"Today, Dr. Benjamin Carson is a renowned neurosurgeon at a renowned institution, Johns Hopkins University. But what got him there was wholly different from what is being offered to many ghetto youths today, much of which is not merely futile but counterproductive." That's the last paragraph and conclusion of the article. I don't understand it. "What got him there"? That is so abstract, what does that mean? And then "what got him there was wholly different from what is being offered to many ghetto youths"? "Being offered"? Who's doing the offering, and what are they offering, and how does that relate to the earlier "what got him there"? This is not up to Dr Sowell's usual high standard of clarity.

Modern liberalsm and Islam both emphasize a top-level authority who knows what's best for the collective (government and Allah). And they both frown on individual freedom to chart your own course.

Good article, but it's Adolf not Adolph.

Larry Elder wrote: "And in 1986, these weapons [machine guns] were banned from civilian sale." No they weren't. The "1986" date means only this, that even in the states that allow the sale of machine guns to civilians, the purchaser may not purchase any machine gun made after 1986.

The goal of Islam is to Islamisize, to subjugate the entire world under Islamic law. In the UK, there are Sharia courts already. If you look at the Islamization of Europe, you will see that it is further advanced than in the United States (a preview of our future). Also, the difference with the Catholics is this: it is Islamic doctrine to fight the unbelievers and subjugate them under Islamic law (not so with Catholicism).

There have been at least 50 court cases in which there was a conflict between Sharia law and American state law. There is a website that lists these cases, but I don't know if links are allowed on townhall.. The website is spelled as one word: shariainamericancourts The danger from Islam is that it acts out its supremacist doctrine on many levels simultaneously, and that Islam has lots of time: literally centuries, to achieve its objectives. Muslim birth rates are higher than any Western country. 61-9: "He it is Who hath sent His messenger with the guidance and the religion of truth, that He may make it conqueror of all religion however much idolaters may be averse."