Columns
Sowell: Dumbed-down education renders thinking obsolete
While it is not possible to answer all the e-mails and letters from readers, many are thought-provoking, whether those thoughts are positive or negative.
Will: Obama's caution on Syria sensible, if poorly stated
People who talk incessantly often talk imprecisely, and Barack Obama, who is as loquacious as he is impressed with his verbal dexterity, has talked himself into a corner concerning Syria and chemical weapons. This is condign punishment for his rhetorical carelessness, but the nation's credibility, not just his, will suffer. His policy is better than his description of it, and his description is convoluted because he lacks the courage of his sensible conviction that entanglement in Syria would be unwise.
Local View: Adequate funding crucial to Gorge
Cuts to services, staff would also hurt local communities
On Nov. 17, 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed into law the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Act and the Gorge became one of the most significant national scenic areas in the United States. The Scenic Area Act embodies two fundamental purposes -- to protect and enhance natural resources, and to support and enhance the regional economy.
Local View: Funding CRC would be fiscally irresponsible
Citizens expect government to be fiscally responsible. Regarding the Columbia River Crossing, Washington legislators are being asked to allocate $450 million toward a $3.5 billion megaproject.
John Laird: Focusing the fire extinguisher on complaints about CRC
Today's accompanying mug shot illustrates the horrid consequences of repeatedly setting one's hair on fire. Like Obama, I'm not the strapping young Muslim socialist I used to be and, alas, growing bangs is out of the question.
Milbank: Obama needs to get off sidelines and back into game
It's never a good sign for a president when he feels compelled to assure the public he still has a pulse. This is the unenviable position President Obama was in Tuesday morning when he held a news conference and faced questions about the stalled pieces of his legislative program.
Marcus: Out and proud NBA player leaves us pining for last 'first'
I am so looking forward to the end of firsts.
Parker: Bush's public persona at odds with gentle private side
In a reprieve from the horror of the most recent terrorist attack, the nation's attentions turned last week to the man who declared the war on terrorism, George W. Bush. During the April 25 dedication of his library at Southern Methodist University, nary a word was spoken about the most controversial aspect of his tenure, the Iraq invasion. All living presidents were in attendance and made only generic references to mistakes and regrets familiar to all. Of course, Bush famously acknowledges no mistakes or regrets, but rather bequeaths judgment to history.
Camden: GOP rhetoric fails to keep tax loophole from closing
There is an axiom in legislating, that when you have the votes to pass something, you shut up and cast them. When you don't have the votes, you talk. A corollary to that in this year's legislative session seems to be that when you don't have the votes, you offer up comments as quotable as possible. When you have the votes, you don't need to be pithy or clever; you speak as little as possible and cast them.
Sowell: Today's politicians specialize in art of the impossible
Someone called politics "the art of the possible." But, in the era of the modern welfare state, politics is largely the art of the impossible.
Pitts: Rand Paul, GOP need to rethink 'outreach' to blacks
Rand Paul did just fine at Howard University, thank you very much. Or at least, that's how he remembers it.
John Laird: Does Clark County remind anyone else of Rock Ridge?
The meeting took place in a crowded saloon in 1913. But, ideologically speaking, many of the folks in the room were still stuck in the 1800s. This crowd was a throwback to the rowdy Rock Ridge residents in "Blazing Saddles." The 20th century hadn't even entered their minds.
Carlson: Don't look to Congress in a crisis
Regular folks take action; lawmakers take advantage
Ordinary people, elected and unelected, behaved heroically on April 15. Unfortunately, it all happened hundreds of miles from Washington, D.C.
Local View: Columbia River Crossing: It's now or gridlock
The resistance by our elected representatives in Olympia to "close the deal" and provide the needed $450 million to fund the Columbia River Crossing doesn't bode well for the future of this vital project. It greatly disturbs me that we have invested millions of dollars and thousands of hours over the past 10 years only to see CRC become the object of short-sighted, partisan political bickering with very little effort given to real problem-solving. The time has come -- either build the bridge as designed, or face gridlock.
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