Gail Collins
9/23/2010

The Senate failed to override a Republican filibuster of a defense authorization bill based on elements of procedure, which Collins says sets a new record for dysfunction. As a result, now it has failed to pay the Army. Collins notes that procedural arguments will make people crazy, and those who claim to be voting on the basis of procedure are “fibbing, delusional, or crazy” when it comes to their real motives.

Collins is a New York Times columnist.

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Thomas L. Friedman
9/22/2010

Friedman praises China’s progress and infrastructure not because he wants America to emulate their system but because he is worried about America. He wants us to invest in our future and quit abusing our system. Toxic partisanship and a money-corrupted political class are keeping America from getting things done so that it can remain powerful. We should look at China’s successes objectively and look at ways to cooperate with them while also finding a way to pull ourselves together and find a way to get things done.

Friedman is a New York Times columnist.

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Maureen Dowd
9/22/2010

Dowd looks at the presidency of Jimmy Carter and compares it to that of President Obama, who is also subject to antigovernment frenzy. President Carter says Obama has it worse than he did because today there is cable news and the use of faith as a political ploy. In an interview with Carter, Dowd finds that Carter believes that a series of mishaps disrupted his attempt to rescue the American hostages in Iran during his presidency and we should continue to have diplomatic relations with Iran on principle, as it is best to do so with countries with whose opinions we differ.

Dowd is a New York Times columnist.

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Richard Cohen
9/21/2010

Republican Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell of Delaware confessed to having experimented with witchcraft. Cohen says the entire party appears as though under a spell. Newt Gingrich’s pronouncement of the president’s “anti-colonial” perspective and the growing misperception of the president as a Muslim both defy logic, as do partisan attacks on President Obama after his actions drew banking and investment industries–traditionally conservative structures–back from the brink. But the national mood is such that this irrational behavior may still result in strong electoral gains in November.

Cohen is a weekly columnist for The Post, writing on domestic and foreign politics.

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Anne Applebaum
9/21/2010

The pope’s visit to the United Kingdom stirred up religious and atheistic fervor. While Applebaum points out that a noted Jewish or Muslim leader would not receive the same angry protests as a Christian one, she also notes that the furor was ultimately good for the cause of religious freedom. Due to the protests, the pope received a tremendous amount of media attention. And because of the left-leaning nature of the more vicious protests, the conservative right came to the pope’s defense and ended up learning more about some important aspects of Catholicism. All in all, Pope Benedict XVI’s visit was beneficial politically and socially.

Applebaum is a weekly columnist for The Post, writing on foreign affairs.

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Karl Rove
9/16/2010

Rove is surprised that in just 20 months Obama has lost control of his presidency’s narrative. It’s too late for the president to turn John Boehner into the Gingrich of 2010. And while Obama’s personal attacks on the GOP leader may be therapeutic for him and send a thrill up the leg of left-wingers, it has cost him (and his party) dearly with independents and college-educated voters. In a little more than a year and a half, the president has lost a third of his support among independents, many of whom are ready to punish Democrats at the polls. It is too late for Obama to do a makeover before the midterms. For the country’s sake Rove hopes the midterms bring about real hope and change at the White House.

Rove, the former senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush, is the author of “Courage and Consequence” (Threshold Editions, 2010).

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David Brooks
9/14/2010

The story Republicans are telling each other about limited government is an oversimplified version of American history, and Brooks says it has dangerous implications. Using examples from Washington’s, Lincoln’s, and Roosevelt’s presidencies, Brooks says the American story is also one of limited but energetic governments that used federal power as a tool to promote growth and social mobility in the nation. He notes that if Republicans today regard “every new bit of government action as a step on the road to serfdom,” it will be a political, fiscal, policy, and intellectual tragedy. We must focus not just on what is happening today, but also on what could happen the day after tomorrow and problems facing the nation that cannot be addressed by merely making government smaller.

Brooks is a New York Times columnist.

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Charles Krauthammer
9/10/2010

The Obama administration has wisely designed upcoming talks with Palestine and Israel to deal directly with the real issues in the region. Likud Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is prepared to give up the West Bank, and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is prepared to give up his home in exchange for a real offer of peace from the Palestinians. The problem is Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ refusal to accept the existence of a Jewish state. Abbas will refuse to participate in the talks at all unless the settlement freeze, imposed by Obama, is not renewed on September 26. A reason not to participate in the negotiations would actually work in Abbas’ favor. If he is not present, he can not agree to any concessions. Abbas knows how to undermine even the most well-designed negotiations.

Krauthammer is a weekly columnist for The Post, writing on foreign and domestic policy and politics.

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Bill McKibben
9/10/2010

President Carter installed solar panels on the White House roof in June of 1979, invoking both their enormous potential and the risk of irrelevance. Unfortunately, the latter appears to have been the case in the United States. The panels were removed during the Reagan administration and less than one percent of American homes have solar heated water. In contrast, China leads the world in solar technology with 250 million homes utilizing the panels.

McKibben, founder of the global warming campaign 350.org, is a scholar in residence at Middlebury College in Vermont and the author of “Earth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet.”

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