In this column I pose questions and raise issues. I don't always agree with the conclusion, implied or stated. The purpose is to put a slightly different spin on each item and to promote discussion.

---

• In 1980, "Attention Deficit Disorder" was added to the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). Since then, millions of children have been diagnosed with it, and placed on medication to calm them down. Today, obesity is reaching epidemic proportions in America. Is there a link?
• Did Ayn Rand have Asperger's Syndrome?
• Feminists tore down marriage, and now homosexuals are trying to re‑engineer it.
• Ever since turning away from libertarianism to embrace conservatism, I've been astonished by my moral perfection. One day, I was a flawed human being; the next, I was a paragon of virtue. Humble, too!
• In the interests of national security, the Bush Administration argued that we needed to take out Saddam Hussein—who was very public in his support of terrorism and terrorists—before he became an imminent threat.
• Political correctness penalizes our natural inclination to protect and care for our coworkers.
• Throughout history, the most common medicine has been alcohol. For thousands of years, most people have been heavy drinkers. Our time is rare, if not unique, for the wide‑spread practice of sobriety.
• Most technologically advanced civilizations practiced monogamy. The few that didn't, either had more women than men, or didn't remain advanced very long.
• Every time Homeland Security issues an alert, the leftists complain that Bush is trying to scare Americans as part of a ploy to make us subservient. But when Homeland Security doesn't issue an alert, they complain that Bush isn't doing enough to protect us.
• Many Americans resent the term "Native American" as the official designation for American Indians. Some Americans, in protest, identify themselves as "Native" on census surveys. Could this have anything to do with the rapid growth in the official population of American Indians?
• Conservatives believe that the spread of liberty and democracy will increase stability and world peace. Yet, liberty in America has given rise to the militant left, who, in the name of freedom, oppose many of our liberties.
• Syria and Saudi Arabia have become targets for terrorists, because they no longer support terrorism.
• Why were so many people ready to believe that Bush was connected to 9⁄11? Because we were primed, by the Clinton Administration, to expect shady dealings involving the president.
• When liberals⁄progressives express fears of right‑wing censorship and oppression of opposing views, are they really projecting their own desire to censor and oppress?
• Does political correctness increase the need for anti‑depressants?
• Both conservatives and liberals⁄progressives have, on their side, people for whom passion replaces reason and shouting replaces civil discourse; increasingly, however, the left seems dominated by such people.
• The perennial question—"Why don't people recognize that Israel has a right to exist?"—applies with even greater historical credibility to American Indian tribes. Yet, many Republicans support Israel but oppose Indian tribes.
• Liberals⁄Progressives complain that the war in Iraq harmed innocent Iraqi civilians. They're right, many civilians were harmed, and some were killed. But when we respond that the war was also humanitarian because it liberated the Iraqi people from a brutal dictatorship, they flip‑flop. The welfare of the Iraqi people no longer matters, and they counter that liberation wasn't the stated purpose of the war, and is, therefore, irrelevant. The stated purpose or not, it is one result, and if they bring up civilian casualties, then it is appropriate to point this out.
• Liberals⁄Progressives don't want to allow the government authority, under the Patriot Act, to monitor who buys how‑to books on bomb‑making. Yet, nobody complains when Amazon does it.
• In the world of politics, where pretense is everything, decisiveness is an insult.
• The thing about Bush that his critics hate the most, is his decisiveness. He doesn't waste time posturing, but cuts right to the heart of the matter and acts to deal with it.
• It is taken as an article of faith that American women are taught to be ashamed of their sexuality. Yet, in our culture, we are bombarded by messages that celebrate female sexuality and condemn male sexuality. Evidently, the Sisterhood of Perpetual Complaining hasn't gotten the message, yet.
• In the liberal⁄progressive workplace, improving productivity is not rewarded, although failure to meet production requirements is penalized. The only acceptable excuse is a diagnosed disability. Is this why the number of people with a disability is on the rise?
• Have anti‑discrimination laws promoted international outsourcing by increasing the cost of American labor?
• Most Americans feel it is more necessary to protect children from nudity than violence. There are sound cultural, social and biological reasons for this which have nothing to do with religious morality. Until these are clearly and consistently enunciated, libertarians, pornographers and nudists will continue to make inroads promoting the contrary view.
• Europeans often disdain America as being violent and arrogant, but the flaw in their accusation is that America is European, and Asian, African and everything in between. The melting pot may be violent, but the clash of cultures is part of what makes America vibrant.
• Democrats commonly accuse Republicans of being Nazis and dictators, while Republicans commonly accuse Democrats of being immoral and big tax‑and‑spenders.
• On July 1, 2004, a caller to the Dave Ross Show claimed that Republicans know President Bush is a dictator, and that we want a dictator. In 1983, Democrats said the same thing about Ronald Reagan.
• Were the Bush Administration a mainstream movie, it wouldn't be Fahrenheit 9⁄11, but a blockbuster action thriller.
• Neo-Nazis claim that the evil Hitler and the Third Reich committed never happened, and that the holocaust is a lie. Many liberals⁄progressives make the same claim about Saddam Hussein.
• Liberals⁄Progressives claim that if Bush had only tried harder, maybe he could have gotten the United Nations to go along with the invasion of Iraq. They ignore that Germany, France and Russia had a vested financial interest in keeping Saddam Hussein in power.
• Due to the fluid nature of modern employment, it's hard to hang on to pension contributions. Personally, I've contributed to over a dozen pension funds, but lost all my contributions when I moved to another job. This is why it makes sense for us to own our own pension, so that as we move from job‑to‑job, we don't lose it.
• President Bill Clinton says President George W. Bush did not lie about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Therefore, Michael Moore, who says Bush did lie, must believe that Clinton is lying, too.
• Teresa Heinz Kerry and George Soros are both deeply involved in the effort to defeat George W. Bush, and they are both foreign-born billionaires with strong international ties. To which flag do they pledge allegiance?
• Justifying off‑shoring of government jobs on the basis that it will save taxpayers money ignores that if taxpayers can't find jobs, or if they have to accept lower paying jobs because of the off‑shoring, then the tax base will shrink while the demand for government services will increase. Hence, off‑shoring is self‑defeating.
• Several months ago, following a case in which a Seattle‑area voyeur used a small camera to take so‑called "up‑skirt" photos, Washington state passed a law making such activity illegal. While such a law makes sense, it did make me aware that dresses and skirts allow women to be covert flashers.
• Thomas Sowell and others attribute the sharp increase in the American Indian population since the 1970s to the federal recognition of "new" tribes, who wanted to have casinos. They ignore that the U.S. Census Bureau counts Indians who are not members of a federally recognized tribe. Add to this that more Americans are admitting to their Indian ancestry, and the increase can be explained without any attribution whatsoever to the desire to cash in on tribal casinos.