Paul Jacob

Paul Jacob

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Draft the Congress and Leave My Kid Alone

By Paul Jacob (Dec 28, 2003)

The holiday season is a magical time when fantasy can become reality. Nevertheless, let’s hope one frightening fantasy conjured up by Representative Charles Rangel of New... more

Telling Santa Claus to Take a Hike

By Paul Jacob (Dec 21, 2003)

We need to get rid of Santa Claus. Oh, sure, he does bring us presents. But, what I am supposed to do with an ethanol subsidy or a bridge project for Christmas, for heaven’s... more

The Right to Shut Up and Pay Your Taxes

By Paul Jacob (Dec 14, 2003)

Let a thousand voices boom across the airwaves, the Internet and in newspaper columns condemning the assault that Congress and the Supreme Court have inflicted on the First... more

Plan B for California, Schwarzenegger and Democracy

By Paul Jacob (Dec 07, 2003)

California is a big state with big influence. Yet it isn’t the sheer number of voters in all those gerrymandered congressional districts that makes California a political... more

Dems and Reps Host Campaign Finance Judgment Day

By Paul Jacob (Dec 01, 2003)

The campaign finance laws are not working. There is still "money in the system." There are still people out there who if not allowed to speak in one way will speak in... more

The Democratic Candidates Are Too Dumb to Be President

By Paul Jacob (Nov 23, 2003)

They say Bush is dumb. I don't want to foster disunity in our country by disputing the merry consensus about this. Certainly our president has been rubber-lipped on... more

Stick to Your Knitting, Priest

By Paul Jacob (Nov 16, 2003)

If a person wanted to be President For Life--like FDR, say--what's the first institutional restraint he would want to get rid of? Term limits. For the first century and a... more

Viewcrime

By Paul Jacob (Nov 09, 2003)

"Thoughtcrime was not a thing that could be concealed for ever. You might dodge successfully for a while, even for years, but sooner or later they were bound to get... more

Do I Even Know What I'm Talking About?

By Paul Jacob (Nov 02, 2003)

It's not as easy to be an omniscient pundit as you might think. One time when I smashed Fox know-it-all Bill O'Reilly over the head for the way he smashed other people over... more

Some Journalists Don't Play By the Rules

By Paul Jacob (Oct 26, 2003)

Actually they're not rules, they're laws: the laws of logic. These laws can get complicated. But they boil down to just one: the law of identity. The law of identity says... more

Rush to Judge Rush Gives Critics a Rush

By Paul Jacob (Oct 19, 2003)

Let me admit, right away, that I commit ten sins before breakfast. Yo soy imperfecto. So why do I still feel entitled to cast stones? Because I'm in the opinion biz, the... more

Dump-Davis Dividend

By Paul Jacob (Oct 12, 2003)

If an incumbent politician pulled out a Beretta 9000S and shot each of his challengers in the shins--as authorized by incumbent-passed laws making it legal for incumbents to... more

Vote No to JG-ish Derogation of Democracy

By Paul Jacob (Oct 05, 2003)

You're on the rack being tortured by the bad guy. You're whipped, you're scourged, you're slapped around. This goes on for a while. Finally your torturer chuckles evilly and... more

Earthquakes, Riots, Mud Slides, Plagues of Locusts...and Democracy?

By Paul Jacob (Sep 28, 2003)

Between the time I write this and the time you read this four minutes later, things may have changed in California. It may be even wilder and crazier there now. There may be... more

Emergency Q&A About Arming Pilots

By Paul Jacob (Sep 21, 2003)

My recent discussion of the Transportation Security Administration's foot-dragging when it comes to letting pilots bear arms earned both claps on the shoulder and... more

A Temp's Temper Tantrum Takes the Cake

By Paul Jacob (Sep 14, 2003)

Once upon a time there was a guy who had to work for a living. You can see that already we have the makings of a Shakespearean tragedy here. It gets worse. This person also... more

Pilot to Passengers: "I'm unarmed"

By Paul Jacob (Sep 07, 2003)

Suppose terrorists sneak aboard your flight. Perhaps they have failed to smuggle (conventional, metallic) weapons on board. What they do have are their intentions, their... more

Oh Those Crazy Michigan Lobbyists

By Paul Jacob (Aug 31, 2003)

Michigan has hit the jackpot when it comes to dumb sayings about term limits by lobbyists who hate term limits. Sure, all anti-term-limit lobbyists tend to say the same dumb... more

Can Deregulation Carry the Political Current?

By Paul Jacob (Aug 24, 2003)

If we want electrical power, we'd better let people provide it. So far, it looks like the professionals haven't yet figured out exactly which renegade electron sparked the... more

Wannabe Terminators Target Term Limits

By Paul Jacob (Aug 17, 2003)

Arnold Schwarzenegger has joined the race for California's hopefully soon-to-be-vacated governor's seat. Great. Arnold's a cool guy. And Governor Gray Davis is a disgrace who... more