Featured Commentary

Faith and the Uniform

Two atheistic groups and a lawsuit call on Washington to end its sanction of religion in the military. Critics decry this as an attack on a venerable tradition. But the blend of martial and spiritual in the armed forces is largely the residue of the fight again communism in the late 1940s and 1950s. What will the Obama administration do?

Obama the Visionary Minimalist

The president-elect is something new in American politics. In showing unfailing respect for those with competing views, he attempts to produce solutions that will accommodate the defining commitments of his fellow citizens. But he also wants to transform the nation’s self-understanding.

The President-elect and The Chairman

Obama fuses JFK with RFK — the cool concealing the intense emotional message. It’s hard to think of a comparable figure on the American landscape. Well, there’s one. Sinatra.

Obama’s Delicate Balancing Act

The president-elect has raised the expectations for all of us, patriotic expectations, moral expectations, expectations of what it means to be a citizen. But as Obama raises expectations, he must also lower them. There are going to be sacrifices involved. That’s the trick.

One-Party Government Does Not Equal ‘Extreme’

During periods of one-party government, when Democrats controlled both the White House and the Congress, history shows that they have not shifted radically toward a leftward agenda.

Fed’s $1.6 Trillon Bet

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke spent his academic career studying the Great Depression. But this economic meltdown is uncharted territory. It turns out the Fed already guaranteed $650 billion even before Congress ok’d that $700-billion bailout.