Author: Larry Horist

So, there ‘tis… The opinions, perspectives and analyses of Larry Horist Larry Horist is a businessman, conservative writer and political strategist with an extensive background in economics and public policy. Clients of his consulting firm have included such conservative icons as Steve Forbes and Milton Friedman. He has served as a consultant to the Nixon White House and travelled the country as a spokesman for President Reagan’s economic reforms. He has testified as an expert witness before numerous legislative bodies, including the U. S. Congress. Horist has lectured and taught courses at numerous colleges and universities, including Harvard, Northwestern, DePaul universities, Hope College and his alma mater, Knox College. He has been a guest on hundreds of public affairs talk shows, and hosted his own program, “Chicago In Sight,” on WIND radio. Horist was a one-time candidate for mayor of Chicago and served as Executive Director of the City Club of Chicago, where he led a successful two-year campaign to save the historic Chicago Theatre from the wrecking ball. An award-winning debater, his insightful and sometimes controversial commentaries appear frequently on the editorial pages of newspapers across the nation. He is praised by readers for his style, substance and sense of humor. According to one reader, Horist is the “new Charles Krauthammer.” He is actively semi-retired in Boca Raton, Florida where he devotes his time to writing. So, there ‘tis is Horist’s signature sign off.

The end of the world … the sequel

December 11, 2018December 11, 2018 Larry Horist

One of the iconic cartoons – and sometimes even in real life – there is a robed character on a street corner with a sign the reads “The End of the World is Coming.” Of course, both science and logic tell us that he is right. Usually, that warning is an invitation to repent for some wayward ways or maybe just a solicitation for a few coins. We would be foolish to take him too seriously because we know that his warning has no relevance to our lives. If we…

Casablanca on the Potomac

December 10, 2018December 17, 2018 Larry Horist

In one of the most memorable scenes from the classic movie Casablanca, Police Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains) is ordered to conduct a raid on the nightclub/backroom casino owned by Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) – a casino in which the good inspector, himself, had been gambling. With an expression of mock sincerity on his face, the inspector says, “ I am shocked – SHOCKED — to find that gambling is going on in here!” Like in our current political melodrama, the raid on the casino was not the result of…

Double Jeopardy and Paul Manafort

December 5, 2018December 6, 2018 Larry Horist

One of the more maddening things for we citizens is to read something in plain English in the Constitution only to have the Brahmans of the Court tell us it does not mean what it says. That is the case of the protection against “double jeopardy” – being tried for the same crime a second time. That issue may come back to the surface with implications for the trials of former Trump Campaign Manager Paul Manafort. He is being tried in both federal and state courts for essentially the same…

Let’s play the PETA Word Game

December 4, 2018 Larry Horist

No organization in America can out do People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in garnering publicity for ugly antics and idiotic ideas. Following in the footsteps of the radical feminists – who want to remove the word “man” from “mankind” to “manufacture” – PETA’s latest left-wing assault on the common language is proposed to take all references to animals out of our clichés. They propose that “bringing home the bacon” should be replaced by “bringing home the bagels.” How do Jews feel about that since they are most closely…

Comparing Bush to Trump

December 3, 2018December 4, 2018 Larry Horist

Normally, when a prominent member of a President’s own political party passes on, it usually has positive political implications. There is a pause in the partisan bickering. The media is filled with the person’s good works – which reflects well on their political party. It provides the President with an opportunity to be a consoler and unifier. This has not been the case with President Trump. This was clearly seen with the death of Senator John McCain. His funeral was unusual in that it was weaponized against Trump by the…

America’s Future… a Pessimistic View

November 27, 2018December 17, 2018 Larry Horist

By nature, I am an optimist. I base it on a human history that has steadily improved in virtually every way. Yes, there are terrible events – natural and man-made – and there are temporary setbacks by regressive dark forces. But, for the most part, the record of human progress is positive and has resulted in a persistent upward line on the graph of human improvement. In 1776, the new United States of America kicked off the most dramatic democratization movement in the history of the world. By example and…

Chief Justice Roberts. Who you trying to kid?

November 26, 2018November 26, 2018 Larry Horist

In what has been widely described as a not-so-subtle rebuke of President Trump’s criticism of the federal courts in the Ninth Judicial District, Chief Justice John Roberts made his case for the independence of the American judicial system. He said: “We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges. What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them. That independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.” Really? Okay!…

A Gee whiz … at cooking

November 21, 2018November 21, 2018 Larry Horist

This is not the biggest story in America – but it is part of one. It is a very local story, but one that says a lot of what is going wrong in America. The New China Restaurant William Gee grew up in the food service business in the Chicago suburb of Fox River Grove, Illinois. His parents opened the New China Restaurant in 1974. It immediately became one of the most popular eateries in town. Through the years, countless numbers of the communities’ young people worked at the New…

The (un)importance of a Freshman Congressman

November 19, 2018November 19, 2018 Larry Horist

That crashing sound you hear emanating from Washington early next year will be the visions, expectations and egos of the new freshman class of the 116th Congress. Having been part of the Washington political scene for years, I have witnessed the arrival of several classes of these legislative newbies. They appear on the steps of Capitol filled with ambition and determination. Movies like “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” are on endless loop in the subcortex of their brains. Remember, they have just finished campaigns where they have made the most…

What is to become of Jeff Flake?

November 16, 2018December 3, 2018 Larry Horist

Outgoing Republican United States Senator Jeff Flake has made himself a national figure by being a bit of a maverick in the tradition of his Arizona colleague, the late John McCain. Unlike McCain, Flake will not ride out his political career to its final days in the Senate. Ironically, Flake first stepped out from the relative obscurity of being little more than one one-hundredth of the Senate membership when he announced his intention to step down from an expected bid for re-election. Flakes retirement from the upper chamber was not…