Leading liberals clash in Dem meeting
February 12, 2009
Miller shouts he doesn’t shout; Abercrombie shouts something along the lines of, “The hell you don’t.”
When in doubt, invoke Abe Lincoln
February 12, 2009
When Barack Obama launched his presidential campaign, he did it in Abraham Lincoln’s hometown. When he arrived in Washington, he followed the train route Lincoln used in 1861. When he needed a Bible for his swearing-in, Obama picked Lincoln’s.
Heck, even Obama’s lunch on Inauguration Day was modeled after Lincoln’s favorites, right down to the seafood stew.
Clearly, the 44th president wants Americans to know how much he admires the 16th.
Time to honor our fallen
February 12, 2009
After the subject came up at President Obama’s press conference Monday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the next day he was ordering a review of a Pentagon policy banning the media from taking photos of the flag-draped coffins of our military casualties as they arrive back in the States.
Gates should lift the ban.
Attack of the killer Cheneys
February 12, 2009
The headline on CNN was "Cheney Attacks!" Correspondent Tom Foreman commented that, "even in the bare- knuckle world of Washington these days, this was a remarkably sharp attack by the former vice president just weeks into President Obama’s term."
And how had the former vice president expressed his fabled bellicosity this time? In an interview with Politico.com, he warned that there is a "high probability" that, in the years ahead, terrorists will attempt to use a nuclear or biological weapon to mass-murder Americans.
For a little levity, turn to God
February 12, 2009
As a typical newspaper is full of doom and gloom, the point of my column — and perhaps I should have explained this earlier — is to attempt to lighten the general despair with fun and laughter, even on serious subjects.
Just last week, I wrote a stimulus-package column that provided laffs galore for those headed to the poorhouse. For some reason it didn’t go over very well.
Obama could learn from LBJ
February 12, 2009
A quick learner can soak up a lot in four years in the U.S. Senate, but to master the way games are played and won in the sandboxes beneath the Capitol Dome, President Obama could have learned a lot from Lyndon B. Johnson.
Congress looks to clean up contractors
February 12, 2009
Defense contractors blamed for waste, fraud abuse, and civilian casualties are now facing a new Congress.
Specter a target for GOP, Dems
February 12, 2009
Pennsylvania Democrats think Sen. Arlen Specter is a prime 2010 target.
Bill Richardson tarnished by scandal
February 12, 2009
Richardson has gone from being on the shortlist for secretary of state to late-night punch line.
An elegy for the era of French cuffs
February 12, 2009
In an Ideas piece, MacKinnon wonders if anything is — or should be — sacred anymore.