“In an essay 10 years ago, I pointed out that it is utterly logical for polygamy rights to follow gay rights. After all, if traditional marriage is defined as the union of (1) two people of (2) opposite gender, and if, as advocates of gay marriage insist, the gender requirement is nothing but prejudice, exclusion and an arbitrary denial of one's autonomous choices in love, then the first requirement - the number restriction (two and only two) - is a similarly arbitrary, discriminatory and indefensible denial of individual choice.” PeopleIfsYearsFirstsTwoChoicesIndividualNumbersRightsGayYears AgoOppositesPrejudiceUnionsGenderTraditionalDefinedDenialLogicalRequirementsEssaysArbitraryGay MarriageRestrictionGay RightsExclusionPolygamyAutonomousTraditional MarriageIndividual Choice Author:Charles Krauthammer
“There's no free lunch. If you want an industrial economy, you need energy. If you want energy, it will produce pollution. You can have it in two forms. You can have it dissipated in the atmosphere - like carbon dioxide - which then you cannot recover, or you can have the waste concentrated in one small space like nuclear. That is far easier to deal with. The idea that you can be able to create renewable energy at a price anywhere near the current price for oil or gas or coal is a fantasy.” IfsWantNeedsTwoIdeasAbleFormEnergySpaceDealsFantasyEconomyProduceEasierWasteCurrentsOilNuclearAtmosphereGasLunchPollutionCarbonCoalRenewable EnergyCarbon DioxideSmall SpacesFree Lunch Author:Charles Krauthammer
“The only reason the president insists on raising [tax] rates is because he knows it will destroy Republican unity, it will cause a complete fracture of the Republican majority in the house, it will hand him a Congress that he can then manipulate for the next two years at least because the Republicans will be neutered. ... This is entirely a political action, a way to get a surrender from the Republicans.” KnowsWayYearsTwoReasonHandsActionPoliticalNextHouseCausesPresidentRepublicanTaxesMajorityUnityRateCongressSurrenderTwo YearsManipulatePolitical ActionFractureRaising Taxes Author:Charles Krauthammer
“Every two years the American politics industry fills the airwaves with the most virulent, scurrilous, wall-to-wall character assassination of nearly every political practitioner in the country - and then declares itself puzzled that America has lost trust in its politicians.” YearsTwoCountryCharacterAmericaPoliticalPoliticsLostTrustWallIndustryPoliticianWittyTwo YearsDistrustAmerican PoliticsAssassinationPuzzledLove And TrustElection YearsElected LeadersCharacter AssassinationLost Trust Author:Charles Krauthammer
“Life and consciousness are the two great mysteries. Actually, their substrates are the inanimate. And how do you get from neurons shooting around in the brain to the thought that pops up in your head and mine? There's something deeply mysterious about that. And if you're not struck by the mystery, I think you haven't thought about it.” IfsThinkingTwoBrainConsciousnessMysteryHavensMinesPopsMysteriousShootingNeurons Author:Charles Krauthammer
“Torture is an impermissible evil. Except under two circumstances. The first is the ticking time bomb. An innocent's life is at stake. The bad guy you have captured possesses information that could save this life. He refuses to divulge. In such a case, the choice is easy.” FirstsTwoLife IsGuyChoicesEvilEasyCasesInformationCircumstancesRefuseInnocentThis LifeTortureBombsStakesBad GuysCapturedTime BombDivulgeTicking TimeTicking Time Bombs Author:Charles Krauthammer
“Two decades ago, however, socialism and communism died rudely, then were buried forever by the empirical demonstration of the superiority of market capitalism everywhere from Thatcher's England to Deng's China, where just the partial abolition of socialism lifted more people out of poverty more rapidly than ever in human history.” PeopleHumansTwoPovertyForeverCapitalismEnglandDiedDecadesSocialismCommunismBuriedSuperiorityHuman HistoryDemonstrationAbolition Author:Charles Krauthammer
