Fields of Nativism—As the nation was consumed by terror threats and by war in the Middle East, conservative Republicans were talking about . . . illegal immigration. House Republicans used the August congressional recess to hold 21 field hearings in 13 states, 15 of which just happened to be in battleground districts for the ’06 […]

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Wanted: A Foreign Policy—Since the Bush administration decided to abandon its doctrine of pre-emptive military force in the wreckage and rubble of Iraq, conservative hawks have begun labeling President Bush “weak,” “soft,” and “Clintonian.” The cover of Time heralded “the end of cowboy diplomacy.” The establishment journal Foreign Affairs echoed this with “The End of the Bush Revolution.” All […]

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In the 1980s Chevrolet proclaimed itself the “Heartbeat of America.” Today, many would say that the American auto industry barely has a pulse. Last November, General Motors (owner of the Chevy brand) announced that it was cutting 25,000 jobs and closing up to 12 factories by 2008. The news came one month after auto-parts giant […]

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In Max Frisch’s play The Fire Raisers, the respectable Herr Biedermann prefers to accept the palpably thin excuses that his tenants offer as they haul wagonloads of incendiary materials into his house, because that is easier than taking any action. Something like that is happening now. While the congressional and media types who magnify molehills of […]

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Full Court Press—The Supreme Court’s last week of the summer began with decisions upholding the death penalty in Kansas, overturning strict campaign-finance laws in Vermont and largely approving Tom DeLay’s redistricting power-grab in Texas. Conservatives seemed to be getting everything they wanted from the new Roberts-Alito court until the end of the week. Then the […]

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