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Category Archives: Columns
Donald Trump’s ‘American Carnage’ Inaugural
It started to rain right as President Donald J. Trump started speaking. And with the rain came the darkest inaugural address Americans have ever heard from a new president. Inaugural addresses usually are written with an eye toward the sweep … Continue reading
Sue City – City Journal
New York City spends more money on lawsuits than the next five largest American cities—Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, and Philadelphia—combined. The city’s $568 million outlay in fiscal year 2008 was more than double what it spent 15 years ago … Continue reading
Tea Party Cannibalizes Cantor – The Daily Beast
The Republican majority leader fanned the flames of the Tea Party movement, hoping it would help him to take over from John Boehner. Last night he got burned. Winston Churchill once said “An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile—hoping … Continue reading
Hatriot Politics Created the Las Vegas Killers – The Daily Beast
Jerad and Amanda Miller, the Wingnuts whose killing spree left two policemen, a civilian, and themselves dead, were inspired by fright-wing radio hosts and militia movement groups. The obsessively anti-government Hatriot movement moved from cultivating conspiracy theories to real killing … Continue reading
Hate—and Hitler—in the Heartland – The Daily Beast
The man accused of shooting three at Jewish centers in Kansas has a long résumé as a neo-Nazi and KKK grand wizard who once created a points system for murder. The sole suspect in a shooting that left three dead … Continue reading
Michael Hastings, R.I.P. – The Daily Beast
There will be a lot of these heartsick tributes to Michael Hastings, who died on Tuesday in Los Angeles at the unforgivably young age of 33. He was one of the great journalists of our generation, possessing spark and insight … Continue reading
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Obama has Given Up Seeking a Solution to America’s Financial Woes
Without a bang or a whimper, all hopes of striking a so-called “Grand Bargain” to put America’s public finances on a sustainable track died a quiet death this week. And because cynicism passes for wisdom in Washington, the passing was … Continue reading
American Way: What We Didn’t Learn After Newtown – The Telegraph
Here’s the thing about shock. It fades. Certainly not for the families of the 20 children who were gunned down at Sandy Hook Elementary School one year ago. But for the rest of us, who recoiled in horror at the … Continue reading
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The Fines – NY Sun
We swore that we would never forget. And for those still counting, today marks four and a half years and three days since the attacks of September 11, 2001. Yesterday will be remembered as a minor milestone in our city’s … Continue reading
The Economist Interview: Six questions for John Avlon
IN TODAY’S polarised political environment John Avlon has carved out a useful niche, exposing extremists on both the left and right. He says these partisans are more dangerous than ever, in part because they obscure the growing power of independents. … Continue reading
Hating Kennedy – The Daily Beast
This week, America was fixated on the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Grief nourishes myth and a new CNN poll registers JFK as our most admired ex-president from the past half century. His brief 1,000 days in the … Continue reading
Donald Trump Is Running for Richard Nixon’s Third Term
From the ‘Silent Majority’ slogan to the secret plans to win the war, a prodigious enemies list, and a surreal commitment to ‘bring us together,’ it’s Tricky Dick all over again. onservative candidates usually beg for comparisons with Ronald Reagan, … Continue reading
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Christie’s Reelection Triumph Is a Revenge of the RINOs – The Daily Beast
Chris Christie’s landslide reelection in a state President Obama won by 17 points offers the GOP a memo on how to win in 2016, if it wants one. Don’t just fixate on the top-line numbers. They obscure the real story. … Continue reading
What GOP Can Learn from Cuccinelli’s Tanking Bid in Virginia – CNN
Virginia is a cautionary tale for conservatives this year. And those Republicans who always argue that their party wins when it moves further to the right are going to have a lot of explaining to do after Election Day. Polls … Continue reading
Paralyzed by Polarization – The Daily Beast
After 12 days of stalemate, conversations – if not negotiations – have started. But House Republicans remain deadlocked with the White House, its leadership constrained by their own far-Right-wing caucus, announcing to members in a closed-door session this morning that … Continue reading
Shutdown Crisis: We Need a Hostage Negotiator – The Daily Beast
With the government shutdown entering its second week and debt ceiling default less than two weeks away, polarization has turned poisonous and confusion reigns on Capitol Hill. “It actually reminds me of a prison siege,” says Christopher Voss, a former … Continue reading
The Suicidal Shutdown: Hyper-Partisan Fever Rules the Government – The Daily Beast
It was darkly appropriate that Congressman John Culberson (R-TX) rallied his conservative colleagues on Saturday to vote for a government shutdown by saying “Like 9/11, Let’s Roll!” Because this legislative plane is headed defiantly nose-down into the ground. Decency, practicality, … Continue reading
Posted in Columns
Tagged Fiscal Responsibility, President Obama, The Daily Beast, Wingnuts
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Weiner, Spitzer Out: Thank You New York – CNN.com
Twelve years ago, New York City taught the nation about resilience in the face of a massive attack. On Tuesday, New York again taught the nation that character counts. There is, of course, no comparison between the horror of 9/11 … Continue reading
American Way: Can Jim Messina Do for David Cameron What He Did for Barack Obama?
The incumbent was underwater. Low poll numbers and a still-sluggish economy, soaring campaign promises of hope and change that never quite materialised. The opposition attacked him; so did some of the ideological absolutists in his own camp. That’s the situation … Continue reading
Father Ostracized for Paternity Leave – OutFront – CNN
John Avlon and Margaret Hoover discuss the ‘double standard’ of paternity leave.