All Opinion
- Conservative justices may hate Obamacare, but they should not overrule Congress
The Supreme Court's conservative justices deliberating on the health care law known as Obamacare should heed the historical example of Republican-appointed justice, Harlan Fiske Stone. He detested New Deal policies but argued the court had no right to overturn them.
- John HughesWhether Obama or Romney, next US leader faces severe foreign challenges
Whoever wins the US presidency – be it likely GOP nominee Mitt Romney or President Obama – faces an array of foreign-policy challenges that may be as daunting as those of the cold war. For starters, they involve China, Russia, the Arab world, Iran, North Korea, and Pakistan.
- 6 signs of hope in Pakistan The American imagination can run wild amid Pakistan’s political uncertainties and instability. But any pessimistic view of Pakistan, while endemic in the West, differs considerably from the perspective of Pakistani analysts who cautiously point to more optimistic scenarios. They cite six hopeful developments.
- Why George Zimmerman should not be 'crucified' for killing Trayvon Martin
Passionate citizens and leaders have no right to declare neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman guilty of murdering Trayvon Martin. Due process in the legal system determines that guilt or innocence. Equating justice with imprisoning Zimmerman or firing officials is premature.
- Senate resolution on Iran may be bipartisan, but it could lead to war
The Senate is considering a bipartisan resolution on Iran that denounces containment and could be taken as an authorization of US force against a nuclear Iran. But containment is the second-worst option. A preventive strike that could lead to war in the Middle East is the worst.
- Occupy has wrong 'Target': Consumers and economy value Wal-Mart et al.
By shifting its focus from Wall Street and targeting companies like Wal-Mart and Amazon.com, the Occupy movement could do more harm to American consumers than good. A new study shows these companies make consumers feel safe, satisfied, even happy. And they create jobs.
- Obamacare gives Congress license to micromanage every facet of our lives
The Obama administration has never offered a principled explanation of how to square the health-care law's individual mandate with the Constitution. If Congress can force us to buy health insurance, what can’t it order us to buy?
- Trayvon Martin: the crime of being black, male, and wearing a hoodie
Whatever happens to neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman, the dialogue on race must go on. Media perpetually associate criminality with black males. Legislators criminalize black dress. And the criminal justice system disproportionately penalizes black men and boys.
- Beyond Obamacare: 5 opinions on health care reform Health care reform remains a contentious issue in the United States. The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of President Obama's health care law, the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. But some Republicans, like presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, hope to repeal the law under the next Congress. Here, writers explore five key aspects of health-care reform.
- For nuclear security beyond Seoul, eradicate land-based 'doomsday' missiles
America's 450 launch-ready land-based nuclear-armed ballistic missiles are the opposite of a deterrent to attack. In fact, their very deployment has the potential to launch World War III and precipitate human extinction – as a result of a false alarm. We’re not exaggerating.
- Can Seoul summit tackle biggest threat to US security – nuclear terrorism?
What can President Obama and other world leaders meeting in Seoul, South Korea, for the second Nuclear Security Summit today and tomorrow plausibly accomplish? The answer is less than many observers hope – but more than skeptics appreciate. Look at Ukraine.
- Individual mandate in Obama's health care law: good for freedom, bad for free-riders
The Supreme Court begins hearings today on the constitutionality of President Obama's health care law, often called Obamacare. Critics say its 'individual mandate' threatens freedom. It actually protects it.
- Xi Jinping rise and Bo Xilai demise: China will move forward with reform, slowly
The dismissal of Bo Xilai, China's controversial Politburo member, shows that Xi Jinping, slated to be China's next president, and top Communist Party members will move forward with reform step by pragmatic step, not backward to Maoist nostalgia or cult-of-personality populism.
- Where's the Trayvon Martin petition about gun control?
Protesters back a petition to prosecute George Zimmerman for fatally shooting unarmed Trayvon Martin. We need to ask whether 'Stand Your Ground' measures make people trigger-happy. And we need to think about the most common victims of lax gun laws: African Americans.
- After Kony 2012: Three ways NGOs can work with Africans as equals As in the Kony 2012 campaign, humanitarianism in Africa gets oversimplified in myriad ways, in the process making Africans themselves one-dimensional and raising up the white Westerner as savior. Here are three ways nongovernmental organizations can work with African citizens as equals.
- Trayvon Martin could have been my brother
I can only hope that the family of Trayvon Martin and the social media activists who have raised awareness about his killing get the justice that they are fighting for. And that my brothers might be just a bit more safe the next time they’re on their way to the store.
- How GOP can win more women voters
Let Democrats waste their energies trying to woo women on 'reproductive rights.' They will shore up their base and alienate the middle. Republicans can win more women voters and bridge the gender gap by focusing on what is most important to women in 2012: jobs and the economy.
- On the death of Encyclopaedia Britannica: All authoritarian regimes eventually fall
Let us trumpet the end of Encyclopaedia Britannica's print edition. We should celebrate the fact that in a Web 2.0, Wikipedia world, information now roams free. It lives and breathes, loosed from cages where it was allowed to reproduce only once a year, edition by edition.
- Warm spring weather and global warming: If only scientists could be so persuasive
Warm spring weather can help convince Americans that global warming is happening and a problem. But scientists must change the way they talk about this subject. They must leave their ivory towers and learn to speak about climate change in a language that people understand.
- Facebook stalking in the name of affirmative action
Ahead of the Supreme Court hearing on affirmative action, I recall how at Roll Call newspaper, I was told that one of our three interns had to be from a racial minority. Diversity is important, but giving someone an advantage beyond his experience degrades the applicant and the hirer.