(Alex Jones claimed the U.S. was behind the Boston bombings to strip Americans’ civil liberties.) Boylston Street was literally slick with blood when Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick held a press conference on April 15. The first question came from Dan Bidondi. “Why were the loud speakers telling people in the audience to be calm moments […]

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As a general rule, important decisions—say, for instance, deciding whether or not to invade a Middle Eastern nation—turnout better when they are well-informed. Poorly informed choices tend to end in disaster.

Consider our invasion of Iraq—a war that has killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and is by no means over, even though our troops have mostly left. That war killed 4,500 American soldiers, injured at least 32,000 at a dollar cost measured in trillions. If you measure defending our national security in blood and money, this war was more damaging to our national security than the Sept. 11 attacks themselves.

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It’s become an article of faith in louisiana that Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal has his eye on a bigger prize. Jindal consistently, if winkingly, denies it. But in Baton Rouge, his national ambition is part of the landscape. That’s worked out fine for the one-time Rhodes Scholar and precocious policy whiz, who landed his first […]

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Reporters appreciate the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. It never fails to provide good copy. Consider. On the mid-March Monday morning when CPAC 2013 opened its doors, there was Congressman Louie Gohmert, trying to make his way to an interview with the Tea Party Network Radio host, a six-foot tall blond woman in a slinky […]

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As is well known, the 2012 election saw a national drive to restrict the ability to vote. Citizens fought back. By Election Day, almost every harsh new law was blocked, blunted, postponed, or repealed. Count that a true win for democracy. But let’s not be satisfied with just winning defensive fights. Instead, we should seize […]

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