Doug Patton

Is Personal Privacy a Thing of the Past?

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." — 4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

The 17th Amendment Was a Very Bad Idea

"When all government, domestic and foreign, in little as in great things, shall be drawn to Washington as the centre of all power, it will render powerless the checks provided of one government on another, and will become as venal and oppressive as the government from which we separated." — Thomas Jefferson, in 1821 The most anti-American president in the history of the country — at least until Barack Obama entered the White House — was Woodrow Wilson. Elected in 1912, Wilson was a racist progressive Democrat who viewed the Founders and the Constitution with disdain. During his first year in office, he promoted two of the most destructive amendments to the U.S. Constitution ever ratified — the 16th, which gave us the direct federal income tax, and the 17th, which provided for the direct election of U.S. Senators.

God Bless Joe Barton, So Long GOP

Mark Bradley and I have been friends for 25 years, and we have worked together on more than a few Republican campaigns. He's the issues wonk; I'm the word guy. For years, Mark and I have been daring each other. I've been challenging him to put his name on a ballot — something I recommend all Americans do at least once in their lives (yes, I've had my turn) — while Mark has been daring me to change my political affiliation from Republican to Independent. I'm still waiting for him to run for something, but last Friday I made the leap from "R" to "I."

Sarah Will Have Many Markers to Call in for 2012

Say what you will about her political choices, but Sarah Palin knows how to spot winners. She picked Scott Brown for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts, then supported Rick Perry over Kay Bailey Hutchison for governor of Texas. She endorsed Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination against uber-progressive California Democrat Barbara Boxer.

Why Americans Should Love Partisanship

"Hey! You can't fight in here! This is the war room!" — From Dr. Strangelove

Beautiful Intolerance, Part II

A flood of e-mail landed in my inbox this past week as a result of my column titled "Intolerance is a Beautiful Thing." Amazingly, almost all of it was positive. The only disparaging words I received were from readers who stated that I should have listed more things of which we Americans should be intolerant. I sympathized with those readers' frustration, even as I pointed out to them that while cyberspace is unlimited, column inches in newspapers are not. However, there was enough clamor for at least a couple more examples of beautiful intolerance that a follow-up column seemed warranted.

Pandering to Lawbreakers Blurs Line Between Legal and Illegal

Several years ago, as part of my duties working for a member of Congress, I attended a forum on immigration. The premise of the meeting was that the rights of legal immigrants were being violated by employers who intimidate their workforces by blurring the line between legal and illegal aliens. These employers were said to be preying on the fears of their legal workers by exploiting their ignorance of immigration law and convincing them that they had better keep their mouths shut about low wages and poor working conditions, lest they be deported.

Where No One Locks The Door

Imagine you are a child growing up in a small town. You have always felt safe there. The crimes of big cities seem distant from your serene world, where no one ever locks the door.

Are Americans Going John Galt?

"We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force." - Ayn Rand

Heineman and Nebraska Lead the Way on Sanctity of Life

Dave Heineman became governor of my home state of Nebraska in 2005 when Mike Johanns resigned that position to become George W. Bush's Secretary of Agriculture. Heineman had been in politics all his life, having served as chief of staff to a congressman, as a city councilman in his home town of Fremont, as executive director of the Nebraska Republican Party, and as Nebraska's state treasurer, before becoming Johanns' lieutenant governor.

Congress Has Become an Institution of the Useless

President John Adams once said, "I have come to the conclusion that one useless man is a disgrace, two are a law firm, and three or more become a Congress." With the approval rating of the current congressional gaggle hovering somewhere in the single digits, one has to ask: Can't we do better than this for $174,000 a year and the best benefits package in America?

The Law of Unintended Consequences

Obama-Reid-Pelosi-Care is now the law of the land. Most people hate it. Clearly Americans are frightened and angry about this socialist nightmare Congress and the president have forced upon the nation in the name of “health care reform.” All Congressional Republicans voted against it. Unlike any other entitlement ever passed by the United States Congress, it is entirely partisan. Barack Obama and the Democrats own it.

Leadership for a New Generation

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend out sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.” — Ronald Reagan

The Corrosive Effects of Illegal Immigration

Most Americans realize that our federal government’s deliberate refusal to control the influx of illegal aliens, primarily from Mexico, has had a deleterious effect on our nation’s economy. Scores of California hospitals have had to close their doors because of a tsunami of illegals seeking “free” health care — and receiving it.

Buying Insurance in Fantasyland

“We agree philosophically that we want to end the prohibition on preexisting conditions.” - President Barack Obama, White House Health Care Summit, February 25, 2010 Which of the following scenarios seems the most ludicrous?

Bold Colors or Pale Pastels

“Our people look for a cause to believe in. Is it a third party we need, or is it a new and revitalized second party, raising a banner of no pastels, but bold colors, which make it unmistakably clear where we stand on all of the issues troubling the people?” - Ronald Reagan Speech to CPAC, March 1, 1975

FDR, BHO and the Audacity of Arrogance

Barack Obama loves to be compared to Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt. Abraham Lincoln he definitely is not, but the FDR analogy is apt. In her superb book about the Great Depression, “The Forgotten Man,” Amity Schlaes describes the almost schizophrenic way in which our 32nd president governed the nation for the first eight of his twelve long years in office.

‘Choice’ Means Allowing Women to Make a Different One

University of Florida quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow and his mother are about to learn the same lesson Todd and Sarah Palin and their family learned during the 2008 campaign. That lesson is that you had better not bring your pro-life message into the public square — especially if you have lived it. That, of course, is what pro-abortion advocates fear most. Anyone willing to make the sacrifice to give life to someone society would just as soon discard threatens the order of things for them.

Obama Thinks He’s President of the World

Care to know why a community organizer posing as a president is so dangerous to the future of the Republic? Simply contrast the demeanor of Barack Obama when the subject is national security with his behavior when he speaks of tinkering with our domestic life or of coming to the aid of the victims of the recent catastrophe in Haiti.

Being a Democrat Means Never Having to Say You’re Sorry…and Mean It

George W. Bush was said to be a walking gaffe machine. Late night comedians had eight years of fertile ground for material about the former president’s fumbling vocabulary. Indeed, books, calendars and other materials were published touting “Bushisms.” But if loose lips sink ships, Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid could take down a carrier division. Like Biden, Reid has a penchant for uttering inanities and not even realizing how stupid he sounds.