Online Privacy Is Gone. Live With It By Froma Harrop
Feeling aggrieved over reports of widespread government surveillance? Feeling guilty about not feeling aggrieved? Relax. There's little you can do about the revelations.
Political Commentary
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September 13, 2013
September 12, 2013
Striking Syria: Is Obama too Much Like Bush -- or not Enough? By Joe Conason
For a president who distinguished himself from his predecessor by promising to extricate the United States from Iraq and Afghanistan, Barack Obama suddenly appears determined to maroon his own presidency in Syria. But critics who worry that Obama is imitating George W. Bush are missing the central irony in his predicament -- which stems from his failure to mimic Bush closely enough.
September 11, 2013
Road to Damascus By John Stossel
Some things you just have to do, in spite of great uncertainty.
Launching missiles at Syria isn't one of them.
September 10, 2013
Oldster Passions, Hipster Fans, Long Lives By Froma Harrop
The weekend obits toasted two American originals who died in their 90s. Both dedicated their many hours to preserving bygone technologies -- in one case typewriters and in the other vinyl records. Both would have closed shop sooner were it not for young hipsters, raised on the digital, seeing novelty and beauty in the great inventions of the mechanical age.
September 10, 2013
Specter of Iraq Hovers over Syria Deliberation By Michael Barone
Hovering over the congressional debate on whether to authorize the use of military force in Syria is the specter of Iraq.
September 6, 2013
Obama's 'Red Line' Undermines U.S. Power By Michael Barone
Blunder after blunder. That's been the story of President Barack Obama's policy toward Syria.
In April 2011, Obama said dictator Bashir al-Assad "had to go." But he did little or nothing to speed him on his way.
September 5, 2013
China's Rich, Yearning to Breath Free By Froma Harrop
Thousands of Chinese are fleeing to the United States. We are not talking about impoverished peasants hiding in cargo containers. We're talking about millionaires flying first class and buying condos in the choicest ZIP codes. A big reason for this relocation, real estate agents say, is a desire for America's clean air, as opposed to China's suffocating smog.
September 4, 2013
Milk of Human Blindness By John Stossel
The Denver Post warns, "Milk, food prices could rise if Congress fails to act."
Congress is working on a farm bill, which, among other things, will set limits on how high or low milk prices can be in different regions of the country.
September 3, 2013
Spending Behind Your Mate's Back By Froma Harrop
A little infidelity, a little cheating, is OK in a marriage -- or even protective of it -- if the sneaking is just about money. Note the emphasis on "little."
September 3, 2013
With Crime Down, the Nation Moves to Ease Get-Tough Policies By Michael Barone
Americans change their minds on some issues. One of them is crime and punishment.
August 30, 2013
Panhandling Is Not Harmless By Froma Harrop
Indianapolis offers the full urban deal: great architecture, hot restaurants, famous museums and a walkable downtown. But it also has had one of the worst panhandler problems I've seen. At almost every street corner, it seemed, someone was squeezing you for money.
August 28, 2013
Trains to Nowhere By John Stossel
When Democrats and Republicans agree, I get nervous. It often means that they agree to grab my wallet.
August 28, 2013
We All Need Moderate Republicans By Froma Harrop
Moderate Republicans are, were, good things. I use the past tense "were" because as they became rarities, the centrists' chief function was preserving majorities in Congress for their radicalized party.
August 27, 2013
Obama Could Learn From FDR on How to Get Things Done By Michael Barone
Evidence of the astonishing incompetence of the Obama administration continues to roll in.
August 23, 2013
Stop and Frisk Doesn't Target Minorities, It Protects Them By Michael Barone
New York City seems on the verge of making the same mistake that Detroit made 40 years ago. The mistake is to abolish the NYPD practice referred to as stop and frisk.
August 23, 2013
An NSA Drama Goes Crackpot By Froma Harrop
Journalist Glenn Greenwald's partner was detained at London's Heathrow Airport for nine hours -- no waterboarding or electric shocks, just pointed questions and confiscation of David Michael Miranda's computer gear. That prompted Greenwald to threaten Britain with more of his writings.
August 22, 2013
Conflicts? Deficits? Why Reporters Ignore the Real Story of the Clinton Foundation By Joe Conason
The mere prospect of Hillary Rodham Clinton running for president again is evidently provoking outrage among old adversaries -- from Rush Limbaugh and Fox News to Maureen Dowd -- whose appetite for bogus "Clinton scandals" will never be sated. With the fizzling of Benghazi after an official State Department probe found no wrongdoing by the former Secretary of State, her critics have moved on, casting a gimlet eye on the charitable foundation built by her husband, the former president, over the past decade. Although Hillary has mostly been very busy elsewhere, the foundation provides an ample target for speculation and spite -- so long as critics ignore what it actually does for people around the world.
August 21, 2013
Beware Warrior Cops By John Stossel
We need police to catch murderers, thieves and con men, and so we give them special power -- the power to use force on others. Sadly, today's police use that power to invade people's homes over accusations of trivial, nonviolent offenses -- and often do it with tanks, battering rams and armor you'd expect on battlefields.
In his book "Rise of the Warrior Cop," Radley Balko recounts the rise of police SWAT teams (SWAT stands for Special Weapons And Tactics) armed with heavy military equipment. SWAT raids began as rarely used methods of dealing with violent situations, like hostage-takings.
August 20, 2013
Use Private Capital for Roads and Bridges, Not Taxpayer Money By Michael Barone
This Congress has been criticized for not passing many laws -- and praised for that in some quarters. And it's true that in quantitative terms its productivity has been low.
August 15, 2013
What Really Makes Chelsea Clinton Run (but not for Public Office) By Joe Conason
To discover what Chelsea Clinton is doing with her life -- and why -- shouldn't pose much of a challenge to any reasonably industrious journalist. In recent months, after all, she has stepped into the spotlight to advance the causes that excite her. Yet the political press still seems far more inclined to ruminate over her supposed ambitions rather than report her real concerns.
