Columns

Who would have thought that Greece's fiscal and financial woes could imperil all of Europe? For the past few months, we'd been reading and watching a stream of news stories suggesting that the American economy was shaking off its stupor and about to proudly right itself. Then fresh fears surfaced, mysteriously tied to Greece and the European Union.

Laments about polarization are filling the air -- or at least that part of the air in which friends and family members have political discussions. It has been widely noted that every Republican member of Congress has a voting record to the right of every Democrat and every Democrat is to the left of every Republican. There is no partisan overlap anymore.

WASHINGTON -- The candidate who on Tuesday won the special election in a Pennsylvania congressional district is right-to-life and pro-gun. He accused his opponent of wanting heavier taxes. He said he would have voted against Barack Obama's health care plan and promised to vote against cap-and-trade legislation, which is a tax increase supposedly somehow related to turning down the planet's thermostat.

Among the mega-forces moving the tectonic plates and imperiling the nation-states of the world from above and below are these: First, ethno-nationalism, which threatens nations with secession and break-up. We see it in the Uighurs of China, the Naga of India, the Baluch of Iran and Pakistan, the Kurds of Iran, Syria, Iraq and Turkey, the Chechens of the Russian Caucasus and the Walloons of Belgium.

If you want to watch someone squirm, take a look at the two-minute videotape of Attorney General Eric Holder dodging Republican Rep. Lamar Smith's question of whether "radical Islam" motivated the Times Square bomber.

The U.S. Senate hopes to conclude the month-long debate on the financial reform bill by week's end, even if the majority leader needs to force a procedural vote promoting a 60-vote threshold to bring debate to a close. This will not only limit the number of hours remaining for debate to 30 hours, but also keeps the remaining amendments germane and on subject.

Financial reform dominated the U.S. Senate again this week as members debated and voted on dozens of amendments. One of the amendments that took some time on the floor was offered by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). It proposed to break up the government-sponsored enterprise we know as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

WASHINGTON -- When Chancellor Angela Merkel decided that Germany would pay part of Greece's bills, voters punished her party in elections in Germany's most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia. How appropriate.

From Uppsala, Sweden comes the news that cartoonist Lars Vilks was attacked and head-butted by an angry Muslim at a university lecture. A group of Muslims surrounding him shouted "God is great!" in Arabic as the cartoonist lay on the floor, his glasses broken. Ever since Vilks impolitely drew the prophet Muhammad's head on a dog, he's been a wanted man.