THE WASHINGTON TIMES

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Time won’t improve bad ideas

Capitalism and socialism have long histories. Analyses of each system cites pros and cons, but the acid test is what ensues when both economic systems are given free rein for long periods. The American variety of capitalism, still evolving, remains an engine of societal betterment far superior to socialism. But socialism has a better press in many academic precincts, for it is a fount of politically correct shibboleths which turn many progressive hearts aflutter. As philosopher George Santayana said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Fluttering hearts, ever alert to the conceit that this time will be different, do not credit the dismal history of socialism.

March 1, 2020

EDITORIAL: It’s time to audit Puerto Rico for real

It's been several years since Puerto Rico was wrecked by successive hurricanes. Yet, as we recently found out, insufficient progress has been made toward normalcy because the territorial government is in worse shape than the infrastructure.

February 27, 2020

EDITORIAL: Coronavirus prudence, not panic

The coronavirus, the mysterious pneumonia-like ailment that emerged from Wuhan, China, just a few weeks ago and that has gone on to spread to more than 40 countries, is highly contagious and deeply dangerous. Its fatality rate is "only" 2 percent, the complacent chortle. Of course, the Spanish Flu of 1918 had a fatality rate of "only" 2 percent. If enough people get a sickness with a fatality rate of "only" 2 percent, hundreds of thousands if not millions of people will die.

February 27, 2020

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Sanders clueless on costs

Presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders had only one answer when questioned about the cost of his ultra-expensive agenda recently: Namely, tax the billionaires. He gives no indication of the cost of his proposals and no statement about the funds that could be extracted from these same billionaires.

February 27, 2020

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Anything to retain power

In the past House Speaker Nancy Pelosi openly stood against socialism as a business model. But apparently because of today's political atmosphere and the rise of socialist beliefs within the Democratic Party, she has had a change of heart. What has brought this about? I think we all know the answer, becauase it is right in front of our eyes and ears.

February 27, 2020

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: No Dem ready for Oval Office

The squabbling of the Democratic candidates in the South Carolina debate this week seemed like the fighting of a group of first-graders deciding who would be first at bat in a schoolyard baseball game ("Not-so-friendly fire: Sanders, Bloomberg take beating in Dem debate," Web, Feb. 25). Such childish behavior made no one seem ready or mature enough to lead America for the next four years.

February 27, 2020

EDITORIAL: Going south with Sanders

"To everything there is a season," it is written. Everything but socialism, that is. Democrats competing to win their party's nomination for president have finally, reluctantly, spoken out against far-out views that for most Americans, goes without saying.

February 26, 2020

EDITORIAL: Insisting on election integrity isn’t ‘racist’

When North Carolina Democrats go to the presidential-primary polls on March 3, they won't have to show a photo ID before casting their ballots to ensure election integrity.

February 26, 2020

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Left deserves Sanders

The Democrats deserve a Proto-Communist like Sen. Bernie Sanders as their likely presidential candidate. For decades the Democratic Party has flirted with and had an obsession with socialist and Marxist regimes.

February 26, 2020

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Justice Roberts should resign

Not too long ago, Chief Justice John Roberts rebuked President Trump for Mr. Trump's complaint about the bias shown by the Obama-appointed justices who constantly rule against him. Justice Roberts said that there were no "Obama judges or Trump judges," only justices who do their duty honorably and without bias.

February 26, 2020

EDITORIAL: Harvey Weinstein’s status as Democrats’ most prominent philanthropist got lost

Now that he's been convicted in New York of one count of rape and one "criminal sex act," we can't say precisely where the case of Harvey Weinstein will end — although long tenure in prison seems a safe bet. No recent court decision has been met with such universal approval as this week's guilty verdict for the one-time king of Hollywood and full-time sexual predator. And Weinstein still faces criminal charges in California.

February 25, 2020

EDITORIAL: Bernie Sanders foolishly sings praises of the Castro regime’s promotion of literacy

Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont, the presumed Democratic front-runner to take on Donald Trump in November, has had a number of exotic political associations dating back decades. Not surprisingly for a self-described socialist, he has at times praised the likes of the Soviet Union, the Sandinistas and Fidel Castro.

February 25, 2020

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Stop judicial activism

President Trump is right to call out the liberal hypocrisy on the federal bench, particularly on the U.S. Supreme Court ("Trump suggests Justices Sotomayor, Ginsburg should recuse themselves in all of his cases," Web, Feb. 25). Since Mr. Trump announced his candidacy for president back in 2015, liberal judges and justices have not been shy about publicly expressing their opinions of him — and they have actively worked to undermine him through rulings that apply nationwide to a range of issues he was elected to fix.

February 25, 2020

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Johnson’s contribution immense

Katherine Johnson helped our nation enlarge the frontiers of space even as she made huge strides that also opened doors for women and people of color in the universal human quest to explore space ("Katherine Johnson, pioneering black mathematician at NASA, has died," Web, Feb. 24). We will never forget her courage and leadership or the milestones we could not have reached without her. Katherine Johnson, rest in peace.

February 25, 2020

EDITORIAL: Nevada gambles on Sanders

Nevada may be gambler's paradise, but wagering that a pot of gold waits at the end of the rainbow is a bet to regret. Thanks to the choices the Silver State's voters made Saturday, Democrats are on the path to selecting a socialism-loving utopian to compete for the nation's highest office. Sen. Bernie Sanders has vaulted into a commanding lead in the race to represent the party in the 2020 presidential election. The choice is unwise, and the consequences could prove ruinous.

February 24, 2020

EDITORIAL: Scrapping the BBC licensing fee

Ronald Reagan once said that government programs and their attendant bureaucracies are "the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth." As in many things, Reagan's amiable wit disguised a disturbing truth: An awful lot of ways in which governments operate are due to inertia, or to deeply-entrenched interests which, over time, are impossible to dislodge, much less budge many inches.

February 24, 2020

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Left projects own misdeeds

Democrats of all stripes have been projecting their transgressions onto everyone they can in keeping with the adage, "The best defense is a good offense." So Democrats level accusations against everyone who won't lay down and be a floor mat for them.

February 24, 2020

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Where’s the evidence?

Understandably, "Trump accuses Schiff of leaking intel about Russia supporting Sanders" (Feb. 23). Remember when Rep. Adam Schiff stated that "there is more than circumstantial evidence" of collusion with Russia by associates of President Trump? So Robert Mueller spent two years and $32 million, but found no collusion with Russia at all. National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien has already reported that he has "seen no intelligence" of Russia helping Mr. Trump in 2020. Top election official Shelby Pierson told National Public Radio that she did not know what Russia was planning with regard to the coming U.S. election, and that concerns also extended to "China, Iran, non-state actors, hacktivists ... even Americans." As a matter of national concern, we have a right to know: Is another Joe McCarthy in charge of the House Intelligence Committee?

February 24, 2020

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Trump, not Obama, did that

I wonder how many people are rolling on the ground, laughing at Barack Obama's recent attempt at taking ownership of the Trump economy ("Obama is jealous of Trump's economy," Web, Feb. 18). I predicted to my liberal friends that the Trump tax cuts would lead to prosperity (as such cuts always do) and that Mr. Obama would then claim that his stimulus was finally kicking in.

February 23, 2020

EDITORIAL: D.C. statehood is a bad idea and would require a constitutional amendment

In a vote that it would be an understatement to call anticlimactic, the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Feb. 11 approved legislation that would make the District of Columbia the nation's 51st state.

February 23, 2020