Bill Murchison

Bill Murchison

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The Atheists and the Savior

By Bill Murchison (Dec 20, 2011)

The death of the world's leading self-styled atheist (may his soul rest in peace) occasions reflection about his, shall we say, firm convictions regarding the truth of... more

The Elections and the Court

By Bill Murchison (Dec 14, 2011)

A respectable school of political thought holds that most of the political nastiness on constant view today can be traced back to the liberal and Democratic vilification of... more

What Cain Showed Us

By Bill Murchison (Dec 06, 2011)

With all these debates and polls and risings and fallings, we're supposed to think (I think) that there could hardly be a worse presidential selection process than this.... more

The 'Inequality' Game

By Bill Murchison (Nov 29, 2011)

Bull corn, Sen. Schumer. (That's the way we used to talk back in simpler times, when language and political thought still awaited the debasement they've come to... more

Football and Money

By Bill Murchison (Nov 22, 2011)

In the great scheme of things -- greater things than worldlings imagine on a trip to the mall -- it doesn't matter a bit that Texas A & M and the University of Texas are... more

The High Court and Obamacare

By Bill Murchison (Nov 15, 2011)

As anticipated, the U. S. Supreme Court will join 300 million fellow Americans in rendering judgment on Obamacare. But with this difference: The high court's judgment,... more

Why We Don't Have Better Presidential Candidates

By Bill Murchison (Nov 08, 2011)

The sagacious editorial page of the Wall Street Journal raised this question the other day of a too-little-noticed point concerning the long-running Herman Cain... more

Cain and the Liberals

By Bill Murchison (Nov 01, 2011)

Republicans by the boxcar load adore him. You know what that means if you're a certain kind of Democrat, and the "him" in question is Herman Cain. It... more

So What Now?

By Bill Murchison (Oct 25, 2011)

The war that presidential candidate Barack Obama called "stupid" ends in a few weeks by order of President Barack Obama, who thinks we've done about all we... more

Playing the 'Greed' Card

By Bill Murchison (Oct 18, 2011)

"The protest against corporate greed born last month on New York's Wall Street spread across the world Saturday," according to The Los Angeles Times. But... more

The Nuttiness of the 'Occupation' Movement

By Bill Murchison (Oct 11, 2011)

Al Sharpton, Nancy Pelosi, different leaders of varied labor unions -- pour it on, folks! Show your political solidarity with all the "occupations" going on... more

There Go The Media -- Again

By Bill Murchison (Oct 04, 2011)

"I, Rick Perry, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect... more

The Endless Campaign

By Bill Murchison (Sep 27, 2011)

Possibly the biggest argument against big government is that if it weren't so big we'd wait until election years to hold election-year arguments over what to do... more

The States and Their Powers

By Bill Murchison (Sep 20, 2011)

The fashion, one of them anyway, since Gov. Rick Perry entered the presidential lists is to bash him as a drooling neo-Confederate, pining for the good ol' days of states'... more

Gov. Perry and the Ponzi Scheme

By Bill Murchison (Sep 13, 2011)

So much for the spirit of we're-all-in-it-together, which prevailed, more or less, at the 9/11 commemorations. The next day, President Barack Obama showed up in... more

Those Who Adore Government and Those With Better Sense

By Bill Murchison (Sep 06, 2011)

An old joke would have it that there are two kinds of people in the world: the kind who preface broad statements with "There are two kinds of people in the world" -- and the... more

Left-Wing Witch Hunt

By Bill Murchison (Aug 30, 2011)

What fun -- a new way to do presidential politics. Namely, ask the candidates about their religious views, and find out, saith New York Times executive editor Bill Keller,... more

A Freedom Recipe

By Bill Murchison (Aug 23, 2011)

"The Tea Party can go straight to hell," said Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters of California the other day. Having taken aboard that helpful piece of counsel, we can... more

The Coming of Perry

By Bill Murchison (Aug 17, 2011)

The way liberals reacted to Gov. Rick Perry's announcement of his presidential candidacy suggests many think Santa Anna didn't do half enough damage as he should of at the... more

Election's Coming (Fortunately)

By Bill Murchison (Aug 09, 2011)

Evidently, as my sainted mother used to observe, it's just one "D" thing after another. A handy letter, D, standing for debt along with other insalubrious... more

Democracy at Work (for Better or Worse)

By Bill Murchison (Aug 02, 2011)

A little perspective on the debt-ceiling fracas might not be amiss. And so...Whoever said it first spoke a mouthful: Rome wasn't built in a day. To which I would add:... more

A Crisis -- Hooray!

By Bill Murchison (Jul 26, 2011)

It's not that this wonderful land of ours has never known political fracases. A war that took place midway through the 19th century comes to mind. There was also, years... more

Big, Bad Government

By Bill Murchison (Jul 19, 2011)

To quote The New York Times: There is across the land "both pessimism and cynicism about the state of [federal debt ceiling] negotiations in Washington, resignation about the... more

Obama Makes Us Eat Our Peas

By Bill Murchison (Jul 12, 2011)

"This is part of the problem with a political process where folks are rewarded for saying irresponsible things to win elections." No! Couldn't be! Saying... more

Obama and the Teachers

By Bill Murchison (Jul 06, 2011)

A problem as big and many-faceted as the problem of the public schools couldn't possibly be the fault just of teachers -- or even of teacher unions. The National... more

New York's Marriage Scam

By Bill Murchison (Jun 28, 2011)

Marriage in New York State, by act of its legislature, and in spite of everything you've always heard, is for everybody, and every combination of everybodies.Except, you know... more

A Big Win For Common Sense

By Bill Murchison (Jun 21, 2011)

The Unconscious Prejudice Industry -- the boo-hoo-we're-all-guilty-stop-us-before-we-discriminate-again lobby -- took it deservedly on the chin Monday from the U.S. Supreme... more

It's Debate Time in America

By Bill Murchison (Jun 14, 2011)

We didn't used to have long seasons of debate by earnest people wanting to show us why they should be president. But then we didn't have Twitter, estimated debt in the... more

Giving Schools 'The Business'

By Bill Murchison (Jun 07, 2011)

"Industry Puts Heat on Schools to Teach Skills Employers Need," says The Wall Street Journal headline.Well, duh -- a phrase painfully familiar in the modern American... more

Some Things Never Change

By Bill Murchison (Jun 01, 2011)

The problem with getting old, the fellow told me once, is that you remember when everything was cheap. There's an offsetting advantage, though: You remember how long politics... more

Israel and America: Two of a Kind

By Bill Murchison (May 24, 2011)

The point about Israel that keeps getting lost in the Gentile underbrush is that Israel isn't just a Jewish homeland. Well, it's that certainly. Such was the point of its... more

Gingrich The 'Social Engineer'

By Bill Murchison (May 17, 2011)

There's never any accounting for a Newt Gingrich idea, or even for Newt himself, who never steps out of the spotlight, never leaves a thought unexpressed, and seems to crave... more

No National Curriculum, Thanks

By Bill Murchison (May 10, 2011)

The good old American inclination to wave a magic wand and say to an urgent problem, "Begone!" is on display in the fast-emerging movement for a national K-12 curriculum.Ah,... more

The Nation We Still Are

By Bill Murchison (May 03, 2011)

The main thing is, we got him. Emphasis on all three words. They count equally, each one.We, the people of the United States, personified in action by some of the best and... more

The Filthy Rich

By Bill Murchison (Apr 26, 2011)

I haven't investigated, but I'm sure of it. A pollster in ancient Babylonia was sampling the citizenry on a proposal to raise money by taxing the vineyards and flesh pots of... more

'Compact'? What Compact?

By Bill Murchison (Apr 19, 2011)

The editorial page of The New York Times naturally picked up on President Obama's assault on the GOP for assaulting the "social compact," a terrible thing to do, by the... more

Obama: The Man and the Myth

By Bill Murchison (Apr 12, 2011)

So why (you ask, reasonably enough) does he bother? Doesn't President Obama know that the Republicans who wrung substantive budget cuts out of him last week aren't going to... more

Democratic Demagoguery on the Budget

By Bill Murchison (Apr 05, 2011)

One reason Democratic policies have made America such a worry-free land these last couple of years is the uniqueness of Democratic gifts and abilities. For instance, did you... more

Of 'Trailblazers' and Just Plain Principled Women

By Bill Murchison (Mar 30, 2011)

The New York Times marked Geraldine Ferraro's death with the observation that by gaining the Democrats' vice presidential nomination in 1984, she kicked aside ancient... more

The Education of Barack Obama

By Bill Murchison (Mar 22, 2011)

When Ralph Nader wants to impeach a liberal African-American president for war crimes, you start to get the idea how odd these present times are. Odd and getting odder. Nor... more

Divorce Between Teachers and Parents

By Bill Murchison (Mar 16, 2011)

Our national weeping and wailing over education spending cuts, public employee unions, and such like cause minds of a certain vintage to stop still and wonder. When were the... more

Teachers and Parents

By Bill Murchison (Mar 15, 2011)

Our national weeping and wailing over education spending cuts, public employee unions, and such like cause minds of a certain vintage to stop still and wonder. When were the... more

The Politicians Blow It (Again)

By Bill Murchison (Mar 08, 2011)

Crash! Thud! The president's grand scheme of remaking America in the image of the Daily Kos, MSNBC and the Democratic left is encountering, hmmm, let's say some slowdowns.... more

Organized Coercion

By Bill Murchison (Mar 01, 2011)

The more it changes, the more it's the same, hmmm? In this present instance, meaning our country's seemingly fresh-scented wrangle over union power. The scent isn't fresh... more

Scott Walker For President?

By Bill Murchison (Feb 23, 2011)

"I am going to stand with the hard-working taxpayers of Wisconsin." -- Gov. Scott WalkerThat is a pretty good place to stand if it comes to that -- as it has in Wisconsin,... more

The War on Profit

By Bill Murchison (Feb 15, 2011)

Something there is -- to paraphrase Robert Frost -- that doesn't love an oil company. That, in fact, wants to Shake Fat Cat Oilmen Till Their Teeth Rattle, then Make 'Em Pay... more

A Tale of Two Languages

By Bill Murchison (Feb 08, 2011)

Here's a chunk of the problem with the proposed reconciliation of business and the Obama administration. "We're trying," the president said, in addressing the U.S. Chamber of... more

How Far Can Congress Really Go?

By Bill Murchison (Feb 01, 2011)

In news stories about Obamacare, the usual journalistic formulation is, "This will be," "That will be," "Citizens will," "Companies will," etc.The assumption is that you... more

Beware of Centrists Bearing Gifts

By Bill Murchison (Jan 25, 2011)

Where is this "center" nearly everyone in America wants to stand on, at least by the accounting of the commentators and political pros striving to figure out the next two... more

Health Care Debate -- At Last

By Bill Murchison (Jan 18, 2011)

A new Associated Press-GfK poll that shows Americans evenly divided on the Obamacare repeal is getting big play as the House opens debate on precisely that course of... more

The Theology of Blame

By Bill Murchison (Jan 11, 2011)

The gagging of God, so far as courts, professors and advanced theologians can accomplish it, gets slightly in the way of attempts to puzzle out the Tucson massacre.God with a... more

A Role Model for Boehner

By Bill Murchison (Jan 04, 2011)

The battle smoke lifts, the noise of past political combat dies away, and we envision at last the right role model for John Boehner as he assumes the speakership. Who else, I... more