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Political Commentary

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September 6, 2009

Too Much Gained in Afghanistan To Exit Now By Debra J. Saunders

As he campaigned for the presidency, Sen. Barack Obama argued that Afghanistan should become "the central front in the battle against terrorism." Obama has delivered on that issue.

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September 5, 2009

The Jobless Recovery By Lawrence Kudlow

The jobless-recovery theme re-emerged on Friday with the arrival of a disappointing employment report.

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September 4, 2009

Cracked Justice Enabled Girl Rape Case By Froma Harrop

Many astounding details surround the story of the California rapist who kidnapped an 11-year-old and kept her captive for 18 years. None shocks more than the raw fact that Phillip Garrido was not locked up, the key lost.

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September 4, 2009

Who Will Run the Free Hot Dog Stand? By Susan Estrich

Watching conservatives cheer the demise of the "public option" has left me shaking my head.

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September 3, 2009

New Facts Undercut Old Positions on Immigration By Michael Barone

Before leaving for his vacation on Martha's Vineyard, Barack Obama said the next big item on his legislative agenda -- well, after health care and cap-and-trade and maybe labor's bill to effectively abolish secret ballots in union elections -- was immigration reform.

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September 3, 2009

Hey, Conservatives, We're Recovering By Lawrence Kudlow

Believe it or not, sometimes good news on the economy can be bad news for stocks.

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September 2, 2009

In Memory of Teddy By Susan Estrich

It's been a long and ugly weekend, e-mail wise. Ted Kennedy may be gone, but the haters are still out there. Every time I said a nice word, my BlackBerry would start vibrating.

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September 2, 2009

Waterboarding Policy and Consequences By Tony Blankley

"President George W. Bush kept us safe from further terrorist attacks." Few presidential claims have been less persuasive to the public than that. Yet after Sept. 11, most Americans thought, "It's not a question of whether, but when." We would have been grateful if we had known at the time that there would be no further attacks while Bush was president.

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September 1, 2009

How They Missed Jaycee By Debra J. Saunders

Since 1999, when he was placed under California parole supervision for a 1976 rape in Nevada, Phillip Garrido, 58, was subject to drug testing, required to wear a GPS device and subject to twice-monthly visits by his state parole officer.

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September 1, 2009

Biggest Danger to Democrats By Froma Harrop

Flip the calendar pages -- as they do in the old movies to show passage of time -- and stop at Nov. 2, 2010. That will be Election Day. How Congress handles health care reform will influence which party gets to party that night.

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August 31, 2009

The End of America's Experiment With Royalty By Michael Barone

Edward Kennedy was buried Saturday, the last son of Joseph and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, the longest-serving member of the only royal political family our democratic republic has ever produced.

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August 30, 2009

President Obama Should Pardon CIA Interrogators By Debra J. Saunders

When he served as deputy attorney general, now Attorney General Eric Holder gave a "neutral leaning positive" recommendation that led to President Bill Clinton's pardoning of gazillionaire fugitive Marc Rich, who was on the lam in Switzerland hiding from federal charges of fraud, evading more than $48 million in taxes, racketeering and trading oil with Iran in violation of a U.S. embargo.

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August 28, 2009

The State Prison Mess By Debra J. Saunders

Earlier this month, three federal judges -- Stephen Reinhardt, Lawrence Karlton and Thelton Henderson -- ordered the release of more than 40,000 of California's 160,000 inmates. No lie: They claimed that releasing one-quarter of state inmates would not have "a meaningful adverse impact on public safety."

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August 28, 2009

Law, Not Torture, Protects National Security By Joe Conason

Predictably as always, the Republicans in Congress and in the conservative media are berating Attorney General Eric Holder for deciding to investigate the CIA's use of abusive interrogation methods on terror suspects.

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August 27, 2009

The Liberal Lion, With Asterisks By Froma Harrop

They called him "The Liberal Lion." Ted Kennedy deserved that title, though with some asterisks added. There's no reconciling Kennedy worshippers with the Kennedy haters. But those who can deal with shades of gray will pay tribute to the legendary Massachusetts senator who championed landmark legislation through bipartisan cooperation -- but whose sense of family privilege didn't always serve the interests of democracy.

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August 27, 2009

Obama's Lyrical Left Struggles With Liberalism By Michael Barone

As it becomes clear that a large percentage of Americans are rebelling against the prospect of a larger, more intrusive government, including many whom Democratic politicians assume would see themselves as beneficiaries of government spending and activity, debate among supporters of the Democratic agenda has focused on tactics.

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August 27, 2009

The Senator By Susan Estrich

He was not a natural. He did not have the gift that Bill Clinton had, that Barack Obama has, the gift of making whatever he said sound smart and moving.

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August 26, 2009

Command Decision By Tony Blankley

On May 27, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson had telephone conversations about Vietnam with McGeorge Bundy, his national security adviser, and Sen. Richard Russell, chairman of the Armed Services Committee. First, to Bundy, he said: "It just worries the hell out of me. I don't see what we can ever hope to get out of there. ... I don't think that we can fight them 10,000 miles away from home and ever get anywhere. ... I don't think it's worth fighting for, and I don't think we can get out. It's just the biggest damn mess I ever saw. ... What the hell is Vietnam worth to me? ... What is it worth to this country?"

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August 25, 2009

Children Should Not Be Props on Reality TV By Froma Harrop

In the beginning, "Jon & Kate Plus 8" had a sweet charm. The little ones would scamper and shout toddler things, as their harried parents tried to keep order.

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August 25, 2009

The Mysterious Case of Scottish Justice By Debra J. Saunders

When convicted Pan Am Flight 103 killer Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi landed to a hero's welcome in Libya last week, there was no question about it: Our Betters in Europe got rolled.