Ethics and Public Policy Center

May 5
April 28

Son of Rambow

Entry from May 6, 2008

Baby Mama

Welcome to EPPC Online

The Ethics and Public Policy Center was established in 1976 to clarify and reinforce the bond between the Judeo-Christian moral tradition and the public debate over domestic and foreign policy issues. [Read More]

Latest News & Publications

Let's Call This 'Terrorism' By Its Real Name
By Rick Santorum
Thursday, May 8, 2008
It's official: We're fighting . . . terrorists. You can also call them violent extremists if you like, but never use jihadist or mujahedeen or Islamo-fascist to describe our enemy. These words are deemed pejorative and offensive, according to a recent Bush administration memorandum to federal employees whose jobs involve explaining our ongoing war to the public...

America's Unhappiest Millionaire
Michelle Obama's gospel of misery.
By Yuval Levin
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Barack Obama's wife Michelle has been traveling the country delivering a stump speech that lays out a deeply and relentlessly negative vision of American life, in which everyone is treated unfairly, and especially her husband. The Senator himself, of course, manages a peppier and more upbeat message, but in fact, especially when seen in light of her speeches, the same dismal view seems to underlie his rhetoric too. Both Obamas think America is bitter and deeply depressed.

The View from the Continent
By Peter Wehner
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
The widespread view in Europe, as well as among some Americans, is that the U.S. has suffered a huge, almost incalculable, loss of "moral authority." The evidence cited is always the same: Guantanamo Bay, rendition and secret prisons, and waterboarding. They are invoked like an incantation. The effect of this is that you would think that the United States is among the leading violators of human rights in the world.

Light From the East
By George Weigel
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
The Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) in L'viv is led by a Ukrainian-American, Father Borys Gudziak, who brings to his work a Harvard doctorate in church history, indefatigable energy, organizational skill and spiritual vision. If I had to name the 50 Catholics whose present work is most important for the future of the world Church, Father Gudziak's name would easily make the cut. What he has built in a decade in L'viv, starting from scratch, is breathtaking.

Cliffhanger
Wright and political wrongs.
By Peter Wehner
Thursday, May 1, 2008
The extraordinary public feud between Senator Barack Obama and the Reverend Jeremiah Wright Jr. would be an enormous threat to any candidate running for president, but it is particularly dangerous to Obama. Because Sen. Obama is such a new figure on the American political scene, people's judgment about him can be easily molded and reshaped.

Defining Definitions Down
By James Bowman
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
In 1976, the British Marxist critic Raymond Williams published Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society. It was a work of genuine scholarship, tracing the semantic histories of certain words that have specialized political meanings. Now comes Keywords for American Cultural Studies, modeled on Williams's work, except that editors Bruce Burgett and Glenn Hendler have dispensed with the scholarship and the humor.

The End of the Caricature
Americans got to see the real Pope Benedict, not the cartoon Rottweiler.
By George Weigel
Monday, April 28, 2008
From his first moments at Andrews Air Force Base it was clear that Pope Benedict XVI was no hard-edged theological enforcer, no Rottweiler. Instead of the cartoon Ratzinger, America was introduced to a modest, friendly man with exquisite manners and full of affection and admiration for the United States.

A Bush Success (not that he gets credit)
The Medicare drug benefit is working better than predicted.
By James C. Capretta, Peter Wehner
Friday, April 25, 2008
Now in its third year, the Medicare drug benefit's market-based design is working better than predicted. Eighty-five percent of beneficiaries are satisfied with their coverage, and costs are now expected to be 40 percent--or $244 billion--less over ten years than originally projected.

Young Catholics Meet a Man Who Understands Them
By Colleen Carroll Campbell
Friday, April 25, 2008
At 81, Benedict understands a fundamental truth about fervent young Catholics that many of their middle-aged elders miss: Their enthusiasm for the faith is not about rejecting the world. It is about embracing a radical commitment to God that inspires them to influence the world with Gospel values.

Remarks on the Anniversary of Thomas Jefferson's Birth
By Wilfred M. McClay
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Perhaps, in the past, we have been too prone to place our forebears on a pedestal. But it is far worse, to feel compelled always to cut the storied past down to the size of the tabloid present. Perhaps the time has come for that to change. Perhaps we are wise enough now, to know that imperfect heroes are the only kind there ever are, or can be.

Crooked Analysis
A shallow and uninformed look at Bush economic policy.
By Peter Wehner
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Clive Crook negelcts to mention the chief reason the nation went from a surplus to a deficit was that President Bush inherited an economy skidding toward recession (it officially began just a few months after he took office). When the dot com bubble burst so did the projected surpluses. In addition, the attacks on September 11th dealt a crippling blow to several important sectors in the economy.

It's the Economy, Stupid
By James C. Capretta
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Growing anxiety about the American economy is a challenge and an opportunity for Senator McCain. His priorities should be tax cuts for parents to invest in the next generation, and tax reform for simplicity and stability.

Weigel on The Papal Trip

EPPC Distinguished Senior Fellow George Weigel provided commentary and interviews for several media outlets during Benedict XVI's visit to America.

Charlie Rose: Video discussion about Pope Benedict's visit to the United States with Jon Meaham Editor-In-Chief of Newsweek, George Weigel, Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, Scott Appleby and Monsignor Lorenzo Albacete.

European Press: Several interviews focused on the impact of Benedict XVI's trip on the Catholic Church in the United States. His interview with the Italian paper Il Foglio is available here, the interview with the Polish daily Dziennik is available here and an interview with the Cracow newspaper Tygodnik Powszechny is available here.

Quotable EPPC
Recent Clippings from our Scholars

EPPC President Ed Whelan's comments on John McCain's recent speech on judges were widely quoted in the national press:

Whelan "called the speech 'very encouraging' and added: 'McCain has drawn a clear line between his support for judicial restraint and Obama's promise to appoint liberal judicial activists.'" -- Washington Post

"McCain clearly recognizes that liberal judicial activism deprives Americans of their basic powers as citizens to establish policies through their legislators." -- Ed Whelan, quoted in US News & World Report

"Edward Whelan, a former law clerk for Justice Antonin Scalia and president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, said he was encouraged by McCain's assertion that the role of judges was 'one of the defining issues of this presidential election.' Whelan noted that McCain's promise to nominate judges with a 'proven record' would be an important point with conservative Republicans." -- Los Angeles Times

Faith & Culture

Anti-Catholic Media Bias

EPPC Fellow Colleen Carroll Campbell interviews interviews Brent Bozell, founding president of the Media Research Center, about bias against Catholics and other Christians in the mainstream media and how audiences can counteract it. The show airs on EWTN television Sunday, May 4, at 10:30am and Wednesday, May 7, at 11pm. It airs on EWTN radio and Sirius Satellite Radio Saturdays at 6pm E.T., Sundays at 7am E.T., and Tuesdays at 1am E.T.

Click here for more details.

The Ultimate Conversation Stopper

Why do some people feel threatened by the idea that life may have meaning? Australian sociologist and former EPPC Visiting Fellow Michael Casey was interviewed recently about the historic and cultural reasons behind our difficulty with the "meaning of life."

Click here to read, "The Ultimate Conversation Stopper: Does Life Have Meaning?"