Column: The mainstreaming of right-wing extremism
"Some people say I'm extreme," an Indiana tea party leader told The New York Times at the height of the movement's rebellion in 2010, "but they said the John Birch...
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Column: Why we can’t think straight about government
One of the barriers to sensible politics is the opportunism that so often infects our debates about what government is there for, where we want it to be energetic, and...
United and divided by history
During a week when we try to put aside our divisions to celebrate a shared love for our country, we should ponder that we are as badly fractured in approaching...
This time, Obama’s budget matters
When President Barack Obama releases his budget Monday, the words "dead on arrival" will be widely incanted because they are part of a quasi-religious Beltway ritual. This year, those words...
Obama rescues Boehner with spending bill
How often will President Barack Obama come to the rescue of House Speaker John Boehner even when Republican leaders aren't willing to give much in return? And does the president...
How Democrats can save their agenda
President Barack Obama issued a veto threat last week against a corporate tax-cutting orgy that promised the world to many powerful interests but did little for the middle class and...
Obama calls the GOP’s bluff
Stay wide awake in the coming weeks. This is a historic moment when all of the divisions, misunderstandings and hatreds of President Barack Obama's time in office have come to...
Democrats, don’t fall for fantasies
When high-mindedness collides with reality, reality usually wins. Remember this when you hear talk of making the next two years a miracle of bipartisan comity. Begin by being skeptical of...
The secret behind the midterm election
There's a hidden history to the nasty midterm election campaign that will, mercifully, end on Nov. 4. What's not being widely talked about is as important as what's in the...
The pope’s man in Chicago
Leaders can make decisions that signal big changes in the political, religious and ethical landscape. In naming Bishop Blase Cupich to be the new archbishop of Chicago, Pope Francis did...