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I keep a list of historical analogies — derived from years of grading papers — that tell me that the individual using them is (to be polite) more interested in rhetorical impact than historical accuracy. Before last night, the list began with “we need a Marshall Plan for X,” where X usually equals Africa or the Middle East, and ended with “the United States is a young country.” Both are fallacies: the Marshall Plan was a pump-priming program, not an effort to rebuild the infrastructure and remake the culture of half a continent; and while European settlement of North America...

President Obama may have experienced his Walter Cronkite moment over the economy. Responding to Cronkite's reporting from Vietnam four decades ago that the only way to end the war was by negotiating with the North Vietnamese, President Lyndon Johnson was reported (though never confirmed) to have said, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America." Now President Obama appears to have "lost" New York Times liberal economic columnist Paul Krugman. Krugman, who enthusiastically supported the president's redistributionist and stimulus plans, has bowed to the reality that they are not working. In a recent column titled "This is Not a Recovery,"...

WASHINGTON, June 3, 2010 – As some 1,500 Afghan leaders participate in President Hamid Karzai’s peace council to discuss how to reconcile with insurgents, the commander of NATO’s Regional Command East said today he has seen increasing evidence that former fighters want to put down their arms and rejoin Afghan society. Army Maj. Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti, who also commands Combined Joint Task Force 82, said virtually all 14 provinces within his area of responsibility are experiencing a common phenomenon. Increasing numbers of Taliban fighters “have made contact and want to come back to their community,” he said. “And we’ve...

Forget Bipartisanship, Comity or Civility - Schieffer Says Mindless Meanness Has Invaded the Public Commons (CBS) That was not a State of the Union speech we heard the other night, but it had all the trappings - and when that Congressman hollered "You lie!" at the President, we did get a snapshot of the nation's state. It was not a pretty picture. The country is in an angry mood - people are frustrated, tempers are short, congressmen are being shouted down at town hall meetings (where constituents sometimes show up with guns), and at rallies like the one yesterday in...

Our Organizer-in-Chief will address students across America come September 8. In preparation for that teaching moment, Teaching Ambassador Fellows at the Department of Education have prepared a Menu of Classroom Activities to prepare the kiddies. Here are a few of the leading questions: Why is it important that we listen to the President and other elected officials ...? Why is what they say important? What is the President trying to tell me? What is the President asking me to do?

MORAGA — The much-anticipated speech Wednesday by militant-turned-college-professor Bill Ayers at Saint Mary's College attracted nearly 600 people, many of them very clearly in diametrically opposite political camps. That figure does not count the roughly 200 people who loudly protested Ayers' appearance outside the packed Soda Center auditorium in an unparalleled level of interest in an academic lecture at this rural, private Catholic college. Inside, Ayers' 90-minute presentation drew jeers, boos and an emotional outburst from a woman who swore at him and left. He also received plenty of laughs and claps and even a few standing ovations from the...

CHICAGO (AP) - A federal judge on Thursday barred school districts statewide from holding the daily moment of silence suitable for prayer that is required under state law. U.S. District Judge Robert W. Gettleman said he had given school districts time to object to his March 28 preliminary injunction on enforcement of the moment of silence law but received no objections. He therefore extended to the entire state the preliminary injunction originally designed to apply only to suburban Buffalo Grove District 214. The law passed by the Illinois General Assembly says every school district in the state must hold a...

Click Your Pick Does Illinois need a "moment of silence" in schools? Yes 58.1% No 41.9% Total votes: 4057

Judge bans moment of silence in suburban districtBy Jeff Coen | Tribune staff reporter 6:15 PM CST, November 14, 2007 A federal judge today issued a preliminary injunction barring a suburban school district from implementing the state's new law mandating a moment of silence at the start of classes, calling the statute too vague and "likely unconstitutional." U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman made the decision at a hearing on a lawsuit brought by local atheist activist Rob Sherman over issues related to the separation of church and state. Sherman sued Township High School District 214, in which his daughter is...

JERUSALEM - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday that Israelis and Palestinians have a new "moment of opportunity" to forge peace despite the eruption of fresh tensions between the two sides over preparations for a U.S.-hosted Mideast conference. Even as President Bush said he was optimistic about the conference and the creation of a Palestinian state, Rice faced growing difficulties in her efforts to organize the meeting set for November or December to launch formal Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Rice cautioned the going would be tough as she wrapped up four days of intense shuttle diplomacy during which she met...

A landmark attempt to reform US immigration laws and grant a path to citizenship for around 12 million illegal immigrants faces its most crucial test yet in a moment of high political drama Thursday. Democratic Senate Majority leader Harry Reid has scheduled a device known as a cloture vote on limiting time for debate on the package, in an effort to force it through the Senate this week. Republicans, many of whom are under intense pressure from conservative supporters over the bill, have however complained that Reid's move would thwart a sheaf of amendments they wish to debate, and want...

To: National Desk, Energy Reporter Contact: Peter Flaherty of National Legal and Policy Center, 703-237-1970; Website: http://www.nlpc.org WASHINGTON, June 15 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Peter Flaherty, president of the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), today told British Petroleum, PLC to ignore a boycott called against the oil giant by Jesse Jackson this week at the annual Rainbow/PUSH conference in Chicago. BP is listed in the conference program as a Bronze Sponsor, a designation costing $10,000. Flaherty said, "Jesse Jackson is bluffing a foreign company. He has virtually no ability to affect the consumer habits of Americans, or even African Americans....

Don't the Fallen Deserve at Least a Moment? By Colbert I. King Saturday, May 27, 2006; Page A25 "Memorial Day Sale! Warehouse Is Stocked and Ready for Your Home"; "Memorial Day SALE plus EXTRA 15% OFF when you use your store card or pass"; "Memorial Day 1/2 Price Sale on Mattresses!"; "Memorial Day PIANO SALE"; "UNBELIEVABLE! STOREWIDE SAVINGS JUST IN TIME FOR THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND!" -- Thursday newspaper ads This cannot be what Maj. Gen. John A. Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, had in mind when he officially proclaimed Memorial Day on May 5, 1868....

WASHINGTON, May 25, 2006 – On May 29, Americans will pause together to remember servicemembers from wars past and present who have given the ultimate sacrifice while defending the nation. The National Moment of Remembrance takes place for one minute each year on Memorial Day, starting at 3 p.m., local time. "The time 3 p.m. was chosen because it is the time when most Americans are enjoying their freedoms on the national holiday," according to a news release from the White House Commission on Remembrance. "The moment does not replace traditional Memorial Day events; rather, it is an act of...

WASHINGTON, May 21, 2006 – More than 1,000 families and friends of servicemembers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq gathered near the Washington Monument for "A Time of Remembrance" today. The event, initiated by the White House Commission on Remembrance, was designed to remember America's heroes, military and civilian, who have lost their lives in defense of the nation's freedom. It also served as a tribute to the families, whom speaker Marine Gen. Peter Pace called "the heroes here today who do not even think about themselves as heroes." "Somehow, we hope that days like today, we can tell these wonderful...

WASHINGTON, May 1, 2006 – When the USS James E. Williams sets sail from Norfolk, Va., tomorrow, it will be a special moment for the family of a top Army noncommissioned officer. Army Command Sgt. Maj. William J. "Joe" Gainey poses in his Pentagon office next to a portrait of his cousin, James E. Williams, a Medal of Honor recipient and the most decorated sailor in Navy history. A ship named for Williams, the USS James E. Williams, sets sail on its maiden voyage from Norfolk, Va., May 2. Photo by Kathleen T. Rhem  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image...

WASHINGTON, March 21, 2006 – Sectarian violence that erupted after the Feb. 22 bombing of a mosque in Samarra, Iraq, could have led to civil war. But Iraqis stayed united and are working to build a united government, President Bush said here today. When violence broke out, the Iraqi army didn't break apart into sectarian divisions, and religious and political leaders stood up to the violence and committed themselves to progress, Bush said at a White House news conference. The efforts of the Iraqis, along with continued coalition support, are what kept the country out of civil war, he said....

Police Log This is a true account recorded in the Police Log of Sarasota, Florida... An elderly Florida lady did her shopping and, upon returning to her car, found four males in the act of leaving with her vehicle. She dropped her shopping bags and drew her handgun, proceeding to scream at the top of her voice, "I have a gun, and I know how to use it! Get out of the car!" The four men didn't wait for a second invitation. They got out and ran like mad. The lady, somewhat shaken, then proceeded to load her shopping bags...

Rome paid tribute to the barbarians clamoring at her gates. It didn't do any good. Paying ransom only postponed the inevitable sacking, burning, and looting of the empire's capital. The UK's Neville Chamberlain sought to pacify Hitler, only to see Brits hiding in basements from the blitzkrieg a few years later. Instead of remembering history's lessons, the Washington Post today indulges in feel-good, intellectual rationalization of Muslim intolerance and hatred. In a 5-page manifesto entitled, "Anatomy of the Cartoon Protest Movement," authors Anthony Shadid and Kevin Sullivan exercise unlimited poetic license, calling Islamist hooliganism "a rare moment of empowerment among...

WASHINGTON - Cindy Sheehan and other peace activists plan to "die symbolically" for the next four days outside the White House to represent the American soldiers who have died in Iraq. Sheehan, whose son Casey died in Iraq last year, organized the vigil as the U.S. military death toll in the war neared 2,000. "I'll be laying down and not getting up," Sheehan said Tuesday to a small crowd in which the number of journalists exceeded the number of protesters. "When they let me out, I'll do the same thing if I get arrested."