Hitchens: Don't Be So Sensitive, Mr. President

April 13, 2009

President Barack Obama’s visit to Europe afforded us an opportunity to gauge the strengths and weaknesses of his style in operation. And, even though he has almost attained the Holy Grail of public relations—in other words, he is practically at that ineffable and serene point where he gets good press for getting good press—there may […]

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Krugman: Tea Parties Forever

April 13, 2009

This is a column about Republicans — and I’m not sure I should even be writing it. Today’s G.O.P. is, after all, very much a minority party. It retains some limited ability to obstruct the Democrats, but has no ability to make or even significantly shape policy.

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The Rick Warren Side of the Story on ABC Cancellation

April 13, 2009

Pastor Rick Warren abruptly canceled an appearance on ABC’s “This Week” in which he would have had the opportunity to clarify his denial last week that he had ever endorsed California’s anti-gay-marriage ballot measure, when in fact he had done so on videotape.

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Does the Right of Conscience Count for Anything?

April 13, 2009

President Obama promised during the 2008 campaign to end the “politics of division,” but his decision to eliminate the “conscience clause” in federal regulation for medical professionals and his nomination of a woman who calls mothers “fetal containers” to head the White House Office of Legal Counsel is as explosively divisive as it gets.

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Still No Winner in NY-20 House Race

April 13, 2009

As the vote count seesaws between two candidates in New York’s 20th Congressional District, both parties are trying to claim a victory neither has actually achieved. Democrats and Republicans will do their best to spin a win by venture capitalist Scott Murphy (D) or Assemblyman Jim Tedisco (R) as having broad national meanings. But political […]

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Somali Pirates Swear They'll Seek Revenge on French, America

April 13, 2009

Acting on Presidential authority to kill Somali pirates only if Capt. Richard Phillips were in “imminent danger”, a US commander made that very call, and snipers simultaneously nailed three of the four pirates on the lifeboat. According to a FOX news report I just heard, one sniper had a clear head shot of one pirate […]

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Oil Industry Braces for Drop in US Gasoline Purchases

April 13, 2009

DALLAS — Since Henry Ford began mass production of the Model T nearly a century ago, car-loving Americans have gulped ever-increasing volumes of gasoline. A growing number of industry players believe that era is over.

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Bloody Rescue on the High Seas: Captain Safe After Three Pirates Killed

April 13, 2009

“American sea Captain Richard Phillips was safely rescued Sunday from four Somali pirates, who had been holding him for days in a lifeboat off the coast of Africa, a U.S. intelligence official said.” Fantastic news for Phillips’ family and friends, but this crisis highlights the reason why foreign aid vessels should be more fully armed.

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Obama's Post-Material Economy Exists Only as a Mirage

April 13, 2009

POTUS’s economic plans present “a dazzling rhetorical vista that excites the young and fits the country’s present mood, which blames ‘capitalist greed’ for the economic crisis. Obama promises communal goals and a more widely shared prosperity. The trouble is that it may not work as well in practice as it does in Obama’s speeches.”

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Is Robert Gates a Genius? Fareed Zakaria Thinks So

April 13, 2009

His rationale: SecDef’s budget has the right enemies. “Defense contractors, worried that decades of fraudulent accounting are coming to a halt; the Beltway consultants for whom the war on terror has been a bonanza; the armed services, which have gotten used to having every fantasy funded; and the congressmen who protect all this institutionalized corruption.”

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