Legal Age Issues: For Voting-Going Down? For Smoking-Going Up?
In San Francisco there was a move to lower the voting age to 16; in the California legislature there is a bill to raise the legal age for smoking from 18 to 21. When can teens and young adults reach the maturity to make important decisions for themselves? I’m old enough to clearly remember the […]
Are We Golden or Brown?
We live in a California dominated by one party. We live in a California where there is no real significant divide on big issues. And we live in a California with a weak political and media culture. So the big battle right now may be about words. And colors. Are you going gold? Or brown? […]
The Vatican and Jerry Brown
Gov. Jerry Brown is at the Vatican this week, where he will join Pope Francis and leaders around the globe for a climate-change conference. The gathering weaves together threads throughout the governor’s life which have all shaped him in profound ways. And it brings into focus the quest for legacy in a politician who, more […]
Countering Progressives’ Assault on Suburbia
The next culture war will not be about issues like gay marriage or abortion, but about something more fundamental: how Americans choose to live. In the crosshairs now will not be just recalcitrant Christians or crazed billionaire racists, but the vast majority of Americans who either live in suburban-style housing or aspire to do so […]