Featured Articles — February 12, 2009

February 12, 2009 by Jonathan Movroydis | Filed Under Featured Articles 

Interesting Takes From Home And Abroad:

Stimulate First, Ask Questions Later By John Dickerson
For President Obama to get a stimulus bill, something had to give. You can have urgency or transparency or a thorough think about things. But you can’t have all three. Forced to choose, Obama chose the fierce urgency of now.

TRB: In Defense of Waste By Jonathan Chait
Republicans like to accuse Democrats of wasting taxpayer dollars and being condescending eggheads. But if President Obama’s economic stimulus fails to prevent a depression–and I’m not saying it will–it will be because he didn’t waste enough money, and didn’t spend enough time being a condescending egghead.

Hardly the Best and Brightest By Victor Davis Hanson
More likely the social contract between the elite and the more ordinary citizens finally began breaking apart — and with it the trust necessary for a society’s collective investment and the payment of taxes. Then civilization itself begins to unwind.

Believe It or Not, Rush Limbaugh Was Right on Stimulus By Morton M. Kondracke
I can’t believe I’m writing this, but Rush Limbaugh actually has (or had) a good idea on the stimulus. Or, at least the germ of one.

Obama Misreads His Mandate By Steven Hayward
President Barack Obama’s honeymoon period seems to have ended quickly. That’s because Mr. Obama doesn’t grasp the essentials of presidential leadership. Rather than making a compelling case for his economic policies, he has resorted to curt rebuffs, such as telling House Republican whip Eric Cantor, “I won.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the same thing the same day: “We won the election; we wrote the [stimulus] bill.” This is the trope of a party that has lost its ability to make an argument.

Iran’s Inner America By Roger Cohen
In Iran, people under 30 thirst for contact with the outside world and, above all, an America that looms with all the power of myth.

Nato is creaking By David Davis
Nato is at risk. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s principal purpose is preserving the peace in Europe. In maintaining that peace it has been arguably the most successful international organisation to date. But as we approach its 60th anniversary in April, its historic effectiveness is now being put in jeopardy.

‘Buy American’ Is No Hit in Korea By Joseph Sternberg
The enthusiasm among some in Washington over a “Buy American” provision in the stimulus bill has not gone down well here. “Protectionism is not the right answer to get ourselves out of this crisis,” South Korea’s Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon tells me.

Iran Buries the Past By Nir Boms & Shayan Arya
As preparations begin in Iran for the festivities marking the Islamic republic’s 30 year anniversary, another somber Iranian anniversary is commemorated. Twenty years ago, some 10,000 political prisoners and regime opponents were brutally killed following a fatwa from then supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini.

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