WASHINGTON -- While Iran's march toward a nuclear bomb has provoked a major clash between the White House and Congress, Iran's march toward conventional domination of the Arab world has been largely overlooked. In Washington, that is. The Arabs have noticed. And the pro-American ones, the Gulf Arabs in particular, are deeply worried.
Iran's Emerging Empire
Obama: Charlie Who?
WASHINGTON -- On Sunday, at the great Paris rally, the whole world was Charlie. By Tuesday, the veneer of solidarity was exposed as tissue thin. It began dissolving as soon as the real, remaining Charlie Hebdo put out its post-massacre issue featuring a Muhammad cover that, as The New York Times put it, "reignited the debate pitting free speech against religious sensitivities."
The Real Civil War
WASHINGTON -- Old habits die hard. The media are so enamored of the continuing (and largely contrived) story about the great Republican civil war that they fail to appreciate that the real internecine fight is being waged on the other side of the aisle..
The Climate Pact Swindle
WASHINGTON -- Historic. Such is the ubiquitous description of the climate agreement recently announced in Beijing between Barack Obama and Xi Jinping in which China promised for the first time to cap carbon emissions.
The Gruber Confession
WASHINGTON -- It's not exactly the Ems Dispatch (the diplomatic cable Bismarck doctored to provoke the 1870 Franco-Prussian War). But what the just-resurfaced Gruber Confession lacks in world-historical consequence, it makes up for in world-class cynicism. This October 2013 video shows MIT professor Jonathan Gruber, a principal architect of Obamacare, admitting that, in order to get it passed, the law was made deliberately obscure and deceptive. It constitutes the ultimate vindication of the charge that Obamacare was sold on a pack of lies.
Seize the Day, Control the Agenda
WASHINGTON -- Memo to the GOP. You had a great night on Tuesday. But remember: You didn't win it. The Democrats lost it.
A Referendum on Competence
WASHINGTON -- Is this election really about nothing? Democrats might like to think so, but it's not.
First, like all U.S. elections, it's about the economy. The effect of the weakest recovery in two generations is reflected in President Obama's 13-point underwater ratings for his handling of the economy.
Barack Obama, Bewildered Bystander
WASHINGTON -- The president is upset. Very upset. Frustrated and angry. Seething about the government's handling of Ebola, said the front-page headline in The New York Times last Saturday.
The Real Reason Winning the Senate Matters
WASHINGTON -- You can win midterm elections without a positive agenda. You can't win presidential elections that way. It is therefore vitally important for Republicans to win the Senate in 2014. Here's why.
Obama's Uncertain Trumpet, Again
WASHINGTON -- In his Islamic State speech, President Obama said many of the right things. Most importantly, he finally got the mission right: degrade and destroy the enemy.