As the South teetered on the edge of calamity near the end of the Civil War, the Confederate Congress refused pleas to arm the slaves. "If the Confederacy fails," CSA President Jefferson Davis lamented, "there should be written on its tombstone: Died of a Theory." Almost 150 years later and with Davis' political heirs having […]

On July 4, U.S. officials, foreign dignitaries and conservative luminaries gathered outside the American embassy in London to unveil a $1 million statue of Ronald Reagan. As it turns out, the timing was more than a little ironic. Because even as the Gipper was honored in Britain, it's increasingly clear he would have no place […]

Every Fourth of July, we Americans celebrate our independence and pause to reflect on the enduring wisdom of our Founding Fathers who envisioned the cherished liberties we so often take for granted. But this year, the commemoration is tinged with sadness as evidence mounts that Americans don't know their own history. While a new study […]

While the nation is celebrating its independence this Fourth of July weekend, few in Minnesota are in a partying mood. The government shutdown continues in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, with services stopped and 23,000 employees furloughed as a $1.4 billion, two-year budget gap remains unfilled. Republicans in both house of the state legislature would […]

President Obama Addresses the Nation on the Debt Ceiling* (As Prepared for Delivery, July 1, 2011.) My fellow Americans, I want to speak to you today about a matter of the greatest national urgency. We face a crisis unique in our history. This threat comes not from a foreign foe or bloodthirsty terrorists, but is […]