With all of the baggage Gingrich has, the one piece that has been the most difficult for him to set aside has been the question over his participation in the Washington influence industry. We, quite unusually, find ourselves in the middle of an election in which the most burning concern has been the cozy relationship between special interests and the government.| MORE ›

Because of a few technical issues, the site has temporarily returned to the old format. Hopefully, these will be resolved soon and everything will be back to normal. Thank you for your patience, and your continued readership.

Conservatives used to criticize the media, and not just for its liberal bias.

There once was a vocal argument coming from the right — from culture war stalwarts like Bill Bennett — that the media’s focus on sex and violence coarsened our culture. They argued that when too much attention was given to someone who committed a crime or was of low morals, it risked turning them into a celebrity or an icon.| MORE ›

As the news came in of the death of Bin Laden, print and television media around the world rushed to report the story, millions of people sent each other text messages as others took the news globally on Twitter — setting a new record for sustained use of the service — and in many cities, from New York to Boise, Idaho, to Athens, Georgia, people took to the streets in spontaneous celebration.| MORE ›

While some work still needs to be done, RATA is pleased to announce the inauguration of our new design. Feel free to look around, and keep in mind that because the design is new there may be some rough edges.

| MORE ›

The New York Times has been running a column on their website called “The Stone”,  which is billed as a forum for contemporary philosophers on issues that are “both timely and timeless”.| MORE ›

As people debate the Constitutionality of the individual mandate, a common argument I hear is that because the penalty is done through taxes, its perfectly legitimate. The belief is that if it were Unconstitutional, it would only be because of the Tenth Amendment, which states that the Congress doesn’t have any powers that aren’t specifically enumerated for it.| MORE ›

In my last post, I incorrectly described the California Senate race as shaping between Boxer and Fiorina. Because — mostly — my attention has been off the race, I had the wrong impression of what was going on. Fiorina still has a primary challenge and a tough campaign to mount against her competition if she’s to win. Tom Campbell, her main opponent, has consistently polled ahead of her.| MORE ›

As the California gubernatorial race shapes up, Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown are now reported in polls as being in a dead heat, with Whitman at a slight advantage. The Field poll shows Whitman up 46 percent to 43 percent in a hypothetical matchup, which is within the margin of error.| MORE ›