Dana Milbank
10/21/2010

The NAACP has released a report entitled “Tea Party Nationalism” in which the organization compares the conservative movement with the KKK and Lee Harvey Oswald, among others. While racially charged elements and members have aligned themselves with the Tea Party, they have been recognized and expelled just as quickly. To suggest the presence of a concerted, continuous effort is irresponsible, especially since the charge itself is racially aggressive and divisive. Thus, the NAACP is essentially inhabiting the same space it accuses the Tea Party of occupying, using race as a political wedge.

Milbank writes about political theater in the nation’s capital.

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Gail Collins
10/21/2010

Our political candidates’ use of undifferentiated anger to create nothing but a feeling of moral superiority on the part of the irate has backfired in political races this election season. Collins illustrates the stories of several candidates across the country who have done so and how it has cost them in the polls.

Collins is a New York Times columnist.

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Daniel Henninger
10/21/2010

Henninger writes about what he calls a rare chance to defuse the pension bomb. New York, like many other once-important states, is sitting on a public pension debt bomb. If it blows, it will take great swaths of the productive American economy with it for years. Harry Wilson says he can defuse the New York bomb. If Harry Wilson can get the public-pension death spiral under control in New York–and he just might have the professional and intellectual tools to do it–it should be possible to reform pensions in any state. Henninger concludes that it should be possible for a Cuomo-Wilson alliance to fix another failing American state.

Henninger writes ‘Wonder Land’ for the Journal.

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Zalmay Khalilzad
10/20/2010

Although Pakistan has and continues to do a lot of good in the war on terror, it continues to give only sanctuary and support to the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani terrorist network. This hampers American military efforts while contributing to American and Afghan deaths and has helped to sour relations between the two countries. Current American policy with Pakistan is not working. Washington must offer Pakistan a stark choice between positive incentives and negative consequences. Khalilzad offers a number of examples.

Khalilzad, a counselor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the president of a consulting firm, was the ambassador to Afghanistan, Ira, and the United Nations during the George W. Bush administration.

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Thomas L. Friedman
10/20/2010

Friedman gives several reasons why President Obama is not anti-Israel. These include building a global coalition to stop Iran from making a nuclear weapon and trying to advance the peace process in the Middle East to get Europeans and the UN behind tougher sanctions on Iran. It is not an act of hostility to ask Israel to continue its expired 10-month partial moratorium on settlement-building in the West Bank to prevent Palestinians from avoiding peace talks, but Israel’s prime minister has been resisting this request or demanding a payoff from the US for continuing the freeze. Friedman gives two reasons why he is wrong to do so. He says president Obama is doing his job and Palestine and Israel’s leaders should do theirs and work for peace during this process.

Friedman is a New York Times columnist.

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Ruth Marcus
10/20/2010

With the prevalence and prominence of female candidates this election season, the depressing state of gender politics has come front and center. Female candidates are repeatedly telling their male counterparts to “man up” while others have referred to “man pants” and “cojones” as requisites for responsible leadership. Conversely, an aide within Jerry Brown’s campaign referred to his opponent, Meg Whitman, as a whore. Recognition of and respect for genuine gender differences is entirely lacking; in its place is an unreflective, grade school level of name calling unbecoming the national discourse.

Marcus is an editorial writer for The Post, specializing in American politics, campaign finance, the federal budget and taxes, and other domestic issues.

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E.J. Dionne Jr.
10/18/2010

The Republican Party and conservatives generally appear to be taking a three tiered approach to this November’s elections. Glenn Beck has been the leading national voice for conservative criticism of the president, casting him as a dangerous and conspiratorial figure endangering the country’s future. Next, the Tea Party and other third party organizations are spending considerable sums on negative advertising against the various Democratic candidates. These influences then allow the local conservative candidates to adopt whatever pose or perspective will be most advantageous, from moderate to outspoken, in their respective races. The electorate is energized by the national influences and then mobilized according to the local tendencies.

Dionne is a twice-weekly columnist for The Post, writing on national policy and politics.

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Barbara Novick
10/18/2010

A special bankruptcy law could help borrowers while letting housing markets clear, says Novick. But any resolution of the housing crisis needs to respect the rights of everyone–investors, borrowers, lenders, and taxpayers. Foreclosure moratoriums, failed mortgage modifications, and principal forgiveness programs delay resolution. Worse, they create more losses for investors, homeowners, and taxpayers, yet fail to keep delinquent borrowers in their homes.

Novick is vice chairman of BlackRock, a global investment management firm based in New York City.

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Charles Krauthammer
10/15/2010

Instead of waiting until after the elections to give his analysis, Krauthammer performs a dissection now, and not without humor. From the “Most suicidal candidate” (Carl Paladino) to the “Unlukiest guy on the planet” (Beau Biden) to the “Most irresistible political name” (Ovide Lamontagne), Krauthammer points out the flaws, victories, and potential of various candidates and recognizes the importance of the rise of Republican women, apparently overlooked by conventional feminism. The electorate, says Krauthammer, has been misrepresented as irrationally angry, when in fact the elections of 2010 are driven by sensible anger and dissatisfaction with the first two years of this administration.

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

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