Pitchfork Time

In his campaign and inaugural address, Barack Obama cast himself as a moderate man seeking common ground with conservatives. Yet, his budget calls for the radical restructuring of the U.S. economy, a sweeping redistribution of power and wealth to government and Democratic constituencies. It is a ...

The Return of the War Party?

“Real men go to Tehran!” brayed the neoconservatives, after the success of their propaganda campaign to have America march on Baghdad and into an unnecessary war that has forfeited all the fruits of our Cold War victory. Now they are back, in pursuit of what has always been their ...

Do You Really Want a “€œConversation About Race”€?

Lecturing a conscript conclave of Justice Department bureaucrats, Attorney General Eric Holder last week called America a “nation of cowards” for not spending more time talking about race. Reading his speech, however, one recalls the sage counsel of Pat Moynihan to President Nixon in ...

The Long Retreat

“The situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating,” said President Obama, as he announced deployment of 17,000 more U.S. troops. “I’m absolutely convinced that you cannot solve the problem of Afghanistan, the Taliban, the spread of extremism in that region, solely through ...

Measuring National Decline

“Bush Boom Continues” trilled the headline over the Lawrence Kudlow column, as George W. Bush closed out his seventh year in office. “You can call it Goldilocks 2.0,” purred Kudlow. Yes, you could. But what a difference 12 months can make. Final returns are now in on the ...

Obama’s Great Game

The day before Richard Holbrooke arrived in Kabul, eight suicide bombers and gunmen attacked the Justice and Education ministries, killing 26 and wounding 57. Kabul was paralyzed, as the Taliban displayed an ability to wreak havoc within a hundred yards of the presidential palace. The assault ...

New New Nationalism

“British jobs for British workers!” thundered Gordon Brown, as he emerged from the shadow of Tony Blair to become prime minister. His populist sloganeering has now come back to bite him. Across Britain, thousands laid down tools in wildcat strikes in solidarity with a walkout from a ...

End Times

With reports circulating of its imminent demise, The New York Times announced in January that it had found a white knight. Sort of. For the knight in question, who already owns 6 percent of the sinking Times and was investing $250 million in notes carrying 14 percent interest, was Carlos Slim. ...

Barack’s Bad Deal

“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste,” sayeth Rahm. Opportunistic and cynical, yes. But also savvy political counsel that transformational presidents have always followed. FDR exploited the Depression to launch his New Deal, bring an end to a Republican hegemony of ...

Globalization/Ethno-Nationalism

Standing before the Siegessaule, the Victory Column that commemorates Prussia’s triumphs over Denmark, Austria, and France in the wars that birthed the Second Reich, Barack Obama declared himself a “citizen of the world” and spoke of “a world that stands as ...