Linda Chavez from Creators Syndicate

Slouching Toward the Center for 07/11/2008

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

The Senate has finally passed the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), 69-28, after months of dithering, but one vote among the yeas comes as quite a surprise. Sen. Barack Obama, who just a few months ago threatened to filibuster the bill, had a change of heart — or was it just a change in campaign strategy?

The legislation authorizes continued warra ...

Updated: Fri Jul 11, 2008

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Hero's Welcome for 07/18/2008

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

A country's heroes are a reflection of its people's values. So what does it say that Lebanon gave a hero's welcome to Samir Kuntar this week? Kuntar has been in an Israeli prison since 1979 and was released in exchange for the return of the bodies of two dead Israeli soldiers who had been kidnapped by Hezbollah in 2006, leading to Israel's incursion into Lebanon. He's not a household name in th ...

Updated: Fri Jul 18, 2008

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Odds on Favorite, Maybe Not for 07/25/2008

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

The professional odds-makers favor Barack Obama two-to-one to win the election. It's no wonder. Americans overwhelmingly believe the country is on the wrong track. They can't stand the current Republican occupant of the White House. The economy is weak and shows little sign of getting significantly stronger before the election. The country is fighting an unpopular war. And Obama, as he reminds ...

Updated: Fri Jul 25, 2008

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No Credit Where Credit Is Due for 08/01/2008

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Here's a question: Which U.S. president has done the most in history to help Africa? President Clinton, you say? Remember his much ballyhooed six-country tour in 1998, a trip in which President Clinton came close to apologizing for America's role in slavery? Of course, the most memorable picture to emerge from that visit was a glimpse of the president in his Dakar hotel room banging on a conga ...

Updated: Fri Aug 01, 2008

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Obama's Catholic Problem for 08/08/2008

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Barack Obama has a Catholic problem. If he doesn't do better than John Kerry did in 2004 with this quintessential swing voting bloc, he won't be elected president. Obama's campaign understands this — which is why they're considering allowing a pro-life Democrat, Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, to speak at the Denver convention. Sen. Casey's father, the late Governor of Pennsylvania Robert ...

Updated: Fri Aug 08, 2008

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A Majority Minority Nation for 08/15/2008

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

A majority minority nation: that's what the U.S. Census Bureau is projecting by the year 2042, according to new figures released this week. By mid-century, according to the government's projections, Hispanics, Asians and blacks will outnumber non-Hispanic whites by about 32 million. The statistics make for interesting headlines — and, no doubt, cause heartburn in certain circles — b ...

Updated: Fri Aug 15, 2008

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Redefining the Problem Won't Make It Go Away for 08/22/2008

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

If ever we needed proof that having an advanced degree doesn't correlate with common sense, we got it this week. A group of college presidents from some of the most prestigious schools in the nation have called on lawmakers to consider lowering the drinking age. They call their effort the Amethyst Initiative. Why Amethyst? On their website, the erudite group explains to those of us who aren't f ...

Updated: Fri Aug 22, 2008

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Crying Wolf on the Economy While Ignoring Real Perils for 08/29/2008

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

America is in its darkest hour — again. It happens every four years when the Democrats take center stage for their national convention. In 2004, we heard that we were in the midst of another Great Depression. For the last week, we've heard more economic doom and gloom. It must have been disappointing news to Dems to read on Thursday that the U.S. economy grew 3.3 percent in the second qua ...

Updated: Fri Aug 29, 2008

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The Unexamined Life for 09/05/2008

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

The biggest story to emerge from the Republican National Convention was the media's effort to destroy Gov. Sarah Palin. Members of the Fourth Estate behaved more like a Democratic fifth column this week than they did like honest reporters. Palin's stunningly effective speech Wednesday night showed they will not easily take her down — but their malicious attacks on Gov. Palin's family prov ...

Updated: Fri Sep 05, 2008

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The Lipstick Wars for 09/12/2008

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Democrat activists have let Sarah Palin get under their skin — and if they don't get a grip, their visceral loathing of the Republican vice presidential candidate could cost them the election. First there was the "lipstick on a pig" flap — a comment the Obama campaign insists was not directed at Gov. Palin, but which dominated political coverage this week. And there was th ...

Updated: Fri Sep 12, 2008

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A Tale of Two Lies for 09/19/2008

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

The media have been raking John McCain over the coals the last couple of weeks, accusing the GOP presidential nominee of being dishonest or even lying in his campaign ads. They're especially angry about an ad the McCain campaign has been running, which accused Barack Obama of supporting a bill when he was a state legislator that mandated comprehensive sex education for children in kindergarten ...

Updated: Fri Sep 19, 2008

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Blind Ambition for 09/26/2008

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

The nation's economy is on the precipice, but Barack Obama has more important things to attend to. He's a man in a hurry to be president, and a little thing like the collapse of the U.S. credit markets won't deter him. In fact, he sees it as an opportunity. By Obama's calculation — and that of many of his supporters — the worse mess the economy is in, the better his chances are to w ...

Updated: Fri Sep 26, 2008

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Only Ourselves To Blame for 10/03/2008

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

No one wants to talk about who is most to blame for the financial crisis that now threatens the U.S. economy, though there is plenty of blame to go around. It is far easier to blame other people — greedy Wall Street executives, predatory lenders, President Bush, federal regulators, members of Congress —than it is to look at ourselves.

For too long, Americans have been living ...

Updated: Fri Oct 03, 2008

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Playing the Race Card for 10/10/2008

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Was John McCain playing the race card when he referred to Barack Obama as "that one" in Tuesday's presidential debate? Obama's campaign and its echo chamber in the media surely want us to think so. Within seconds, the campaign was sending out e-mails to reporters drawing attention to the phrase, and the media were quick to take up the charge.

The New York Times' Maureen Dowd so ...

Updated: Fri Oct 10, 2008

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Spreading the Wealth Around for 10/17/2008

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

"When you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody," Barack Obama explained to Joe Wurzelbacher in Ohio earlier this week. But Joe the Plumber, as he has become known thanks to Wednesday night's presidential debate where his name was invoked no fewer than a half dozen times by both candidates, isn't buying it. And Wurzelbacher is right to be skeptical.

In an interview ...

Updated: Fri Oct 17, 2008

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The Conservative Challenge for 10/24/2008

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Many on the Left are hopeful that this election will drive the nail in the coffin of the conservative movement. There is some cause for legitimate concern among conservatives. No matter who wins the election, conservatives will have a more difficult time making our influence felt than at any time in recent memory.

For all his many admirable qualities, John McCain has never been a movemen ...

Updated: Fri Oct 24, 2008

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Race and the Election for 10/31/2008

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

All fair-minded Americans understand that race should not be a factor in choosing our next president, so why should race continue to play a role in deciding who gets into college or receives a government contract or is hired or promoted in a government job? It makes no sense to argue that we're supposed to be colorblind in the polling booth but color-conscious in so many other areas.

On ...

Updated: Fri Oct 31, 2008

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Testing the New President for 11/07/2008

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Vice-president-elect Joe Biden issued a prescient warning in the last days of the presidential campaign: If Barack Obama were elected president, he would be tested by a major international crisis soon after taking office. Biden was wrong about one thing: The test has come even before President-elect Obama is sworn in.

Within hours of Obama's impressive victory, another new leader, Russia ...

Updated: Fri Nov 07, 2008

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Obama's School Choice for 11/14/2008

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Democratic politicians like to see themselves as champions of public education; but when it comes to picking schools for their own children to attend, their support disappears. President-elect Obama is no different than hundreds of other Democratic elected officials across the nation, from members of Congress to big-city mayors and city council members. The president-elect's daughters have been ...

Updated: Fri Nov 14, 2008

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Welcome to America for 11/21/2008

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Republicans are finally worried that their failure to attract Hispanic voters in this year's election spells trouble — perhaps for decades. But they're not sure what to do about it. Moderates in the party are pushing for more efforts at "inclusion," which usually means elevating a few Hispanics to symbolic but visible positions in national, state, and local politics. But with no ...

Updated: Fri Nov 21, 2008

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