Opinions
Why a Republican won't beat Trump in 2020
Two days before being sworn in to the U.S. Senate, Mitt Romney wrote an opinion piece in the Washington Post outlining his concerns about President Donald Trump “not rising to the mantle of the office.” Romney, the Republican presidential nominee in 2012, did not exactly break new ground. His column… Read
Pence tested in role of messenger for Trump policies
Progress made, said one. Not so, said the other. We'll meet again, said one. Waste of time, said the other. Such has been the life lately of Mike Pence, the loyal soldier dispatched by President Donald Trump to lead negotiations over the partial government shutdown . The vice president has… Read
In and out: Trump selective about travel during shutdown
Vacation jaunts and hobnobbing with global elites at a Swiss ski resort are out for President Donald Trump. Visits with troops and farmers are OK. Like some of his recent predecessors, Trump is carefully picking and choosing where he'll travel during the partial government shutdown. He visited with U.S. troops… Read
No, Brexit Britain doesn’t want its empire back
Britain is moving towards an exit from the European Union on March 29, possibly with no agreement, and thus courting – according to the Bank of England – an 8 percent drop in GDP and a 7.5 percent rise in unemployment. A drear prospect, attended by matching drear commentaries on… Read
The strange revisionism of Pompeo’s Cairo speech
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s much-marketed speech in Cairo was rich in straw man fallacies while short on substantive specifics, a speech bursting with contradictions that reminded me just how hard it must be to speak for a president who has, at best, an incoherent foreign policy. Pompeo’s speech… Read
As U.S. government shutdown drags on, where is Senator McConnell?
When President Donald Trump stormed out of a White House meeting with congressional leaders last Wednesday, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell sat there silently, uttering not a word as the talks blew up, according to others in the room. The No. 1 Republican in Congress, who rose to power… Read
U.S. should review its approach to Syria’s Assad
The Trump administration has begun to roll back the president’s announced pullout from Syria. On Dec. 19 Trump said Islamic State had been defeated; his officials now acknowledge not entirely. Trump originally ordered a withdrawal within 30 days, then administration officials said it would take four months, and more recently… Read
Will China go to war over Taiwan?
In the first week of 2019, as China grabbed headlines for landing a spacecraft on the far side of the moon, a New Year’s Day editorial in the nation’s official military newspaper told its readers that “war preparations” should be a top priority for the year. The following day, President… Read
With U.S. leaving, rival powers seek to move into Syria's east
The planned U.S. troop withdrawal opens up a void in the north and east of Syria, and the conflicts and rivalries among all the powers in the Middle East are converging to fill it. The sudden American decision to pull out its 2,000 troops has forced a reassessment of old… Read
Can Trump use an emergency declaration to build his wall?
The Trump administration is weighing using a national emergency declaration to circumvent Congress and the budget stalemate and force construction of the president's long-promised southern border wall. "We're looking at a national emergency because we have a national emergency," President Donald Trump told reporters Sunday amid stalled negotiations. He said… Read
