THE WASHINGTON TIMES

EDITORIAL: The USS Karl Marx

The responsibility for naming U.S. warships has traditionally been left to the secretary of the Navy. That needs to change. President Obama's Navy secretary, Ray Mabus, has politicized the christening process to the point where some form of oversight is needed.

December 7, 2011

EDITORIAL: Obama’s Israel problem

The Obama White House claims to have done more for Israel's security than any in history. If that were the case, President Obama would not have to continually defend his shaky record.

December 7, 2011

Inside Politics

Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry — with nowhere to go but up — is making an aggressive play to rise in Iowa by courting Christian evangelicals who could help revive his campaign.

December 7, 2011

Taking Names: Watson conquers her fear of horses

It's a good thing nobody told Steven Spielberg that Emily Watson is afraid of horses when she signed on to his new movie "War Horse."

December 7, 2011

Tuning in to TV

Emmy-winning character actor Harry Morgan, whose portrayal of the fatherly Col. Sherman Potter on television's "M*A*S*H" highlighted a show business career that included nine other TV series, 50 films and the Broadway stage, died Wednesday. He was 96.

December 7, 2011

American Scene

Alabama's attorney general has become the highest-ranking Republican official to suggest throwing out parts of his state's tough new immigration law, as he recommended that lawmakers repeal some portions of the statute that have been put on hold by federal courts and clarify some others.

December 6, 2011

EDITORIAL: The school bus shakedown

Montgomery County hopes to be among the first to convert its familiar yellow school buses into rolling speed traps. As each bus picks up and drops off schoolchildren during the day, it also would mail out $250 tickets to passing drivers - all in the name of safety, of course.

December 6, 2011

EDITORIAL: Canada cools to global warming

Canada has flat-out rejected the proposals pushed at the United Nations' annual global-warming summit in South Africa. This could be the start of a trend of countries dumping environmentalist fashion statements and returning to rational energy policies. If only the United States would do the same.

December 6, 2011

Veterans Committee votes Santo into Hall

Ron Santo always kept rooting for the causes dearest to him for his Chicago Cubs to win the World Series, for doctors to find a cure for diabetes and for him to reach the Hall of Fame.

December 5, 2011

Texans’ Johnson has ‘mild’ hamstring injury

Andre Johnson has a "mild" left hamstring injury, though Houston coach Gary Kubiak couldn't say if his star receiver would play at Cincinnati this weekend.

December 5, 2011

EDITORIAL: The czar who bleeds

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin suffered a setback last weekend on his march to resume the Russian presidency. The weak showing for his United Russia party in Sunday's parliamentary elections raised questions whether his return to high executive office will be as smooth as expected.

December 5, 2011

EDITORIAL: The 8.6 percent illusion

The Obama administration received a welcome gift from the Bureau of Labor of Statistics (BLS) on Friday. The government's official unemployment figure dipped to 8.6 percent in November, a rather surprising turn given that the economy added a paltry 120,000 new jobs that month. That's the first tip-off that the scenario isn't rosy. President Obama shouldn't break out the Cristal champagne quite yet.

December 5, 2011

American Scene

The iced-in city of Nome on Alaska's western coast may be in luck: A Russian tanker that can plow through thick ice will try to deliver 1.5 million gallons of home heating fuel, gasoline and diesel fuel after a massive storm kept a barge from getting in before winter.

December 5, 2011

Economy Briefs

The unemployment rate, which has refused to budge from the 9 percent neighborhood for 2 1/2 frustrating years, suddenly dropped in November, driven in part by small businesses that finally see reason to hope and hire.

December 4, 2011

American Scene

Megachurch leader Bishop Eddie Long announced Sunday that he is taking time off to focus on his family after his wife filed for divorce.

December 4, 2011

EDITORIAL: Nobody wants toll lanes

It takes a certain kind of genius to come up with the most unpopular idea in all of politics. A few years ago, Virginia's then-Gov. Tim Kaine, a Democrat, developed a scheme to lease part of Interstate 95 to an Australian company so it could impose a tax on the commonwealth's drivers for the next 75 years. Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, a Republican, is prepared to give final approval to this misguided high-occupancy toll (HOT) lane proposal. Before he does so, he ought to talk to his Georgia counterpart.

December 2, 2011

EDITORIAL: Egyptian women, stock up on scarves

It was a strange scene in Cairo Thursday as the head of the country's election commission convened a press conference to announce the results of this week's first round of parliamentary elections. Abdul Moiz Ibrahim hailed the 62 percent turnout in the compulsory poll as the best showing "since the time of the pharaohs" - rulers not known for their belief in participatory government. Mr. Ibrahim alluded vaguely to problems in counting the ballots. Just as Mr. Ibrahim was expected to deliver the results, he abruptly left the room. "I have no more energy," he said, "I've run out of gas."

December 2, 2011