Rethinking Wilson’s Points
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on July 10th, 2014 11:08 pm by HL
Rethinking Wilson’s Points
David Ignatius, RealClearPolitics
WASHINGTON — As American policymakers ponder the future shape of the Middle East, they should perhaps recall that the United States was opposed to the 1916 Sykes-Picot agreement, the famous “line in the sand” that is now said to be dissolving. American’s opposition back then was based on its rejection of the secret diplomacy between Britain and France that produced the plan to divide the Ottoman Empire after World War I. The U.S. opposed this neo-colonial carve-up of the region and called instead for the right to national self-determination. The tragedy of America’s role in the modern Middle…
The Transgender Religion
Heather Wilhelm, RealClearPolitics
“Religion,” well-known atheist Penn Jillette recently argued in the New York Times, “needs to go away and not be replaced by anything.” Jillette apparently understands the resilience of human faith. In 2003, the novelist Michael Crichton argued that, despite the hopes of atheists, religion will never really disappear. “I think that you cannot eliminate religion from the psyche of mankind,” Crichton said. “If you suppress it in one form, it merely reemerges in another form.” Religion tends to reemerge in the unlikeliest places. Today, at least in…
Boehner Lawsuit to Cite Obamacare Mandate Delay
Caitlin Huey-Burns, RealClearPolitics
House Republicans plan to cite the Obama administration’s unilateral delay of the employer mandate for insurance coverage in their lawsuit against the president’s use of executive actions. On Thursday evening, House Speaker John Boehner unveiled a draft of legislation that would authorize Congress to file suit against President Obama, claiming he changed provisions of the Affordable Care Act without a vote from Congress. The House Rules Committee will take up the legislation on Wednesday. Boehner announced plans for a lawsuit last month, but did not disclose any details at the time,…
Pelosi on Hobby Lobby: Be Afraid of SCOTUS
Caitlin Huey-Burns, RealClearPolitics
Nancy Pelosi said Americans should fear the Supreme Court in light of its recent Hobby Lobby decision. That late-June ruling allowed for-profit, secular companies to opt out of mandated contraceptive coverage under the health care law. “We should be afraid of this court,” the House minority leader told reporters Thursday. She expressed chagrin “that five men should get down to the specifics of whether a woman should use a diaphragm and she should pay for it herself or her boss.” Congressional Democrats have decried the 5-4 decision that exempted closely held…
