Safe Democracy Foundation - Safe Democracy

David Ignatius
9/16/2010

Ignatius recounts an interview with retired Congressman Lee Hamilton. At 79 the Indiana Democrat remembers a time in American politics when making the country work took precedence over partisan interests and political loyalties. The problem, Hamilton says, is not partisan politics; it’s the bitter, angry spirit that accompanies them today. To rise above America’s political turmoil, Hamilton advises putting the interests of the country first and focusing on what works to make America successful.

Ignatius is a twice-weekly columnist for The Post, writing on global politics, economics and international affairs.

Link to full text in primary source.

Maureen Dowd
9/15/2010

Newt Gingrich has embraced his party’s lunacy, Dowd says. She shares some of his comments with the media that smear the president, saying he is a socialist and likening his behavior to Kenyan anti-colonialism. She also notes Gingrich’s un-Christian behavior despite his conversion to Catholicism. Finally, she looks at the writings and rantings of Dinesh D’Souz, which she says is fear-mongering akin to what the Bush administration used to get us into Iraq. Both D’Souz and Gingrich are using insinuation, half-truths, and dishonest reasoning to discredit the president, which would be funny if it weren’t so scary.

Dowd is a New York Times columnist.

Link to full text in primary source

Harold Meyerson
9/15/2010

American business has become dependent on China even though China continually violates World Trade Organization (WTO) rules by heavily subsidizing certain industries and manipulating its currency. Consequently, Chinese exports are underpriced and China controls the global market for strategic industries such as green energy. The Obama administration has not taken any measures (such as placing tariffs on underpriced Chinese imports) to deal with this problem. Last Thursday the United Steel Workers filed a lengthy complaint with US trade officials detailing China’s WTO violations. Lawmakers would do well to heed the Steel Workers’ complaint. Conservatives who fear government control at home ought to see that government control in the form of a Chinese manufacturing monopoly is just as great a threat to the American economy.

Meyerson is a weekly columnist for The Post, writing mainly about politics.

Link to full text in primary source.

Katrina vanden Heuvel
9/15/2010

Special interests and powerful corporate lobbies should be set aside in order to hold real debates on important issues. Political leaders along with the media engage in “gotcha politics” to the detriment of the country’s direction. Republican campaigns point accusingly to President Obama’s economic policies while Democrats point to past Republican policies as the cause of America’s woes. Republicans have remained in an “idea vacuum” for years, vanden Heuvel points out, which may actually help them in the upcoming elections. But for Democrat campaigns to be productive, Democrats need to be honest about the lack of jobs and the still-dismal state of the economy and clear about what needs to be done now.

Katrina vanden Heuvel is editor and publisher of The Nation magazine.

Link to full text in primary source.

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.

Link to full text in primary source.

Anne Applebaum
9/14/2010

The British government, nostalgic for the hardy survivalism of World War II and eager for a secure future, is cutting government spending with vigor. The solution to that country’s economic woes seems to be austerity, and many British citizens and leaders are embracing this approach so that they can, in the words of Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, “look our children and grandchildren in the eye and say we did the best for them.” In contrast, austerity holds little appeal for Americans, who long for the post-war era prosperity and are still accustomed to instant gratification.

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

Link to full text in primary source.