Steve Chapman is a columnist and editorial writer for the Chicago Tribune. His twice-a-week column on national and international affairs, distributed by Creators Syndicate, appears in some 60 papers across the country. He came to the Tribune in 1981 from the New Republic magazine, where he was an associate editor. He has contributed articles to several national magazines, including Slate, The American Spectator, National Review and The Weekly Standard. Born in Brady, Texas, in 1954, Chapman grew up in Midland and Austin. He attended Harvard University, where he was on the staff of the Harvard Crimson. He graduated with honors in 1976 and later did graduate work at the University of Chicago. Steve Chapman has three children and lives in suburban Chicago. http://www.townhall.com/columnists/SteveChapman http://media.townhall.com/TownHall/icons/TH-feed-icon-128x128.gif http://www.townhall.com/columnists/SteveChapman TownHall.com, Where your opinion counts. 128 Copyright (c) 2008 Townhall.com, A Salem Communications Web. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED jim.dearras@townhall.com (Jim De Arras) Sun, 10 Aug 2008 04:01:00 GMT Sun, 10 Aug 2008 04:01:00 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ If you look closely at a spot in a meadow, you will see some things you may not enjoy looking at -- weeds, bugs, funguses, bare spots of dirt, bits of trash, animal bones and so on. If you view it from a distanc http://www.townhall.com/columnists/SteveChapman/2008/08/10/seeing_china_whole 7d700887-70f4-40c9-8a8c-82809fc93b0f Sun, 10 Aug 2008 04:01:00 GMT One of the hot new ideas in the academy is "libertarian paternalism." Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein, authors of the book "Nudge," say the goal is "enlisting the science of choice to make life easier for peopl http://www.townhall.com/columnists/SteveChapman/2008/08/07/old-fashioned_paternalism_is_back aac1d579-7fc1-4540-bf67-aa2129aaa912 Thu, 07 Aug 2008 04:01:00 GMT Former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm got in trouble when he said Americans are mired not in an economic contraction, but a "mental recession." He soon had to step down as co-chairman of John McCain's campaign for commit http://www.townhall.com/columnists/SteveChapman/2008/08/03/rx_for_economic_pain_deal_with_reality 34acb1b7-b589-47b0-b41a-bbf39a8f084b Sun, 03 Aug 2008 04:01:00 GMT I came into the office the other day, wearing an "Obama 2008" cap, a "Yes We Can" button, a "Team Obama" T-shirt, carrying an "Obama for Change" tote bag filled with Obama bumper stickers, made a stop at the http://www.townhall.com/columnists/SteveChapman/2008/07/27/a_media_crush_on_obama 7a210842-c071-43e7-af05-7cc1ef7ce0f4 Sun, 27 Jul 2008 04:01:00 GMT Federal budget policy is a dry subject with far too many numbers and charts, which makes it uninviting to most Americans. But the theme of the current budget story is one that could have come from a blockbust http://www.townhall.com/columnists/SteveChapman/2008/07/10/obama,_mccain,_and_fiscal_disaster 21b4629e-417e-492b-970d-8bd61e7235a5 Thu, 10 Jul 2008 04:01:00 GMT Thomas Jefferson once wrote, pessimistically, "The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." He would probably not have been surprised to see the proliferation of gun con http://www.townhall.com/columnists/SteveChapman/2008/06/29/how_gun_control_lost 46ce38bc-c22c-459c-bcf4-134b5a0b808a Sun, 29 Jun 2008 04:01:00 GMT The 21st century has many problems, but a shortage of information is not one of them. Trying to avoid being endlessly barraged with facts is like trying to stay dry in a hurricane. But no matter. One governme http://www.townhall.com/columnists/SteveChapman/2008/06/22/force-feeding_food_facts 0a2284e4-74a2-4df0-a2a1-cc5213f3dfba Sun, 22 Jun 2008 04:01:00 GMT A lot of people who strongly believe in the war on terror are not above sowing a little terror of their own. From the reaction to last week's Supreme Court decision on Guantanamo, you would think the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/SteveChapman/2008/06/19/terrorized_by_the_supreme_court f3ed7286-dad9-4958-89d5-d1d0ce1660e7 Thu, 19 Jun 2008 04:01:00 GMT I was just getting used to the idea that Barack Obama is an America-hating left-winger bent on socialism and surrender. Then along comes Ralph Nader, who says the problem with Obama is that he's an obedient stew http://www.townhall.com/columnists/SteveChapman/2008/06/08/obama_and_his_labels bed8b315-fc42-4567-8123-1386f749f784 Sun, 08 Jun 2008 04:01:00 GMT "I think the Iraqi people owe the American people a huge debt of gratitude," President Bush said last year, a bit resentfully. "That's the problem here in America: They wonder whether or not there is... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/SteveChapman/2008/06/05/whose_iraq_is_it,_anyway e9cba76b-49d0-43b3-91c9-9f460c98cb32 Thu, 05 Jun 2008 04:01:00 GMT Right now, energy consumers can only envy the Greek King Sisyphus. He was condemned by the gods to spend his life pushing a boulder up a hill, only to see it roll back down again. Motorists and other... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/SteveChapman/2008/05/29/oil_prices_and_economic_reality c75a1e56-ef31-4d22-b633-9e2ce0412ee1 Thu, 29 May 2008 04:01:00 GMT At the height of the Cold War, the Soviet Union had some 45,000 nuclear warheads. At the moment, Iran has none. But when Barack Obama said the obvious -- that Iran does not pose the sort of threat the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/SteveChapman/2008/05/22/mythmaking_for_the_next_war 94729cbf-e03e-4e75-80d4-7357f7d4a5b2 Thu, 22 May 2008 04:01:00 GMT In the old story, a preacher gives an inspiring sermon, which he concludes by asking his congregants to stand up if they want to go to heaven. Everyone rises except one nervous-looking fellow. "Brother,"... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/SteveChapman/2008/05/18/unwise_haste_on_gay_marriage 74cea1fe-7ab2-4ac1-b13c-3318bf74dbce Sun, 18 May 2008 04:01:00 GMT In the 1980s, a Republican House member, fed up with bipartisan efforts to reduce the budget deficit, denounced Republican Sen. Bob Dole as the "tax collector for the welfare state." Newt Gingrich,... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/SteveChapman/2008/05/15/republicans_and_tax_realities 14a84364-fa6f-48dc-a899-fc347999f5ce Thu, 15 May 2008 04:01:00 GMT The last couple of months have been springtime in paradise for Republicans: the loveliest of all possible seasons. They have been watching two Democratic presidential candidates in an endless battle to... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/SteveChapman/2008/05/11/is_mccain_sailing_into_a_storm 4891ae1f-71c5-495c-a50c-2c230b2209ce Sun, 11 May 2008 04:01:00 GMT