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Obama the Military Leader Should Be Wary as Army Confidently Marches Off
Tweet Share on Facebook April 30, 2009 Comment (7)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.
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Michelle Obama Owes Debt to First Lady Laura Bush, Who Was Her Own Woman
Tweet Share on Facebook April 29, 2009 Comment (11)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.
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Specter Party Switch Hurts Democrats and Republicans Alike
Tweet Share on Facebook April 28, 2009 Comment (5)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.
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An "A" for Obama's First 100 Days...Not That It Matters
Tweet Share on Facebook April 27, 2009 Comment (13)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.
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Better U.S. Schools Could End Recession, Pay Off Debt to China
Tweet Share on Facebook April 24, 2009 Comment (27)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.
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Second Amendment Makes Gun Control Unconstitutional, Period
Tweet Share on Facebook April 23, 2009 Comment (208)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.
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Torture Investigation Must Yield Good Info--No False Confessions, No Witch Hunts
Tweet Share on Facebook April 22, 2009 Comment (25)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.
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Reagan Wouldn't Share Republican Obsession with Gay Marriage, Family Values
Tweet Share on Facebook April 21, 2009 Comment (31)By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
As someone who has studied Ronald Reagan's presidency at great length, I feel comfortable conceding that if he were alive today, he probably would not be striding the battlements, cheering for Roe v. Wade, or the rights of gays to marry.
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Texas Secession--Where Would It Lead? A Look at a Future Lone Star Republic
Tweet Share on Facebook April 17, 2009 Comment (275)By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Maybe we unionists are being hasty. Maybe we should let Texas secede.
Think about what life in Texas would be like if its pandering governor has his way.
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McVeigh and Oklahoma City Remind Us: Calm Down Before the Crazies Come Out
Tweet Share on Facebook April 16, 2009 Comment (23)By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
I have in my workspace, resting on a bookcase with fragments of the Berlin Wall and some shrapnel I gathered at Verdun, an irregularly shaped chunk of red granite. It is a piece of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City, which was destroyed by a creep named Timothy McVeigh in 1995.
The anniversary of the bombing, which took the lives of 168 people, is this Sunday—April 19.
