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Obama Sees a Distant Horizon

by Kenneth Weisbrode

What a difference a month makes.  It now seems like ages ago that pundits were calling Barack Obama's presidency a failure after only one year.  His signature health care initiative was stalled; his inner circle had begun to show indiscipline by way of embarrassing leaks; and foreign leaders from Nicolas Sarkozy to Vladimir Putin to Benjamin Netanyahu were suggesting that the pensive, cautious, thoughtful Obama was just plain weak, or worse:  incompetent.

Making "Environmentalism" Relevant for Everyone

by Brian Hamilton

This Thursday marks the fortieth anniversary of the first Earth Day, the largest demonstration in U.S. history.  Millions of Americans took part on and around April 22, 1970, with events at nearly every college in the nation, in 10,000 secondary and elementary schools, not to mention community centers, parks, and places of worship.  The public outpouring catalyzed Congressional support for a raft of epochal environmental legislation.  Perhaps even more important, Earth Day participants—who were more often than not supporters of diverse causes—discovered a kinship with one another, and together began identifying themselves for the first time as “environmentalists.”

From an Economy of Consumption to an Economy of Sustainability

by Walter G. Moss

In March 2009 President Obama’s chief economic adviser, Larry Summers, described the origins of what some called the Great Recession:  “An abundance of greed and an absence of fear on Wall Street led some to make purchases -- not based on the real value of assets, but on the faith that there would be another who would pay more for those assets.  At the same time, the government turned a blind eye to these practices and their potential consequences for the economy

Wikipedia—The Dumbing Down of World Knowledge

by Edwin Black

Jay Leno probably said it best a few weeks ago when he joked that when Wikipedia's servers briefly went down for some three hours, it left the world

How McDonnell's Remarks Could Jeopardize Southern Tourism

by Ethan J. Kytle and Blain Roberts

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell’s now infamous Confederate History Month proclamation, which omitted any reference to slavery, has stoked the predictable partisan fires.  The Sons of Confederate Veterans have cheered the move, while liberals contend the governor is pandering to the far Right.  Although McDonnell quickly issued an apology—in which he distanced himself from neo-Confederates by admitting that slavery “led to the Civil War”—some Demo

Obama’s Nuclear Initiatives Are Neither “Sufficient” Nor “Bold”

by Shane J. Maddock

President Barack Obama renewed the U.S. commitment to a nuclear-free world in April 2009 when he declared in Prague that he would take steps “sufficiently bold” to move the globe closer to that long-term goal.

Barack Obama's Legal Predecessor was Charles Hamilton Houston

by Rawn James, Jr.

In the coming weeks, publishers will release several biographies of Barack Obama.  The work of accomplished writers such as David Remnick and Bob Woodward surely will add to our collective understanding of the m

Exit Gen. Grant - Enter St. Ronald?

by Steven Conn

Saving the Union by defeating the Confederate army and being elected twice to the presidency is no longer good enough to secure a place for posterity.  Republicans, led by Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, want to take the portrait of Grant off the $50 bill and replace it with one of Ronald Reagan. I had forgotten that Grant graces the fifty, but Republicans handle a lot more of those bills than I do, and apparently they want to see Reagan's face every time they

Remember When Health Insurance Was a Great Idea?

by Gustav Schonfeld, MD

For roughly the first half of the twentieth century and before, out-patient medicine in the United States was delivered mostly in the offices of private generalist physicians [general practitioners] - solo practitioners or

Republican, Democrat, or Independent: Which Choice for Me?

by Vaughn Davis Bornet

A historian's letter to his granddaughter.

New York City's Latest Taxi Scam

by Graham Russell Gao Hodges

Several weeks ago, furor mounted over a taxi fare scam in New York City. The situation calls for some perspective.  After a New York City physician complain

14 Attorneys General vs. the Constitution

by Stanley Kutler

Fourteen state Attorneys General have indicated their determination to challenge the recently-enacted health care legislation on the grounds that their states have pre-empted federal action.  Why is it no surprise that all these officials are Republicans? Constitutional law, as understood and implemented for more than two centuries, trumps the AGs' contentions.  Article VI, Section 2 provides that "This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be m

To End the Gaping Political Divide over Roe, Revisit Doe

by Jerome C. Wakefield

President Obama called during his campaign for finding common ground on abortion, but such calls may strike many as hopelessly Pollyanna, especially now, with the abortion divide in American politics emerging with unrestrained vehemence in the congressional debate over comprehensive health care reform.Even so, might some common ground yet be found?A possible answer lies in encouraging the Supreme Court to reconsider Doe v. Bolton, a decision that accompanied R

The University Is Not a Factory

by Christopher Merrill and Linda K. Kerber

Vice President Cheney's admission on ABC's This Week that he ordered the torture of terrorist suspects may be a defining moment in our political discourse.  It was remarkable not so much for the substance of its revelation -- we have long known that "enhanced interrogation" methods, including waterboarding, were integral to the Bush administration's prosecution of its War on Terror -- as for its banality.  Perhaps it was the release of a poll in which a majo

This Recession is Going To Be a Long One

by James Livingston

Why do we think we’re in a recovery?  What makes us think that the economic crisis has passed?  Why don’t we see that it’s getting worse, and now threatens, more than ever, to become a replica of the Great Depression?

The Sad History of Kansas City Public Schools

by Joshua M. Dunn

Two weeks ago the media reported the apparently shocking news that the Kansas City, Missouri School District (KCMSD) school board voted 5-4 to close nearly half of its schools, 28 of 61 schools in the district. But those

Health Care Reform and Liberal Values

by Walter G. Moss

When on March 23 President Obama signed into law health care legislation, among those in attendance were 11-year-old Marcelas Owens and relatives of Natoma Canfield.  In his remarks the president noted that “Marcelas lost his mom to an illness, and she . . . couldn't afford the care that she needed,” and “Natoma [who has cancer] had to give up her health coverage after her rates were jacked up by more than 40 percent.” In his 2006 book, The A

Location, Location, Location Affected the Media in the D.C. Sniper Case

by Jack Censer

During the 2002 D.C. sniper incident, journalists, who considerably outnumbered the police serving on the task force to catch the perps, were motivated both by the opportunity to get a good story and by personal fear of getting

Will Detroit Become a Replica of Chernobyl's Ghost Town?

by Jill O'Neill

Empty lots, derelict buildings, and homes overrun with trees are effortless to find today in Pripyat, the Ukrainian city that was evacuated within two days of the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl in 1986.  Unfortunately, the city of Detroit is starting to show similarities to this Ukrainian ghost town, as vacancies are on the rise and wildlife has overtaken some of the neighborhoods. Since 1950, Detroit’s population has fallen from 1.85 million to around 900,000, and ap

George Will and Peter Beinart Take a Woodrow Wilson Quote Out of Context

by Kristie Miller and Robert H. McGinnis

George Will’s syndicated column of March 11 relies on phrases taken out of context to portray Woodrow Wilson as a rigid rationalist on the subject of love.Will quotes Peter Beinart, from his fo