After reading Obama's speech twice, I believe that Klein gives an inaccurate rendition of Obama's message. Klein contends that Obama was conceding that "the war in Iraq was a tremendous waste of lives and dollars, and the money should have been spent at home."

I suppose Klein is reading this message into one/both of these comments by Obama:

"The United States has paid a huge price to put the future of Iraq in the hands of its people. We have sent our young men and ... More »

It's good to see some brick and mortar proposals on how to resolve the U.S. budget crisis.

Does our nation believe, as Orszag suggests, that a spending reduction of 0.5% of G.D.P. by 2015 is the best we can hope for? Most U.S. households could save 0.5% by cutting out Starbucks.

Are tax increases necessary to dig us out of this economic pit? Perhaps. But it's a conversation that needs to be had after our government can find a way to cut out more than coffee.

Klein believes the S.S. shortfall is affordable, requiring only 0.7% of G.D.P. for the next 75 years. Yet, with respect to the current U.S. budget crisis, Peter Orszag (former White House budget director) says, "It would be tough... to squeeze more than a half percent of G.D.P. from spending by 2015" (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/opinion/07orszag.html).

To be clear, spending 0.7% of G.D.P. for the next 75 years is "affordable." But saving 0.5% of G.D.P. by 2015 ... More »

The modern (non-classical) view of tolerance has become the god of Western powers. The same powers that have grown to worship the separation of church and state are now - in the name of (modern) tolerance - securing the implementation of Islamic sharia law in parts of their territories. The irony is thick.

And if Nazir-Ali's suppositions are correct, even greater irony awaits the future of Western-Islamic relations. In time, the same Western powers that tolerate their ... More »

Mark Judge describes Jon Stewart to a 'T'. This is a penetrating critique of an American comedic icon - one Stewart himself would do well to read.

The ties Judge attempts to make between Stewart and Richard Reinsch's analysis of the effects of the Enlightenment are admittedly rash, but worthy of consideration. Equally insightful is Judge's contention that postmodernism is a form of intellectual slavery - the first such analogy I have ever read!

No doubt many ... More »

Goldberg's analysis of Obama's persona are often subtle. Yet when combined, they do tend to paint the President as a man with an unusually sizable ego.

When the presidential seal fell off Obama's podium, Obama remarked, "That's all right, all of you know who I am." Goldberg notes: "Rather than make a self-deprecating joke, he opted to make a self-inflating one, as if to say that the title mattered less than the man."

Goldberg continues: "When Arkansas Democratic ... More »

What is most striking about this characterization of the President is its source and its tone. Caddell and Schoen are both former Democratic strategists and widely known political experts. And the criticisms they offer, are given reluctantly: "We write in sadness as traditional liberal Democrats who believe in inclusion. Like many Americans, we had hoped that Obama would maintain the spirit in which he campaigned. Instead, since taking office, he has pitted group against group for ... More »

Bai writes, "the facilitator asks the half-dozen or so voters to invent their own countries and to compare their idealized versions with the country they actually live in."

It would seem that ideal-driven questions would render ideal-driven answers, whereas policy-driven questions would render policy-driven answers. Therefore, suggesting voters are more concerned about the disintegration of society than the political issues themselves, based on this research alone, is a bit ... More »

Dowd's perspective is surprisingly frank: Obama has not been a good politician. Such a conclusion wouldn't be news, were it not for Dowd's liberal political affiliation. Of course, with Caddell and Schoen's editorial (http://bit.ly/9MhmBu) preceding Dowd's, this may be a sign of more scathing liberal criticisms to come.

Dowd offers acute analysis of some of Obama's political faux paus, including a misplaced focus on health care and energy policy at the expense of ... More »

Krattenmaker's opinion is spot on. Surely some of the blame of crude political discourse falls at the feet of God-fearing individuals. James 3:10 reads: "Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so."

I wish Krattenmaker would have put a bit more effort into considering the media's effect on the indecent political rhetoric. He briefly cited Limbaugh, but paid little attention to other T.V. and radio personalities.

... More »

Soros spends 95% of his argument focused on pragmatic reasons in favor of decriminalizing marijuana, after which he feels compelled to toss a bone to the concerns of morality: "Like many parents and grandparents, I am worried about young people getting into trouble with marijuana and other drugs. The best solution, however, is honest and effective drug education."

One could have just as well substituted the word "marijuana" for any other illicit drug, and Soros' pragmatism ... More »

Juan Williams' defense of his statements in question on The O'Reilly Factor is effective and justified.

Merriam-Webster defines "bigot" as "a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices; especially : one who regards or treats the members of a group (as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance.”

By contrast, Williams' opening defense reads, "In a debate with Bill O’Reilly I revealed my fears to set up the ... More »

Obviously Buck should learn to check his sources, with respect to the "holiday tree" comment. And O'Donnell's ignorance of the wording of the First Amendment is ridiculous.

Notwithstanding, Amanda Terkel's trite citations of Buck and Angel's views on matters of church and state are given with little context. Neither politician is arguing that the Establishment or Free Exercise clauses of the First Amendment do not exist. Rather, they are questioning the legitimacy of using ... More »

Amar and Brownstein give an impressive, thorough consideration to the appropriateness of the "separation of church and state" metaphor, as it pertains to the First Amendment. Their reasoning is sound and balanced, rightly focusing on the limits the Free Exercise and Establishment clauses place on government, not religion.

While Amar and Brownstein give tacit approval to the accuracy of the metaphor, finding it to be a relatively fair description of the clauses in ... More »

Greenwald supposes that there is a "glaring double standard in our political discourse generally and in the world of journalism specifically, whereby anti-Muslim bigotry is widely tolerated, while those perceived as expressing similar (or even more mild) animus toward other groups are harshly punished (see, for instance, Octavia Nasr, Helen Thomas, Rick Sanchez)."

But Greenwald's comparison does not apply here. Williams' comments were inarguable because they merely ... More »