2014 and the Limits of Rage
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on August 28th, 2014 11:08 pm by HL
2014 and the Limits of Rage
E.J. Dionne, RealClearPolitics
WASHINGTON — The short-term future of politics in the nation’s capital will be determined in large part by which party ends up in control of the Senate. But for a sense of the long-term future of politics in the country as a whole, watch the governors races. The question to ask: Do voters begin to push back against the tea party tide that swept governorships and legislatures into Republican hands four years ago and produced the most radical changes in policy at the state level in at least a generation? On the Senate races, two things are true. Simply because so many Democratic seats are at…
Tacos, Beer, and the Banality of Evil
Heather Wilhelm, RealClearPolitics
Over the past few weeks, countless Americans have cheerfully doused themselves with ice-filled water to raise money to fight ALS, otherwise known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. With the mind-boggling success of this simple viral campaign, it didn’t take long for copycat efforts to arrive. Not all of them, alas, are heartwarming. Take the “Taco or Beer Challenge,” dreamed up by writer and abortion enthusiast Andrea Grimes. The effort calls for Americans to “eat a taco or drink a beer”—that part, I suppose, should not be surprising—and then, in a…
How Dems Can Hold the Senate; Ducey Wins in Ariz.; Thwarting Yellow Fever
Carl M. Cannon, RealClearPolitics
Good morning. It’s Wednesday, August 27, 2014. On this date in 1900, two U.S. Army physicians performed an experiment that saved the South, prevented the deaths of thousands of Americans, and restored the reputation of an unfairly blamed Florida saloonkeeper — all in a single experiment. What those Army doctors did in their lab at the Columbia Barracks Hospital outside Havana, with help from a heroic Cuban colleague, was solve the terrible mystery of Yellow Fever. And it came at considerable personal cost. I’ll tell the tale in a moment. First, I’d direct you to…
Obama’s Back-to-Work Challenge
David Ignatius, RealClearPolitics
WASHINGTON — It’s “back to school” week for President Obama, after what a CNN analyst called “the vacation from Hell.” So perhaps it’s a good time to examine what’s been going wrong for Obama recently and whether he can fix it. The common complaint of late is that Obama is “disengaged.” This has always been somewhat of an issue, given his reticent public style, but the criticism intensified during his Martha’s Vineyard holiday. It’s an odd critique: Obama works at least as diligently as George W. Bush did during his frequent trips to Texas. Even during this golf-besotted vacation, Obama…