THE WASHINGTON TIMES

EDITORIAL: Mike Pence, Asa Hutchinson diverge on handling religious freedom controversy

The great religious liberty debate has been put to bed if not to sleep, if only for now. We can be sure the devout and aggressive secularists of the left are picking through the debris of controversy to find something more to quarrel with. Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana marched up the hill to defend his state's law and then wobbled down again as if to surrender. Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, on the other hand, saw a prospective problem of perception with similar legislation in his state, asked the legislature to fix it, and be quick about it, and within 24 hours had a slightly revised bill on his desk, and he signed it.

April 5, 2015

EDITORIAL: Harry Reid Senate retirement good news for political integrity

Harry Reid's decision to retire after 32 years in the House and Senate, 10 of them as the leader of the Democrats in the Senate, is good news not only for Republicans, but also for everyone else saddened by the deterioration of political rhetoric.

April 5, 2015

EDITORIAL: The Passion of Christ, from the Gospel of St. Mark

Straightaway in the morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered Him to Pilate.

April 2, 2015

EDITORIAL: The Great Deceiver’s advice from ‘The Screwtape Letters’ by C.S. Lewis

This work presents issues of faith from the perspective of Screwtape, a fictional devil, in a letter to his nephew Wormwood, a junior tempter.

April 2, 2015

EDITORIAL: Obama steps up global warming agenda

The jolly green giant has a fan in the White House. President Obama has signed us up to salute the United Nations' climate change agenda. By pledging allegiance to the Global Climate Treaty, the president won't actually accomplish much in weather control beyond enriching the likes of Al Gore and his friends in the renewable energy industry. Playing God is just another day in the Oval Office for the spender in chief, but it requires the American taxpayer to worship with dollars at the altar of environmental extremism.

April 1, 2015

EDITORIAL: Muriel Bowser’s all-inclusive budget

Knockoffs of the State of the Union addresses are all the rage now — we're waiting for someone to make a State of the Precinct Address. Mayor Muriel Bowser delivered her first State of the District Address this week, and, following script, there was a recitation of the accolades bestowed on the nation's capital. We're cool with foodies, the tech community, the entrepreneurs and the city is in the top five cities in new construction.

April 1, 2015

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Obama’s gift to Iran

President Obama and his crooked-shooting sidekick, Secretary of State John Kerry, are desperate for an agreement with Iran, placing some meaningless restrictions on Tehran's nuclear-weapons ambitions. At the outset of his "reign," Mr. Obama was also anxious to reduce our nuclear weapon stockpile to a state of nonexistence, and that is no doubt to be accomplished in some future executive order.

April 1, 2015

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: U.S. skilled labor in short supply

Manufacturing has declined in the United States because the nature of manufacturing has changed. Hand labor can be and has been largely replaced by machines, and skilled labor has become even more important as a result.

April 1, 2015

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: More acts like Indiana’s needed

I am tired of the Tim Cooks and Marc Benioffs of the world pushing their self-righteous and sanctimonious versions of "civil rights" and morality onto the rest of society ("Tim Cook, Apple CEO, calls 'religious objection' laws dangerous," Web, March 30).

April 1, 2015

EDITORIAL: Indiana religious liberty law manufactured crisis

The row over Indiana's religious liberty law breaks new ground in the war between religious liberty and the liberal political agenda. If there's no conflict, you have to make one up. This contretemps blew up out of nowhere, and inquiring minds want to know how and why it happened.

March 31, 2015

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Not all discrimination is bad

It seems to me there is a false underlying assumption about the criticism of Indiana's religious freedom law ("Obama now hits religious freedom in Indiana," Page I, March 30). We are being conditioned to think of all discrimination as bad. I remember when a discriminating shopper was thought of as one who had standards of quality and would only buy products that came up to those standards. Is that type of discrimination bad?

March 31, 2015

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Vote out establishment politicians

Every nation's history has its share of turning points, events that change its course. The great ones are remembered in history. America's best-known recent turning point occurred on Aug. 6, 1945, when the United States cemented its place as the most powerful nation in the history of mankind.

March 31, 2015

EDITORIAL: Congress should rein in EPA

When Richard Nixon signed the legislation establishing the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970, he was praised for his vision and commitment to conservation "going forward," though that cliche had yet to be coined. A few critics -- "outliers," in another cliche waiting to be born -- warned that the EPA could grow into a nightmare of a bureaucracy, but no one paid attention. Jeremiahs are rarely popular at the picnic.

March 31, 2015

EDITORIAL: Virginia Bar cancels trip to Israel

This is the season for despising Israel and the Jews. The terrorists of Hamas dispatch agents of evil into the country bent on mayhem and sabotage. Palestinians fire rockets at Israeli children from launchers stationed at schools, hospitals and other places where they can find protection among the children, the lame, the halt and the helpless. President Obama contributes tone and tint to the campaign, determined to reward Iran with a sweetheart deal to protect its nuclear-weapons program, which it has promised to use to wipe Israel and the Jews "off the face of the earth." Mr. Obama, bent on revenge for censure and criticism, merely wants to wipe the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, off the face of Israel.

March 30, 2015

EDITORIAL: Obama’s Iran deal just a dream

Many a lost traveler in the desert has spied an oasis in the sand and sun only to discover that it was only a mirage. In similar desperation, President Obama sees a good deal with Iran on the horizon, where he would put an end to the strife in the Middle East and finally earn the Nobel Peace Prize his admirers in Sweden gave him in a similar fit of euphoria as he took his first oath of office.

March 30, 2015

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Ben Carson not candidate — yet

On March 27 I was advised that a guest op-ed I wrote for The Washington Times on March 25 was raising questions about whether I was describing myself as a candidate for president of the United States ("The learning curve of a candidate," Web, March 24). First, I have enjoyed my time writing for The Times and thank all of the readers who have given me feedback. While my words may not have been precise, be assured I have not declared my candidacy for president in any shape or form.

March 30, 2015

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Abortion as dangerous as ever

John M. Thorp Jr. and Clarke D. Forsythe clearly and correctly make the point that no one can truthfully say abortions are safe because there is no accurate data reported on abortion injuries and deaths ("The unhealthy state of abortion statistics," Web, March 26). Mr. Thorp and Mr. Forsythe suggest a federal law requiring the collection of abortion statistics so this data can be analyzed and the risks to women's health and safety can be accurately determined.

March 30, 2015

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Republicans should say no to convention switch

I am tired of conservatives being blamed for the actions of libertarians who wish to shift to a nominating convention. This contingent says a convention would be to the benefit of conservative candidates, but the only Republican that would benefit from such a switch would be Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.

March 30, 2015

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Bob Inglis’ penalty for straying from ‘tribe’?

The Washington Times has risen one notch in my estimation by publishing Eric Althoff's article on former Rep. Bob Inglis, South Carolina Republican ("Bob Inglis breaks from Republican Party, advocates action to fight climate change," Web, March 24). While a climate change denier such as Willy Soon is being called a hero (rather than a rogue for accepting $1 million to shill for the fossil-fuel industry), a real hero such as Mr. Inglis gets booted out of the "tribe" for having the temerity to take a principled position not endorsed by Rush Limbaugh or Fox News.

March 29, 2015

EDITORIAL: Harry Reid’s resignation

Harry Reid still has one good eye, and it's enough to read the handwriting on the wall. Announcing that he won't run for a sixth term, he said Friday that he wants to "go out at the top of my game." That's a face-saving way of saying he doesn't want to go out feet first.

March 29, 2015