Home Current Issue Back Issues Premium Archive Forum Site Guide Feedback Search Subscribe Renew Gift Subscription Subscriber Help Browse >>   Books & Critics   Fiction & Poetry   Foreign Affairs   Politics & Society   Pursuits & Retreats Subscribe to our free e-mail newsletters

D. C. Dispatch   Weekly Opinion Columns   .... [Recent columns from National Journal are available by clicking here.] Off Message: Make 'Em Pay (January 18, 2005) The Armstrong Williams case can show that media people sometimes do pay for their wrongs. By William Powers. Social Studies: The No. 1 Moral Issue Is—Abortion? No, Social Security. (January 18, 2005) For the Bush administration, Social Security reform is a values issue with economic overtones. By Jonathan Rauch. Political Pulse: What Political Dividend? (January 18, 2005) U.S. Disaster assistance is taken for granted. By William Schneider. Legal Affairs: Distorting The Law and Facts in the Torture Debate (January 18, 2005) A fog of confusion surrounds the question of what can be done to extract potentially lifesaving information. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Wealth of Nations: It Is Good To Be Admired, But Even Better To Be Right (January 11, 2005) As long as the United States is the most powerful nation on Earth, it will be widely resented. By Clive Crook. Off Message: The Tsunami Effect (January 11, 2005) Calamities that take up residence in the collective mind tend to share certain features. By William Powers. Political Pulse: Haunted Honeymoon (January 11, 2005) The public's concern about developments in Iraq is denying President Bush a second honeymoon. By William Schneider. Legal Affairs: Congress Must Stop Ignoring 'Enemy Combantants' (January 11, 2005) Comprehensive rules on enemy-combatant detainees should be adopted the old-fashioned way—by Congress. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Off Message: Xtreme Xmas (December 21, 2004) Christmas is like everything else: It's got to be positively huge, or it doesn't register. By William Powers. Social Studies: Good Plan, Republicans. But It Didn't Work In Britain (December 21, 2004) Republicans hope an ownership agenda will create a conservative majority. That was also Thatcher's plan. By Jonathan Rauch. Political Pulse: Europe's Dream of 'Realism' (December 21, 2004) President Bush could be the greatest-ever impetus toward a united Europe—an anti-American Europe. By William Schneider. Legal Affairs: The Art Of the Deal: Avoiding a Nomination Armageddon (December 21, 2004) If an opening occurs on the Supreme Court, President Bush and Senate Democrats should strike a deal. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Wealth of Nations: Bush and The Dollar: How to Live Dangerously (December 14, 2004) Americans ought to be paying closer attention to what is happening to their currency. The dollar's slide is happening for a reason, and it points to some real economic dangers. By Clive Crook. Off Message: The Great Shopping Divide (December 14, 2004) The worlds of Wal-Mart and Whole Foods, and the values they promote, couldn't be more different. By William Powers. Political Pulse: Ukraine's 'Orange Revolution' (December 14, 2004) A victory for Viktor Yushchenko in Ukraine would confirm the West's increasing influence there. By William Schneider. Off Message: The Tyranny of Choice (December 7, 2004) More choices for Social Security and other government programs? One of the reasons so many Americans are on Prozac and Xanax is that their lives are so full of choices, it's making them miserable. By William Powers. Social Studies: George Bush Can Save the Middle East. Bush 41, That Is. (December 7, 2004) The best hope for pulling Israeli-Palestinian peace prospects out of the ditch is for the White House to enlist former President Bush as a special envoy to the Middle East. By Jonathan Rauch. Political Pulse: Divided We Stand (December 7, 2004) Americans are still looking for a leader who can deliver what George W. Bush promised in 2000, when he vowed to be "a uniter, not a divider." So far, they haven't found it. By William Schneider. Legal Affairs: Do Racial Preferences Reduce the Number of Black Lawyers? (December 7, 2004) The first in-depth statistical study of how affirmative action affects black students concludes that African-Americans "are the victims of law school programs of affirmative action, not the beneficiaries." By Stuart Taylor Jr. Wealth of Nations: Why Global Warming Is an Opportunity for Bush (November 23, 2004) Climate change is unlikely to be high among President Bush's priorities for his second term. It should be, if he has meant what he has said on the subject. By Clive Crook. Off Message: Here's to the Losers (November 23, 2004) Someone else's loss always feels like our gain, and the bigger the loss, the more we luxuriate in it. By William Powers. Political Pulse: On This, Clinton and Rove Agree (November 23, 2004) Bill Clinton and Karl Rove agree on something: the importance of the gay-marriage issue in the election. By William Schneider. Legal Affairs: What Does Bush Want From the Supreme Court (November 23, 2004) Just as liberal activist judges have driven millions of moderates into the Republican fold, conservative activist judges could drive them back out again. Karl Rove must know this. So must President Bush. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Media: Baghdad Versus Laci (November 16, 2004) Unless you have a loved one in Iraq, the war news has a way of getting lost in the daily noise, like faint, vaguely troubling background music. By William Powers. Social Studies: In 2004, The Country Didn't Move Right—But The GOP Did (November 16, 2004) Much of this year's post-election analysis is just plain wrong. The election was not a stunning triumph for the president, Republicans, or social conservatives. By Jonathan Rauch. Political Pulse: The Label That Sank Kerry (November 16, 2004) Karl Rove's greatest achievement in the 2004 presidential campaign was not to energize the party's conservative base. It was to do so without alienating moderates. By William Schneider. Legal Affairs: The Problem With Alberto Gonzales (November 16, 2004) The problem with Alberto Gonzales is that he has been deeply involved in developing some of the most sweeping claims of near-dictatorial presidential power in our nation's history. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Media: Name That Narrative (November 9, 2004) Now that the election is over, it's time to enjoy the other great contest that occurs every four years right around this time: the quest for a narrative. By William Powers. Political Pulse: Exploiting the Rifts (November 9, 2004) George W. Bush won the popular vote by scoring breakthroughs with important constituencies and by exploiting, rather than healing, the deep ideological divisions in the electorate. By William Schneider. Media: Fear and Loathing (November 3, 2004) In the Atomic Age, fear brought us together; in today's world, it drives us apart. By William Powers. Wealth of Nations: Bush or Kerry? An Englishman Speaks Out (November 3, 2004) George W. Bush and John Kerry are both awful candidates, although in completely different ways. And that poses a dilemma for voters. By Clive Crook. Political Pulse: Issues, or Personal Traits? (November 3, 2004) John Kerry's advantage is issues. George Bush's advantage is strength. Which will be key? By William Schneider. Legal Affairs: How the High Court and the Media Aggravate Polarization (November 3, 2004) Ill-advised Supreme Court rulings and unfortunate media bias have exacerbated the nation's increasingly polarized politics. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Media: Poll Me Do (October 26, 2004) Polls are ideally suited to our world. They seem factual, but, at bottom, they're only pseudo-factual. Polling is better than tarot cards, but not much better. By William Powers. Social Studies: Bush Is Not a Safe Pair of Hands. But Is Kerry? (October 26, 2004) Some people think a president should inspire the nation and do great things. But first and foremost, a president needs to be a safe pair of hands. By Jonathan Rauch. Political Pulse: New Wild Cards (October 26, 2004) Two wild-card issues have emerged in the presidential race: the flu vaccine shortage and the draft. By William Schneider. Legal Affairs: How Our Political System Elevates the Wrong People (October 26, 2004) With the stakes so high, why has the quality of our politics sunk so low? Are there institutional reforms that might make it better? By Stuart Taylor Jr. Wealth of Nations: Kerry's Rhetoric on Trade, Jobs: An Unforced Error (October 19, 2004) In the debate over the offshoring of jobs, John Kerry and John Edwards have chosen to emphasize fear rather than creative, progressive solutions. By Clive Crook. Media: Mistakes Weren't Made (October 19, 2004) The Bush campaign's insistence on infallibility is a highly evolved form of political gamesmanship. By William Powers. Political Pulse: Creating Problems for Bush (October 19, 2004) Because of three presidential debates, a close race has gotten closer. By William Schneider. Legal Affairs: Should Reporters Go to Jail For Doing Their Job? (October 19, 2004) Should we be jailing journalists for honoring promises of confidentiality that they make in order to expose the truth? By Stuart Taylor Jr. Media: The Manicure Fallacy (October 12, 2004) The media is so ancient, ancient, in the way it talks about gender roles in politics. By William Powers. Social Studies: How High Are The Stakes In 2004? Not as High As You Think (October 12, 2004) The 2004 election looks less like 1980 than like 1960, a year when the candidates differed more in style than in substance. By Jonathan Rauch Political Pulse: When Polls Collide (October 12, 2004) With more polls than ever, expect to see a lot of variation from one poll to the next. By William Schneider. Legal Affairs: Our Unjust Sentencing System: The Wrecking Ball As Curve (October 12, 2004) The Supreme Court is about to destroy the 20-year-old, and grossly unjust, federal criminal sentencing system, but without any idea of what to put in its place. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Wealth of Nations: Privatizing Social Security: An Idea Whose Time Has Passed (October 5, 2004) President Bush's plan to overhaul Social Security is no longer credible. By spending the budget surplus, he has squandered his opportunity. By Clive Crook. Media: Feeling Groovy (October 5, 2004) The '60s is the Groundhog Day of decades, relived over and over in an endless loop. By William Powers. Political Pulse: Moment of Truth (October 5, 2004) In this election, voters have to judge how things are going in a country thousands of miles away. By William Schneider. Legal Affairs: Destructive Campaign Rhetoric: A Bipartisan Problem (October 5, 2004) Both John Kerry and George W. Bush need to be more careful about what they say regarding Iraq and terrorism. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Media: Rogue's Gallery (September 28, 2004) What if the next museum on the Mall was devoted to the media—where the American people could officially pay tribute to the many contributions journalists have made to our culture? By William Powers. Social Studies: Fix the McCain-Feingold Law. Oops—Can I Say That? (September 28, 2004) Thanks to McCain-Feingold, America now has what amounts to a federal speech code, enforced with prison terms of up to five years. By Jonathan Rauch. Political Pulse: Putin's Power Grab (September 28, 2004) What's happening in Russia may be the most ominous development in the world this year. By William Schneider. Legal Affairs: Imperial Judges Could Pick The President—Again (September 28, 2004) Republicans and Democrats are marshaling armies of lawyers—tens of thousands of them—to be ready for battle over every important aspect of this year's election process. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Wealth of Nations: To Win, Kerry Will Have To Answer Hard Questions (September 21, 2004) John Kerry's supporters have done their man no favors by demanding almost nothing of him. To win, Kerry needs to be specific about his policy plans. By Clive Crook. Media: Hot or Not? (September 21, 2004) The election campaign is looking more and more like one of those Web sites where people post photos of themselves so that the rest of the world can rate their looks. By William Powers. Political Pulse: Scare Tactics (September 21, 2004) The presidential race is a choice between two fears: fear of the unknown, and fear of the known. By William Schneider. Legal Affairs: Bush Has Botched North Korea. Would Kerry Do Better? (September 21, 2004) It's hard to imagine anyone doing much worse than President Bush has done in terms of dealing with the world's most dangerous regime—North Korea. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Social Studies: Iraq Is No Vietnam. But Vietnam Holds Lessons For Iraq (September 14, 2004) Iraq can only be won politically, not militarily, and only Iraqis can win it. By Jonathan Rauch. Political Pulse: Packaging the Bush Doctrine (September 14, 2004) Men, not women, were responsible for President Bush's bounce after the Republican Convention. By William Schneider. Legal Affairs: The Military's Mess at Guantánamo and How to Fix It (September 14, 2004) The ad hoc military "commission" that finally held its first pretrial hearings at the Guantánamo Bay prison camp is an international embarrassment. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Social Studies: Introducing the Senate Candidate of the Future (August 24, 2004) Introducing the Senate Candidate of the Future: a zillionaire who may be clueless but can pay his own way. By Jonathan Rauch. Political Pulse: Which Way Do You Cut It? (August 24, 2004) Today's politics has more to do with values than with class. And at the core of the values split is the 1960s. By William Schneider. Legal Affairs: The Threat That Bush, Kerry—and the Voters—Ignore (August 24, 2004) Neither George W. Bush nor John Kerry is addressing the looming crisis in providing health care and retirement benefits to Baby Boomers. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Oil and the Wobbly Economy: A Long-Term Problem? (August 24, 2004) The current economic slowdown may be a more persistent problem than the Federal Reserve expects. By Clive Crook. Political Pulse: Wedges Failing to Bite (July 27, 2004) Was the president deliberately trying to create conflict? Of course he was. By William Schneider. Media: All Dialed In (July 20, 2004) Summer-as-we-knew-it died a few years ago when people started talking about being "dialed in." By William Powers. Social Studies: Post-9/11, Financial Security Has a Whole New Meaning (July 20, 2004) America has changed since Septermber 11. You don't always see the change, but it is there, at places such as Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. By Jonathan Rauch. Political Pulse: An Asset Outside the South? (July 20, 2004) With John Edwards on the ticket, Democrats may be able to cherry-pick one or two Southern states. By William Schneider. Legal Affairs: Our Imperial, Unjudicial, Disingenuous, Indispensable Court (July 20, 2004) The current Supreme Court justices have stretched their powers further than ever before. They've gone too far down the road of judicial supremacy. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Media: A Real Blockbuster (July 13, 2004) Entertainment coverage often feels a lot smarter than our old-fashioned political coverage. By William Powers. Political Pulse: Naderites of Convenience (July 13, 2004) Conservatives are trying to hurt John Kerry by working to get Ralph Nader on ballots. By William Schneider. Legal Affairs: Edwards and the Problem with the Trial-Lawyer Lobby (July 13, 2004) You don't have to be a fan of corporate fat cats to be concerned that under a Kerry-Edwards administration, tort rules might become even more damaging to our economy. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Wealth of Nations: Kerry and Edwards Need to Think Again on Trade and Taxes (July 13, 2004) For both John Kerry and John Edwards, anxiety about globalization and the foreign threat to American employment are central. But their fears are misguided. By Clive Crook. Media: Swing Party! (July 6, 2004) The swing vote isn't just a story, it's a fun house, a riddle, with no penalty for guessing wrong. By William Powers. Social Studies: For Kerry, It's Not The Economy, Stupid. It's Strength. (July 6, 2004) John F. Kerry should take a page from John F. Kennedy's 1960 playbook and run as a hard-liner on national security issues. By Jonathan Rauch. Political Pulse: Maybe It's Not the Economy (July 6, 2004) A bad economy doomed former President Bush. A good economy may not save this President Bush. By William Schneider. Legal Affairs: How Bush's Overreaching Hurts the War Against Terrorism (July 6, 2004) The Supreme Court rulings on enemy combatants and the Bush administration's handling of torture guidelines represent a failure of leadership by the president. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Wealth of Nations: Why the Fed Has to Be Careful in Raising Rates (June 29, 2004) The Fed needs no reminding that Japan's financial authorities pushed their economy back into recession in 2000 by tightening too soon. By Clive Crook. Media: The Church of Best-Sellers (June 29, 2004) Media people are the high priests of secular culture, encouraging people to worship what sells. By William Powers. Legal Affairs: Nuclear Terror: Has Bush Made Matters Worse? (June 29, 2004) Are we better off than we were four years ago, when it comes to reducing the threat of nuclear terrorism? The Bush administration's record is far from encouraging. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Kerry's Deviation (June 29, 2004) Observant and dissenting Catholics disagree on the proper role of the church in politics. By William Schneider. Media: Sasquatch for President (June 22, 2004) The beauty of Bigfoot is that we know so little about him—unlike our overcovered presidential candidates. By William Powers. Social Studies: Reagan Missed Greatness, But He Nailed Rightness (June 22, 2004) Ronald Reagan cared about only a few important things: beating Communism, cutting taxes, bolstering defense. And he got those right. By Jonathan Rauch. Political Pulse: Burying the Hatchet (June 22, 2004) The Iraq debate has made life more difficult for governments on both sides of the Atlantic. By William Schneider. Legal Affairs: The Torture Memos: The Case of the Gradually Disappearing Supreme Court (June 22, 2004) Could the battles over Supreme Court nominations become so acrimonious that it becomes impossible for anyone to win Senate confirmation? By Stuart Taylor Jr. Media: Missing a Beat (June 15, 2004) Political reporters always had a hard time getting a handle on Ronald Reagan's charisma. By William Powers. Legal Affairs: The Torture Memos: Putting the President Above the Law (June 15, 2004) Little did the Framers suspect that their Constitution would be twisted by a president to claim powers more appropriate to Roman emperors, Russian czars, King George III. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Leaving His Mark (June 15, 2004) Ronald Reagan's legacy belongs to the whole country, not just one political party. By William Schneider. Wealth of Nations: Reagan Defeated Communism. Washington Was More of a Challenge. (June 15, 2004) Ronald Reagan sped the birth of a new world order, but he failed to change what he wanted to change the most: the scale and reach of the federal government. By Clive Crook. Media: It Pays to Be Wrong (June 8, 2004) The news business only pretends to be wary of byline hounds known to sometimes play it fast and loose. By William Powers. Social Studies: In Iraq, Don't Cut And Run. Cut and Don't Run. (June 8, 2004) The biggest mistake America could make in Iraq would be not to try for democracy there. The second-biggest mistake might be to try too hard. By Jonathan Rauch. Political Pulse: Super-Charged Electorate (June 8, 2004) Back in 2000, voters didn't get energized until after the election. This year, the opposite is true. By William Schneider. Legal Affairs: Has Bush Learned Anything From His Mistakes? (June 3, 2004) President Bush comes off more and more as an ideologue bereft of viable ideas, a man impervious to the lessons of experience and uninterested in thoughtful reflection. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Wealth of Nations: The War in Iraq and the Wisdom of Hindsight (June 3, 2004) Advocates of the war in Iraq owe the people they debated before the war an honest answer to the question, "So, now do you admit that you were wrong?" By Clive Crook. Media: Radio Free America (June 3, 2004) The people behind satellite radio understand the dreadful quality of traditional commercial radio. By William Powers. Political Pulse: Aggressive Courtship (June 3, 2004) The allegiance of Jewish voters to the Democratic Party will be put to the test in the presidential race. By William Schneider. Political Pulse: Bush's Poll Troubles (May 26, 2004) If President Bush is in so much trouble, Democrats wonder, shouldn't John Kerry have a much bigger lead? By William Schneider. Media: Through a Glass, Starkly (May 19, 2004) Foreign coverage has a great flaw, an inherent distortion that becomes highly visible in wartime: We tend to learn about foreign countries and cultures only when they're part of a big story. By William Powers. Political Pulse: Tipping the Balance (May 19, 2004) Even though voters don't know much about John Kerry, he's running neck and neck with George W. Bush. By William Schneider. Social Studies: Gay Marriage Is Risky. But Banning It Is Riskier. (May 19, 2004) Gay marriage is risky. But not trying gay marriage is riskier, which is why it should be tested in a state or two. Say, Massachusetts. By Jonathan Rauch. Legal Affairs: Must We Become More Like the Barbarians To Save Ourselves? (May 19, 2004) Indiscriminate brutality brings strategic disaster. Short of slaughter on the scale of a Saddam or a Stalin, it will reap more hatred than fear. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Media: But Seriously (May 12, 2004) The notion of America the Unserious relies on a faulty assumption about the news. By William Powers. Political Pulse: Anti-Americanism on the Rise (May 12, 2004) What's going on in Iraq is something deeper than nationalism. It's anti-Americanism. By William Schneider. Wealth of Nations: A New Europe Is Born. Will It Survive? (May 12, 2004) The addition of 10 new members to the European Union, which should have been the E.U.'s moment of greatest triumph, could carry the seeds of its eventual destruction. By Clive Crook. Legal Affairs: The Perils of Torturing Suspected Terrorists (May 12, 2004) Does the use of coercive interrogation techniques lead inevitably to abuses such as those committed at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq? By Stuart Taylor Jr. Legal Affairs: The Fragility of Our Freedoms in a Time of Terror (May 5, 2004) The Supreme Court's oral arguments in the "enemy-combatants" case underscore the fragility of our freedoms, and of our lives, in this scary new century. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Bush's Father Figure (May 5, 2004) Just as it would be politically dangerous for President Bush to justify his Iraq policy in religious terms, it would be dangerous for Democrats to challenge the personal faith behind Bush's political values. By William Schneider. Media: Who's Clinton Now? (May 5, 2004) The war story has located this president's tragic flaws. They're not the same as Bill Clinton's flaws, but there are common threads—the arrogance, the recklessness—and the media know it. By William Powers. Wealth of Nations: Cut Russia Some Slack: The Alarm and Dismay Are Misplaced (April 28, 2004) Russia isn't as much of a mess as critics would have you think. Its economy is making progress, and its political system is probably not much less democratic than, say, Italy's. By Clive Crook. Media: Fear of God (April 28, 2004) The more a politician talks about God, the more the press gets uncomfortable and weird. By William Powers. Political Pulse: Warring Game Plans (April 28, 2004) George W. Bush is playing to his base, while John Kerry is trolling for swing voters. By William Schneider. Legal Affairs: Guantanamo: Why the President Is Courting Defeat (April 28, 2004) The Bush administration seems likely to lose the first big war-on-terrorism case that has come before the Supreme Court—one regarding due process at Guantanamo Bay. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Legal Affairs: 9/11: Save Some Blame for Courts That Created The 'Wall' (April 21, 2004) Let's take a break from the Clinton-Bush blame game for long enough to revisit how the wall between intelligence agents and criminal investigators was built and why it was torn down. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: An Imperiled Strategy (April 21, 2004) The 9/11 commission is making it harder for George W. Bush to run as the anti-terrorism president. By William Schneider. Media: Did You See? (April 21, 2004) Allegiance to individual media outlets has become an eccentric affectation, like wearing a bow tie. By William Powers. Social Studies: The 9/11 Commission Could Learn More If It Talked Less (April 21, 2004) The most important job of the 9/11 commission is not to fix blame for past wrongdoing but to identify and correct continuing problems. By Jonathan Rauch. Media: Our Man Dan (April 14, 2004) Daniel Okrent of The New York Times has turned out to be an exotic new kind of ombudsman. By William Powers. Legal Affairs: It's Time for Bush to Take Our Treaty Obligations Seriously (April 14, 2004) Despite what some conservatives say, it's past time for the Bush administration to show respect for the legitimate demands of international law. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Taking the Battle to the Enemy (April 14, 2004) President Bush has pulled ahead of John Kerry in states where Bush has been running ads. By William Schneider. Wealth of Nations: What John Kerry Should Learn From Bill Clinton (April 14, 2004) John Kerry's economic platform, especially so far as trade is concerned, lacks Clintonian optimism. It contemplates the international economy fearfully. By Clive Crook. Social Studies: Like It or Not, Israel's War With Hamas Is America's, Too (April 7, 2004) America's terror war and Israel's are not separable. By Jonathan Rauch. Legal Affairs: How to Rebut Clarke Without Slinging Mud (April 7, 2004) The Bush administration can counter Richard Clarke without resorting to mudslinging. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Cracked Cornerstone (April 7, 2004) Richard Clarke's charge that the war on terrorism was secondary to Iraq is becoming more believable. By William Schneider. Media: The Magnifying Media (April 7, 2004) The same competitiveness that drives those lurid crime stories is at work in the Richard Clarke drama. By William Powers. Political Pulse: Bush's Vanished Capital (March 31, 2004) President Bush accumulated a vast supply of political capital after 9/11. But he spent it—all of it—on Iraq. By William Schneider. Wealth of Nations: Why the Terrorists in Madrid Hit Every Target (March 31, 2004) While the election results in Spain were dismaying, they shouldn't be used to accuse that nation of cowardice and appeasement. Spain voted as it did for more complicated reasons. By Clive Crook. Social Studies: In Geneva, the U.N.'s Successor May Be Testing Its Wings (March 24, 2004) Since 1996, a handful of foreign-policy wonks have been kicking around the idea of a "democracy caucus" at the U.N. Now it looks as if it might actually happen. By Jonathan Rauch. Legal Affairs: How Spain Could Bring Bush and Kerry Together (March 24, 2004) What happened in Spain is a disaster for the United States—so much so that George W. Bush and John Kerry need to issue a national-unity declaration. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Media: The Wallflower Knows (March 24, 2004) C-SPAN has downsized Washington, revealing it to be a city of mere people, not giants. By William Powers. Political Pulse: Loophole Advocacy (March 24, 2004) It looks as if many Democrats have changed their minds about wanting to get soft money out of politics. By William Schneider. Legal Affairs: Bush Has The Wrong Remedy to Court-Imposed Gay Marriage (March 16, 2004) There are ways to get the courts out of the gay-marriage business without tying the hands of future voting majorities who may see gay marriage as good for us all. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Media: Be Not Wicked (March 16, 2004) Wickedness used to be a core value of American journalism and great newspapers. But not any more. By William Powers. Political Pulse: The Search for a Winning Combo (March 16, 2004) A running mate can help in three ways: geography, demography, and message. By William Schneider. Wealth of Nations: The Jobless Recovery: A Cause for Concern, Not Alarm (March 16, 2004) It's fair to ask whether the Bush administration has done as much as it could to cushion workers from the economy's growing pains. And the answer is no. By Clive Crook. Social Studies: On Same-Sex Marriage, Bush Failed the Public and Himself (March 10, 2004) President Bush's support of a constitutional ban on gay marriage amounts to a failure of moral and political vision, and of empathy and imagination. By Jonathan Rauch. Legal Affairs: Should Foreign Law Be Used to Interpret Our Constitution? (March 10, 2004) Conservatives are not alone in worrying about the dangers to our democracy of importing laws and constitutional principles crafted by intellectual elites abroad. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: The Nader Calculation (March 10, 2004) Ralph Nader draws a different lesson from 2000 than most others do. He thinks the election gave him clout. By William Schneider. Media: A Controversial Primer (March 10, 2004) There's a method to controversies—identifiable patterns, behaviors, and tendencies. By William Powers. Wealth of Nations: George Bush and the Labor Market: Like Father, Like Son? (March 3, 2004) If the flight of jobs overseas is not the cause of the current labor-market malaise, what is? And at what point will job growth start to match the economy's growth in output? By Clive Crook. Legal Affairs: 'Enemy Combatants': Inching Toward Due Process (March 3, 2004) The Bush administration's handling of alleged "enemy combatants" at Guantanamo Bay shows signs of paying more heed to the rule of law. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Positively Negative? (March 3, 2004) John Edwards needs to prove two things to Democrats on Super Tuesday. First, that he is electable. And second, that John Kerry isn't. Otherwise, he faces a long, difficult day. By William Schneider. Media: Cold Feet (March 3, 2004) We may look back one day and wonder why media coverage of the gay-marriage issue never kicked in to the old, familiar fight-for-justice story line evident in the civil-rights struggles of the 1960s. By William Powers. Social Studies: Israel's Sharon Is Up to Something in Gaza. But What? (February 25, 2004) What's up with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's recent announcement that Israel intends to withdraw from its settlements in Gaza? By Jonathan Rauch. Legal Affairs: John Edwards: The Lawsuit Industry Puts Its Best Face Forward (February 25, 2004) A look at John Edwards's legal career provides a window into the flaws of the legal system that made this mill worker's son a multimillionaire. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Bush's Vanished Capital (February 25, 2004) John Kerry was on both sides of the issue that split the Vietnam generation. He was a war hero and an anti-war hero. With Kerry as their leading candidate, Democrats have the standing to play the military card. By William Schneider. Media: News Driven (February 18, 2004) You can cruise the collective national psyche in the amazing world of car media. By William Powers. Legal Affairs: Reporters and Sources: Look to Politics, Not Law, for Protection (February 18, 2004) The notion that reporters have a broad First Amendment privilege not to testify in criminal investigations rests on shaky legal foundations. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Revisiting the Wimp Factor (February 18, 2004) John Kerry wants to make sure the GOP can't depict him as yet another wimpy Massachusetts liberal. By William Schneider. Wealth of Nations: Bush's New Budget Is as Bad as It Gets (February 18, 2004) Bush's budget says that the fiscal outlook is worrying and that the deficit does need to be reduced, and then does nothing meaningful to reduce it. By Clive Crook. Legal Affairs: Did Bush, Cheney, and Powell Deliberately Mislead Us? (February 11, 2004) The administration's selective disclosures about Iraq denied Americans the opportunity to reach fully informed judgments about a matter of incalculably grave consequence. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Trouble, Trouble, Trouble (February 11, 2004) George W. Bush's approval rating has dropped below 50 percent for the first time in his presidency. By William Schneider. Media: Gut Check (February 11, 2004) The problem with campaign journalism is that it is at once seriously old-fashioned and wildly postmodern. By William Powers. Social Studies: The War in Iraq Was the Right Mistake to Make (February 11, 2004) The war in Iraq was premised on a mistake. Does that mean the war itself was a mistake? Yes. But it was a special kind of mistake: a justified mistake. By Jonathan Rauch. Legal Affairs: Ted Kennedy's Excellent Idea: Disclosing Admissions Preferences (February 4, 2004) Ted Kennedy has the right idea in wanting universities to disclose information on alumni relatives that they admit. But why stop there? By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Desperate to Win (February 4, 2004) The man who had the most influence in New Hampshire wasn't on the ballot. His name is George W. Bush. By William Schneider. Media: It's Raining Words (February 4, 2004) Sometimes phrases just catch on. Consider "wintry mix," an inexact phrase used to describe inexact weather. By William Powers. Wealth of Nations: How Tony Blair Survived His Scariest Week (February 4, 2004) Tony Blair has just endured the scariest few days of his political life. One of his problems also plagues George Bush: Iraq's missing WMD. By Clive Crook. Social Studies: Do These Deficits Look Familiar? Meet Richard Milhous Bush (January 28, 2004) From a fiscal point of view, George W. Bush's presidency is starting to look a lot like Richard Nixon's—and that's not very reassuring. By Jonathan Rauch. Legal Affairs: Ashcroft and Congress Are Pandering to Punitive Instincts (January 28, 2004) Depriving judges, and even prosecutors, of all discretion to fit the punishment to the crime is not only mindless but also hypocritical. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Saddam Tripped Up Dean (January 28, 2004) Media: Our Mutual Trend (January 28, 2004) Trendspotting has always been a core media skill, but in recent decades it's been trending upward. By William Powers. Media: Imperial Iowa (January 21, 2004) Do you care about Iowa? You better. The media demand nothing less than total engagement. By William Powers. Political Pulse: Expectations Great and Small (January 21, 2004) Winning isn't enough in the presidential nominating system. You have to do better than "expected." By William Schneider. Wealth of Nations: Why the New Protectionism Is Both Wrongheaded And Dangerous (January 21, 2004) The case for free trade is as strong as ever. Worries about the "flight" of service-sector jobs out of the United States are largely overblown. By Clive Crook. Legal Affairs: Bush's Immigration Plan: A Step In the Right Direction (January 21, 2004) President Bush's immigration plan is a step in the right direction; it's more generous to illegals than the status quo, but unlikely to touch off a massive new influx. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Media: Good Rover! (January 14, 2004) The Mars story had all the goods to dispel the jitters and gloom of recent months. By William Powers. Social Studies: To Fight AIDS, Lift the Ban on Immigrants With HIV (January 14, 2004) It's time for the federal government to rescind the ban on HIV-positive foreigners from entering or staying in the United States. By Jonathan Rauch. Legal Affairs: The Supreme Court Needs to Rule on 'Enemy Combatants' (January 14, 2004) The Bush administration's handling of "enemy-combatant" cases has been so lawless as to smack of tyranny. The Supreme Court needs to step in. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: The Surging Front-Runner (January 14, 2004) The more the establishment turns on Howard Dean, the more his supporters are energized. By William Schneider. Media: Subtracting Ads (December 31, 2003) Some media outlets see the public's ad fatigue as an opportunity, and are offering ad-free content. By William Powers. Legal Affairs: Asbestos Litigation: Evidence Of Massive Corruption? (December 31, 2003) An upcoming law-review article suggests that most of the thousands of asbestos-related injury claims being filed each year are bogus. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Adjusting the Focus (December 31, 2003) Iraq may not be the best issue for the Democrats, but they may not be able to avoid it. By William Schneider. Wealth of Nations: American Diplomacy and the New Shape of the World (December 31, 2003) Critics who accuse the United States of a strident new unilateralism often have an agenda of their own: to keep America's power in check. By Clive Crook. Social Studies: Saddam's Capture Is a Triumph. Now for the Hard Part. (December 23, 2003) With Saddam gone, Iraq's insurgents must prove they can beat America. Here's a guess at their game plan. By Jonathan Rauch. Legal Affairs: Should the Supreme Court Clean Up Its Own Mess? (December 23, 2003) The justices have destroyed all the rules, customs, and traditions that used to restrain gerrymanders. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: It's All About Electability (December 23, 2003) To win, Dean needs a discredited incumbent. By William Schneider. Media: Feed the Machine (December 23, 2003) Coverage of Saddam's capture highlights the media's fascination with politics and money. By William Powers. Media: Love and Happiness (December 16, 2003) All I want for Christmas...is a subscription to Us Weekly. By William Powers. Legal Affairs: December 10: A Worrisome Day for the Freedom of Speech (December 16, 2003) McCain-Feingold's champions have long described it as only a modest first step. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: How to Woo NASCAR Fans (December 16, 2003) You have to show them you respect their values. By William Schneider. Wealth of Nations: George Bush's Biggest Failure Is Trade Policy (December 16, 2003) Bush has barely even tried to put the case for liberal trade to American voters or the world at large. By Clive Crook. Media: No Gag (December 9, 2003) A massive media gag reflex has kicked in, but the Jackson story—power run amok—matters. By William Powers. Legal Affairs: Moussaoui May Deserve to Die, but Not Without a Fair Trial (December 9, 2003) Killing Moussaoui would only increase the supply of terrorists bent on killing Americans. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: High-Wire President (December 9, 2003) Risk-taking Bush is most admired for being a "strong leader." By William Schneider. Social Studies: Howard Dean Is No George McGovern. He Might Be Bill Clinton. (December 9, 2003) Even on Iraq, Dean has planted himself subtly but distinctly to the right of his supporters. By Jonathan Rauch. Media: The Poignant Press (November 25, 2003) American media people often seem, deep down, to be rooting for the Iraq mission. By William Powers. Legal Affairs: Gay Marriage Isn't an Issue for the Courts to Decide (November 25, 2003) It's a stretch to claim that state marriage laws flout fundamental human rights. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Wealth of Nations: George Bush in London: Among Friends, Actually (November 25, 2003) Most Britons recognize the need to deal firmly with dangerous states such as Iraq. By Clive Crook. Political Pulse: Dean's Visible Strength (November 25, 2003) Vermonter is the clear favorite to win the invisible primary. By William Schneider. Social Studies: Smallpox Is Bush's Worst Failure. But He Can Fix the Problem. (November 18, 2003) If someone developed a way to inoculate Americans against a nuclear blast, would any responsible person hesitate? By Jonathan Rauch. Legal Affairs: How Courts and Congress Wrecked School Discipline (November 18, 2003) Liberal judicial decisions unique to the United States have made our schools uniquely disorderly. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: What Huey Long Knew (November 18, 2003) To get the South focused on economics, don't talk about race. By William Schneider. Media: Radio Rich (November 18, 2003) While public television is on the skids, public radio is riding high. What's the secret? By William Powers. Media: Over the Moon Apple (November 11, 2003) The media are in a swoon over Frank Gehry's Disney Hall. By William Powers. Political Pulse: The Expectations Game (November 11, 2003) If voters are optimistic Bush might not need good times. By William Schneider. Wealth of Nations: Bad News for the Democrats: The Economy Is Strong (November 11, 2003) It is muddled economics to believe that "good news on productivity is bad news for labor." By Clive Crook. Legal Affairs: Let's Focus on Real Threats to Liberty, Not False Alarms (November 11, 2003) The administration has gotten less heat than it deserves for its handling of enemy combatants. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Social Studies: Bush Is No Cowboy. But If He Were, It Wouldn't Matter. (November 4, 2003) To speak of America as isolated or Bush as unilateralist seems an exaggeration, to be charitable. By Jonathan Rauch. Legal Affairs: Educating Black Children: Why Culture Matters (November 4, 2003) Blacks and Hispanics got in trouble at home when their grades fell below C-minus, compared with A-minus for Asians. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Putin's Arresting Move (November 4, 2003) Jailing Russia's richest oilman makes him a more dangerous rival. By William Schneider. Media: Dull Machines (November 4, 2003) For all the good work done in technology coverage, it's too bad it doesn't engage us more consistently. By William Powers. Legal Affairs: Closing the Racial Gap In Learning: What Does Not Work (October 28, 2003) More integration, more money, smaller class sizes, different teacher—none of these holds much promise. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: The Internet as ATM (October 28, 2003) Dean's campaign hopes to find 2 million foes of Bush willing to give $100 each. By William Schneider. Wealth of Nations: The WTO's Getting a Bum Rap. It's Not Usurping Power. (October 28, 2003) Critics talk as though this modestly endowed body were some rich and mighty force in its own right. By Clive Crook. Media: Who Sells Darkness? (October 28, 2003) The media hasn't filtered out what good news there is in Iraq. By William Powers. Media: All in Good Time (October 14, 2003) Why did the Novak-spy and Schwarzenegger-sex stories take so long to emerge? It's a story all its own. By William Powers. Legal Affairs: Why the Jobs Went to China—And How to Get Them Back (October 14, 2003) If the yuan were revalued the Mack companies could start making computer servers again. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: The Triumph of Change (October 14, 2003) Next year Bush will be selling just what Davis was selling—continuity. By William Schneider. Wealth of Nations: The War Against Iraq: All a Big Mistake? (October 14, 2003) With hindsight, the war in Iraq looks even more doubtful. By Clive Crook. Media: Out of Character (October 6, 2003) Character journalism gives most journalists the creeps, but maybe they've defined it too narrowly. By William Powers. Legal Affairs: The White House Leak Scandal: Is a Cover-Up in the Works? (October 6, 2003) The investigation will be credible only if shielded from any but the most nominal supervision by Ashcroft. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Sagging Male Support (October 6, 2003) President Bush's support among men has plunged because they are upset about jobs. By William Schneider. Social Studies: America Has a Brilliant Strategy for Iraq: Muddle Through (October 6, 2003) With Saddam toppled less than six months ago, defeatism today reflects badly not on bush, but on his critics. By Jonathan Rauch. Media: Chewing on Wesley (September 30, 2003) As Clark has just learned, once you're in primetime, the press pack goes on full-time Flub Alert. By William Powers. Legal Affairs: After Iraq: Is President Bush Making Us Safer? (September 30, 2003) Bush has put all of us in danger by squandering his credibility at home and goodwill abroad. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Stature Isn't Enough (September 30, 2003) Wesley Clark needs to frame a case against President Bush. By William Schneider. Wealth of Nations: Cancun's Failure Will Have Lasting Implications (September 30, 2003) It is clear who loses most: developing countries, whose trade ministers went home celebrating. By Clive Crook. Social Studies: Forget About Haves and Have-Nots. Think Do's And Do-Nots. (September 23, 2003) No feasible amount of cash assistance could save America's poverty problem. By Jonathan Rauch. Legal Affairs: When Judges Should—and Should Not—Intervene In Elections (September 23, 2003) A 9-0 decisision to let California proceed with its recall would strike a blow against government by judiciary. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Sticker Shock (September 23, 2003) A slim majority of Americans disapprove of authorizing $87 billion for Iraq. By William Schneider. Media: The Schadenfreude Crash (September 23, 2003) The media thoroughly enjoyed destroying their movie, but in the breakup stories the glee is gone. By William Powers. Media: Bubble, Bubble (September 16, 2003) The Saudi tale—and lots of other emerging stories—could give the Bushies real trouble. By William Powers. Legal Affairs: Campaign Finance Reform: What the Court Should Do (September 16, 2003) There's no legitimate reason for restricting the election-related speech of ideological groups. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: The Indie Dudes (September 16, 2003) Tough-guy candidates share a libertarian distrust of government. By William Schneider. Wealth of Nations: The Prelude To Cancun Was Two Wasted Years (September 16, 2003) One has to ask whether the WTO process is any longer worth the effort. By Clive Crook. Media: Much Ado About One Thing (September 9, 2003) Does American not care about politics because the media doesn't cover it, or because we cover it to excess? By William Powers. Social Studies: How Important Is Iraq? Just Think Of It as World War IV (September 9, 2003) From the Islamists' point of view, this is a life-or-death struggle. America must fail in Iraq. By Jonathan Rauch. Political Pulse: Hemorrhaging Trust (September 9, 2003) Brits are furious at Blair and view the war as based on a monstrous deception. By William Schneider. Legal Affairs: The 1991 Civil Rights Act Has Hurt Its Intended Beneficiaries (September 9, 2003) The nondiscrimination law made employers in traditionally white-male industries less likely to hire minorities. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Legal Affairs: The Court's Gone Too Far in Purging Religion From the Square (September 3, 2003) Clowns like Roy Moore would have a harder time rallying support if the justices displayed more common sense. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Wealth of Nations: A Short History of a Fabulous Invention: The Company (September 3, 2003) Political Pulse: Politics in the Center Ring (September 3, 2003) Recall circus has blasé state excitedly talking about candidates. By William Schneider. Media: Suddenly This Summer (August 11, 2003) The coverage of America's homosexual moment has thrown into relief norms of journalistic behavior. By William Powers. Political Pulse: Upscale Democrats' Darling (August 11, 2003) Howard Dean is the hot candidate in Manhattan and Hollywood, not in the union halls and inner cities. By William Schneider. Social Studies: Want to E-Mail Me About This Article? Pay Up (August 11, 2003) Spam has graduated from one of life's little nuisances to a threat to the basic usefulness of e-mail. The answer to the problem? Property rights to our e-mail. By Jonathan Rauch. Feature: The Accidental Radical (August 6, 2003) Like FDR before him, George W. Bush is an amiable establishmentarian who is pressing the system to its limits. The stakes—and risks—are high. By Jonathan Rauch. Political Pulse: War-Story Inflation (August 6, 2003) The war in Iraq needed a hero. That need drove the story of Jessica Lynch. By William Schneider. Wealth of Nations: The Crisis Facing Tony Blair Is Bad News for Bush (August 6, 2003) The discrediting of Blair adds to suspicions that America's government was dishonest, too. By Clive Crook. Legal Affairs: Misguided Libertarians Are Hindering the War on Terrorism (August 6, 2003) We should be making it easier, not harder, for intelligence agencies to protect us. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Social Studies: The Supreme Court Ruled for Privacy—Not for Gay Marriage (July 29, 2003) In Lawrence v. Texas, the Court didn't create a new right. It just said it wasn't kidding about an old one. By Jonathan Rauch. Legal Affairs: Guantanamo: A Betrayal of What America Stands For (July 29, 2003) Bush has deprived hundreds of quite possibly innocent men of liberty for far too long. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Mr. I-Told-You-So (July 29, 2003) Howard Dean is the only top-tier Democrat who has been gaining support this year. By William Schneider Media: The American Way of Scandal (July 29, 2003) Plunged into what some are calling the worst crisis in its 76-year history, the BBC is struggling to survive. By William Powers. Political Pulse: On Second Thought (July 23, 2003) The percentage of Americans who say Iraq was not worth a war has doubled. By William Schneider. Wealth of Nations: Britain's Prime Minister Is a Hollow Friend (July 23, 2003) The abiding theme of Blair's career has been ideological pragmatism in the service of political ambition. By Clive Crook. Legal Affairs: The President Should Stop Saying Things That Aren't True (July 23, 2003) The more Bush works at creating his own credibility gap, the harder it becomes to take his word for anything. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Legal Affairs: How Campus Censors Squelch Freedom of Speech (July 14, 2003) Under the guise of enforcing vague rules against racial or sexual 'harassment,' censorship is thriving. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: California's 'Best Worst Choice' (July 14, 2003) Will Gray Davis once again find a way to be 'the last man standing'? By William Schneider. Media: Money Changes Everything (July 14, 2003) In assessing presidential hopefuls, the media place one qualification above all others: the ability to raise dough. By William Powers. Political Pulse: Connecting With the Wired Left (July 9, 2003) MoveOn.org helped Dean raise over $2 million in the last eight days of June. By William Schneider. Legal Affairs: Veering Left: The Art of Judicial Evolution (July 9, 2003) Conservatives suspect that some Supreme Court justices are overly attentive to elite opinion. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Wealth of Nations: Europe's Draft Constitution: A Recipe For Disaster (July 9, 2003) The document asserts such fundamental rights as the right of all citizens to receive free job-placement advice. By Clive Crook. Social Studies: To Beat the Axis of Evil, Confront the Axis of Anti-Semitism (June 28, 2003) Increasingly and ominously, anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism are converging. We Americans are all Jews now. By Jonathan Rauch. Legal Affairs: Getting Serious About Race: The Next 25 Years (June 28, 2003) The challenge is to address the causes of the disastrously deficient academic performance of many minorities. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: The Abortion Wars (June 28, 2003) Pre-emptive strike launched against any would-be Justice opposed to Roe v. Wade. By William Schneider. Media: Sitcom Planet (June 28, 2003) The spread of U.S. media is forcing the rest of the world to take a crash course in surviving the media jungle. By William Powers. Legal Affairs: Ashcroft and the Post-9/11 Arrogance of Power (June 17, 2003) Ashcroft owes apologies to several hundred people for holding them far longer than necessary. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Media: The Counterswing (June 17, 2003) As we turn away from all things Rainesian, let's not lose brightness and dash. By William Powers. Political Pulse: The Hunt for a Winner (June 17, 2003) Most Democrats are more interested in beating Bush than in having a nominee with whom they agree. By William Schneider. Wealth of Nations: Misleading Voters About WMD Is No Way to Spin a War (June 17, 2003) In prosecuting this long war against terrorism, the electorate's trust is a vital strategic asset. By Clive Crook. Media: Exuberant Again (June 10, 2003) It's no surprise that readers are skeptical of media assertions that the economy's bouncing back. By William Powers. Political Pulse: Invitation to Unilateralism (June 10, 2003) Europeans have begun to realize that Europe's weakness is America's strength. By William Schneider. Social Studies: Corporate Lying Is Bad. But Allowing It Is Good. (June 10, 2003) It isn't nutty for the AFL-CIO to worry that lawsuits targeting corporate speech may come back to haunt unions. By Jonathan Rauch. Political Pulse: Preserving the Road Map (June 4, 2003) Empowering the new Palestinian government may be the only way Israel can protect itself. By William Schneider. Wealth of Nations: The Strong-Dollar Policy: Barking at the Moon (June 4, 2003) This administration has no policy on the dollar, and is right to have no policy on the dollar. By Clive Crook. Media: Grinding Away (June 4, 2003) Publishers of books by shameless media manipulators should be concerned about their own reputations. By William Powers. Social Studies: After Iraq, the Left Has a New Agenda: Contain America First (May 27, 2003) Neocons say America should always be free to act alone. Neoleftists say it should never be free to act alone. By Jonathan Rauch. Legal Affairs: The Judicial Selection Wars: How a Truce Could Be Fashioned (May 27, 2003) President Bush should pledge not to alter the court's balance. Democrats should agree to stop the filibusters. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: 'Security' Redefined (May 27, 2003) The latest terror attacks show that war in Iraq was a dangerous diversion, Democrats say. By William Schneider. Media: Too, Too Teresa (May 27, 2003) Teresa Heinz Kerry isn't just overshadowing her husband, she's becoming the story of the 2004 campaign. By William Powers. Media: The School for Scandal (May 19, 2003) The Jayson Blair scandal raises a question: Why don't journalists learn from the institutions they cover? By William Powers. Legal Affairs: America's Credibility Is Taking a Hit in Iraq (May 19, 2003) What if Saddam destroyed most, or all, of his weapons of mass destruction years ago? By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Seeing Tax Cuts as Stimulating (May 19, 2003) A growing number of Americans say they think that tax cuts would help the economy. By William Schneider. Wealth of Nations: There's No Reason Why Deflation Couldn't Happen Again (May 19, 2003) Modern governments have the tools to deal with deflation. The problem is, they require the will to use them. By Clive Crook. Social Studies: Bush Didn't Squander the World's Sympathy. He Spent It. (May 13, 2003) Bush is no sophisticate, but he has the great virtue of knowing a dead policy when he sees one. By Jonathan Rauch. Legal Affairs: Three Judges, Four Opinions, 1,638 Pages, and One Good Idea (May 13, 2003) The judges' ruling on soft money might curb influence-peddling without harming the two parties. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: A Delicate Balance in the Middle East (May 13, 2003) If Bush pushes too hard, he could pay a political price. By William Schneider. Media: The Call of the Skunk (May 13, 2003) It's time for journalists to get back in touch with their nasty, scandal-loving selves. By William Powers. Media: The Social X-Ray (May 6, 2003) The flap over over Rick Santorum's remarks about homosexuality shouldn't be lamented, but welcomed. By William Powers. Opening Argument: Santorum on Sex: Where the Slippery Slope Leads (May 6, 2003) Santorum's remarks are more plausible as legal analysis than most critics have acknowledged. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: The Turbo-Charged Challenger (May 6, 2003) In attacking Bush's tax cuts, Gephardt is betting the economy will remain the nation's top concern. By William Schneider. Wealth of Nations: A Struggling Economy? It Depends on Your Perspective (May 6, 2003) Most nations would be only too grateful to have America's current set of economic problems. By Clive Crook. Media: A Great Grubby Festival (April 28, 2003) In the great, grubby festival of news, we've slipped back to Situation Normal. Is that so bad? By William Powers. Social Studies: With His Tax Cuts, Bush Pre-empts the Future (April 28, 2003) Bush is a time bandit, encouraging rather than taming politicians' natural tendency to embezzle from the future. By Jonathan Rauch. Political Pulse: The Wide Partisan Divide (April 28, 2003) Republicans and Democrats are much further apart on this president than on his father in 1991. By William Schneider. Legal Affairs: The U.N. Is Often Grotesque, but We Need Its Help (April 28, 2003) The presence of U.N. inspectors would help allay suspicions that the U.S. is planting phony evidence. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Wealth of Nations: America Must Keep Its Word in Iraq (April 22, 2003) America cannot guarantee success in Iraq, but it can and must give success every chance. By Clive Crook. Media: The Post War High (April 22, 2003) The Washington Post of old—gutsy, sharp, writer driven—is back in town. Let's hope it is here to stay. By William Powers. Legal Affairs: How Bush Can Save International Law, Not Sacrifice It (April 22, 2003) The president can eschew wars of aggression while retaining the freedom to confront grave new perils. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Making Other Countries Nervous (April 22, 2003) Conservatives of the 'World War IV' school see a long global conflict with Islam. By William Schneider. Social Studies: How to Secure the Homeland Without Leaving the House (April 12, 2003) Instead of bringing guards to watch America's critical infrastructure, bring the infrastructure to the guards. By Jonathan Rauch. Legal Affairs: Myths and Realities About Affirmative Action (April 12, 2003) Most of the students who lose out because of racial preferences are not white; they're Asian-American. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: The Head of the Snake (April 12, 2003) Bringing down Saddam Hussein is essential to destroying his regime. By William Schneider. Media: The Subversions of Mr. Kelly (April 12, 2003) In Michael Kelly's case, it's a huge mistake for journalists to reduce a meandering life story to a smooth package. By William Powers. Media: The Quagmire Club (April 7, 2003) Quagmire has given way to quickmire; instant delivery of a war's reality, followed by instant second-guessing. By William Powers. Political Pulse: Nobody's Poodle Now (April 7, 2003) When Blair took his country into war, British polls shifted to favor battle. By William Schneider. Legal Affairs: Iraq and Beyond: Navigating the Fog of War (April 7, 2003) Bush should reject the empire-building ambitions of some of his neoconservative subordinates. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Wealth of Nations: Trade, Iraq, and the Logic of National Interest (April 7, 2003) International cooperation works when countries think that by acting jointly they can advance their own interests. By Clive Crook. Media: The Fog of Journalism (April 1, 2003) On television, there's just too much news to absorb. That's why newspapers are still important. By William Powers. Political Pulse: This Is Bush's War (April 1, 2003) The Vietnam War was years old before U.S. public opinion became this partisan. By William Schneider. Social Studies: It's Time to Break Up the College Color Cartel (April 1, 2003) Congress should permit race-based preferences in private universities while banning them in public ones. By Jonathan Rauch. Wealth of Nations: Yes, The U.N. Can Serve the Greater Good, or Undermine It (March 26, 2003) The U.N.'s response to the Iraq crisis has shown that it is not remotely up to the job of defeating terrorism and the states that support it. By Clive Crook. Legal Affairs: This War May Be Legal, But Arrogant Diplomacy Could Kill Us (March 26, 2003) The administration's problem is its perceived indifference to the need for legal justification and to world opinion. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: War Has Its Reasons (March 26, 2003) There's evidence Bush's team was contemplating war with Iraq even before 9/11. By William Schneider. Media: Darkness and Light (March 26, 2003) Embedded journalists are giving the Iraq story a visceral immediacy that's been lacking from coverage of recent wars. By William Powers. Social Studies: Yes, Bush Has a Policy on North Korea. It Might Even Work. (March 18, 2003) Bilateral talks could lead all too easily to precisely the catastrophe they're supposed to prevent. By Jonathan Rauch. Legal Affairs: Falsely Accused 'Enemies' Deserve Due Process (March 18, 2003) Congress should now force the administration to assign military tribunals to interview every detainee. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: A Worldwide Tide of Anti-Bush Feeling (March 18, 2003) The president's black-and-white vision is regarded as dangerously simplistic. By William Schneider. Media: Civilian Casualties: A Media Primer (March 18, 2003) Five guidelines for assessing news reports of civilian casualties. By William Powers. Wealth of Nations: Economics Is Against the War. But Economics Isn't Everything (March 11, 2003) The economic threat if Saddam were left in power is smaller now than it was when he occupied Kuwait. By Clive Crook. Media: Pyle On (March 11, 2003) Don't look for war with Iraq to produce the next Ernie Pyle, no matter how much embedding goes on. By William Powers. Political Pulse: A Leadership Vacuum (March 11, 2003) That void poses more of a threat to post-Saddam Iraq than do Kurdish separatism and Islamic revolt. By William Schneider. Legal Affairs: Is It Ever All Right to Torture Suspected Terrorists? (March 11, 2003) Suppose that Mohammed is taunting his interrogators by predicting an imminent, deadly attack. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Social Studies: As War Looms, Can a Young Democrat Save His Party From Itself? (March 4, 2003) Democrats' fixation on multilateralism and their discomfort with force could consign the party to oblivion. By Jonathan Rauch. Legal Affairs: How Free-Riding French and Germans Risk Nuclear Anarchy (March 4, 2003) Some of our allies act like spoiled teenagers who badmouth their parents while they're living off of them. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: The French Have Their Own Program (March 4, 2003) Chirac's message is: If you want to be part of new Europe, then echo France's anti-Americanism. By William Schneider. Media: What's That Racket? (March 4, 2003) American radio is a wasteland of ideology-driven talk. What it lacks is heart, and the desire to listen and learn. By William Powers. Social Studies: America Can Beat Iraq. But Can It Vanquish France? (February 19, 2003) There's nothing new about France's self-defeating line. What is new is that the administration isn't buying it. By Jonathan Rauch. Legal Affairs: Perverting the Legal System: The Lead-Paint Rip-Off (February 19, 2003) No victim of lead poisoning will get a dime in compensation from Rhode Island's pending lawsuit. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: The Cowboy and the Diplomat (February 19, 2003) Together, Bush and Powell bring leadership and legitimacy to the U.S. policy on Iraq. By William Schneider. Media: The Poodle Speaks (February 19, 2003) Foreign critics are barking up the wrong tree when they complain about U.S. news media coverage of Iraq. By William Powers. Media: Tragedy Becomes Us (February 12, 2003) We don't just report the horror of tragedy anymore, we wallow in it. By William Powers. Political Pulse: Still Asking, 'Why Now?' (February 12, 2003) Less than one-third of the American public says it considers Iraq an immediate threat. By William Schneider. Legal Affairs: The Case Against the Attacks on Bush's Case for War (February 12, 2003) Some ordinarily astute Bush critics have lapsed into arguments that seem neither astute nor logically tenable. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Wealth of Nations: Anerica Is An Empire, It Had Better Start Acting As One (February 12, 2003) America's challenge is to run the empire well, but that means first acknowledging its existence. By Clive Crook. Media: The War Glut (February 3, 2003) When the question is war, the news trade's most essential job, after reporting facts, is making sense of them. By William Powers. Social Studies: Stop Whining, America, and Get Serious About Smallpox (February 3, 2003) America's strategic vulnerability to smallpox is clear and present, even if the virus itself is not. By Jonathan Rauch. Legal Affairs: Do We Want Another 100 Years of Racial Preferences? (February 3, 2003) The hard question is whether the justices should ban all racial preferences in university admissions. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Writing a How-To Textbook on Losing (February 3, 2003) Israel's venerable Labor Party went out of its way to do everything wrong. By William Schneider. Political Pulse: Political Facts of Life May Be Changing (January 28, 2003) The resentment of taxes has fallen to its lowest level in more than 40 years. By William Schneider. Legal Affairs: Racial Preferences in Admissions: The Real Choice We Face (January 28, 2003) The most repugnant aspect of the status quo is that it amounts to pervasive racial discrimination. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Wealth of Nations: The World Is Winning, Not Losing, the War on Poverty (January 28, 2003) New research rebuts the accepted notion that globalization is causing poverty to worsen. By Clive Crook. Social Studies: Has Bush Bitten Off Too Much? Yes, but So Did Truman (January 22, 2003) Truman's commitments, like Bush's, created 'an assembly line of involvement that would grind on for decades.' By Jonathan Rauch. Legal Affairs: Who's Worse? Race-Baiting Democrats or Class-Warring Republicans? (January 22, 2003) The Democratic bill of particulars against Pickering is long but ultimately unconvincing. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: The Big Juicy Target (January 22, 2003) The Democrats have taken up a hopeless cause that the GOP defended in the 1930s—fiscal responsibility. By William Schneider. Legal Affairs: Spying on Terrorists: Will the FBI Ever Be up to the Job? (January 13, 2003) The least compelling objection to a domestic intelligence agency may be the most common one. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Time for Another Outsider? (January 13, 2003) 2004 might be a year when Americans are looking for a sure hand, not a fresh face. By William Schneider. Media: Weird Science (January 13, 2003) The Clonaid story is driving the news people crazy because it's both a Zany Cult story and a Serious Science story. By William Powers. Wealth of Nations: Forget About Stimulus, and Think About Tax Reform (January 13, 2003) What the White House is proposing is not, contrary to what it says, a plan to stimulate the economy in the short term. But that's all right, because the economy no longer needs a stimulus plan. By Clive Crook. Social Studies: With a Hum Instead of a Roar, the Fuel Cell Is Here (January 8, 2003) Thanks partly to Japan, the problem of stuffing big fuel cells into little cars is now officially solved. By Jonathan Rauch. Political Pulse: Unilateralism Wins Few Friends (January 8, 2003) People in many lands say U.S. foreign policy fails to consider their interests. By William Schneider. Media: After Ann (January 8, 2003) Like Johnny Carson's Tonight Show, Ann Landers's column brought people together. It will be hard to replace. By William Powers. Media: Goodwill Lacking (December 24, 2002) Dole's sense of humor and his heroism kept political and media feelings warm. By William Powers. Legal Affairs: Do African-Americans Really Want Racial Preferences? (December 24, 2002) Racial preferences pin a badge of inferiority on every black and every Hispanic student. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Let the 'Invisible Primary' Begin (December 24, 2002) Gore's decision not to run means the race for money and poll position is wide open. By William Schneider. Political Pulse: Needed: A Tough, Credible Alternative (December 17, 2002) Kerry could benefit in 2004 if the Democratic Party learns the right lesson from Landrieu's triumph. By William Schneider. Legal Affairs: Cheney's Win Over the GAO Threatens Congressional Oversight (December 17, 2002) The ruling is broader than necessary to protect the president's ability to receive candid and confidential advice. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Media: The Corrections (December 17, 2002) The once-genteel media world has become a place where somebody is always waiting to pounce on your errors. By William Powers. Media: All Too Human (December 10, 2002) The respectable media are fascinated with famous people who seem headed for trouble but are not there yet. By William Powers. Legal Affairs: Big Brother and Another Overblown Privacy Scare (December 10, 2002) John Poindexter has no more power to compile a computer dossier on you than I do. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: The Hispanic Power Outage (December 10, 2002) 'Everybody agrees Latino turnout was down in California, down in Florida, down in Colorado,' a consultant notes. By William Schneider. Wealth of Nations: John Rawls and the Politics of Social Justice (December 10, 2002) Social reformers such as Rawls are in a tradition that emphasizes the best over the possible. By Clive Crook. Social Studies: America's Secret Weapon in the War on Terror: Americans (November 26, 2002) Quietly, the public is mobilizing—not in the militarized fashion of WWII but in the networked manner of WWW. By Jonathan Rauch. Legal Affairs: Spying By the Government Can Save Your Life (November 26, 2002) The complexity of issues involving FISA has enabled critics to cry wolf in a most misleading fashion. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: What Would Defeating Saddam Trigger? (November 26, 2002) In the years since the Gulf War, anti-Americanism has grown along with U.S. influence in the Middle East. By William Schneider. Media: The Play's Not the Thing (November 26, 2002) Google's news machine: What happens when you take humans out of the story-selection process? By William Powers. Media: Bias, Anyone? (November 19, 2002) Surprising, perhaps, but blatant liberal bias in the media's election post-mortems has been hard to find. By William Powers. Legal Affairs: Bush and the Supreme Court: Place Your Bets (November 19, 2002) With Republicans about to control the Senate, the conditions are ripe for Rehnquist to step down. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: A Popularity Contest (November 19, 2002) In Georgia and other key states, whites turned out in unexpectedly high numbers to support Bush. By William Schneider. Wealth of Nations: What If This Is As Good As It Gets for Bush? (November 19, 2002) An extended period of slow growth is setting in, and President Bush needs to address it. By Clive Crook. Political Pulse: The Bush Mandate (November 12, 2002) Democrats failed to rally because they had nothing much to rally 'round: no message and no messenger. By William Schneider. Social Studies: Goodbye, Jesse Helms. Conservatism Won't Be Missing You (November 5, 2002) Reagan and Helms both defied received opinion. But Reagan changed that opinion, whereas Helms deepened it. By Jonathan Rauch. Legal Affairs: How the Supreme Court Hurts Moderate Politics (November 5, 2002) A succession of well-meaning but clumsy rulings has encouraged political gerrymandering. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Fretting Over the Economy (November 5, 2002) The public's mood is shifting rapidly in a direction that cannot be good for the president's party. By William Schneider. Media: Vive la Difference (November 5, 2002) The recent news about the International Herald Tribune says something about its two owners. By William Powers. Legal Affairs: Is There Freedom To Associate With Terrorists? (October 29, 2002) There may be a risk that the war on terrorism will lead the government into guilt-by-association excesses akin to those of the McCarthy era. But so far the administration has not crossed that line. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Frightful Possibilities (October 29, 2002) It could happen: Control of the House and Senate may not be decided until well after Election Day. By William Schneider Media: Hard News for Hard Times (October 29, 2002) The news values of the 1990s—personality, ideology, scandal for scandal's sake—are now passé. By William Powers Wealth of Nations: Rules Are Rules, Even If They Are 'Stupid'. (October 29, 2002) Why should the Americans care about Europe's misguided budget system? Because it's harming not just Europe, but the United States and the rest of the world as well. By Clive Crook Legal Affairs: How Flawed Laws Help Terrorists and Serial Killers (October 22, 2002) The government and the police still don't have all of the investigative powers that they need. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: In War, The Mission Matters (October 22, 2002) Americans hate wars fought for any purpose other than military victory. By William Schneider Media: Playing the Death Card (October 22, 2002) Overkill: One scared city simply wasn't enough. By William Powers Social Studies: Attacking Iraq Would Be War, but It Wouldn't Be Aggression. (October 22, 2002) Aggression is a breaking of the peace. In the case of Iraq, however, there never has been a peace to break. By Jonathan Rauch. Media: The Naked ID (October 15, 2002) Tina's back, and she's doing what journalists have always done: dancing on graves. By William Powers. Legal Affairs: Rehnquist and Company Need to Stand Up to Bush (October 15, 2002) Even some administration officials are privately dismayed at the gratuitous infringements of freedom. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Wealth of Nations: Let's Give International Law All the Respect It Is Due (October 15, 2002) Military action against terrorists cannot wait decades for a better system of global governance. By Clive Crook. Political Pulse: Last Laugh May Be Lautenberg's (October 15, 2002) What delicious revenge—to see your old rival disgraced, then to perhaps take his job. By William Schneider. Media: The Silence of the Cams (October 8, 2002) Unnarrated news video on the Web looks and feels like life itself. By William Powers. Legal Affairs: The Hawks Are Scary, the Doves More Dangerous (October 8, 2002) The doves ask, Why now? Because now we know that we should have taken Saddam out long ago. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: The Democrats' Backbone Implant (October 8, 2002) Gore led the way in bringing his party's complaint out into the open. By William Schneider. Social Studies: Ideas Change the World—and One Think Tank Quietly Did (October 8, 2002) Pollution is a serious problem, says Resources for the Future. But don't upend markets—extend them. By Jonathan Rauch. Legal Affairs: Greedy Lawyers Cheat Real Asbestos Victims (October 1, 2002) The asbestos-litigation scandal dramatizes how our lawsuit industry too often operates as an engine of justice. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: What Did You Do in the Midterm, Daddy? (October 1, 2002) Just as they were 12 years ago, both parties are struggling to control the agenda before the midterm elections. By William Schneider. Media: High, Low Jack (October 1, 2002) None of the media's recent idols has fallen from as lofty a perch as Jack Welch's. By William Powers. Media: His Finest Hour (September 24, 2002) Where Winston Churchill stands depends on where the newsies using him sit. By William Powers. Social Studies: Once Again, a President Bush Saves the U.N. From Its Friends (September 24, 2002) The genius of Bush's speech was to show that the U.N.'s credibility, far more than the U.S.'s, is at stake. By Jonathan Rauch. Political Pulse: A Question of Timing (September 24, 2002) What's the reason that Bush waited until September to make his case against Iraq? By William Schneider. Legal Affairs: When Affirmative Action Is Nothing But Discrimination (September 24, 2002) Of the 43 people who had been hired or promoted, 42 were African-American or female. One was a white male. By Stuart Taylor Jr. The Devils and their Details (September 17, 2002) The New Yorker's piece on Ayman al-Zawahiri was particularly revealing. By William Powers. Legal Affairs: Invading Iraq Wouldn't Necessarily Make Us Safer (September 17, 2002) Bush should hold off on military action until it's clear that arms inspections are not the answer. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Not Yet Written on the Wind (September 17, 2002) No sign a strong force will blow in either party's favor this year. By William Schneider. Social Studies: The Case For—Would You Believe?—Hope in the Mideast (September 10, 2002) As of today, there is no light at the end of the Middle East tunnel. But there is, at least, a tunnel. By Jonathan Rauch. Legal Affairs: Detain 'Enemy Combatants'—But Give Them Hearings (September 10, 2002) The administration's position is so outrageous that the Supreme Court might hand Bush a humiliating defeat. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Critics From All Corners (September 10, 2002) The White House didn't seem to be in control of the debate over Iraq. By William Schneider. Media: The Saturation Fallacy (September 10, 2002) To understand the enduring appeal of 9/11 coverage, take a look at Civil War movies. By William Powers. Media: Plane Talk (September 4, 2002) Heard in the Heartland: Out in places where the Delta Shuttle doesn't go, the debate over ousting Saddam rises above media gamesmanship. By William Powers. Legal Affairs: An Invasion of Iraq Requires the Approval of Congress (September 4, 2002) The Constitution is often ambiguous, but not on the issue of who has the power to declare war. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Bush's European Problem (September 4, 2002) Disdain for Bush has filtered down to public opinion. By William Schneider. Social Studies: How the New Homeland Security Department Will Work (August 13, 2002) In a new breed of government agency—as seen from the year 2004—global terrorism meets its match. By Jonathan Rauch. Political Pulse: Prescription for Punishment (August 13, 2002) Senior voters will exact revenge for the failure to cover drug costs. By William Schneider. Media: Bubbling Over (August 13, 2002) A field guide to press coverage of the enormous run-up in real estate prices. By William Powers. Political Pulse: The Democrats' Secret Weapon (August 6, 2002) Anger might spur a large turnout of voters intent on making the GOP pay. By William Schneider. Social Studies: Bush's Landgrab—and The New York Times' (July 30, 2002) Condemning private property for private use is a booming national business. Just ask The New York Times. By Jonathan Rauch. Legal Affairs: You Do Not Have a Right to Remain Silent (July 30, 2002) The Supreme Court needs to make clear that police have broader powers than they realize to question suspects. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: From Plus to Minus (July 30, 2002) The vice president's corporate past no longer looks like an asset for the GOP. By William Schneider. Media: The Evil Ones (July 30, 2002) "Infectious greed," Greenspan said, and the media shuddered with delight. By William Powers. Legal Affairs: Let's Not Allow a Fiat to Undermine the Bill of Rights (July 23, 2002) The Bush preventive detention system has been implemented with little regard for the law. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Like Father, Like Son? (July 23, 2002) After the economy soured, voters gave a pink slip to George H.W. Bush. By William Schneider. Media: History's Back—and It's Still Bunk (July 16, 2002) The media seem intent on seeing every story as a replay of events that have happened before. By William Powers. Social Studies: Osama Bin Laden, Meet Your Closest Kin: Karl Marx (July 16, 2002) Today's militant Islam, like Marxism in its heyday, is a global plot without a mastermind. By Jonathan Rauch. Political Pulse: Say Hello to NASCAR Dads (July 16, 2002) In close elections, almost any group can be said to hold the key to victory. By William Schneider. On Books: Domestic Violence: Still Hidden (July 16, 2002) A review of Elizabeth M. Schneider's Battered Women & Feminist Lawmaking. By Kytja Weir. Legal Affairs: Hurt Feelings Aren't Enough of a Reason (July 9, 2002) The burden of hearing people go on about God at public events does not deserve a constitutional remedy. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Israel Via Alabama (July 9, 2002) How Rep. Earl Hilliard's district became embroiled in Mideast politics. By William Schneider. Social Studies: After 226 Years, an Independence Day Like No Other (July 2, 2002) What has changed since 9/11, and changed profoundly, is not what Americans do, but how they feel. By Jonathan Rauch. Political Pulse: A People-Watching Court (July 2, 2002) The decision halting the execution of retarded criminals shows the Justices follow opinion polls. By William Schneider. On Books: Bystanders to Genocide (July 2, 2002) A review of Samantha Power's A Problem From Hell. By Angela Stephens. Legal Affairs: As Congress Shrinks, Bush and the Justices Fill the Void (July 2, 2002) We will not have the form of government the Framers envisioned as long as Congress shirks its duties. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Media: A Sport and a Pastime (June 25, 2002) We're seeing idols and icons smashed before our eyes. And the media couldn't be happier. By William Powers. Legal Affairs: Maybe the Military Should Have Kept John Walker Lindh (June 25, 2002) The war against terrorism must not become a war against due process of law. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Forcing the Pope's Hand (June 25, 2002) The American people have achieved a most unusual triumph in the pedophilia scandal. By William Schneider. On Books: Taking on 'Big Food' (June 25, 2002) A review of Marion Nestle's Food Politics. By Ben Geman. Media: The Best-Kept Secrets (June 18, 2002) Why didn't the press know earlier about the alleged dirty-bomb plotter?. By William Powers. Legal Affairs: How Congress Should Fight Terrorism- and Avoid Martial Law (June 18, 2002) Congress and the administration should work out a process that allows certain suspects to be detained. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Does the Solution Fit the Problem? (June 18, 2002) Bush's plan simply adds a new layer of bureaucracy on top of the intelligence agencies. By William Schneider. Social Studies: Fight Small! It's the True American Way of War (June 18, 2002) In this new (old?) world, an allergy to small, aggressive deployments may be literally self-defeating. By Jonathan Rauch. Media: Thanks for the Mushroom Cloud (June 11, 2002) Journalism about nuclear terrorism shouldn't need the crutch of a Hollywood thriller. By William Powers. Legal Affairs: The FBI and the CIA Are Not the Biggest Problems (June 11, 2002) Even if the feds had done everything right, they would have been stymied by laws and rules. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Triggering Unintended Consequences (June 11, 2002) Again, U.S. policy in Central Asia shows that addressing one problem can create bigger dangers. By William Schneider. On Books: Defining Disease (June 11, 2002) A review of Pharmacracy by Thomas Szasz. By Marilyn Weber Serafini. Media: We Pledge Allegiance (June 3, 2002) A new exhibit at the Smithsonian that displays scores of flag-waving magazine covers from 1942 is a reminder of how expressions of patriotism by the media have changed over the years. By William Powers Social Studies: Does Al Qaeda Have Anthrax? Better Assume So (June 3, 2002) If anything, hints that the anthrax attacks and Al Qaeda may be linked have grown harder to dismiss. By Jonathan Rauch Political Pulse: White House Warnings Aid GOP (June 3, 2002) Republicans' prospects in House elections rise as public focuses more on national security. By William Schneider On Books: The Counterintelligence Dilemma (June 3, 2002) Reviews of A Convenient Spy by Dan Stober and Ian Hoffman, about the Wen Ho Lee case, and Chasing Spies by Athan Theoharis, about the FBI's failings in counterintelligence during the early years of the Cold War. By Dick Kirschten Media: Some Like It Hot (May 28, 2002) The media's real bias—in favor of scandal—has been on vivid display in recent days. By William Powers Legal Affairs: Congress Should Investigate Ashcroft's Detentions (May 28, 2002) Ashcroft has used at least four different rationales—all of questionable legality—for locking up Muslims. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Return of the Scandal Script (May 28, 2002) Revelations about Bush's CIA briefing are likely to make the war on terror more partisan. By William Schneider On Books: Lessons From Madness (May 28, 2002) Reviews of two books about mental illness: Mad in America by Robert Whitaker and Madness by Roy Porter. By Mary Hager. Social Studies: The Farm Bill Is a Bad Joke With a Good Punch Line (May 21, 2002) The new farm bill is a throwback, an atavism. But it is potent with the seeds of its own destruction. By Jonathan Rauch Legal Affairs: A Racial Quota That Will Be DOA at the High Court (May 21, 2002) By the law school's own account, it would have admitted Barbara Grutter but for the color of her skin. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Mommies, Daddies, and Education (May 21, 2002) Winning the label of 'Education Party' could be key to this year's Hill contests. By William Schneider Media: Just Like in the Movies (May 21, 2002) The 2004 election campaign hasn't even officially started, and already the media's pumped up one candidate only to deflate him a few weeks later. Maybe Sen. John Edwards could take solace in John Travolta's experience. By William Powers Legal Affairs: Enough Already! Confirm the Worthy Nominees (May 14, 2002) Why have eight of Bush's first 11 appellate nominees languished for more than a year? By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Power to the Swing Voters (May 14, 2002) The elderly, like the farmers, are learning the benefits of being loyal to no party. By William Schneider Media: Reasons to Be Cheerful (May 14, 2002) Media hand-wringing over excessive coverage of Robert Blake is misplaced; few Americans are tuning in. By William Powers On Books: A Script for the Welfare Drama (May 14, 2002) A reviewer takes a crack at The New World of Welfare, edited by Rebecca Blank and Ron Haskins. By Corine Hegland Social Studies: The Middle East Is a Disaster, but not an Emergency (May 7, 2002) The risks of sending peacekeepers are enormous, greater than the proponents have acknowledged. By Jonathan Rauch Legal Affairs: It's Time to Stop Packing Prisons With Two-Bit Crack Users (May 7, 2002) The Justice Department argues that crack penalties are just right. The Justice Department is wrong. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: When Abstinence Breeds Contempt (May 7, 2002) The French who didn't vote made Le Pen's second-place finish possible. By William Schneider Media: Ozzy and Karen (May 7, 2002) As the coverage of The Osbournes and Karen Hughes suggests, the media interpret family life in strange ways. By William Powers Media: Sundays With George (April 30, 2002) Six reasons why George Stephanopoulos would make a good host for ABC's Sunday morning show This Week. By William Powers Legal Affairs: Al Qaeda Detaineees: Don't Prosecute, Don't Release (April 30, 2002) As a moral matter, preventive detention is the least-bad option for dealing with captured jihadists. By Stuart Taylor Jr. Political Pulse: Israel's U.S. Defense Team (April 30, 2002) Conservative political beliefs draw many evangelicals to Israel's side. By William Schneider On Books: The Enemies of Innovation (April 30, 2002) A review of Lawrence Lessig's The Future of Ideas. By Kurt Kleiner Social Studies: America Can't Be Mommy in the Middle East (April 23, 2002) The Palestinians who send the suicide bombers will not give up terrorism until it fails. By Jonathan Rauch