Free Republic

Oklahoma state Rep. Forrest Bennett (D), who describes himself as a "pragmatic progressive," walked back a legislative proposal that attempted to corner pro-life advocates. Instead, pro-life advocates and conservatives agreed with the premise of the proposed legislation, while progressives sharply criticized him. What happened? Bennett announced on Twitter that he had introduced HB3129 to codify that "a father’s financial responsibility to his baby & their mom begins at conception." "If Oklahoma is going to restrict a woman’s right to choose, we sure better make sure the man involved can’t just walk away from his responsibility," Bennett declared. The bill would...

There's an obvious takeaway about the pitfalls of nation-building, but there's also a deeper revelation about the limits of liberalism itself.The inability to establish an enduring, stable democracy in Afghanistan after spending 20 years, trillions of dollars, and thousands of American lives delivered a decisive blow to the catechism of neoconservatism. But it also revealed blind spots and misplaced assumptions of modern Western liberalism.Liberalism — not the misused synonym for leftism but the political, social, and moral philosophy arising out of the 18th-century Enlightenment — produced many great breakthroughs for human thriving and liberty, including the American experiment itself. Its...