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Honor Sargent Shriver by Increasing Peace Corps Funding
Tweet Share on Facebook January 19, 2011 Comment (6)As Sargent Shriver is eulogized for his deep and enduring commitment to public service, Congress should take the opportunity to put numbers behind their words. They should expand funding for the Peace Corps, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and of which Shriver was the first director.
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New York Jets Spoiled Win Over Patriots With Bad Behavior
Tweet Share on Facebook January 18, 2011 Comment (13)If the country engaged in any soul-searching, post-Tucson shootings, about how we behave and speak to one another, the message was clearly lost on many in professional football.
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To Sarah Palin, the Arizona Shooting Is All About ... Sarah Palin
Tweet Share on Facebook January 13, 2011 Comment (83)A nine-year-old girl who just wanted to meet her congresswoman is dead. Democracy itself is under assault with the shooting death of a federal judge and a congressional aide, and the attempted murder of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. The accused shooter has a troubling history that raises questions about how we care for the mentally ill and whom we allow to have a gun. Heroes emerged, including citizens who threw themselves atop the shooter to stop further bloodshed, and the congressional intern who used his first aid training to attend to his wounded boss, possibly saving her life. Doctors in Tucson have performed medical miracles, saving a woman who arrived at the hospital after having a bullet go straight through her head. [Photo Gallery: Gabrielle Giffords Shooting in Arizona.]
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Arizona Shooting Funeral Protest Strains the First Amendment
Tweet Share on Facebook January 12, 2011 Comment (10)The tragic shootings in Tucson raise, yet again, a critical question in a country which cherishes the First Amendment: how much must we tolerate intolerance in the defense of free speech?
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The Media Is Also Responsible for Heated Political Rhetoric
Tweet Share on Facebook January 11, 2011 Comment (4)President Obama pledged to raise the level of dialogue in Washington and ease the bitter partisanship that has crippled the work of Congress. He has been unable to do so, and it’s not entirely his fault, since the president cannot control the behavior of Congress any more than teachers can control what students do after school. Speaker John Boehner now has a chance to lessen the vitriol on the Hill, and he’s made at least one gesture of decency so far: Delaying the meaningless vote to repeal the healthcare overhaul law, and to instead pass a resolution honoring the victims of the Tucson gun assault, including colleague Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. That’s a step, but won’t fix what’s wrong.
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Don't Say Gabrielle Giffords' Shooting Not Related to Violent Rhetoric
Tweet Share on Facebook January 10, 2011 Comment (33)It would be wrong, not to mention unfair and destructive, to blame the Tea Party movement or any other political force for what happened to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. But it would be equal folly to treat the shooting as though it had nothing to do with the sort of violence-themed and inciteful rhetoric employed by some leaders and followers of the Tea Party.
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Change in Congress Looks Awfully Familiar
Tweet Share on Facebook January 6, 2011 Comment (10)Players may change, and the party which controls the chambers of Congress may change, but one thing stays distressingly consistent: the House is run by an iron-handed majority, and the Senate is run by the minority.
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What Were Brett Favre and Owen Honors Thinking?
Tweet Share on Facebook January 5, 2011 Comment (15)Forty years after the onset of the second wave of feminism in the United States, this is what we are forced to deal with: Capt. Owen P. Honors, ESPN broadcaster Ron Franklin, and retiring (for real, this time) NFL quarterback Brett Favre.
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Issa, GOP More Interested in Politics Than Oversight
Tweet Share on Facebook January 4, 2011 Comment (17)A strong commitment to congressional oversight is a welcome goal. But the approach incoming chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Rep. Darrell Issa, isn’t the way to restore public confidence in government efficiency and ethics.
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Troubling Signs From New Republican House Majority
Tweet Share on Facebook January 3, 2011 Comment (12)Republicans have come out with guns cocked as they prepare to take over leadership of the House. This is natural; they've developed the kind of bunker mentality and solidarity in shared victimhood that comes from being in the House minority. As tough as it was for the GOP to be out of control in the House, Senate, and White House, it's most frustrating for House minority party members, since they have almost no real power. Senators in the minority can effectively rule the chamber by threatening filibusters; House minority members have to stand by and get rolled over by the Rules Committee, which is hyper-weighted to favor the majority party.
