One story from the 2018 primary elections is the win of candidates in Pennsylvania and New York running as democratic socialists.  In the wake of a 2016 poll showing that 43 percent of millennials view socialism favorably, this has led pundits to wonder whether democratic socialism is a viable movement in America.

In short, the answer is no. 

Young people are not interested in true socialism, which is the state owning the means of production and distribution.  

What millennials favor is a larger welfare state. In fact, when Bernie Sanders ran for president and Denmark became a hot topic, their prime minister felt the need to clarify that it was not a socialist country, but instead an extensive welfare state.

I don’t know which is more discouraging, that young people think they are in favor of socialism or the fact that they don’t know what socialism is. 

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The best way to overhaul a culture is to change the way it thinks. Here’s one major way to change cultural thinking: stifle the free exchange of ideas.

This is what’s happening in California right now. Assembly Bill 2943 would make it an “unlawful business practice” to engage in “a transaction” aimed at promoting “sexual orientation change efforts with an individual.”

This pernicious bill is an attempt to silence those who want to help people with unwanted sexual feelings. Many religious and non-religious people agree that we flourish when we honor the basic design of our bodies for both sexual practice and personal identity. This bill is Orwellian: Silencing those who seek to provide help and wholeness to people who are reaching out.

California legislators ought to do what the people have elected them to do: protect free speech and enable people to live a free life.

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USA TODAY recently hailed nine TV comedians who specialize in mocking President Trump. Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, Bill Maher, Samantha Bee, Jimmy Fallon, Trevor Noah, Stephen Colbert, John Oliver and Michelle Wolf all identify as outspoken liberals.

Alternative programming from conservative comedians could earn great success by capturing just 10% of the late-night comedy audience. The purpose shouldn’t be to defend Trump–defense isn’t funny. Instead, a conservative comedy show could go after laughable libs like Pelosi and Schumer, Bernie and Hillary, while mocking politically correct comics and their predictable mockery of Trump.

If a network embraced the obvious opportunity, they could laugh all the way to the bank.

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Some Democrats are hysterical over the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to be the next Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, but they couldn’t have picked a more reasonable and thoughtful jurist to get worked up about.  Even a liberal law professor at Yale recently opined in the New York Times that Judge Kavanaugh is a “superb” nominee and his legal chops are rivaled only by some of our country’s most notable jurists.  

Indeed, those who support the rule of law have much to look forward to in a Justice Kavanaugh. He shows a reverence for the Constitution and a healthy skepticism of unbridled powers for the federal bureaucracy.  

Which brings us back to politics: Democrats have pledged to oppose him simply because he was nominated by a Republican. Let’s hope they reconsider—and give this good man the support he deserves.

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If you were to ask—just a few short years ago—the site of our hottest cultural disagreement, who’d have guessed it would be the restroom?

It’s true. In recent years, Western society has faced a major push to overhaul our understanding of the sexes. We’re told our categories of “man” and “woman” are unfair … too binary. In deference to those struggling with gender identity, we’re urged to re-envision society from the ground up—or should I say, the bathroom floor up.

But this new secular orthodoxy is getting some serious pushback. Recently, The Economist ran an editorial by a “transsexual” person who said this: “Biological sex is real and is the very foundation of our species.” Author Kristina Harrison argues that denying this reality will set women and children up for exploitation.

The author is right.

There’s a better way forward that is compassionate but recognizes that we really have been created male and female.

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There’s been a lot of talk recently about whether NATO—an alliance started after World War II—is still relevant in today’s world.  The answer is a simple and unequivocal “yes.” It is.

The alliance is on the front lines of our efforts to counteract Russia’s growing ambitions in Europe and beyond.  But NATO does need to evolve, to meet the growing threats of the 21st century. It should be oriented, for example, toward efforts to counter the growing threats of cyber-terrorism and Russian efforts to meddle in democratic elections in member nations. 

And: NATO members must contribute their fair share. President Trump is right to press our European allies to invest more in their own defensive capacities.

But NATO has been, and continues to be, an integral part of our national  security strategy. 

It’s an alliance worth defending.

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The nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court by President Trump marks what could well be the first ever reliable majority or what conservative legal scholars call “originalist” and “textualist” Justices on the Supreme Court.

If confirmed, it’s a triumph for the conservative legal movement that took 30 years to achieve, but it’s almost here—at long last. In temperament, character and judicial philosophy Judge Kavanaugh is very much Justice John Roberts 2.0

This doesn’t mean a reactionary or right wing activist radical court, but rather one committed to the Constitution and to precedent, to religious liberty and free speech, to property rights and the Second Amendment.

Justice Kavanaugh’s confirmation will be dispositive if the question: “Should I have voted for Trump?” arises.

The answer of course is, “Yes.”

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California's radical state legislature is debating a law that would punish any professionals who work to help patients overcome same-sex attraction.

Assembly Bill 2943 strictly prohibits "any practices that seek to change an individual's sexual orientation" or efforts  "to "reduce sexual...feelings toward individuals of the same sex." In other words, a therapist can try to help a married man stop flirting with pretty women at work, but if he helps that same patient overcome attractions to handsome young men at work, then he'll be punished.

While organizations and practitioners can challenge the institution of marriage all they want, homosexuality would be protected from question or criticism. This is a bad bill that deserves decisive defeat.

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In their desperate determination to block confirmation of the President’s new Supreme Court nominee, Democrats warn about the imminent threat to Roe v. Wade.

Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s critics suggest that if Roe goes, then abortion would be instantly criminalized and women and doctors would be prosecuted. Yet even if Roe were overturned — which is unlikely —  it would bring no instant change in abortion law. It would merely allow state legislatures more leeway in adjusting abortion regulations in the future.

Even before the Roe decision in 1973, 23 states had already passed some form of legalized abortion. In our Republic, we entrust the most important decisions to the people and to their elected representatives—meaning legislatures and executives write the laws, not an unelected judiciary.

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On the resurgent star of Senator Ted Cruz!

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