Editorial Cartoons of the Week
Bad recipes and why I keep them
Fueled by a rare rush of spring cleaning adrenaline, I lifted the bloated behemoth off of my crowded shelf of cookbooks, careful to catch the loose clippings stuffed haphazardly between her cracked covers. The 30-year-old binder full of collected recipes was surely in need of a good purge after all this time.
If the Taliban take power again, will Afghans have died in vain?
Despite the petty, self-destructive behavior of the political elite, and despite the still-powerful hold of religious and tribal taboos, Afghanistan is a far different country than it was when the Taliban seized power in 1996. Even if the Taliban retakes control, that can't be completely erased.
OPINION
Biden offers false hope to sell his Afghanistan surrender
A day before word of Biden’s decision to withdraw by Sept. 11 leaked to the press, the Taliban announced they will not participate in peace talks in Turkey. That means the U.S. will be leaving Afghanistan’s government to fend for itself in the midst of a civil war. This is an ideal opportunity for a hobbled al-Qaida to rebuild.
OPINION
US can never move Iran to the back burner
Iran’s nuclear program, as I have explained, exists for the sole purpose of menacing its neighbors. The bigger the program gets, the more threatening it becomes — and the greater the motivation for those it threatens to prevent its completion.
Signs of spring: Flora, fauna, fur
What does the month of April represent to you? For those of us north of the equator, we’re watching new bees buzzing among the spring daffodils.
OPINION
The libertarian case against voting restrictions
Voting is effectively the final opportunity for the objects of government coercion to have a say in who gets to coerce them. The freedom to have that say is the last thing a libertarian would want those holding power at any particular moment to constrain.
OPINION
Don't let anything block US energy independence
Although the United States’ energy reserves and domestic production capabilities would have enabled it to endure a lengthier blockage, current efforts to forcibly shift the United States away from traditional fuel sources will leave it more exposed to future disruptions. The Ever Given fiasco demonstrates why such an approach is fundamentally irresponsible.
OPINION
Tax cuts vs. big spending is the debate of the decade
Essentially, compared to a pre-2017 baseline, President Joe Biden will pay for his spending plan with the revenue he’ll generate by undoing President Donald Trump’s tax cuts. And over time, we’ll get to see how the economy evolves under the Biden plan compared to the 2017 Republican plan.
OPINION
Social media reform must be fair, protect free speech
At the heart of the Section 230 debate is a disagreement regarding the importance of allowing Americans to speak their minds. Some want to reduce the chilling of speech by social media companies. And some want to use Section 230 reform as a way to chill speech still further. They want to ensure that speech communicated online is consistent with their worldviews.
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OPINION
Check vets’ mental wellness at vaccination visit
If we hope to effectively decrease the veteran suicide rate, we need to evolve our approach. We need to take advantage of this opportunity to connect with our veterans, and when we do, take a proactive approach to introduce secure, private and trusted monitoring for our friends and loved ones for signs of distress.
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OPINION
Giving voters food and water is a political act
It’s unrealistic to pretend that voting exists in a political or social vacuum. Voters are susceptible to all sorts of influences, from campaign ads to the opinions of family members in person or on Facebook. “Line warming” with food and drink is only part of the picture.
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OPINION
Will U.S. learn from a $1.7 trillion goof that would have paid for Biden's infrastructure plan?
The massive swing-and-a-miss that is the F-35 — which already has the Pentagon dreaming of a new, new next-gen fighter that might actually be cheaper and easier to use — is just one symptom of a much greater problem: In spending more on war-related costs than the world's next 10 nations combined, the U.S. wastes billions on weapon systems that are ineffective and often not even needed.
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OPINION
Don’t believe the doomsayers. Vaccines will end the pandemic.
The latest soaring discovery: a new CDC study showing vaccines sharply cut all COVID-19 infections — not just symptoms. That news puts to rest one worst-case-scenario: that vaccines might protect the vaccinated against hospitalization, but allow millions of silent infections to continue circulating.
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OPINION
Mass media has had its humpty-dumpty moment
Given the strength of the First Amendment, there always will be dissent and strong pushback against the view that journalism has evolved to a “just our facts,” not a “just the facts,” standard. There is also a real chance that the cultural sway of this view far exceeds its actual power to force societal change.
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OPINION
The military doesn't even know how bad its extremism problem is
The siege on Capitol Hill was a stark reminder that extremism in and around the military is an issue that demands attention. To combat it, we need a longitudinal, preemptive approach that takes ownership for those who fail to honor the highest values for which the military stands, past and present. Institutional change is necessary, and it needs to happen smartly and quickly.
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OPINION
Rising gas prices: A look under the hood
The poor legacy of market-distorting policies should serve as a warning for Biden. While it is inaccurate to blame the current administration for the recent rise in gas prices, actions made today will have long-lasting impacts.
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OPINION
The bane of all Asian Americans: ‘Where are you from?’
I can tell you firsthand that by now, I’ve gotten my answer down to a succinct 30 seconds. It’s like an automatic reflex and frankly, it’s just easier than expending the energy required to explain why it’s a demonstration of passive racism to ask me in the first place. In choosing avoidance over confrontation, I realize now that I have inadvertently contributed to the “model minority” stereotype by holding my tongue.
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OPINION
Capitol attack fits statute’s definition of sedition
The current statute contains a number of definitions for seditious conspiracy, including this: If two or more persons “conspire … by force to hinder or delay the execution of any law of the United States … they shall be fined … or imprisoned … or both." Those elements would appear to fit the actions of the worst Jan. 6 offenders like a glove.
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Living with a not-so-smoothie operator
My husband has been working from home since the pandemic began more than a year ago. Francis took his cybersecurity job in 2017 after retiring from the Navy, and initially commuted to New York City weekly. For those years, his neglected home office on the third floor of our house was more of a shrine than anything else. He would take friends up there on weekends to show off his military coins, plaques and photos.
I called it his “Yay me!” room.
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OPINION
Reopening as COVID-19 fades is not a science
There’s a lot science can tell us about relative risks of returning to normal activities, and it’s important for public health officials to keep people informed on any risks that might persist post-vaccine. But it’s time to stop disguising their preferred goals and trade-offs as “the science.”
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OPINION
Gulf States' new alliances reflect post-Cold War realities
For the U.S. and Europe, these groupings represent new opportunities as well as new challenges. Cooperation between Israel and Arab states, for instance, may reduce the security burden on American shoulders, but their combined opposition to a nuclear accommodation with Iran will also greatly complicate President Joe Biden’s efforts to resume diplomacy with the Islamic Republic.
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OPINION
Keep civics education from splintering America
Educating for American Democracy should be applauded for its “key concept” of building “civic friendship through informed civil dialogue and productive disagreement.” But its “Roadmap” feels more like the occupation of civics instruction by some groups who are neutral at best, and perhaps even intent on disrupting the notion of a shared national character.
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OPINION
Biden’s silence on Syria must end
So far, it looks that the crisis that has created untold atrocities, included countless chemical weapons attacks, undermined medical neutrality, destabilized the European Union, fed into xenophobia and terrorism, and created the largest displacement of the population since World War II is not yet a priority of the new president. His two predecessors, and their policies, failed the Syrian people.
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OPINION
Look to the Reagan administration for the answer to the China challenge
China is an economic juggernaut. Through its engagement with the United States and other major markets, it has made itself central to global supply chains, moved to dominate strategic industries and emerging technologies, and built up a military designed to win a war with the U.S. and its allies.
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OPINION
Biden's virus relief bill victory might not start trend
The moment of triumph is likely to be fleeting. Even sending $1,400 checks to most Americans can’t guarantee that Biden will be able to enact the rest of his ambitious agenda or hold on to Democrats’ majorities in Congress in next year’s midterm election.
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Never too busy for milspouse time
One would think that military spouses are busy enough, managing homes, children, jobs, pets, in-laws, bills, school, and other endless details, often while their active-duty partners are away. In fact, it would make sense if they turned away from added pressures, withdrew from obligations and isolated themselves altogether to maintain control.
However, no matter how many plates military spouses spin in the air, they’re always game to add one more.
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OPINION
And history’s 10,000-troop award goes to …
As a longtime investigative journalist, I’m pleased to be able to share with you today the best evidence I’ve come across about what former President Donald Trump really knew – and knew before all hell erupted at the U.S. Capitol.
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OPINION
Will life after COVID-19 be normal?
Normal isn’t government permitting us to exercise our liberty. Normal means that we needn’t seek the government’s permission to exercise our liberty.
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The grass is always greener where the dog drags you
I remember it like it was yesterday. I was walking back to our stairwell apartment from dropping my daughter off at Patch Barracks Elementary School, minding my own business along Florida Strasse with our labradoodle, Dinghy.
Suddenly, Dinghy spotted a hare munching grass in General So-and-so’s backyard.
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OPINION
Why traumatized people have a need to run for office
The politicians I knew might have been Boy Scouts under the public gaze, but in private they were more like Lost Boys. After observing them up close for years and writing two books about them, I came to see patterns in their personal histories.
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OPINION
Lincoln Project’s schemes familiar to its adversaries
Fleecing the poor, the elderly, the ignorant and the vulnerable for personal profit is a time-honored tradition for various swamp creatures. It’s also how certain “prosperity preacher” televangelists and evangelists have operated for years, as they accumulated jets, mansions and bursting bank accounts.
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OPINION
Apply lessons from abroad to improve US democracy
Most Americans — including most local and state officials and their staff — lack practical knowledge about democratic innovation. We can gain some democratic inspiration and practical knowledge by taking a look at innovations in other countries. Particularly at the local and state or provincial levels, there are many lessons to learn.
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What I found while losing my mind
“Mom, do we have any photos of me and Dad when he came home from deployment?” our daughter asked, unwittingly sending me on a harrowing, epic journey through the storage spaces of our home.
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OPINION
Biden’s 1st military strike should wake up Iran
The president has already pulled the U.S. back from the aggressive posture Trump adopted toward the Islamic Republic. But they can no longer believe that Biden will be as complaisant as Obama.
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OPINION
Baker, Panetta climbed that Hill for a worthy goal
If you’d been in the Senate Intelligence Committee’s hearing room Wednesday you’d have realized that you were watching and listening to decades of Washington’s most famous titled newsmakers who were so eager to help they were virtually speaking at once.
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OPINION
How to end a very long war
President Joe Biden's path toward ending a war that began three presidents ago has grown more difficult.
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OPINION
New Space Age hampered by old technology
While recent space missions hold great promises and will prove transformative, we unfortunately lack the adequate deep-space propulsion capacity capable of carrying equipment and people reliably to the Moon, to Mars and beyond.
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Don't throw the honorable out with the bathwater
Recently, the reputation of the military has been tarnished by Capitol riot reports indicating that a significant number of those arrested have served. Although extremism in the ranks is not a new problem, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin saw the riot as a “wake-up call.” On Feb. 3, Austin ordered a 60-day stand-down for all military commanders to meet with troops to discuss racism and extremism.
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OPINION
Japanese public needs to know SDF to appreciate it
Given the threats facing Japan, it may benefit the Japanese public to better understand the value of the SDF as an armed force and the military cooperation that takes place with the United States.
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Weird habits picked up during pandemic monotony
“Honey,” my retired Navy husband woke me this morning with a steaming cup of coffee — a sweet routine he started since he began working from home last March — “I just transferred money into your account because you’re twenty bucks in the red. Now, I know you had to buy Anna’s birthday gifts and groceries, so it’s no big deal, but please … just don’t buy any more stock, okay?”
Busted.
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OPINION
Guide vets as they use benefits they earned
We hope that policymakers will work together to defend veterans’ earned benefits and protect their college options and that the VA will improve the Transition Assistance Program.
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Military spouses' best-kept secret
This morning, I peered at my baggy, bloodshot eyes in the bathroom mirror. It had been a rough night. Thanks to wild fluctuations in my hormones, my hair was a rat's nest of sweaty tangles. I tossed two Tylenol down my gullet, hoping to relieve a crick in my neck from tossing and turning, and headache pangs from grinding my teeth.
“Today’s gonna suck,” I admitted to myself with a defeated sigh.
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OPINION
Get tough with, but also work with, the Taliban
As President Joe Biden takes office, he will find an old dossier on his desk, and he’ll have to decide what to do about it. It’s the Afghanistan case, and it could become his first foreign policy crisis.
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Learning to lose now in order to win in the long run
This month, we all bore witness to the horrific extremes that some people will go to in order to avoid losing. Although no one wants to fail, the vast majority of us won’t turn to insurrection, violent assault or malicious destruction of property to win.
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