THE WASHINGTON TIMES

EDITORIAL: Iran first, Palestinians later

Diplomacy is the art of thinking twice before saying nothing, so the saying goes. Thus, blunt comments from United Arab Emirates Ambassador Yousef al-Otaiba about the desirability of attacking Iran were unusual, especially because he hails from a part of the world where foreign policy is conducted mostly behind the scenes.

July 9, 2010

EDITORIAL: Divide and be conquered

Ambassador Robert Blackwill has proposed an intriguing strategy to split up Afghanistan. The United States would recognize a de-facto partition of the country that would grant the Taliban control of areas in their tribal heartland and concentrate Western development efforts in the rest of the country.

July 8, 2010

EDITORIAL: Kagan’s kiss of death

Senators who vote to confirm Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court will need to answer this fall for ignoring legal ethics while contributing to the Obama administration's culture of death. Solicitor General Kagan acted unethically - while an aide to President Clinton and in testimony last week to the Senate Judiciary Committee - to promote the monstrosity known as partial-birth abortion.

July 8, 2010

EDITORIAL: Unions first, troops last

Funding for troops in Afghanistan and Iraq could be held up by the war brewing on Capitol Hill among congressional Democrats and the White House. When the Senate returns to take up the $45.5 billion supplemental appropriations bill that passed the House on July 1, the central issue to resolve will be how best to appease Big Labor.

July 8, 2010

EDITORIAL: The patriotism gap

A new survey shows that Americans, on average, are growing more patriotic. Among some predominantly liberal groups, however, patriotism is on the decline, and the gap between the left and the American public is widening. The two sides of the chasm reflect two distinct views of the United States.

July 7, 2010

EDITORIAL: Kagan: for fruits but not for liberty

Liberty as Americans always have understood it appears an alien concept to Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan. Last week's Senate Judiciary Committee hearings made clear that Solicitor General Kagan views the federal government's power as almost unlimited.

July 7, 2010

EDITORIAL: California puts the squeeze on bureaucrats

Thousands of California bureaucrats face the prospect of having their lavish paychecks slashed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Full payment will be withheld until lawmakers come to an agreement with the larger-than-life executive on how they're going to pay the state's overdue bills. With Mr. Schwarzenegger's fellow Republicans holding just 42 of the legislature's 120 seats, the Democratic majority has had little motivation to budge from their position. Until now.

July 7, 2010

EDITORIAL: Obammigration

It's President Obama's policy not to secure America's southern border. Yesterday, his administration filed suit against Arizona for its new law to try to enforce immigration statutes already on the books. This comes after the administration brought legal action against the Grand Canyon State for a 2007 law that strips business licenses away from companies that violate immigration laws. It's clear the White House is working to make states defenseless against an illegal invasion.

July 6, 2010

EDITORIAL: Black Panther case: Racism rules

Former Justice Department lawyer J. Christian Adams made explosive allegations yesterday in testimony to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, saying that a particular Justice Department official openly announced that civil rights laws would not be enforced to protect white voters. He also said he saw race-based harassment within the department itself.

July 6, 2010

EDITORIAL: Allah’s final frontier

In a June 30 interview with al Jazeera, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said that his "perhaps foremost mission" is to "find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science." Mr. Bolden denied that his feel-good mission was purely diplomatic, claiming, "there is much to be gained by drawing in the contributions that are possible from the Muslim nations."

July 6, 2010

EDITORIAL: At liberty with the truth

Give me your tired, your poor, your hackneyed cliches. That's what President Obama did when addressing immigration policy at the American University on Thursday.

July 2, 2010

EDITORIAL: Europe’s scrambled-egg policy

The British press lampooned a particularly absurd European Union proposal that would have prohibited the sale of eggs by the dozen. The ridicule was so extreme that the plan, never officially introduced, was quietly withdrawn last week. Yet the incident still serves as a warning of just how fine a control bureaucratic officials seek to exert over our lives.

July 2, 2010

EDITORIAL: The prison jihad

A former Watergate felon has the key to fighting terrorist recruitment in America's prisons: Bring in more Christians.

July 2, 2010

EDITORIAL: Media blackout for Black Panthers

Where is the New York Times? Where is The Washington Post? Where are CBS and NBC? A whistleblower makes explosive allegations about the Department of Justice; his story is backed by at least two other witnesses; and the allegations involve the two hot-button issues of race and of blatant politicization of the justice system. A potential constitutional confrontation stemming from the scandal brews between the Justice Department and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. A congressman highly respected for thoughtfulness and bipartisanship has all but accused the department of serious impropriety. By every standard of objective journalism, this adds up to real news.

July 2, 2010

EDITORIAL: Cuccinelli fights the feds

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli continued his valiant fight in federal court Thursday to keep alive his lawsuit against the new Obamacare law. It is a fight that not just Virginians, but all Americans, should hope he wins.

July 2, 2010

EDITORIAL: Nugent tramples the weak-minded

A Ted Nugent concert is 75 percent hard-charging rock 'n' roll and 25 percent a celebration of red-white-and-blue values.

July 1, 2010

EDITORIAL: Thomas Jefferson’s reset button

These days, most commentary on the Declaration of Independence focuses on the implications of the passage that "all men are created equal [and] that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights." Dwelling on that passage might surprise Thomas Jefferson, who thought it was self-evident. The argument that flowed from his premises is more important, namely that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and when the relationship shifts to the point where government becomes a threat to the lives, liberties and pursuit of happiness of the people, it is government - not the people - that must change.

July 1, 2010

JEFFERSON: Sorry to miss Independence Day

Respected Sir - The kind invitation I receive from you, on the part of the citizens of the city of Washington, to be present with them at their celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of American Independence, as one of the surviving signers of an instrument pregnant with our own, and the fate of the world, is most flattering to myself, and heightened by the honorable accompaniment proposed for the comfort of such a journey. It adds sensibly to the sufferings of sickness, to be deprived by it of a personal participation in the rejoicings of that day. But acquiescence is a duty, under circumstances not placed among those we are permitted to control.

July 1, 2010