Entries for April 2009

By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

I appreciated Barack Obama's reply to the question at last night's press conference about the "enchanting" aspects of his job.

By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Let's hear it for a great first lady—Laura Bush.

That's right. As we spend the day praising Michelle Obama, who has performed more than capably for 100 days (witness her deft touch at yesterday's dedication of a statue of Sojourner Truth), let's pay a little attention to the gal who did the grueling job of first lady so well before her—for eight years.

By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Sen. Arlen Specter's defection may sound like great news for Democrats and Team Audacity.

But in the long run, it could be bad for the Obama administration, and bad for the country.

The big thing the Democrats suffer from now is arrogance. The big thing that Republicans suffer from is ideological rigidity.

Specter's defection reinforces both trends.

The task of pulling the country back from destructive polarization is now a little tougher. And Barack Obama, the guy who got elected saying he would lead that charge, has been mostly AWOL.

As a liberal, maybe I should be happy. But as a civil libertarian and a student of history—with many years experience watching the jokers in Washington—I revere the checks and balances that those 18th-century geniuses built into our political system.

Another Northeast Republican is gone.

The Democrats are a little bit more unchecked this evening, and the Republicans more unbalanced.

By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

I will give Barack Obama an "A" for the first grading period, realizing that it doesn't mean a thing.

A hundred days was a meaningful way to measure Napoleon's return to France, but only because it took that long for the British and the Prussians to gather their armies and meet his at Waterloo. The climactic battle made the time frame meaningful.

Obama has not had a climactic battle. And the real results of the skirmishes he has won (chiefly, the stimulus package) are still months or years away.

By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Can we all agree, liberals and conservatives, that the US of A is piling up a mountain of public debt? And can we all agree that nobody wants to raise income tax rates to pay off all those trillions of dollars that we owe?

That is what the infamous tea parties were all about, right Fox News fans?

Well here is one way to pay off our Chinese and other foreign creditors, without raising taxes. It's surprisingly simple: improve our schools.

By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

My editors would like me to take a nuanced, clever stance on the Second Amendment.

I cannot.

No means no. Not means not.

Just like the First Amendment. 

No infringement on Free Speech.

No mixing Church and State.

No Gun Control.

By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

At GlobalPost this morning, I report on President Obama's desire to keep politics out of any investigation of the harsh interrogation techniques used by the military and the CIA in the weeks and months after al Qaeda's attacks on Washington and New York.