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Political Commentary

Most Recent Releases

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May 17, 2010

An Obvious but Muzzled Truth: Islamist Terrorism By Michael Barone

If you want to watch someone squirm, take a look at the two-minute videotape of Attorney General Eric Holder dodging Republican Rep. Lamar Smith's question of whether "radical Islam" motivated the Times Square bomber.

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May 16, 2010

Tom Campbell's Fire, Steve Poizner's Discipline By Debra J. Saunders

Some time after he bowed out of the governor's race in January and jumped into the California GOP primary to challenge Sen. Barbara Boxer, Tom Campbell turned from a mild-mannered law professor into Rambo. Professor Rambo.

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May 14, 2010

Harvard Law's Profile in Courage By Debra J. Saunders

Forget "advise and consent." When President Obama nominated U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, the Dems just wanted a good liberal who won't embarrass them during Senate confirmation hearings, while the Repubs started trying to figure out whether it's safe to try to Bork her.

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May 14, 2010

The Silly Season By Susan Estrich

I'd like to believe it's the arrival of spring or maybe just the general decline in civility and common sense that seems to always be in the air in Washington. But it's hard to avoid the conclusion that the reaction to the nomination of Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court has been a study in the sex discrimination that she has spent her career beating back.

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May 13, 2010

Obama and Kagan Whisper in the Faculty Lounge By Michael Barone

Professor chooses professor. That's one headline you could write about Barack Obama's nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court.

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May 13, 2010

Obama's Feminist Touch By Joe Conason

Someday, when Americans have learned to live the true meaning of our creed, a Supreme Court nomination of a woman, a Latino, an African-American or any other variety of human being -- including a gay man or woman -- will provoke no comment or concern. Until then, we should applaud every step toward that future.

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May 13, 2010

Gulf Shrimpers Had Economic Interests, Too By Froma Harrop

A pile of beautiful Gulf shrimp beckoned from the fish counter, and I thought, better buy them soon. Louisiana shrimpers are now trying to grab all they can get before the oil takes over. A lot of pleasure is dying in the Gulf of Mexico -- but economic activity, too. Only lawyers seem to be prospering as the suits begin to fly.

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May 12, 2010

Obama's Internal Reporting Service? By Howard Rich

America’s Founding Fathers envisioned a limited government in which laws were fairly and evenly enforced and justice was blind.

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May 12, 2010

Cut Spending Today To Save Tomorrow By Tony Blankley

This country is divided into three parts concerning national politics. About a third think President Obama is moving in the right direction, with many of them impatient for the president to be bolder with his leftist agenda.

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May 12, 2010

A Supreme Choice By Susan Estrich

Elena Kagan is not a surprising choice for the United States Supreme Court, but she is a very smart and deserving one. She is smart and honorable, a woman of character and integrity. And perhaps most important of all, in these times, she will be very hard to oppose.

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May 11, 2010

Bennett Feels Brunt of Club for Growth By Debra J. Saunders

Over the weekend, a Utah GOP convention failed to nominate Sen. Bob Bennett in his third re-election bid to Congress.

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May 11, 2010

Who Are You Calling Racist? By Froma Harrop

Many Tea Party critics accuse the movement of racist tendencies. Their evidence includes its obsession over illegal immigration and nasty epithets hurled during Tea Party rallies.

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May 11, 2010

In Britain, a Cautionary Tale for U.S. Parties By Michael Barone

LONDON -- We Americans may have declared our independence from Britain in 1776, but there are still similar rhythms in British and American politics. Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan both came to power amid the ruins of the 1970s and restored their nations' economies and spirits in the 1980s. Bill Clinton and Tony Blair both developed "third-way" politics that transformed unelectable left parties into center-left political colossuses in the 1990s.

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May 9, 2010

Arizona Law Also Happens To Be Good Politics By Debra J. Saunders

Critics of Arizona's tough new immigration law, which makes illegal immigration a state crime, have called supporters of the bill "racist," "mean-spirited" and "un-American." Here's the newsflash: The measure is also good politics, not only in Arizona, but nationally.

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May 7, 2010

Lessons from the Times Square Dud By Debra J. Saunders

Eventually, even a stupid terrorist can get lucky. So why are so many people who think they're so smart so quick to dismiss the very dangers that threaten American lives?

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May 7, 2010

Stopping the Streak By Isaac T. Wood

The last time a Democrat lost a special election for a U.S. House seat, George W. Bush was still president and gas was almost $4 a gallon. It was way back on May 3, 2008 when Hillary Clinton was still battling Barack Obama tooth-and-nail for the Democratic presidential nomination.

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May 7, 2010

In Downcast Britain, a Pox on All Three Parties By Michael Barone

British voters go to the polls today, and it appears likely that they will boot out the party in power for only the second time in 31 years. Margaret Thatcher's Conservatives ousted a Labor government in May 1979, and Tony Blair's "New Labor" party ousted the Conservatives in May 1997.

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May 6, 2010

What We Learned from Times Square By Joe Conason

Within hours after the car bomb fizzled in Times Square, the nonstop noise resumed on Fox News and talk radio, warning that the Barack Obama administration is failing to protect us. Evidently, the president and his aides don't say "terror" and "terrorism" sufficiently often to make it go away, according to the professional noisemakers. If you believe that kind of nonsense, then you are listening too much to the professional noisemakers and may have caused damage to your mental health.

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May 6, 2010

A Spend-and-Borrow Debt Mess By Lawrence Kudlow

The ink was barely dry on the $150 billion European Union/International Monetary Fund bailout of Greece, when world stock markets tanked on two major fears.

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May 6, 2010

WI-7: David Obey’s Departure By Isaac Wood

David Obey’s retirement announcement reshuffles the House deck for both parties. Democrats are scrambling to ensure other veteran Democrats do not follow suit, after thinking that the retirement tide had been stemmed. For Republicans the odds of a House majority do not look quite as long now that one of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s key allies has sidestepped a November reelection battle.