Conservatives understand that liberals often demonize their opponents rather than debate the merits of the issues because the tactic works. But you have to wonder whether another reason they lash out is that they are angry that reality doesn't cooperate with their ideologically driven solutions and it's easier to blame others than to face up to the unpleasant truth of their failed ideas.

In the circle of lawyers and judges I know, U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker is a giant. He is a brilliant jurist, legal eagles will tell you, who has insightful, and often unexpected, opinions. He's funny and charming -- and he's gay.

Growing up in Michigan in the heyday of the United Auto Workers, I long assumed that labor unions were part of the natural order of things. That's no longer clear. Last month, the Labor Department reported that private-sector unions lost 834,000 members last year and now represent only 7.2 percent of private-sector employees. That's down from the all-time peak of 36 percent in 1953-54.

Barack Obama loves to be compared to Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt. Abraham Lincoln he definitely is not, but the FDR analogy is apt. In her superb book about the Great Depression, "The Forgotten Man," Amity Schlaes describes the almost schizophrenic way in which our 32nd president governed the nation for the first eight of his twelve long years in office.

When is a limit not a limit? When Congress says so, that's when. Congress recently increased the U.S. debt ceiling by $1.9 TRILLION to a total of over $14 TRILLION. So what? Who cares?

Everyone agrees that we should reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Everyone agrees that we need to increase American jobs. Everyone, except perhaps the President and his minions in the majority, agrees that the government cannot afford to subsidize either of these goals.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said recently, "Our K-12 agenda can be summed up in one word: reform." If only it were true. But what Duncan calls reform is indeed putting lipstick on a pig. In this case, the pig is Washington's never changing formula for solving everything: spending ever-increasing sums of taxpayer's money.

If only the federal government were as responsible with our money as Pepsi is with theirs. The soda giant has been in the Super Bowl ad business for more than two decades. But this year, Pepsi determined it was economically unwise to pay $3 million for a 30-second spot. So, who's foolish enough to pay for Super Bowl gold-plated airtime? You and me and Washington, D.C.

GOPUSA Senior Writers
Christopher G. Adamo
Michael Barone
Tony Blankley
Brent Bozell
Linda Chavez
Carol Devine-Molin
Bobby Eberle
Lawrence Kudlow
David Limbaugh
Michelle Malkin
Oliver North
Doug Patton
Michael Reagan
Greg Reeson
Debra Saunders
Thomas Sowell
Matt Towery
Walter E. Williams

Contributing Columnists
Roger Aronoff
Lisa Fabrizio
Cliff Kincaid
Henry Lamb
Star Parker
Frank Salvato
Nancy Salvato
Harris Sherline
Thomas D. Segel

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