Tag Archives | Barack Obama

The “Murder on the Orient Express” Theory of American Politics

Feature Article by , December 22, 2017

Top Stories of the Year, #1 I have spent this week counting down the top stories of 2017. At #5 is the moral reform movement, quickly devolving into a moral panic, about sexual harassment. At #4 is the ominous new conflict between white nationalism and Communism, which worked out so well in Germany in the […]

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The Era of the Civics Lesson

Feature Article by , November 4, 2017

It looks like this is going to have to be the era of the civics lesson, because nobody can be bothered any more to gain a basic knowledge of how our government is supposed to work and why it was designed that way. Not even the president of the United States. I know this isn’t […]

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Why Are We So Uneasy About 9/11?

Feature Article by , September 12, 2017

I didn’t plan to write anything for the anniversary of 9/11 this year, because I figure we’re at the point where we save the extended analysis for round-number anniversaries. It’s something I care about deeply, as longtime readers know, but they will also know that I have written a great deal about that attack and […]

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The Constitution Is Foolproof, But It Isn’t Damned Fool Proof

Feature Article by , May 17, 2017

Let’s start at the beginning: our president is a fool. President Trump has been in office long enough to demonstrate a chronic lack of elementary prudence or any shred of self-discipline. He has a knack for constantly creating crises by his own recklessness. He does things like set off totally unnecessary tensions with South Korea […]

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Our Multiple-Choice Strategy in Syria

Feature Article by , April 9, 2017

The United States has launched air strikes against the Syrian regime, but do we have a strategy for Syria yet? Judging from the past few days, we have too many. Launching a couple dozen missiles to blow up a runway at an airbase controlled by the regime may or may not sound impressive, but in […]

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In Syria, the First Step Is Recognizing That We Have a Problem

Feature Article by , April 5, 2017

It’s really nice that everybody is all worried about Syria now, at least for the next five minutes, because Bashar Assad decided to take a break from killing his people in other ghastly ways and decided to gas them. It’s all very shocking—if you haven’t been paying any attention to Syria for the past six […]

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The Democrats’ Sad Search for an “Appalachian” Savior

Feature Article by , April 2, 2017

A little gaffe caught my eye recently that sums up the desperate state of the Democratic Party right now. It was alert from the New York Times teasing the first lines of a David Leonhardt op-ed describing Tom Perriello, who is running for the Democratic nomination for governor of Virginia, as a “populist former Congressman […]

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The Trump Threat Level Is: Elevated

Note by , February 15, 2017

Three weeks into the Trump administration, is the new president living down to our worst fears, or is he doing better than expected? Let me put this in terms borrowed from the old color-coded Homeland Security Advisory System. The current Trump Threat Level is: Elevated. That’s the middle level, the yellow one between High and […]

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To Dissolve the People and Elect Another

Feature Article by , January 17, 2017

Protesters against Donald Trump’s inauguration are flooding to DC and putting forth their best effort to ensure that there will be a second Trump inauguration to protest four years from now. I’m not boasting or gloating about this outcome. I didn’t want there to be a first Trump inauguration, and I probably won’t be too […]

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Democratic Party Death March

Feature Article by , December 22, 2016

Top Stories of the Year: #3 This year, I kept predicting that Donald Trump would lose the election and would drag down Republican candidates for lower offices. In my defense, I based this on polls whose results were fairly consistent, but which all turned out to be a wee bit off. In my further defense, […]

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