Erick Erickson

Erickson’s Unholy Crusade

There are many things to enjoy about Donald Trump's unlikely climb to the head of the Republican Party. The media outcry, the resurgence of America First policy, the internet memes. Not only is Donald a mensch on stage, but the reactions he elicits are priceless. I say priceless because they ...

University of Washington

Liabilities of Liberalism

"€œLiberalism,"€ James Burnham once wrote, "€œis the ideology of western suicide."€ Writers on the right find it fashionable to cite Burnham's decree. In an era when being white, Christian, male, and proud is as sinful as cold-blooded murder, it appears that liberalism is inspiring ...

Johnson’s Rise and Imminent Fall

After a contentious convention fight, former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson has emerged the presidential candidate of the Libertarian Party. As a successful two-term governor, he is far and away the most qualified LP candidate in decades. Johnson's vice president, former Massachusetts governor ...

Fourth Estate Hate

Let it not be said that I started the indignant repulsion. That honor belongs to Takimag's own Joan of Snarkadia, the great Kathy Shaidle. Her latest call to arms over the trans-tyrants and their political enablers is beyond noble. Telling these private-parts despots to cram it is a necessary ...

Give Me Liberty or Give Me Something Better

There is no libertarian moment. Contrary to popular opinion, the self-styled "€œliberty movement"€ is not ushering in a new era of freedom. Friedrich Hayek's books aren"€™t flying off the shelf. Rand Paul's sclerotic presidential campaign isn"€™t months away from downing Hillary Clinton. ...

The Debt Offensive

God help Donald Trump's critics. The paroxysms they have after the mogul"€“turned"€“GOP nominee's policy pronouncements can"€™t be good for their health. The latest is a real hoot. For dealing with our enormous national debt, Trump wants to do what he does best: negotiate with creditors. How ...

America’s Thinning Cohesion

When you take away a man's identity, is he left with anything worthwhile? I pondered that question when listening to a sympathetic NPR report on a Mexican-American's experience in college. Pablo Ramirez is a student at San Francisco State University. He and a group of like-minded classmates are ...

Andrew Jackson

Chopping Down Old Hickory

Instead of wishing he"€™d shot Henry Clay, I bet Andrew Jackson is now wishing he could plug Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. This week, Secretary Lew is expected to announce that Andrew Jackson's visage will be wiped from the $20 bill in favor of a woman's. Thanks to the wildly successful rap ...

Freedom Highway, Atlanta

The Business End of Freedom

If you still believe big business is, as novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand famously described it, "€œAmerica's Persecuted Minority,"€ then you must be on the same amphetamines she was taking. Conservatives have a nasty habit of being sympathetic to corporations, viewing them as a bulwark ...

Dignity in Dirty Work

Stop me if you"€™ve heard this one before: There are some jobs Americans won"€™t do. Therefore, we need Third World labor to come pick up the slack. If I had a nickel for every time I heard that line parroted in the press, I"€™d cover the yearly salary of all the migrant strawberry pickers ...