President Obama's rhetoric in his Nobel acceptance speech was as powerful as ever. Obama pointed to the importance of striving for peace, and attempted to justify US involvement in Afghanistan. But the most significant aspect of Obama's speech may be a precarious balance struck between acknowledging the sad reality...

As casualties mount in Afghanistan, pundits and bloggers eagerly await Obama's decision on US policy toward that conflict. The American public is growing wary of the war, with Democratic lawmakers and activists calling for reduced troop levels. Yet, many commentators emphasize the risks of a withdrawal, while Republicans are preparing...

On Tuesday, November 03, 2009, Virginia Democrats (including myself) voting in the gubernatorial election shouldered the heavy burden of insuring President Obama's agenda against a persistent conservative onslaught. And, with Democratic candidate Creigh Deeds' landslide loss, we awoke the next day feeling like we had let our fellow Democrats down....

As the Supreme Court took up Salazar v. Buono last week, deciding the fate of a cross on public land, I was put in an awkward position. Once again, I squirm at the unrestrained histrionics of both sides, sinking into my chair as I did during heated debates in my...

After the simplistic crusading of Bush and the cautiously incoherent foreign policies of Clinton, President Obama's speech to the UN General Assembly on Wednesday was everything a good progressive could want. An American leader has laid out a worldview that is dedicated to liberal internationalism while also appreciating the...

The morning of September 11th, 2001 still weighs heavily on my mind. It was my second week of college, and I -- two hours outside of New York City -- was slowly adjusting to leaving my family in Pennsylvania when news of the attack reached my college. As the days...

Last Friday, former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge revealed the obvious--that the George W. Bush Administration had pressured him to raise the terror alert level in advance of the 2004 elections. This is significant for many reasons, but what struck me was its relation to one of the most significant...

In the silence following Dick Cheney's last grumbled words in response to President Obama's speech on counterterrorism strategy last week, I could almost hear the clicking of thousands of keyboards as they erupted in a cacophony of punditry. Some masterfully dissected Cheney's statements to reveal their mind-blowing inanity, while...

I may be jaded, but I was incapable of mustering the liberal rage many seem to experience in the face of the "torture memos" President Obama recently released. Instead, I feel the unnerving sense of experiencing the surreal, like unintentionally walking onto the set of a Tim Burton movie....

Entropy, I was taught in high school chemistry, is one of the several laws ruling the universe. Disorder increases, and energy dissipates; certainty disappears under the inevitable pressure of time. And so it is in the United States' "war on terror."

Moral clarity after the 9/11 attacks gave way...

Every neighborhood has that bratty kid, who insists on being allowed to play with the big kids, throwing a tantrum if refused. North Korea, the bratty kid of North Asia, is preparing to throw a tantrum of its own--recently announcing plans to launch a satellite--which poses serious threats to...

I admit it, I'm a pessimist. When my college classmates would gush about how globalization will help foster cultural understanding I would remind them of the 9/11 attacks. When I moved to DC, and friends would look forward to a progressive re-taking of the country, I would point to the...

As we enter the last month of the Bush presidency, progressives around the country are increasing in giddiness. Given the president's legion mistakes in foreign and domestic policy alike, this happiness is well deserved. Yet, as good as it will be to see him go, it is important to recognize...