People often ask me which columnists I enjoy reading. My all-time favorite is George F. Will, who writes for Newsweek magazine and is syndicated in hundreds of newspapers. I've been reading Will's columns regularly for the past 25 years. Nobody can cut to the heart of an issue — even the most complicated — better than Will.
Other national columnists I make an effort to read regularly include Thomas Sowell, William Rusher, Peggy Noonan, Charles Krauthammer, Cal Thomas and Charley Reese.
Of the group mentioned above, the oddball (and I mean that in a nice way) is Reese, a Florida-based syndicated columnist who holds libertarian views on many issues.
A registered Democrat who still cranks out three columns a week at age 70, Reese has a peculiar trait. His columns make no sense half the time. He's on the money when he writes about domestic issues, but is usually wrong on foreign policy matters, especially when he writes about the Iraq War, Israel and the overall war on terror. Completely out in left field.
One of the reasons libertarians have such a difficult time attracting membership to their political cause is that they are basically isolationists. Unfortunately, the world has changed. America is no longer protected from enemies by the vast oceans off either coast.
I've been reading Reese's columns for about 10 years, although I don't bother reading anything he has to say about foreign policy anymore. But when he sticks to observations about what's happening inside the United States, Reese is dead on.
Here are some of the most interesting things Reese has said in his columns in recent years:
On liberals:
"It goes without saying that liberals hate free markets, big business, even democracy when the voters disagree with them. If truth be known, they hate the human race — at least the part of it that is not them. Darn those human beings for not living their lives according to the liberal prescription."
Accountable government:
"What Americans should demand from their governments at all levels is accountability. Accountability is far more important than transparency, which can be easily faked. Accountability is not complicated. It simply means people must take responsibility for their actions. If their actions are successful, take responsibility; if they are a failure, take responsibility. If we wrongly inure someone, we are held accountable."
On activist judges:
"The Constitution was never intended to deal with moral and philosophical issues, such as abortion. The Founding Fathers properly left those to elected legislatures. That's why Roe v. Wade is a profoundly flawed decision. The court usurped the powers of the 50 state legislatures and, by interpretation, created a right to privacy that the words of the Constitution do not support."
Government as a problem-solver:
"Many Americans have too much faith in government and in laws. Government is like a retarded giant — very powerful and stupid. Almost nothing government tries to do succeeds. Just looking back at the past few decades, it has — despite enormous expenditures — failed to find a cure for cancer, failed to stop illegal drugs, failed to stop illegal immigration, failed to protect the American people from terrorists, failed to improve public education, failed to keep up with repairing infrastructure, failed to eliminate the deficit, failed to eliminate the trade deficit, failed to curb inflation, etc., etc, and so forth. I could go on and on, because virtually every program started by the government has failed in its objectives or sputtered along in the most ineffective and expensive manner."
Dumb voters:
"We have corrupted our political process. Mistake No. 1 is universal suffrage. Voting should be considered a privilege that has to be earned, not a right. People so ignorant they couldn't tell you the name of their state capital should not be allowed to vote."
The establishment:
"The wealthy these days own both (political) parties. The people who don't have a party are the working men and women of America. Most legislation and most policies benefit the wealthy. Usury is virtually legalized in this country. Banks are authorized to create money. Some government programs insure not the homebuyer but the mortgage lender; not the student but the bank that lends him his student loan. We don’t have debtor's prisons anymore, but we have a debtor's hell, and the new laws on bankruptcy are designed to make sure ordinary people can’t get out of it."
Professional politicians:
"Every elected official is a servant, not a master. The heel-clicking, hat-doffing, fawning, yassur-bossman attitude some Americans display toward public officials is odious and inappropriate for a free republic. A public servant, including the president, is entitled to common courtesy — no more, no less. Officeholders are only citizens on temporary duty. That’s why the greatest of all Americans, George Washington, said the only title the president needed was "Mr."
Political correctness:
"A truly free society is one in which people can think, say and do what they please as long as they don’t infringe on other people’s rights to think, say and do as they please. No one has a right to not be offended. No one has a right to demand that others agree with him or her. No one has a right to utter defamatory falsehoods. The reason maintaining a free society is so difficult is that it butts heads with the itch many people have to control other people."
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