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Political Commentary

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January 13, 2010

Lights, Camera, Action By Susan Estrich

The federal trial of Prop 8 -- the California anti-gay marriage amendment whose constitutionality is currently being challenged -- was about to be a grand experiment in televised trials until the Supreme Court abruptly pulled the plug Monday morning.

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January 13, 2010

Reject Politically Correct "Educated Class" By Tony Blankley

Anti-anti-Islamic radicalism is growing amongst Western elites. In the aftermath of the Fort Hood Islamist terror attack on our troops by United States Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan and the Christmas day airline Islamist terror attack attempt, it is becoming ever more obvious that there is a widening gap between public common sense and governing class idiocy when it comes to spotting Islamist danger in our midst -- and doing something about it.

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January 12, 2010

How Harry Got His Groove Back By Debra J. Saunders

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid spent the weekend trying to finesse the news that he told "Game Change" authors Mark Halperin and John Heilemann in 2008 that he believed Barack Obama could win the White House

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January 12, 2010

Why Profiling Can't Ensure Airline Security By Froma Harrop

Fifty years ago this month, a lawyer living in a posh New York suburb with his former model wife was being investigated for embezzlement. Julian Andrew Frank of Westport, Conn., took out nearly $900,000 in life insurance and then, investigators believed, boarded a National Airlines plane with a bomb and blew it up over North Carolina, killing himself and 33 others.

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January 11, 2010

Looking Closer at the Massachusetts Senate Polls

On the surface, three recent polls on the upcoming Massachusetts special election to fill the Senate seat of the late Edward M. Kennedy seem to tell three different stories.

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January 11, 2010

Imagine Waugh Writing About the Christmas Bomber By Michael Barone

In Evelyn Waugh's novel "Scoop," the best book on journalism ever written, Lord Copper, proprietor of the Daily Beast, is followed around by a flunkie who responds to every statement he makes. When Lord Copper says something that is true, the flunkie says, "Absolutely, Lord Copper." When he says something that is false, the flunkie says, "Up to a point, Lord Copper."

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January 10, 2010

Obama at War with al-Qaida By Debra J. Saunders

In the days that followed a foiled attempt to blow up Northwest Flight 253, the Obama White House clearly thought that it could bluff its way past the near disaster.

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January 9, 2010

Time to De-Stimulate By Lawrence Kudlow

After the arrival of a disappointing December jobs report, my thought on putting America back to work is simple: de-stimulate.

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January 8, 2010

Partisan Hysteria Hypes (and Helps) al-Qaida By Joe Conason

The latest atrocity attempted by al-Qaida seems to be yet another example of history reprising a great tragedy as farce.

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January 8, 2010

Schwarzenegger -- What Might've Been By Debra J. Saunders

Mention Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger -- you need only say his first name -- and many Californians respond with a long sigh, then with words like "squander" or "waste" or "missed opportunity." Those in the political class look at Schwarzenegger and see what might have been.

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January 8, 2010

The Newest Federalism By Susan Estrich

In 1981, Ronald Reagan's ideologists pronounced his attack on the welfare state an expression of the "new federalism." It wasn't that they were against helping the poor and the needy, but that the federal government was the wrong branch of government to do it. Even the president talked about it. People, myself included, wrote papers.

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January 7, 2010

Are Free Market Forces on the Comeback Trail? By Lawrence Kudlow

Here’s my latest Money Politics message: the midterm elections are going to be crucial in determining the outlook for pro-growth, free market policies includes lower taxes, lower spending, ending bailouts and diminishing federal control over our economic freedom.

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January 7, 2010

Can Cocksure Obama Change Course -- and Keep His Nerve? By Michael Barone

A year ago, I was privileged to be one of several guests at a dinner with President-elect Barack Obama. One thing that struck me and others, aside from his courtesy and fluency, was his air of self-confidence.

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January 7, 2010

Notes on the State of Politics in the New Year By Larry J. Sabato

What a difference a day makes. Two Democratic senators, both likely reelection losers, throw in the towel. The incumbent Democratic governor of key swing state Colorado shocks everyone by declining to run for a second term. And the all-but-certain Democratic nominee for governor of Michigan, Lt. Gov. John Cherry, drops out because he can't raise money.

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January 7, 2010

An Unchained Dodd Rides Into Finance Reform By Froma Harrop

With polls showing that Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd would probably lose to most everyone running against him, the Democrat's decision not to seek re-election is a relief to all but his Republican opponents. A Senate seat from true-blue Connecticut isn't something Democrats should have to worry about. They've already got enough on their hands dealing with the state's other senator, independent Joe Lieberman.

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January 6, 2010

The Lady and the Bracelet By Susan Estrich

We got to the airport two hours early. My daughter made fun of me. Maui is not a likely terrorist target. Then again, the president was about one minute away in Oahu, and so was Rush Limbaugh, so who’s to say for sure? The thing about terrorists is that they strike when and where you don’t expect them.

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January 6, 2010

Winston Churchill Still Instructs By Tony Blankley

Over the Christmas holiday, I read a couple of books that, at least for me, may provide some guidance in the upcoming tumultuous and probably consequential year. The first book was "Munich, 1938" by David Faber (grandson of former British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan), by far the most authoritative book on that world-changing event.

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January 5, 2010

Another Entitlement That's Unsustainable By Debra J. Saunders

Inside the House and Senate health care bills lurks a ticking time bomb -- a new federal entitlement, under the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act, which would allow Americans to buy into a voluntary federal long-term care insurance program.

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January 5, 2010

Dems Should Stay Cool About Midterms By Froma Harrop

The midterm elections this November have spawned midyear panic, largely by Democrats. With their majorities in the Senate and House, Democrats have the most to lose. And historically, the president's party sheds congressional seats at this point in the electoral cycle.

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January 1, 2010

Yes, Someone Has To Pay for Health Care By Debra J. Saunders

Most Americans already have health care insurance, but many middle-class Americans are afraid of losing what they have.