Commentary by Joe Conason

January 22, 2009

What Bipartisan Means Now By Joe Conason

On the eve of Barack Obama's ascension to power, at candlelit dinners across Washington sponsored by the Presidential Inaugural Committee, the designated theme was bipartisanship. From the speeches delivered to the choice of honorees, which included Sen. John McCain, the former secretary of state Colin Powell, and the incoming vice president, Joe Biden, the new administration expressed its fond wish for a return to the respect and civility of a bygone era.

January 15, 2009

The Party of No Ideas By Joe Conason

Would it be rude to ask whether the Republicans have any new proposals to save the country from this worsening recession? The question arises not because anyone expects the minority party to burst forth with creative ideas, but because conservatives in Congress and the media seem so determined to thwart or stall the economic stimulus plans of President-elect Barack Obama.

January 8, 2009

Timing Is Wrong for Phony Thrift By Joe Conason

As the government contemplates spending very large sums of money, it is reassuring to know that somebody still worries about waste. Or it would be reassuring, if only that somebody were not Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, who promises that he and his fellow Republicans will "protect taxpayers against the rush to spend their money."

December 25, 2008

What Nixon Admitted (and Cheney Won't) By Joe Conason

To understand the philosophy of government that Dick Cheney brought to Washington over the past seven years, it is most instructive to see "Frost/Nixon," with Frank Langella's remarkable reanimation of Tricky Dick for a generation that never knew him.

December 18, 2008

Should She Be Senator Kennedy? By Joe Conason

Caroline Kennedy made her political debut in Manhattan almost exactly 10 years ago, when she showed up as the surprise speaker at a "teach-in" against the impeachment of Bill Clinton at New York University Law School.

December 4, 2008

Not a Team of Rivals At All By Joe Conason

When the journalistic pack bites into a tasty cliché they often refuse to let go, lazily chewing and regurgitating a phrase like "team of rivals" long after the flavor is gone. Derived from the Doris Kearns Goodwin book on Lincoln's cabinet, that morsel had scant relevance to the cabinet being assembled by Barack Obama, as the president-elect bravely tried to explain when he introduced his national security team.

November 27, 2008

Obama's Shrewd Choices By Joe Conason

While Barack Obama introduced the first members of his economic team, a wailing noise could be heard somewhere in the background.

November 21, 2008

Why Obama Can Keep Gates By Joe Conason

As Barack Obama makes his way through the transition to power, he is learning the steps of an old dance. Having promised change, he now surrounds himself with experience. Having poured scorn not only on the Bush administration but at times on the Clinton administration as well, he now welcomes those who served his Democratic predecessor, including the former first lady who ran against him.

November 13, 2008

Who's Afraid of a Filibuster? By Joe Conason

While the ultimate occupants of three United States Senate seats are yet to be determined in Alaska, Georgia and Minnesota, chances seem small that Democrats will increase their new majority to 60 seats -- the supermajority that ensures against a successful filibuster. So the same Republicans who once complained about the use of that legislative weapon by the opposition now brandish it in warning to President-elect Barack Obama.

November 6, 2008

America's New Political Center By Joe Conason

When George W. Bush looks back someday on the wreckage of the past eight years, even he may someday realize that he missed his most important political opportunity in the months after 9/11. Despite his lackluster performance on that day, Americans stood with him as the symbol of the nation, displaying a steadfast and sober unity we had not felt for decades.

October 30, 2008

Sarah the Scapegoat By Joe Conason

Writing a post-mortem for John McCain's presidential candidacy would be premature. But if and when that moment comes next week, toxic staff infection will be listed as a primary cause of death.

October 23, 2008

McCain's Socialist Delusion By Joe Conason

Wherever John McCain appears on the stump in these waning days of the presidential campaign, he is always accompanied by his imaginary friend "Joe the Plumber," but it is the specter of Karl Marx that lurks just offstage.

October 16, 2008

A Bush-Style Whitewash By Joe Conason

For anyone who followed the story of how and why Sarah Palin fired her state's public safety commissioner, last week's release of a legislative investigation that found she had violated state ethics statutes was anticlimactic. After all, everyone knows that she and her husband, Todd, tried to push Walt Monegan, then Alaska's public safety commissioner, to fire a state trooper named Mike Wooten, who was involved in a bitter divorce from Ms. Palin's sister -- and that after Mr. Monegan refused, he lost his job.

October 9, 2008

Honor Won and Lost By Joe Conason

Nothing in the presidential campaign so far has been as instructive as its swift descent into the politics of personal destruction. Although voters have probably heard little lately that they did not already know about Sen. Barack Obama, they have learned something very important about Sen. John McCain.

October 2, 2008

Making the Bailout Less Toxic By Joe Conason

The initial failure to pass bailout legislation reflected a political system as bereft of confidence as the financial markets. President George W. Bush and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson had no credibility to match the arrogance of their initial demand for absolute power in distributing $700 billion of public assistance (the old synonym for welfare).

September 25, 2008

A Special Prosecutor for Wall Street By Joe Conason

Debate over how to resolve the nation's financial emergency is taking a salutary direction for the moment, as politicians of both parties refuse to be herded by the Bush White House into a ridiculous $700-billion swindle.

September 18, 2008

The "Reform" McCain Wants to Forget By Joe Conason

With the markets in frightening turmoil and the public outraged by financial irresponsibility and excessive greed, John McCain has suddenly rediscovered the importance of strong, watchful government.

September 11, 2008

Two Bridges to Nowhere By Joe Conason

Is Sarah Palin the implacable pit bull of government reform, lipstick and all? The latest Republican campaign commercial pictures her in heroic terms at the side of John McCain as one of the "original mavericks," declaring that she "stopped the bridge to nowhere."

September 4, 2008

Why Bristol's Baby Matters By Joe Conason

Families deserve privacy about family matters, but families that want absolute privacy should stay out of politics. Sooner or later someone would have noticed the pregnancy of Bristol Palin, 17-year-old daughter of John McCain's vice-presidential pick, especially since everyone in her hometown of Wasilla, Alaska, seemed to know already.

August 28, 2008

Questions for Hillary's Zealots By Joe Conason

As the Democrats convene in Denver to celebrate Hillary Clinton and nominate Barack Obama, a tiny minority of her supporters continues to behave petulantly. They whine, they bluster, they agitate themselves and each other.

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