Townhall Review | Commentaries

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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Any of these nominees would be superb and the court secured in its originalist leanings until the next vacancy...

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SCOTUS 2018 is shaping up as the “free speech” session of the court.

Masterpiece Cake ruling upheld the free speech rights of a cake decorator who did not want to decorate a cake celebrating a same-sex marriage.

The court sent a case back to a lower court involving a florist who did not want to create a floral display doing the same thing. Then there was the NIFLA decision—regarding the pro-life crisis pregnancy centers—where the court overturned a California law which compelled them to essentially advertise for abortion.

In Justice Kennedy's opinion, the law forced them to “convey a message contrary to their deepest convictions.”

Each one of these cases was litigated by the Alliance Defending Freedom, which has emerged as the most important First Amendment group in the nation.

It’s a banner session for the First Amendment.

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This was the best June in many years for originalists. The Supreme Court rejected a couple of invitations to throw itself into the thicket of redrawing district lines in different states drawn originally as the Constitution provides by state legislatures.

The court upheld the free exercise and free conscience rights of a baker and a florist who had declined to use their art and craft in the celebration of same-sex marriages which they could not endorse on religious grounds.

And of course, the court ended the right of public employee unions to collect tens of millions of dollars in fees from their members for use in political work with which their members disagreed.

It was the best June in years and at the end of it, Justice Anthony Kennedy retired and left President Trump a vacancy to fill this summer.

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When Charles Krauthammer died last week, tributes poured in from colleagues and fans of very ideological persuasion. It’s hard to think of another contemporary commentator or journalist who inspired such widespread, bi-partisan, affectionate regard.

What earned him this special place in the worlds of media and politics?

First, Krauthammer’s columns unmistakably reflected his character—brilliant, reasonable, witty, warm and utterly sincere.

Second, the public marveled at his heroic personal story: a quadriplegic from age 21, he never allowed his physical limitations to interfere with his positive, passionate life. In today’s world, even when you agree with a politician it’s commonly hard to respect him.

But with Krauthammer, even when you disagreed with him, you had to admire him.

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