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WikiLeaks is High-Stakes Paparazzi, Not Journalism
Tweet Share on Facebook November 29, 2010 Comment (18)The Internet has been a tremendously empowering tool for people who have felt their voices have gone unheard by their government, the media, organized religion, and Wall Street. Armed with a laptop, a cell phone camera, and YouTube, anyone can play investigative reporter, or spy, or even amateur celebrity photographer. On its face, technology can be hugely democratizing.
Unfortunately, these same tools—combined with an angry and disenfranchised public—have led to a destructive trend. Too many people have lost the ability to distinguish between speaking truth to power and just being an irresponsible jerk.
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Obama Should Lighten Up, Enjoy the Thanksgiving Turkey Pardoning
Tweet Share on Facebook November 24, 2010 Comment (8)The execution was imminent. Only the governor could stop it. And then, just as he was ready to announce his verdict, the call came to the governor from President Obama. Minutes later, North Dakota GOP Gov. John Hoeven announced that Tallulah would be given a reprieve.
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TSA Scanner Debate Shows Americans Are Selective About Privacy
Tweet Share on Facebook November 23, 2010 Comment (9)If necessity is the mother of invention, then personal violation is surely the father of principle.
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Palin, Dancing With the Stars, and What's Wrong With This Country
Tweet Share on Facebook November 23, 2010 Comment (15)There’s a scandal brewing involving alleged voter fraud, a questionably qualified contender, and a Palin. And while that would be an alarming development if it actually involved an actual campaign and public policy, it’s nearly as disturbing a comment on American popular culture that the controversy involves Bristol Palin, the 20-year-old daughter of Sarah Palin, and the younger woman’s role on an inexplicably popular dance contest show.
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Murkowski's Win Gives Hope for Third Party Solution
Tweet Share on Facebook November 19, 2010 Comment (5)Tea Party movement denizens point to their successes at the polls this month as a display of the will of the people—and they're right. But the same grassroots empowerment is also evident in the apparent loss by one of the movement's favorites, Republican Senate candidate Joe Miller.
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Republicans Should Start Respecting the President
Tweet Share on Facebook November 17, 2010 Comment (31)The first power showdown between Republican leaders in Congress and the White House is over what appears to be a relatively petty and insignificant matter: when to have a meeting among President Obama and both GOP and Democratic leaders at the White House to discuss the agenda for the incoming, divided government. But the undercurrent of the dispute is far more serious.
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Earmark Ban Won't Get the Federal Deficit Under Control
Tweet Share on Facebook November 16, 2010 Comment (6)The Tea Party movement has scored an early success with the incoming 112th Congress, winning support from Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell and others to put a moratorium on earmarks, the reviled appropriations for projects targeted to a specific entity without competition for the funds. But the move could also mark the beginning of a painful and potentially politically damaging exercise for lawmakers determined to control federal spending.
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Charlie Rangel Goes Too Far Playing the Victim in Ethics Trial
Tweet Share on Facebook November 15, 2010 Comment (9)There have been moments when Rep. Charlie Rangel, the veteran (literally and metaphorically) Democratic lawmaker accused of breaking ethics rules, has been a legitimate candidate for some sympathy. He’s been in public service for nearly a half century, re-elected this month to a 21st term in Congress. The misconduct of which he has been accused is arguably not evidence of corruption, but bad judgment and rule-breaking better adjudicated by the IRS, instead of the House Ethics Committee. Even the Ethics Committee lawyer, Blake Chisam, told panel members that while Rangel was “sloppy” and “overzealous” in his behavior, “I see no evidence of corruption.” And while the accusations against Rangel cannot be disregarded, the 80-year-old is difficult to dislike personally; he has developed genuine friendships with colleagues on the other side of the aisle, and has earned the respect of colleagues in both parties as well.
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Kanye West Could Learn a Thing or Two From Bush
Tweet Share on Facebook November 12, 2010 Comment (8)So much is being discussed about the observations former President George W. Bush has made in his new memoir that it’s easy to forget what led up to it. And that’s not just the eight years of his presidency and all of implications for the economy, the federal deficit, and civil liberties. It’s the fact that the former president was remarkably, and impressively, quiet during the first part of his successor’s term in office.
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Women in Congress Lose Ground in 2010 Elections
Tweet Share on Facebook November 11, 2010 Comment (2)It could have been another Year of the Woman in American politics, with an added twist: it was Republican women--in particular, conservative Republican women--who accounted for increases in the number of females running for the House, Senate or statewide office. Whether traditional feminists see the likes of California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman or Delaware Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell as torch-bearers for so-called women’s issues, it’s an advancement for women when the field of females is more ideologically diverse.
