After Apple announced that it would be hard for the NSA to hack into the new iPhone 6, angry government officials fumed that people who buy it would be trying to put themselves “outside the law.” Say what?
The Little Prez
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Public access to the White House and its environs has shrunk steadily since Andrew Jackson hosted a wild party there. Now the wake of a run by a deranged vet through the White House has security experts recommending that a safety corridor be extended several blocks beyond the White House fence. How safe is safe enough?
Two ISIS Guys Hanging Out
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When you stop to think about it, ISIS has killed fewer people than President Obama. If ISIS represents an existential threat that the world must stop no matter what, does that make the US even worse? What, besides technology, is the difference between drones and beheadings?
Archival War
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FDR asked Congress for a formal Declaration of War against Germany and Japan. Subsequent presidents asked Congress for various forms of legal justifications to attack other nation-states. Now Obama is further eroding Congress’ right to declare war by relying on obselete and irrelevant authorizations for old conflicts.
Middle School Politics
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Obama’s refusal to call the Islamist group ISIS by its name, referring instead to something called ISIL, is the latest iteration of a uniquely American form of political propaganda that is puerile and ridiculous: name-calling reminiscent of junior high school.
A Loophole for Waziristan
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Obama announced “It’s on Us,” a public service campaign aimed at urging young people to do more to prevent campus sexual assaults, calling for âfundamental shift in our culture” in the way women are treated and in the response to victims of sexual assault.
U.S. Invades Ebola
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When the Ebola crisis struck in West Africa, other countries, like Cuba, sent in doctors. Not the United States. Repeating a worrisome trend we saw in Haiti after the earthquake and in Asia after the Indian Ocean tsunami, the U.S. sent in armed troops to subjegate the victim population.
United They Stand
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Congressional Republicans have stonewalled President Obama and the Democrats on pretty much anything, even refusing to sign off on routine budget requests and increases in the federal debt limit. But even a “divided Congress” has managed to come together to support Obama’s request to go to war in Syria and Iraq (again).
Up the Sensitivity
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Professional football players are told to bulk up on steroids, decimate their opponents physically, and brutalize each other. Yet fans are surprised that some of them victimize their family members with domestic abuse.
Yes Means Yes
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Coming soon: California is poised to enact a “yes means yes” law – based on the so-called Antioch College rules – that will require college students to get “affirmative consent” – clear, verbal agreement – for each intended stage and type of sexual activity.
