Opinion Columns
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Talking ourselves out of warSep 13, 2013 1:00 pm - Rarely, if ever, has so much talk preceded a proposed military strike. Most administrations contemplating military action worry about an exit strategy. The Obama admini...
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A proposal to take the chaos out of war talkSep 12, 2013 5:00 am - As Washington swirls with proposals, counterproposals and political brinkmanship in response to diplomatic efforts on Syria, the situation has a lot of people scratching...
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Syria, sports and a haunting case of life imitating artSep 12, 2013 5:00 am - This week’s front pages put me hauntingly in mind of a play that opened in Washington, D.C., this spring and is running in New York this month. “Mr. Burns, a Post-Electr...
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Misunderstanding wartime leadershipSep 11, 2013 5:00 am - In 1938, President Franklin Roosevelt told his speechwriter Sam Rosenman, “It’s a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead — and to find no ...
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Where’s the moral outrage?Sep 11, 2013 5:00 am - Generals fight the last war. Liberals protest them. The statements of groups on the left regarding Syria are redolent with references to Iraq, Afghanistan and, of course...
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Examining our conversations about raceSep 10, 2013 5:00 am - When people call for a national “conversation” about race, what they really have in mind is a lecture. Sometimes President Obama is among them. So at the expense of alie...
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A little bit of warSep 09, 2013 9:24 am - Waging a little bit of war is like being a little bit pregnant. History and human experience tell us that neither is possible, yet we seem bent on believing it. Or, sho...
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China's rich, yearning to breathe freeSep 08, 2013 5:00 am - Thousands of Chinese are fleeing to the United States. We are not talking about impoverished peasants hiding in cargo containers. We're talking about millionaires flying...
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How Illinois Democrats plan to raise taxes again (in five easy steps)Sep 06, 2013 5:00 am - Illinois politicians have their faults, but one of their most salient traits is that they are creatures of habit. They often wear their political playbook on their sleev...
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Rallying around a gestureSep 06, 2013 5:00 am - In mid-June, the Obama administration said it would begin arming Syrian rebels, partly in response to the use of chemical weapons by the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Refug...