decision to move here to attend college, marry my bride and raise our family. I feel that way most days; other days, not so much.

Obama’s Useful Idiots ‘Occupy’ America

Vladimir Lenin is reputed to have coined the phrase "useful idiots" to describe those in the West who acted as apologists for the political brutality and economic failure of Soviet Communism. The phrase kept coming to mind as I watched the so-called "occupiers" marching in various cities across the country.

If I Only Had a Heart, Part 2

Ever since Texas Gov. Rick Perry told the majority of Americans that we are without hearts because we disagree with his policy of giving in-state tuition to the children of illegal aliens, I have been thinking of all the other heartless ways in which I fail daily to demonstrate the requisite amount of appreciation for having my government steal my money, give it to other people and then castigate me for objecting to the entire process.

Barack Obama Has No Clothes

Some of the best children's stories convey moral messages that speak universal truths. One of my favorites is Hans Christian Andersen's 1837 yarn, "The Emperor's New Clothes," which tells the tale of an arrogant king obsessed with his appearance.

The War is On

In his book, "The Art of Political War," 1960s leftist-radical-turned-conservative David Horowitz wrote that politics is war by other means. He was right.

Buffett, a Kinder, Gentler Soros

"The largest single barrier to full employment of our manpower and resources, and to a higher rate of economic growth, is the unrealistically heavy drag of federal income taxes on private purchasing power, initiative and incentive." – President John F. Kennedy in a special message to Congress on tax reduction and reform Jan. 24, 1963 It is one of the great political lies of modern American life that the ultra-wealthy are all conservative Republicans. If only it were true. Take Warren Buffett, for instance. He is one of the wealthiest men in the world, with a personal fortune estimated at approximately $50 billion. He has been an investor for six decades. As a businessman, you would think he was conservative. Well, you would be wrong.