THE WASHINGTON TIMES

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Chronic disease, debt threaten to America

President Obama's State of the Union this week was an entirely appropriate speech for a country on the brink of collapse ("The state of the president," Comment & Analysis, Jan. 21). It was once again a diversion for short-term political gain.

January 22, 2015

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Obama no threat to terrorists

Aside from the occasional lone-wolf attack here at home, I am not convinced that a coordinated terrorist assault is imminent inside the United States. While terror cells are no doubt inside our country, why activate them now and provoke a nation with a president who is weak and sympathetic to their cause? By skipping out on the recent Paris rally, President Obama has sent our enemies the message that should they unleash mayhem throughout Europe the response from the United States will be as anemic as it has been elsewhere.

January 22, 2015

EDITORIAL: Private economy better at business than government

In his book, "Myths, Lies and Downright Stupidity," John Stossel of Fox News bet his readers a thousand dollars that they couldn't name one thing the government does better than the private sector. Eight years later he hasn't had to pay anyone a dime. The government just doesn't have the motivation, or the spur of competition, to perform services as well as private business.

January 21, 2015

EDITORIAL: Questions for Loretta Lynch, nominee for. U.S. attorney general

Loretta Lynch, the president's nominee to replace Eric Holder as the U.S. attorney general, faces question-and-answer time next week, and this will be the first opportunity for the new Republican majority to demonstrate that there's a new and more just world on Capitol Hill. She will not necessarily face a hostile panel of the Senate Judiciary Committee, nor should she. She is a known quantity as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, first appointed by President Clinton and reappointed by President Obama.

January 21, 2015

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: ‘Character’ now more absent than ever in America

Had Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. been alive on the day honoring him earlier this week, a day of such bitter world turmoil, conceivably he would have given another "I Have a Dream" speech at the United Nations.

January 21, 2015

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Move on out, Terry McAuliffe

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe brings his form of leftist tripe to Virginia ("Gun control advocates, opponents square off in Richmond," Web, Jan. 19). The commonwealth's residents know history, particularly Mr. McAuliffe's.

January 21, 2015

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: ‘Islamophobic’ loaded, inaccurate term

The term "Islamophobia" may be the most misused term in the contemporary lexicon. Standard dictionary definition of the word "phobic" is an exaggerated or an irrational fear of something. Given the horrific savagery that has been so prominently in evidence throughout the world over the past 20 years in the name of Islam, it is not possible for any thoughtful human being to have an "exaggerated" or an "irrational" fear of Islam.

January 21, 2015

EDITORIAL: Bobby Jindal challenges imams to denounce Islamic terrorists

Bobby Jindal, the Republican governor of Louisiana, says what a lot of politicians, both Democrats and Republicans, believe but are afraid to say, that the urge to be politically correct is strangling America and the West.

January 20, 2015

EDITORIAL: Obama promises obstruction in State of the Union

The Constitution requires presidents to provide Congress with periodic information on the "state of the union" and President George Washington delivered the required information in a speech to a joint session of Congress in 1790. That turned out to be an unfortunate precedent. Most of his successors haven't been able to resist making it an occasion for a speech, either.

January 20, 2015

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Give single mothers college chance

Peter Morici's language about single mothers in the op-ed about President Obama's proposal for free community college is problematic ("Obama's bogus community college giveaway," Web, Jan. 14). Mr. Morici creates a vision of the impoverished single mother who lacks confidence, suffers emotional distress, lacks reading and math literacy and is waiting in the wings to enter and disrupt institutions of higher education. He resorts to fear mongering to falsely warn of this "risky" type of student in effort to dissuade the public's approval of Obama's plan.

January 20, 2015

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Turkey’s Cyprus incursion nothing new

Guy Taylor's "Newsmaker Interview" with Turkish Cypriot negotiator Ergun Olgun ("Cypriot union threatened by dispute over oil and gas rights," Web, Jan. 11) is a public relations ploy by Turkey to lure the public away from Turkey's latest violation of international law: its 'gunboat diplomacy' in the eastern Mediterranean and incursion into Cyprus' Economic Exclusive Zone (EEZ).

January 20, 2015

EDITORIAL: Islamist terrorists use children as tools of war

If children are the future, the terrorists who ravish and ravage the young in pursuit of empire portend a very bleak future in the benighted lands. Evil men continue to poison the young with the venom and bile that describe the distortions of their religion. The world stands aghast and incredulous at the violence visited upon the innocent, and at the reluctance to judge another's faith that is the mark of American tolerance. The fear of reprisal restrains many Muslims from condemning acts they know are atrocities. There is no holy writ anywhere to excuse using children as fodder for cannon. No one's God is that cynical.

January 19, 2015

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: James Tayor in France was another White House gaffe

Last Friday Secretary of State John Kerry brought James Taylor to the stage to sing "You've Got a Friend" to the French people ("John Kerry in Paris, set for James Taylor croon: 'You've Got a Friend,'" Web, Jan. 16). It was widely seen as the Obama administration's way of saying sorry after failing to send any high-level officials to the "Je Suis Charlie" March in Paris, which was attended by 2.7 million people, including 40 heads of state.

January 19, 2015

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Obama’s persistent tax delusion

Apparently President Obama did not get the message that he and his party were trounced in the November elections. By handing the Senate to the Republicans and providing a larger GOP majority in the House, the American people voted for divided government, meaning that they want either gridlock or cooperation and production. I believe their overwhelming support for Republicans signifies an interest in the latter, yet one would not know it from the way the president is behaving.

January 19, 2015

EDITORIAL: Credit card chip technology could stop hackers

Credit card fraud is everybody's headache. If the hackers haven't got to you yet, they will. There's a new weapon against the hackers, called "chip-and-PIN technology," but replacing a billion credit cards is expensive and some of the big banks are reluctant to put out the millions (and millions) of dollars to pay for it. The federal government is using chip-and-PIN cards but not many private users in the United States have access to it.

January 19, 2015

EDITORIAL: Obama’s war against oil and natural gas producers

President Obama has gone to war. But not with the Islamic State group, Iran, North Korea or any foreign threat. Mr. Obama, at the urging of environmental extremists, has declared war on America's oil and natural gas producers. His weapon of choice is a new Environmental Protection Agency regulation to cut methane emissions by up to 45 percent by 2025.

January 18, 2015

EDITORIAL: Third World private schools succeed where government does not

"Education for all" was set as a worldwide priority by the United Nations in 1990, to be accomplished in 25 years. The deadline is upon us and billions of dollars later, UNESCO, the cultural arm of the U.N., says there are still 175 million children in the developing world who can't read or write. This is taken as proof at the U.N. that governments must "intensify their efforts," meaning they must "intensify" the spending of more money. The facts tell a different story.

January 18, 2015

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Saudi Arabia funds terror

The time has come to identify the primary instigators of terrorism as being Sunni Muslims. What do the perpetrators of the USS Cole attack, the two attacks on the World Trade Center, the recent attacks in Canada, Australia and France, Osama bin Laden, Anwar al-Awlaki, the Islamic State and al Qaeda all have in common? They are all tied to Sunni terrorism, sponsored philosophically and financially by Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

January 18, 2015

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: U.S. must step up in terror fight

As France changes its foreign policy and sends an aircraft carrier to help fight the Islamic State following the Paris terrorist attacks, American leadership is still needed to coordinate and unite 40 nations ("Key U.S. military command's Twitter, YouTube sites back online," Web, Jan. 13). Russia is building up forces facing Poland and the Baltic states and is fortifying Kaliningrad. The Islamic State and al Qaeda are planning more attacks. China continues to dominate and threaten its neighbors. Now more than ever effective leadership is needed to deal with increasing Russian aggression, the increasing radical Islamic threat and continued Chinese expansion.

January 18, 2015

EDITORIAL: Terry McAuliffe’s attempt to change Virginia marriage language is premature

The language of the New Age, like a lot of things in Li'l Abner's hometown of Dogpatch, can be "amusin' but confusin'." The word "sex" has been displaced by "gender," though no one ever called Marilyn Monroe a "genderpot," and no woman we know thinks a silky black night gown will make her feel "gendery." Gov. Terry McAuliffe of Virginia thinks he can ride to the rescue of all by making the language of marriage more confusing, if not amusing.

January 15, 2015