President Obama delivered his first Oval Office address last night, but it had to have been the most anti-climactic address any president has ever delivered from this office. After all, most presidents use this austere setting to inform the nation of grave new developments or to mobilize the public behind an issue of national importance. For example,… Read more.
Archives for 2010
New Sanctions on Iran: Naïve or Shrewd?
President Obama expended a great deal of political capital over the past five months trying to enlist countries like China and Russia in his coalition of the willing to impose new sanctions on Iran. He finally succeeded last week when the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1929. This latest round of sanctions is aimed at undermining… Read more.
John Wooden, pioneering basketball coach, is dead
Does anybody care that UConn’s women’s team is about to complete a second-consecutive perfect season by winning another NCAA championship tonight? Now just imagine the hoopla if North Carolina [or any men’s team] had won its championship in such convincing fashion. (Duke tops Butler to win NCAA title, The iPINIONS Journal, April 6, 2010) I posed… Read more.
Why it’s in nobody’s interest to bankrupt BP:
… pissing all over BP will just end up hurting the very people whose cause his critics claim to be championing. As it is … toxic carping has already caused the company to lose over $80 billion (half of its market value), all of which could have been siphoned off instead in government fines, cleanup costs, and private lawsuits. (BP spill turns… Read more.
The World Cup – South Africa!
The World Cup Today, the soccer World Cup kicks off in South Africa. But you do not have to be a fan of this “beautiful game” to be interested. Indeed, the historical, political, and economic significance of this event is almost beyond measure. Compared with the 2008 Summer Olympics in China, it is at least tenfold. That’s why the matches… Read more.
Helen Thomas Ends Celebrated Career With Foot in Mouth…
[Author’s note: This commentary was published originally on Tuesday, June 8, 2010, at 5:07 am. Continued interest (okay, mostly among Washington insiders) has persuaded me to republish it today.] Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine… Remember, these people are occupied. And it’s their land. It’s not German, it’s not Poland. [The Jews]… Read more.
2010 Primaries: Much Ado About Nothing
The more polarized American politics have become the more pundits are hyping every congressional contest as if control of Congress were in the balance. This has led to the spectacle of national reporters covering even totally irrelevant state primaries as if they were the actual election itself. This was the case yesterday – with the… Read more.
Obama Goes Gangsta On BP
Well, so much for my entreaties to Obama to stay true to his cool, calm, and collected character. For he proved today that he can be every bit as phony as Bill Clinton. Specifically, during an interview with Matt Lauer on NBC’s Today Show, he did all he could to demonstrate that he’s mad as hell and… Read more.
BP Spill Turns Media Swooning Over Obama Toxic
During his presidential campaign, Barack Obama always seemed indifferent to media pundits swooning over him. But instead of acting scorned, they made a virtue of this diss by propagating a narrative about him as a preternaturally cool, intellectual dude who never gets fazed by anything: remember “no drama Obama”? Well, that was then. Because these same… Read more.