Recently in Issue Framing Category

I promise this isn't about sports, but sports was the impetus for this diatribe. I was discussing the Roger Clemens situation with other people online when the discussion disintegrated into a political discussion about the merits of Congress. I won't bore you with the facts of the case, so I'll boil it down to its simplest ingredients. Roger Clemens allegedly lied to Congress, so Congress has charged him with perjury. He was formally indicted and...

I got a safety inspection and emissions check today. The State of Texas mandates that cars get a safety inspection and that cars in high pollution counties get an emissions test.Government has the right to mandate people to do things in order to serve the public good. Government has that right even in Texas.Liberals and progressives should not be hesitant to assert this fact.A few fearful people will tell you that stuff like this starts...

Thanks to Shortstuff for the inspiration! Unlike many of the talking heads who now appear on various "news" shows, Edward R. Murrow was a journalist with integrity who not only fought for free speech, but for TRUTH in journalism as well. He once said at the RTNDA Convention in Chicago in 1958 to a group of fellow journalists: "It is not necessary to remind you that the fact that your voice is amplified to...

What is America? How should America be defined?America is the idea and the fact of a strong federal government over the lesser powers of the states as written in our United States Constitution. The Constitution was in many ways a response to the corruption and incompetence of state legislatures during the years of the Articles of Confederation. America is Emancipation and the victory of freedom over states rights treason in our Civil War.America is the expanded economic freedoms and...

One area where conservatives have passed us in the the area of anecdotes. Nearly all of them have some story they want to spin to help their campaign. People left of center and way out their left like facts and figures. The problem is that people in the middle and slightly right of middle have abandoned the idea of facts for the most part. Tell them a good story and they are sold. The problem...

I had a unique opportunity to observe a fascinating process that perfectly illustrates why we're where we are as a nation. I attended an American Idol open call audition in another city this year as an observer. For those who aren't familiar with what their audition process is, I'll share some info. We arrived very early in the morning the day before the open call with our photo ID and proof of citizenship in...

People that get paid to analyze politics have fancy titles for these types of things. I am a simple man with a but a bachelors in political science (and masters in counseling). So, I'm not as adept at talking about these things. However, it has occurred to me that Obama (and Democratic Congress) have an uphill battle to clime. I call it proving a negative, but those that are more learned than me can call...

I am a racist. I admit it. I can't stand so many of these old(er) white men who sit on their asses collecting a paycheck they don't deserve while people under them with no power or authority, but a heckuva lot of responsibility for P&L, lose their jobs as a direct result of what the old(er) white man did or didn't do.I can't stand the fact that in Corporate America, it can be a...

One of our newer readers (at least in terms of comments) challenged my budget proposals and offered some new and interesting suggestions. I say they were interesting because they were well thought out, but they deserved some attention. I thought about replying to them directly, but decided to use the concept as a jumping off point. This is going to be one of those audience participation kind of things. The concept of the sacred cow...

In my continuing series on set issues I thought I would make my way over the information and how it has changed. Many of us have used the phrase (or had the phrase used on us) "you are entitled to your own opinions, but you aren't entitled to your own facts." That seems simple enough and yet a cursory look around the political and academic landscape indicates that this doesn't seem to be the case...