A Nation Committing Suicide
- By Star Parker
Historian Arnold Toynbee observed "an autopsy of history would show that all great nations commit suicide."
It's hard not to think about this reading the results of the latest Wall Street Journal-NORC poll, appearing under the headline "America Pulls Back From Values That Once Defined It."
Only 38% of Americans now say patriotism is "very important," compared to 70% in 1998. Thirty-nine percent say religion is "very important," compared to 62% in 1998. And 30% say having children is "very important" compared to 59% in 1998.
Biden's Job Is Running US, Not Israel
- By Star Parker
Widely reported in the press is that President Joe Biden called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express his concern about judicial reforms that are currently being considered in Israel.
We must wonder why Biden, who demonstrably cannot run our own country, feels behooved to tell others, particularly one as successful as Israel, how to run theirs.
Looking into Biden's own backyard, per latest Gallup polling, a paltry 20% of Americans say they are satisfied with the direction of their country.
Silicon Valley Bank -- More Government, Less Reality
- By Star Parker
President Ronald Reagan once said, "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are 'I'm from the government, and I'm here to help.'"
Shock waves are rippling through the country after the announcement of the second largest bank failure in the country's history last week -- Silicon Valley Bank.
This just 15 years after the largest bank failure in the country's history -- Washington Mutual.
Biden Supports Republicans in Blocking D.C. Crime Bill
- By Star Parker
President Joe Biden announced he will not veto a resolution passed by the Republican-controlled House which overturns a new District of Columbia crime reform law, assuming the resolution passes in the Senate.
The district is under federal jurisdiction, so Congress can overturn D.C. legislation. But this is the first time in 30 years that it has happened.
Now a shell-shocked chair of the left-wing D.C. city council says he's pulling the bill, which reduces sentencing on many felonies, including carjackings and burglaries, as it heads for defeat in a Senate vote still scheduled to occur.
Vivek Ramaswamy: Bring Down 'Woke,' Bring Back America
- By Star Parker
The 2024 presidential race gets more exciting each day.
Now 37-year-old entrepreneur businessman Vivek Ramaswamy has entered the race as the newest Republican candidate.
Whether this political novice has a chance at winning the highest elective office in the land remains to be seen. But for sure he has something to say and contribute.
And worth noting is now the first two candidates to announce following former President Donald Trump's entering the race, Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley, are children of Indian immigrants.
Nikki Haley Brings a New Face to Freedom
- By Star Parker
The Republican Party's newest presidential candidate, former South Carolina Gov. and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, introduced herself by showcasing her roots as a child of immigrants.
Haley's family, originally from India, immigrated to the United States in 1969 and settled in a small, segregated town, Bamberg, South Carolina, where she was born three years later.
One can glean two reasons why Haley is spotlighting her background and presenting her candidacy as a successful minority woman.
Social Security Reform About Principles, Not Accounting
- By Star Parker
Per CNN and other media outlets, when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ran his first campaign for Congress in 2012, he expressed support for "privatizing" Social Security.
They predict, with little surprise, that this should provide red meat for attacks from former President Donald Trump and from Democrats, should DeSantis announce a presidential run.
If indeed this is the case, it adds credence to Nikki Haley's slogan for her new campaign that we need a new generation of leaders.
Omar Not Just Antisemitic, But Also Anti-American
- By Star Parker
The Republican-controlled House has voted to boot Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., off the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
I salute Republicans for leadership, beneficial for the country and beneficial for Black Americans whose interests Omar pretends to represent.
Omar pushed back from the House floor, playing, of course, the race card. She accused Republicans of questioning her as an American because she is of a "certain skin color."
What Does It Take to Ensure That Policemen Are Human Beings?
- By Star Parker
Once again, the nation is traumatized by horrible video of police brutally beating to death a Black man. Need I note the victim was Black? Would we be less or more traumatized if the victim were white?
But the rule seems to be the victims are Black.
Everyone sees there is a problem. Everyone wants to fix it. But how?
The first question in the pursuit of a solution invariably is, "What is wrong with the system?"
National Debt Reflects a Nation That Has Lost Its Way
- By Star Parker
As tensions about raising the nation's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling build, the headline that should be flashing in front of every American is that our country is not working.
Nothing is going to get fixed -- really fixed -- until we come clean about this basic, sad and distressing fact.
How can it be that we have national debt equal to size of our entire $32 trillion economy? And where were we all when this happened? As recently as 2008, debt was 39.2%, rather than 100%, of our GDP.
The Struggle to Protect Life Continues
- By Star Parker
Friday, Jan. 20, 2023, pro-life Americans will March for Life in Washington, D.C.
Hundreds of thousands will march, as they have marched since 1973.
But this year, it is different.
This year, the march will take place, for the first time, in an America where Roe v. Wade is no longer the law of the land.
McCarthy Indeed a Republican Leader for Complex Times
- By Star Parker
Amid the post-mortems of the four-day, 15-vote marathon to elect Kevin McCarthy House speaker, I remind readers of the headline of my Nov. 30 column, "Kevin McCarthy, a Republican Leader for Complex Times."
I thought then that that captured our reality, and I think the process that followed confirmed it.
It is human nature to want things neat and clear. But life never cooperates.
George Santos, a Child of Woke America
- By Star Parker
By now, just about everyone has heard about the massive campaign of lies that Republican George Santos fabricated that just got him elected to a congressional seat from New York.
In his various appearances and interviews to explain himself, the lack of shame he seems to feel is almost as uncanny as the lies themselves.
Sadly, Santos is a child and product of the troubling and, yes, dangerous state of affairs in our nation today.
For Teachers Unions, Parents and Children Come Last
- By Star Parker
Schools in the Rochester school district in Michigan include in their curriculum a course called "History of Ethnic and Gender Studies."
If my child were attending school there, I would wonder why this is in the curriculum as part of K-12 education and what is taught.
One mother, Carol Beth Litkouhi, wondered enough that she went to the school and asked for details about what will be conveyed to her child in this program.
The response she got from the school amounted to "sorry, none of your business."
How Do We Get Our Nation Back on Track?
- By Star Parker
Some thoughts about our country as Christmas and the new year approach.
In his Farewell Address to the nation in 1796, America's departing first president, George Washington, observed: "It is substantially true that virtue or morality is a necessary spring to popular government."
And what is the basis upon which we define morality?
Washington answers, "reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."
Why Did Black Georgians Vote for Raphael Warnock?
- By Star Parker
There are plenty of post-mortems about Raphael Warnock's defeat of Republican candidate Herschel Walker in the runoff for the Senate seat in Georgia.
Yes, in the same state, Republican Brian Kemp won a decisive victory in the race for governor.
And, yes, to be kind, Walker was not a great flagbearer to draw voters, particularly Black voters, to the Republican Party.
But let's ask why voters, particularly Black voters, would send Warnock to represent them for another six years in the U.S. Senate.
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Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education and host of the weekly television show "Cure America with Star Parker." To find out more about Star Parker and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com
