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Political Commentary

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January 22, 2016

Bernie Sanders Could Win By Ted Rall

The independent senator from Vermont says the economic system is rigged against working-class Americans. He's right.

The electoral political system is a subsidiary of those who rule the economy. Which is why Bernie Sanders never stood a chance. The political system was rigged against him.

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January 22, 2016

Is the Spectre of Trump Haunting Davos? by Pat Buchanan

The lights are burning late in Davos tonight.

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January 22, 2016

Do Emotions Trump Facts? By Thomas Sowell

Those of us who like to believe that human beings are rational can sometimes have a hard time trying to explain what is going on in politics. It is still a puzzle to me how millions of patriotic Americans could have voted in 2008 for a man who for 20 years -- TWENTY YEARS -- was a follower of a preacher who poured out his hatred for America in the most gross gutter terms.   

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January 22, 2016

Karl Rove: Why McKinley Still Matters By Michael Barone

The economy has been staggering, with stagnant or no growth, for several years, after a financial crisis. Loud complaints have been raised against Wall Street financiers and the concentration of great wealth in few hands. Rapid technological development is generating massive economic change, with many old-line jobs vanishing. Majorities disapprove of the Democratic president, as they had of his Republican predecessor.

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January 21, 2016

The Modern History of the Republican Presidential Primary, 1976-2012 By Geoffrey Skelley

The presidential nomination process has a history of being fuzzy. For much of the nation’s political existence, starting in the 1830s, national party conventions selected nominees for the highest office in the land. At these events, the oft-used term “smoke-filled rooms” described the sometimes behind-the-scenes activity that led to the final selection of a nominee. Sometimes this person was an obvious, well-known national figure; other times, an unexpected, relative unknown captured the nomination.

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January 20, 2016

Mayor de Blasio: Hypocrite Hooked on Hollywood Cash by Michelle Malkin

Because the crime rate is zero, the potholes are all fixed and homelessness has been completely eradicated, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio now has time to focus on what really matters to Big Apple taxpayers:

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January 20, 2016

Mainstream Media 2 Fast 2 Furious Over 2 Corinthians By Charles Hurt

“Two Corinthians 3:17,” said Donald Trump, misstating the traditional way American Christians most commonly refer to the Apostle Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians.

You would have thought Mr. Trump had slandered a disabled minority, based on the horrified and merciless reaction from the press.

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January 20, 2016

Economic Myths by John Stossel

Hillary Clinton: "Of course we want to raise the minimum wage!"

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January 19, 2016

The Republican Race Heats Up While Hillary Clinton Falters by Michael Barone

The race for president is accelerating in high gear, or, rather, the races for president -- in the Republican and Democratic parties, in the Iowa caucuses, the New Hampshire primary and primaries and caucuses to come. How's it going? Let's look at these separate races.

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January 19, 2016

What Are Elections For? By Thomas Sowell

After months of watching all sorts of political polls, we are finally just a few weeks away from actually beginning to see some voting in primary elections. Polls let people vent their emotions. But elections are held to actually accomplish something.

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January 19, 2016

Is Iran Taking the China Road? By Pat Buchanan

Is the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme leader of the Islamic Republic, a RINO -- a revolutionary in name only?   

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January 15, 2016

American Exceptionalism: How Has It Fared in the Obama Years? by Michael Barone

In his final State of the Union speech Barack Obama made at least a few bows toward the idea that America is an exceptional nation, an idea he once derided by saying, "I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks" -- this was before their fiscal crisis -- "believe in Greek exceptionalism." We remain exceptional, he said in Tuesday's speech, as the world's strongest nation militarily and because we're doing better economically than most other large nations.

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January 15, 2016

US, Iran Step Back From the Brink By Pat Buchanan

To awaken Thursday to front-page photos of U.S. sailors kneeling on the deck of their patrol boat, hands on their heads in postures of surrender, on Iran's Farsi Island, brought back old and bad memories.

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January 14, 2016

18 Days to Iowa: Presidential Demolition Derby Revs Up By Larry J. Sabato, Kyle Kondik and Geoffrey Skelley

What is there to add about Donald Trump that has not already been said? The political world has moved from disbelieving that he would even follow through and become a candidate, to expecting him to wither on the vine as more conventional choices gained steam, to accepting his nomination as a distinct possibility, to speculating that he will go all the way and defeat Hillary Clinton in November.

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January 13, 2016

Optimism and Obama By John Stossel

In the commercial that President Obama released prior to his final State of the Union address, Obama said he would tell Congress how "optimistic" he is about America's future.    

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January 13, 2016

Powerball's Biggest Winner: Government by Michelle Malkin

Ka-ching! Wednesday's Powerball jackpot soared to $1.5 billion as get-rich-quick mania seized America this week. But you don't need to wait for the drawing to know who'll score the royal payoff.

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January 13, 2016

The State of the Union Obama Really Wanted to Give By Charles Hurt

Even at the end of seven good and prosperous years, a president’s final State of the Union address is a tough act. There is no one left to blame. By this point in a presidency, he owns the current state of the union.

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January 12, 2016

Census 2015 Shows Increasing Cultural Division and Political Polarization By Michael Barone

The Census Bureau has delivered its annual Christmas gift to demographic junkies: its estimates of the populations of the 50 states and the District of Columbia for mid-2015.     

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January 12, 2016

What Bernie & The Donald Portend by Pat Buchanan

Three weeks out from the Iowa caucuses, and clarity emerges.

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January 12, 2016

'Messing With the Constitution' By Thomas Sowell

In recent years, a small but growing number of people have advocated a convention of states to propose amendments to the Constitution of the United States. The reaction to the proposal has been hostile, out of all proportion to either the originality or the danger of such a convention.