Two Down

Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich have both recently demonstrated why they are unfit to be the Republican presidential nominee in 2012.

Romney defended legislation he supported when governor of Massachusetts that vastly expanded the state's role in healthcare in Massachusetts, including mandating that state residents have health insurance and creating panels to oversee healthcare. If it sounds like ObamaCare, that's because it shares many similarities. Romney says he doesn't support ObamaCare, since it should be up to each state to impose Massachusetts-style controls. As if the loss of freedom is OK if a state does it but terrible if the federal government does.

Gingrich decided to lambast Paul Ryan's thoughtful plan to allow Medicare to survive its pending bankruptcy with reforms as "right wing social engineering". Ryan proposed allowing seniors who are currently under the age of 55 to buy insurance with a $15,000 subsidy by the government, giving seniors the ability to have a higher quality and/or more cost effective insurance then they currently have. Instead, Gingrich thinks the individual mandate to purchase health insurance is a good thing.

Gingrich's comments are already being used by Democrats to attack Republicans.

Romney and Gingrich have greatly undermined Republican opposition to the Democrats' efforts socialize healthcare. Since ObamaCare is such a fundamental issue in the 2012 campaign, Republicans have to look elsewhere for their nominee.

The Syrian Treatment

An American diplomat was recently hooded, roughed up, and detained by Syrian security agents.

In a different era, such behavior would be considered an act of war and America would respond accordingly. But in such a world, the prospect of America's response would have deterred Syria from engaging in this thuggish behavior to begin with.

Gaia Isn't Happy

In many schools, Earth Day means students will be inundated with the importance of environment. It can often take on a religious-like devotion to the cause.

But you never hear on Earth Day the full reality of humanity's relationship with nature, such as the devastating tornadoes that recently killed hundreds in the South, the earthquake and tsunami that killed over 14,000 people in Japan, and the hurricane that killed over 300,000 people in Haiti. Or why the 2004 tsunami in less industrialized Indonesia killed over 200,000 people, while in heavily industrialized Japan, the death toll was over 90% lower.

We need an Industrialization Day to celebrate the achievements of the industrial revolution, which so dramatically improved the material terms of the human condition. Your life may depend on it.

We Win, They Lose

One of my first thoughts of hearing the wonderful news that Osama Bin Laden was killed by American special forces in a spectacular raid into Pakistan was a comment by Ronald Reagan. Reagan was asked his vision of how the Cold War with the Soviet Union would end, and Reagan replied, "We win, they lose."

While Bid Laden's death is not synonymous with victory in the war on terrorism, it certainly is an important piece: America lives and thrives, while one of our leading enemies is dead. That is the lesson we want all of America's enemies to fear, so as to prevent them from being our enemies in the first place.

Another thought that quickly came to mind was the contrast in the success of this mission with the abysmal failure of the 1980 effort to rescue the American hostages held by Iran. 30 years of an American military build up led by Ronald Reagan, which provided the capacity and confidence to gain operational experience from successful war fighting and special operations activities, have honed our military's skills today to a degree that dwarfs the capabilities of the U.S. military in 1980.

Lastly, the extraordinary skill and bravery of America's warriors is remarkable, and for which we should be very grateful. Without men such as these, we could not enjoy the quality of life we take for granted in America.