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.

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• The tragic deaths on the Red Lake Reservation, the senseless events leading up to Terri Schiavo's death, Pope John Paul II ailing and possibly on the brink of death, March has been a solemn month.
• Terri Schiavo's death utterly demolishes the credibility of the progressive‑liberal claim that the religious right either controls or is taking over America.
• The brilliance of patriarchy, as practiced in nations like England and America, was how it tied men's self‑interests to women's welfare. The insanity of feminism, is the extent to which they have severed that link. The poverty of primitive nations is the condition toward which we will descend if that link is not restored.
• On March 31, 2005, Airhead America's Mumbling Al Franken jeered that because Congress did not pass a law that violated the Constitution, but only allowed the Supreme Court to take new evidence into consideration when reviewing Terri Schiavo's case, they lacked the courage of their convictions. He's wrong. Exactly the opposite is true. Their convictions prevented them from following the example of progressive‑liberals, and passing laws based on their feelings rather than their principles.
• On March 30, 2005, while appearing on Airhead America's Morning Sedition, Princeton University Professor Peter Singer criticized the view that human life is special or more valuable than other life. Later, he remarked on the fortune of those who, like their selves, were born in a prosperous country like America and Australia. Countries which, arguably, are so fortunate precisely because of the high value placed on individual human life.
• On March 29, 2005, Airhead America's Mumbling Al Franken asserted that Democrats have not politicized Terri Schiavo's case. As proof, he noted that the Democrats have not attacked Michael Schiavo. He's right. When President Bush and Congress gave the Supreme Court the opportunity to review the facts of the case, the progressive‑liberals attacked President Bush and the Republicans, not Michael Schiavo.
• To criticize conservatives, progressive‑liberals point to the right‑wing extremists. To criticize progressive‑liberals, conservatives point to the left‑wing mainstream.
• On March 27, 2005, New York Times Columnist Frank Rich wrote that conservatives are bullies. Among other reasons, he based this on the fact that some theaters refuse to show certain documentaries for fear of offending religious viewers. If that's an example of bullying, then feminists, who wear hypersensitivity on their sleeves, are the biggest bullies of all.
• On March 28, 2005, Airhead America's Morning Sedition Featherweights complained because President Bush makes policy decisions based on principles rather than polls.
• On March 28, 2005, Airhead America's Morning Sedition Featherweight Mark Riley called Terri Schiavo's supporters "Christo‑Fascist‑Death‑Cult‑Fanatics." Gee, Mark, does that include a non‑Christian American Indian like me?
• The myth, in post‑feminist America, is that employers hire people primarily because they are good workers. Thanks to the left in general, and feminists in particular, most employers today hire first on the basis of personality and credentials, and then work ethic.
• On March 25, 2005, Airhead America's Mumbling Al Franken said that "choice" (abortion) is a woman's right. Without employing any of the arguments that the pro‑lifers use to argue against "choice," can he explain why "choice" is not also a man's right?
• Recently, President Bush enumerated several goals for America. Implying that, like Nazi Germany, America should have only one goal, Airhead America's Seattle affiliate, AM 1090 Seattle's Progressive Talk made fun of him for this.
• On March 25, 2005, while appearing on Airhead America's Morning Sedition, Congressman Barney Frank stated that the way to fix Social Security is to raise taxes. A progressive‑liberal who wants to raise taxes? Typical!
• On March 25, 2005, Airhead America's Morning Sedition Featherweights claimed that because Terri Schiavo was receiving hospice care, she was permanently and legally removed from receiving any further medical treatment. What a crock! In my day job, I work with nursing homes, and I see patients go back‑and‑forth between hospice care and medical treatment all the time.
• Most people behave either mostly good or mostly bad.
• Prison and jail exist to punish according to some, or to reform according to others. Justice requires punishment for crimes, and internment punishes. But punishment alone does not make better citizens, and people should be better citizens when they come out of the penal system than when they went in.
• On March 25, 2005, Ted Rall, who appeared as a guest on Airhead America's Morning Sedition, complained that President Bush, whom Rall characterized as "mean and dumb," is forcing everybody to conform to his world view. Isn't that what the progressive‑liberals have been doing for the past 50 years?
• On March 24, 2005, Airhead America's Mumbling Al Franken said there's no difference between encephalitic babies and Terri Schiavo. How ridiculous that is! Encephalitic babies were born that way, and they never had a conscious mind. Schiavo, on the other hand, did have a conscious mind, she possessed a life‑time of experiences, and, religious beliefs aside, the head is not the only part of the body with gray matter.
• On March 24, 2005, Airhead America's Mumbling Al Franken complained that "8 million people in this world die every year because of extreme poverty, and I haven't heard a peep from these guys about that." Nonsense. Republicans and conservatives have plenty to say about it, but the loons on the left refuse to listen because they don't like what we say.
• Conservative talk radio is almost universally call‑in, demonstrating that the audience engages in dialogue. Airhead America's shows, on the other hand, take calls only sporadically, demonstrating either that the hosts are incapable of engaging in a dialogue, or that they are only there to preach to the choir.
• For decades, the Left has automatically sided with feminists extremists against men. But in Michael Schiavo, they found a man they like: An adulterer who would rather let his wife die than get a divorce.
• On March 23, 2005, Airhead America's Morning Sedition Featherweights dismissed Terri Schiavo's case because it's only about one person, and is, therefore, trivial. So much for the claim that progressive‑liberals are compassionate.
• Speaking of progressive‑liberal compassion, during that same broadcast, Airhead America's Sniffing Laura Flanders, who was filling in for Marc Maron on Morning Sedition, sniffed that throwing government money at Indian Reservations is the solution to what happened on the Red Lake Reservation.
• Progressive‑Liberals are pro‑state's rights on the issue of gay marriage, but anti‑state's rights on the issue of abortion.
• Criticizing President Bush's Strengthen Social Security Plan, on the March 22, 2005 Al Franken Show, Gerald W. McEntee, International President of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), snapped, "You can't experiment with people's lives!" But progressive‑liberals experiment with people's lives all the time.
• On March 22, 2005, Airhead America's Mumbling Al Franken characterized the Swiftboat Vets' ads against AARP as insulting to elderly Americans. He conveniently ignores that the ads are not against elderly Americans or AARP members, but against the organization's leaders.
• President Clinton got lucky when the tech bubble paid for the national debt. He rode that bubble. But it had to burst. Now, we have to cure the debt the old‑fashioned way, with fundamentally sound economic growth.
• Democrats claim the "legacy debt" on Social Security is the reason that the return on investment is so low, and they're right. They claim this is a reason to continue the program, and they're wrong. To perpetuate the system is to perpetuate the problem. To shift the debt to the general fund and transition to an ownership system will hurt more in the short run, but solve the problem in the long run.
• On March 21, 2005, Airhead America's Morning Sedition Featherweights expressed shock at President Bush's intervention in the Terri Schiavo case. "It's disturbing," they said, claiming it "abrogates" states rights. More so than Roe v. Wade?
• It's ironic that some of the St. Patrick's Day festivities revolve around potatoes, which were first cultivated by American Indians.
• Progressive‑Liberals grumble about the hypocrisy of "moralizing conservatives." They don't get it. Conservatives understand that fallibility is a human characteristic. That's why the moralizing.
• On March 17, 2005, Airhead America's Mumbling Al Franken said, as he repeatedly says, that Social Security has a trust fund. Liar! There is no trust fund, no lock box.
• In the context of social structure, conservatism focuses on maintaining institutions which have been proven to work, while liberalism focuses on experimenting with institutions that they imagine will work better.
• Many economists believe in letting the "free market" sort things out. Except we don't have a free market, else American citizens would have unrestricted access to pharmaceutical drugs from Canada, Mexico and the rest of the world.
• One difference between Israel and America: Israelis bought their land, America bought some of its land, and squatted on the rest.
• A standard practice on the left is to magnify a problem by claiming the visible part is the tip of the iceberg. In this way, they turn clear sailing into an ocean of hazards.
• On February 8, 2005, Airhead America's now‑defunct Unfiltered Breeze Brains hosted a segment on the use of tasers. They could not hide their contempt for police. Evidently, they would prefer anarchy.
• Progressive‑Liberals decry American jobs going overseas, but welcome illegal immigrants to America with the full benefits of citizenship.
• Commercials urging men to buy stuff for women all come down to one thing: women want to be able to brag to other women about what they got.
• Mate selection based on envy leads to social decay.
• If life doesn't kill you, everything else will.
• Ward Churchill and his white Indian‑wannabe followers demonstrate that when progressive‑liberals can't find Indians to say what they want to hear, they'll manufacture them.
• Citizenship comes at a cost.
• Human nature motivates us all to want everything at no cost. Conservatives understand this, and conservative principles mitigate against it.
• If taxpayers are required to pay for medical problems caused by dietary choices, then dietary choices are a matter of public policy and subject to state regulation.
• Progressive‑Liberals claim Social Security is just fine until 2042, so we don't need to worry about fixing it, yet. That's not very forward‑looking or "progressive" of them, is it.
• In response to news of the improving economy, Airhead America's now‑defunct Unfiltered Breeze Brains happily cheered, "but Congress will take care of that!"
• On Frdiay, March 11, 2005, the Airhead America's now‑defunct Unfiltered Breeze Brains proudly claimed, "Blame it on America, that's what we do!" They were serious. Maybe that's why they're now also defunct. Nobody could stomach their unrelenting vitriol.
• It appears that Ward Churchill plagiarized at least one essay and sold a reproduction of another artist's work as his own original work. How much else has this faux scholar faked?
• On March 14, 2005, Airhead America's Morning Sedition Featherweights described criticism of Ward Churchill as an attack on academic and intellectual freedom. I thought it was freedom of speech.
• One of the most common and idiotic complaints I get about The Backlash! is that my little articles don't present all sides of every issue. What hypocrites! Nobody on the left presents all sides of every issue, although some claim they do.
• Many are upset by people who use cellphones in public. At least, unlike smoking, they don't make the clothing of secondhand cellphone victims stink.
• Misandrist bumpersticker: I'm not your type, I'm not inflatable. Misogynist bumpersticker: I'm not your type, I don't vibrate.
• On March 15, 2005, Airhead America's Morning Sedition Featherweights admitted that both Democrats and Republicans employ propaganda. But they complained that Republicans are more competent, and described this as "demonic." New progressive‑liberal principle: Competence is a vice, and incompetence is a virtue.
• Many right‑wing liberals scoff at critics of SUVs. "We have gas!" they protest. That's fine. But as a matter of conservative principle, I disrespect inefficiency and waste.
• Much of the terror leftists express for President Bush stems from the fear he will successfully appoint judges who share his values and principles. They don't want us to do to them what they have been doing to us.
• From attacks on America's religious traditions to legal assaults on how Americans define marriage, the assailants rely on one principle to support their hoped‑for victories: What Ayn Rand called the "sanction of the victim."
• Progressive‑Liberals carp about Republican propaganda, but ignore examples of their own propaganda, such as their perpetual accusations of racism.
• On March 16, 2005, Airhead America's Morning Sedition their guest, Senator Barbara Boxer, claimed that President Bush's Plan to strengthen Social Security will take money from Social Security's trust fund. A trust fund comprised of IOUs in the form of U.S. Treasury Bonds.
• Airhead America's Mumbling Al Franken says U.S. Treasury Bonds are valuable, and he's right. He offers this as proof the "trust fund" for Social Security is secure, and he's wrong, he knows it, and he's doing it on purpose.
• On March 15, 2005, Kirby Wilbur pointed out that Washington state is "big business friendly." He's right. Corporate‑welfare is rampant. Yet many on the right claim it's the Indian tribes who squeeze the state legislature.
• On March 31, 2005, Mike Siegel said that "the tribes run the Democrats" in the state legislature. The last time he said that, I emailed to ask if he meant Indian tribes, or the Tribes of Israel. When he starts complaining that the tribes run the banks and businesses, we'll know it's time to start watching for the brown shirts.
• "I got a tax cut," I told a friend who was complaining that Bush's tax cuts only benefited the rich. "How does it feel to be rich," he asked. "Like I'm less poor than I was under Clinton."
• Michael Medved opposes all EEO laws, and believes it's just fine for a corporation to hire and fire indiscriminately. Let's test this with a thought experiment: After taking over key positions in major industries, feminists take over all large corporations, fire all men and replace them with all women. Men rebel. End of experiment. What does it teach us? The same lesson taught by the American and French Revolutions: when perceived unfairness reaches a certain psychological flash point, chaos and destruction follow. For the sake of social stability, a certain minimum of perceived fairness of society must be maintained. EEO laws do this.
• Liberals wallow in guilt, reject shame, and strive to create Heaven on Earth; Conservatives own the guilt, embrace ancient principles that create workable societies, and use shame to maintain order.
• America has more fat kids than ever before. Obesity is epidemic among adults. Could the vast quantities of sugary soft drinks have anything to do with it? Duh!
• You know social sentiments have changed when none of the usual politically correct whiners complain about Burger King's oh‑so‑politically‑incorrect commercial promoting their Tendercrisp Bacon Cheddar Ranch sandwich. Sentiment among bloggers seems to be more of the "oh my God!" variety, but I grew up on Hee Haw, and I love it. Especially Brooke Burke on the swing.
• Progressive Liberals seem to believe that if anything bad happens in the world, it must be due to the United States, but if anything good happens, the U.S. had nothing to do with it.
• When the nation was floundering in high unemployment and awash in high inflation, libertarians and republicans made a stink about it. Now that inflation is under control but the debt is up due to the war effort, the democrats are using the same rhetoric to attack the debt. The differences today, are that inflation is under control and we know the debt can be paid down.
• As American Indian populations became more racially blended, the term "non‑Indian" was adopted by many to distinguish between them who is, and them who ain't. But some organizations, who love dead Indians but don't much like live ones, reject the term. So maybe it's time to adopt a new name for them who ain't: ABCs. Asians, Blacks and Caucasians.
• Employment should, as a matter of course, be about productivity. But Human Resource Management, which is now dominated by feminists and their heirs, has made employment more about personality. That poses challenges to people with some form of autism.
• One of the Left's arguments against the war in Iraq, is that it will produce more terrorists (in Saudi Arabia). In other words, they claim it will create a backlash. Just like the feminists' attacks on men is creating a backlash.