Autiello: Will True Christianity Please Stand Up?
Nick Autiello, Contributor
The notion that homosexuality is a sin and un-Christian is one that is less than a hundred years old. It is wrong, and has no basis in scriptural or historical reality.
SASSO: The Coming New Year
James Sasso, Associate Editor
As the tumultuous 2011 comes down to its final day, this column could contain an obnoxious summary of the year’s extraordinary events. Rather than once again discussing the protests around the world, the death of Osama Bin Laden, Fukushima, America’s political ineptitude, Europe’s demise or the increasingly frightful weather patterns, here I attempt to predict what 2012 holds in store.
SASSO: Kicking the Can
James Sasso, Associate Editor
For one of the first times in his tenure as Speaker, John Boehner has made a statement with which every American, Republican or Democrat, should fully agree; the two-month Senate bipartisan extension of the payroll tax cut fails to fix the nation’s problems sufficiently. Providing a short-term band-aid to a long-term dilemma contradicts what a responsible government should accomplish, but fits the pattern of contemporary American politicking.
CIOCCI: A Foolish Consistency
Mitt Romney is guilty of serial hypocrisy, Newt Gingrich is guilty of being a public intellectual constantly scrutinized by the media and others, and Ron Paul never ceases to remind me about one of my favorite quotes from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Essays: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.”
AKMAN: Jon Huntsman’s Meaningless Campaign
Josh Akman, Columnist
Jon Huntsman did not participate in the CNN Debate in Las Vegas on Tuesday night. Short of his family and small (and getting smaller) campaign staff, no one really noticed. In a bizarre and counterproductive effort to impress New Hampshire voters Huntsman skipped the debate to protest Nevada moving its caucus ahead of New Hampshire’s, which has always been the nation’s first primary. It’s bizarre because no one else skipped the debate. It’s counterproductive because right now, Jon Huntsman is polling 6% in New Hampshire.
SASSO: The 99% Rising
James Sasso
Associate Editor
For the past month a movement has grown out of Zuccoti Park in New York with the potential to grab at the very heart of America’s problems. “We are the 99%” is not simply a catchy phrase used by frustrated jobless Americans , but a commentary on the disgraceful economic inequality that has arisen in the United States since the 1970s.
SIEFF: The Cry of Our Age
Adam Sieff, Independent
Though we should not elect the Tea Party, we must learn from their experience. We must become the leaders we need, form the parties we desire, and forge the world we crave. It is the calling of our generation, the history we will make together.
PETERSON: A Native’s Reaction to CA Prop. 14
Tim Peterson, Associate Editor
There’s no shortage of opinion surrounding open primaries. But does any of it matter right now?
HOLLINSHEAD: Another Day, Another One-Sided Compromise
Kevin Hollinshead, Contributor
President Obama understands that the only realistic solution to illegal immigration is a comprehensive overhaul that supplements border security measures with a crackdown on illegal hiring and exploitative employers, a requirement that illegal immigrants come forward and meet certain requirements in order to work towards citizenship, and reforms of our legal immigration system going forward. But why, then, does his administration keep following the same failed approach of making unmatched concessions to Republicans and expect a different result?
PANDYA: Team Obama – Bench Your Starters
Om Pandya, Conservative
When Obama was elected in 2008, voters who fretted over his lack of experience hoped that he would at least pick advisors from both sides of the aisle that knew what they were doing.
BILBO: Enthusing the Urban Base for 2012
Tyler Bilbo, Democrat
In an ailing economy that features an extraordinarily high jobless rate, Democrats will struggle to build on the gains of 2006 and 2008. As Republicans look to capitalize on the fluidity of the suburban electorate, Democrats need to re-energize core urban constituencies in order to re-elect Barack Obama.
FULHAM: The Democrats Self-Destruct, Again
Peter W. Fulham, Democrat
If anyone had suspicions that Team Obama was indeed hurdling towards implosion, the Democratic party’s catastrophe in Massachusetts last week surely confirmed them. But it’s not too late for Mr. Obama to make amends for failing to address the anger of disenfranchised voters, nor is it too late for the Democrats to prevent a hemorrhage of seats in the House and Senate in 2010.
MARIN: The Myth of 1994
Paul Marin, Liberal Republican
Congress will regain its bipartisan problem-solving spirit only after legislators are punished for their cynical, partisan behavior — in other words, when the myth of 1994 is shattered.
FULHAM: Rahm Emanuel’s Bridge to Nowhere
Peter W. Fulham, Democrat
Seasoned Washington politico Rahm Emanuel is calling many of the shots in the White House, and a careful examination of his record lends important insights into what we should expect from him in the future.
ROGERS: Obama’s Presidency Meets Dukakis – In the Tank
Obama better hope things change by 2012, or we might end up with a new President we can believe in.
MARIN: Lifting Each Other Up
The GOP should fight for their free market solutions to healthcare and not against reform or universal coverage. It is better for them — and for the country.
CARPENTER: When ‘Change’ Meets the Real World
Emma Carpenter, Staff Writer Ideology: Liberal Democrat | Writing From: George Washington University What happens to the value of change when it is promised but never delivered? I fear that [...]
FLOYD: The Myth of Bipartisanship
Malcolm-Wiley Floyd, Staff Writer Ideology: Moderate Democrat | Writing From: New York City “I am in this race because I don’t want to see us spend the next year re-fighting [...]
ROGERS: The President Formerly Known as Hope
The President of the United States should have hope and faith in the American people – not expect it the other way around.
JACOBS: Obama and North Korea: Silence, Again
Guest columnist Alec Jacobs slams Obama’s approach to the North Korean missile crises. Alec Jacobs, Guest Columnist Ideology: Very Conservative Obama’s decisions about when to act and when not to [...]