Where Are the Good Guys?

Politically, for a variety of reasons, I’m a Democrat.  I’m to the right of them on some criminal justice issues in particular, but basically the middle-left is where I live.  What I’ve noticed from fellow Democrats over the years is more than just a sense that our policies better serve a greater number of Americans, [...]

A Sword, Not a Shield

I am often asked by women (or people who love them) if carrying a handgun is a good deterrent to rape or other violent crime in certain circumstances.  Say, an unavoidable nightly walk through a bad area as part of a commute to a class or a job.  Or, as seems to happen with increasing [...]

Accuser: Simply The Wrong Word

When the story of former NFL star Lawrence Taylor broke a couple of months ago, I was angry but not surprised to find the victim in the case- a child used in prostitution by a Bronx pimp- referred to as “Taylor’s Accuser.”  Really?  Even when we’re talking about a child, beaten into submission and presented [...]

An Open Letter to the DA in the Ben Roethlisberger Case

Hon. Fred D. Bright, District Attorney, Ocmulgee Judicial District, State of Georgia

Dear Mr. Bright:

Ben Roethlisberger raped a 20 year-old college student in your jurisdiction.

He committed a violent felony which you and you alone were responsible for pursuing.  You are the elected District Attorney who was called upon to summon the vigilance, resources, legal theory, competence [...]

Holy Week and the Nonsense Continues

It continues from the Church and its defenders, desperately trying to alienate further multitudes.  And it continues from anti-Catholics and the anti-religious who want the institution brought to its knees, some justified because of personal betrayal but many out of sheer, gleeful contempt.

Ross Douthat, a conservative columnist for the New York Times, blames the crisis, [...]