The notion that Bush somehow rose above and beyond the very basic template -- the standard operating procedure for reacting to a crisis is nothing more than a tall tale. A lie, if you will.
I believe Barack Obama is thinking too small. Economic stimulants produce Bridges to Nowhere. Strategic investment in infrastructure produces a foundation for long-term growth.
I am sorry to say that it is foolish to think that a stimulus package will be an insta-cure. I think it is wiser to to keep in mind that it is going to take years to make this all right.
The year 2008 is thus likely to go down in American history as an even more pivotal one than 2001, when the 9/11 terrorist attacks occurred, because the life of the average American is going to be shaped far more by the consequences. We're not talking about the inconvenience of lining up to go through metal detectors at the airport. We're talking about the transformation of the American model itself. Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz was not exaggerating when he quipped to me earlier this year that "the fall of Wall Street is to market fundamentalism what the fall of the Berlin Wall was to communism." Just like that, we're in a different era.
If the Obama administration is serious about fixing US intelligence, there is a compelling logic to putting Panetta in charge at CIA.
A good case can be made that the massive globalization of labor and financial markets, coupled with "free markets uber alles" policies, formed a toxic mixture that made the collapse inevitable. Here's why.
Due to an inept attempt to defuse the "miserable failure" Googlebomb, when Bush goes, the next US president (Obama) inherits the problem.
It was 1975. I sat down in my first class at my new school in Madrid and Loyal Issiminger led me down the path of hellfire and brimstone into early American literature.
Bananas are dying. Soon -- in 5, 10 or 30 years -- the yellow creamy fruit as we know it will not exist.
It's not a coincidence that the porn industry meets in Vegas at the same time as the annual tech fest, when the town teems with guys who spent the best years of their lives with their hands on their joysticks.
There comes a time to stop fretting and make a decision. The only option is to act now and take control and help the future get here ahead of schedule. Do the obvious: shut down the printing presses.
The preamble of the Constitution starts with We the People. And it has never been clearer that we can't "form a more perfect Union" without the active participation of millions of us.
Let us hope that both our new president and our new Secretary of State will hand over to Holbrooke some of the pressing foreign conflicts to apply his own personal brand of resolution.
A seventy-one year old dude who hasn't held office for 14 years, appointed by a crook, has taken the Senate Majority Leader to the cleaners.
New Deal doubters cannot dispute the numbers and the overwhelming accomplishments of this era, so they focus instead on the few incomplete successes.
Even if the guns fall silent the charges and counter-charges of violations of international law will continue. Already the airwaves are full of talk that Israel's "disproportionate" response is a violation of international law.
If the budget situation is so dire that it is necessary to default on the government debt, then surely we should be considering defaulting on the bonds held by wealthy bankers.
Voters in Rahm Emanuel's district will have the chance to redeem their state's reputation. They will likely have the chance to elect, out of a crowded race, a true reformer in Thomas Geoghegan.
There's plenty Google can do to maintain or even increase the amount of quality journalism available on the Internet. Here are some ideas off the top of my head.
