You’ve got to hand it to that Joe Biden. He certainly has chutzpah. After all, what do you call it when a man who was banned from receiving Communion diocese-wide by a bishop chastises an apparently more faithful Catholic for a lack of doctrinal purity? I’m of course referring to the vice-presidential debate and Biden’s comment that Paul Ryan had an “issue” with “Catholic social doctrine.”

Consider Joe Biden's behavior at the vice-presidential debate. If his grasp of human nature is so poor that he didn't know obnoxiousness was obnoxiousness and how it would play in Peoria, will he be able to project the right image to Muslim jihadists, the Chinese, and Russians and read their intentions? And, in light of this, is it any wonder that his bird-of-a-feather boss projected weakness by bowing to potentates and pathologically apologizing for America?

There is this idea among many that we can get past apparent differences by concluding they don’t exist. This is reflected in the now common belief that racial distinctions are mere “social constructs.” And this theory isn’t just espoused by liberals, but has become so mainstream that even many conservatives echo it. But just as new research in the 1990s debunked the ‘60s-spawned “gender-neutrality” nonsense of the sameness of the sexes, there has long been research pointing to the reality of race.

According to a recent study, religion is dying in America. And it’s a trend that has grave implications for our politics, culture, and the fate of our civilization.

When the great philosopher G.K. Chesterton said, “Let all the babies be born. Then let us drown those we do not like,” he wasn’t advocating infanticide but was just making a point. Unfortunately, though, we’re getting closer to a time when people would take his words literally. An example of this is a judge’s decision in Canada that a woman who strangled her newborn baby shouldn’t be incarcerated because Canadians’ failure to criminalize abortion indicates that they “sympathize” with the mother.

Now, after the Denver dose of reality, can we finally put to bed the myth of Obama the intellectually gifted? Yeah, I know, after eight years of a media narrative about Bush the cranially compromised, it was easy to say that, hey, now we’re getting the smart guy. As Joe Biden put it, “I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man." Or, at least, that’s the story by the book — of cultural affirmative action (CAA).

It’s comforting to talk about Romney’s or the GOP’s faults, which are easy enough to find, and believe our problems lie in our wanting political stars, not ourselves. “Why, all we need is the right candidate — a true conservative! We need bold leadership in the GOP.” Or it could be, “We need a vibrant third party.” It’s a nice dream. But “Where are all the leaders?” is the wrong question; it should be, “Where are all the followers?”

While image isn’t really everything, it certainly appears so when it’s all people are allowed to see. Here are 10 individuals who have Dr. Jekyll images that obscure a Mr. Hyde reality.

The British pork industry is collapsing, and it’s a story that should serve as a warning to all of us. Why? Because the agents of its demise have the entire West in their crosshairs.

A wise person knows that extreme likeability — especially in a person who wants something from you — can be a red flag. For an honest, sincere person will sometimes tell you things you don’t want to hear; he’ll sometimes be grumpy and let it show. And if he gets by on anything, it’s virtue. But the con man isn’t selling virtue; the only way he can get by (or get over) is with a pleasing façade, which will be maintained at least until the point he no longer needs you. In certain cases, this point is the next election.