THE WASHINGTON TIMES

EDITORIAL: Ensuring military readiness

The first and only mission of an army is to defend the nation. The uncertainty that accompanies the warrior to battle will not be relieved by supplying additional distractions. That's why Secretary of Defense James Mattis must resist the voices urging him to endorse a policy to enable the "transgendered" to serve openly in the U.S. armed forces. "The fog of war," as von Clausewitz called it, will only thicken if the ranks are filled with men and women trying to deal with confusion over whether they're male or female. Published June 15, 2017

EDITORIAL: Farewell to the valedictorians

It's commencement time at high schools across the fruited plain, and either the kids in Rutherford County, Tenn., are extraordinarily smart or their teachers have given up. The county's highly ranked Central Magnet School has 48 valedictorians -- a fourth of the class. Published June 15, 2017

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: A few morals go a long way

It seems that so many in the world disobey God's Ten Commandments on a regular basis -- and in a big way. But just think: If everyone obeyed the Fifth Commandment ("Thou shalt not kill") we could all live in our homes and walk or ride safely and freely on streets and across bridges anywhere in the world. Published June 14, 2017

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Comey’s coup

The malice aforethought and intent evident in former FBI Director James Comey's Senate testimony last week make it crystal-clear that Mr. Comey was actively working for and planning a soft coup from his very first meeting with President Trump. No other conclusion can be drawn from Mr. Comey's immediate efforts to interrupt his and the president's conversations. Published June 14, 2017

EDITORIAL: A shooting war on Republicans

The only person responsible for shooting up a congressional baseball practice Wednesday in Alexandria, wounding a Republican congressman and several aides, is James Thomas Hodgkinson, 66, of Belleville, Ill. He died of a gunshot wound, but it was brought on by the rage in Democratic ranks of Trump Derangement Syndrome. Published June 14, 2017

EDITORIAL: The high price of free speech

The First Amendment is the most precious of all the rights enumerated in the Constitution, and it's a pity that Americans actually know so little about it. The First Amendment guarantees the right of Americans to say whatever they please, even the ugly and the irresponsible, but it does not guarantee there won't be a price to pay for saying certain things. Published June 14, 2017

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Kick anti-U.S. moochers off payroll

The culture war in America just gets worse by the day. That we have in government positions people such as Sen. Bernie Sanders, Vermont Democrat, and Patrick McCarthy, associate dean for library and information access at San Diego State University, is outrageous and unconstitutional. That these people foment a religious or political test for American citizens is outrageous and unconstitutional. Published June 13, 2017

EDITORIAL: Immigration policy by body count

Certain black-robed sentinels of the law have taken up the task of defending the nation from its enemies, declared and otherwise. This is a responsibility previously left to the president of the United States. If a wooden gavel is all that stands in the way of evildoers, Americans should be afraid, very afraid. Published June 13, 2017

EDITORIAL: Life in the dead end

The Democrats are addicted to cotton candy, and there's no scarcity of cotton candy on the Washington midway. But once someone bites into a cloud of cotton candy, the cloud dissolves in a flash, leaving only a splash of goo. Published June 13, 2017

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: End ‘sanctuary’ for these mayors

If America wants to know whom the Democrats will tap for their roster of political hopefuls going forward, take a comprehensive look at the uber-liberal cache of "sanctuary city" mayors now running most U.S. cities and towns nationwide, including the current Democratic National Committee elites who were once mayors. Published June 13, 2017

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Comey courted Trump confidences

Is former FBI Director James Comey so obtuse that he does not realize his own complicity in orchestrating his Jan. 6, 2017, meeting with President Trump in a manner that set the parameters for the two men's interpersonal relationship ("James Comey debunks New York Times story that fueled unproven Trump-Russia collusion," Web, June 8)? Published June 12, 2017

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Voting, tallying separate systems

Andrew Napolitano's "Once in a while, a good leak" (Web, June 7) reads, in part: "the NSA discovered that Russian hackers in late October and early November 2016 planted cookies (attractive, uniquely tailored links) into the websites of 122 American city and county clerks responsible for counting ballots in the presidential election. This means that if any employee of those clerks' offices clicked onto any cookie, the hackers had access to — and thus the ability to interfere with — the tabulation of votes." The good judge is wrong. Published June 12, 2017

EDITORIAL: An angry cloud of snowflakes

Into each life a little rain must fall, as ancient wisdom teaches, and sometimes, when the season is right, the rain turns to snow. Many of these precious snowflakes fall on campus, but not all, and sometimes the snowflakes (mostly fragile millennials who imagine themselves, like snowflakes, unique) fall on unlikely places. Southern California is the last place to expect a heavy snowfall, but it happens. We can blame President Trump, apparently not global warming. Published June 12, 2017

EDITORIAL: Terror turnaround in Tehran

Terrorism is a scourge born in an evil place in the heart, extinguishing hope and breeding cynicism like little else. Now that the Islamic Republic of Iran has felt the lash of wholesale murder, perhaps the hard-hearted mullahs will reconsider their "holy" war against the world. Pigs, not necessarily the favorite animals of the followers of Muhammad, will sooner fly. Published June 12, 2017

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Any fight left in U.S.?

Seventy-three years ago, 19- and 20-year-old "men" saved the world from Nazi oppression and unfathomable evil. At 26, my father was older than most of his fellow soldiers, and among the first wave to hit the Normandy beaches. One out of every 10 was killed that day. Every soldier had a buddy who died. Only by the grace of God did Dad come home; otherwise I would not be here writing this letter. Published June 11, 2017

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: No apologies for self-defense

Before one asks what Israel might have done differently in 1967, it is important to remember why the Six Day War occurred and what efforts Israel has made to achieve peace. To be clear, the war was forced on Israel by Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. In May 1967, Nasser, emboldened by Yasser Arafat's terror attacks against Israel from 1965 to 1967, demanded that U.N. peacekeepers withdraw from Egypt's Israeli border. The United Nations shamefully complied. Nasser then massed 900 tanks and 130,000 troops along its Israeli border, while another 100,000 troops from a dozen more Arab countries massed along Israel's borders with Jordan and Syria, completing the siege. Egypt also blockaded Israel's port of Eilat — an act of war under international law. On May 26, Nasser boasted: "The battle will be a general one and our basic objective will be to destroy Israel." Published June 11, 2017

EDITORIAL: The Tory disaster in Britain

Theresa May is hanging on as the prime minister in Great Britain, but her grip is slipping and the Tories are trying to get a blood transfusion from a tiny fourth (or maybe fifth) party from Northern Ireland, just to survive. Published June 11, 2017

EDITORIAL: Winners, losers and factoids

Sorting out the winners and losers in the James Comey soap opera is almost as much fun, for media groupies, as the hearing itself. Whether the sacked FBI director repaired his reputation, or Donald Trump was severely damaged by having mean things said about him, depends, as always, on partisan point of view. Published June 11, 2017

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Gillespie for governor

This year's primary election in Virginia has produced great candidates for the Republican Party, and Virginians will have a direct involvement in the selection process. I am particularly pleased to see Ed Gillespie running for governor. Published June 8, 2017

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Ever-spoiled, never educated

I am totally flummoxed at the sheer stupidity of what I have just read ("Students berate professor who refused to participate in no-whites 'Day of Absence,'" Web, May 25). This behavior does not constitute a "warning sign"; it is an avalanche. Published June 8, 2017