Archive by Author
Help Wanted: Second Superpower Needed in Middle East
Posted on 30. Nov, 2009 by Joel Schectman.
Iran’s announcement that it plans a massive expansion of its nuclear program couldn’t come at a worse time for the Obama administration. And President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad knows it. Right on the heels of a pointed rebuke by the UN’s nuclear watchdog agency over its nuclear program, Ahmadinejad announced that the country would build ten more […]
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Hillary: America Has Lost Its Flex
Posted on 10. Nov, 2009 by Joel Schectman.
In a moment of striking candor, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the financial crisis has left America’s power blunted. The United States, unfortunately, has lost leverage in the world because of the global economic crisis and because of the steps that this administration had to take to try to prevent, frankly, a worldwide […]
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Abortion Compromise Was Neccesary
Posted on 08. Nov, 2009 by Joel Schectman.
On a day of the biggest democratic victory in decades, a dissonant note sounded through liberal chambers that should have been ringing with a ballad of unfettered triumph: A medical reform bill that pushes for nearly universal coverage for Americans. A Democratic dream for more then 70 years. FDR tried it, Johnson tried it, Clinton […]
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BAM! Prez Takes on All Comers
Posted on 25. Oct, 2009 by Joel Schectman.
The public option, which just several weeks ago was down for the count, is back up and swinging with a new vigor and sureness – frankly we just didn’t think he had it in him. Now leaders of both chambers of congress are working on bills that include some version of a government healthcare plan, […]
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Why We Need a Godfather President
Posted on 18. Oct, 2009 by Joel Schectman.
I am starting to think that Obama just doesn’t have the muscle. Recently an old friend of mine, a longtime staffer for Republican congressman, suggested: “Forget about healthcare. If we ever got 60 seats there wouldn’t be an income tax anymore. Its embarrassing really.” And it is embarrassing. A political party that cannot pass its […]
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The Nobel Prize Committee's Bold Call
Posted on 12. Oct, 2009 by Joel Schectman.
Obama didn’t ask for the Nobel Peace Prize, and the real nominating party will not be revealed for another fifty years under the rules for the competition. On its face it seems extraordinary, even unique, to have a statesman win the prize before he has achieved anything in either the areas of statecraft or peace. […]
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Don't Move Missile Defense to the Sea, Send it to the Dump
Posted on 21. Sep, 2009 by Joel Schectman.
Conservatives criticized plans to drop plans for a European missile defense shield. They say it’s a capitulation to Russia during a time when we can ill-afford to look weak in the eyes of this potential adversary. But Obama’s plan to move sensors from Poland into the ocean and space doesn’t go far enough. This Cold […]
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The Afghanistan War: A Gold Medal in the Special Olympics?
Posted on 13. Sep, 2009 by Joel Schectman.
Karzai’s electoral fraud has added to the telling signs that Afghanistan could become Obama’s Iraq. Bush’s presidency can now be summarized with the name of the latter country. If Obama doesn’t want to end-up in the same place he must now aggressively seize the Afghan War’s narrative, not through a show of blank check commitment, […]
