The U.S. Department of Justice reported in April that the incarcerated population of the United States has topped two million—men, women and yes, children too. Drug offenses account for a large proportion of those currently behind bars. Even low-level drug offenders regularly receive long sent
Editorials
Posted inEditorials
Roadblocks for the Road Map
With the end of hostilities in Iraq, the Bush administration, along with the other three members of “the Quartet”—Russia, the European Union and the United Nations—has released its “road map” for peace in the Holy Land. The plan consists of a set of coordinated st
Posted inEditorials
Welfare’s Unfair Work Requirement
Heavier burdens are in store for single mothers who currently receive Temporary Aid to Needy Families—if the administration and the House of Representatives have their way in the re-authorization of the 1996 welfare reform law. The re-authorization was to have taken place before last Oct. 1, b
Posted inEditorials
Military Peacemaking
General Jay Garner has had to bring order out of chaos before. In 1991, after the first Persian Gulf war, he supervised Operation Provide Comfort, which supplied food and shelter for the Kurdish population in northern Iraq. He is a proponent of the view that the military should be “a merciful
Posted inEditorials
Casualties at Home
At a rally in Cleveland last July, a few days after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision upholding Cleveland’s school voucher program, President Bush remarked that when September 2002 came around, some 3.5 million children (most of them living in the shabbiest sections of big cities) would
Posted inEditorials
Renewed and Transformed
Let him easter in us, be a dayspring to the dimness of us, be a crimson-cresseted east,
Posted inEditorials
Rules of Engagement
‘Fog of war” is a notorious euphemism for the unanticipated consequences of armed conflict. As active-duty and retired officers have attested during the first weeks of the Iraqi war, the battle plan changes the moment armed forces go into combat. As Iraqi Fedayeen have disguised themselv
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Medicaid Cuts
Medicare, the health insurance program for Americans over 65, is getting much attention these days, because of the president’s much-contested plan to provide prescription benefits for low-income seniors. Medicaid, on the other hand, which is supposed to provide medical care for poor people of
Posted inEditorials, Politics & Society
In the Iraq War, do Americans have to choose between God and country?
With the exception of some Southern Baptist leaders and mega-church pastors, nearly all U.S. churches are opposing war with Iraq. This has forced many Americans to wonder if loyalty to God and country are now in conflict. Must they choose between the military adventures of their president and the mo
Posted inEditorials
War and the Economy
The economy continues to slump, and business commentators point to fears of war as the cause of depressed stock prices and lower consumer confidence. This must be disconcerting to Marxist theorists, who claim that all wars are started by capitalists seeking profits. True, some parts of the economy w