Roundup: Media's Take

Haris Tarin: A Muslim's Faith in America

[Haris Tarin, who grew up in the San Fernando Valley, is the director of the Washington office of the Muslim Public Affairs Council.] When my parents decided to leave their war-ravaged homeland of Afghanistan in the 1980s, they had the option of migrating to a number of different countries, but sought one that they could make their "home." You see, my father was a government official in the Afghan Education Ministry, before the Russian invasion and the subsequent takeover

Alex Epstein: Obama Follows Nixon On Oil Spills

[Mr. Epstein is a fellow at the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights.] Which former president does Barack Obama most resemble? When it comes to handling oil spills, the answer is Richard Nixon. Like our current president, Nixon too presided over a major offshore oil blowout—the three million gallon Santa Barbara spill of 1969. And, like Mr. Obama, Nixon responded by whipping up anti-oil sentiment and passing a sweeping moratorium on drilling. This parallel is important

Dana Milbank: Religious Tolerance Then and Now

[Dana Milbank is a columnist for the Washington Post] Two hundred twenty years ago today, the Jews of Newport, R.I., wrote a proclamation for President George Washington on his visit to their synagogue the next day."Deprived as we heretofore have been of the invaluable rights of free Citizens," the Jews wrote to their famous visitor, we now"behold a Government, erected by the Majesty of the People . . . generously affording to All liberty of conscience, and immunities of

Bob Franken: Whose "Sacred Ground"?

[Bob Franken is an Emmy-award winning reporter, recently inducted into the Society for Professional Journalists Washington Hall of Fame This is directed at all the people who claim they are all for the First Amendment rights of the Muslims who want to construct a Mosque at the 9/11 site but insist it's an "Insult" to build it there, a "stab in the heart" as Sarah Palin puts it, for the millions who have intense feelings about the September 11th attacks. More than

Steven Clemons: What Would George W. Bush Do?

[Steven Clemons is a Senior Fellow and Director of the American Strategy Program at the New America Foundation, where he previously served as Executive Vice President.]Slate's Dave Weigel has a nice clip quoting former Bush administration Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and current Director of the George W. Bush Institute

Philippe Cousteau: National Treasures or American Wastelands, the Choice is Ours

[Philippe Cousteau is the 29 year-old son of Jan and Philippe Cousteau Sr., and the grandson of Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau. As a member of the legendary family, Philippe is continuing the work of his father through EarthEcho International, the non-profit organization he founded with his sister and mother, and of which he serves as CEO.] The rough, white texture of the bark was still bright in the fading glow of sunset. I turned my head and gazed out over the valley to enjoy the l

Tom Bethell: Our One-Term President

[Tom Bethell is a senior editor of The American Spectator and author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science, The Noblest Triumph: Property and Prosperity Through the Ages, and most recently Questioning Einstein: Is Relativity Necessary? (2009).] It's a good bet right now that Barack Obama will be a one-term president. The enthusiasm that once shielded this hyphenated American has dissipated. His supporters, although still numerous, have discovered that he lacks Bill Clinton's

Thomas Sowell: Dismantling America

[Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution.] "We the people" are the familiar opening words of the Constitution of the United States — the framework for a self-governing people, free from the arbitrary edicts of rulers. It was the blueprint for America, and the success of America made that blueprint something that other nations sought to follow. At the time when it was written, however, the Constitution was a radical departure from the autocra

Stephen M. Walt: Why America is Going to Regret the Cordoba House Controversy

[Stephen M. Walt is the Robert and Renée Belfer professor of international relations at Harvard University.] Apart from a brief post praising New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's forthright stance on the Muslim community center controversy, I haven't said much about this issue. I had naively assumed that Bloomberg's eloquent remarks defending the project -- and reaffirming the indispensable principle of religious freedom -- would pretty much end the controversy, but I underestimated w

Aaron David Miller: Ground Zero's Wounds Are Still Too Deep to Build Upon

[Aaron David Miller is a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He served as an adviser to Republican and Democratic secretaries of state on Arab-Israeli negotiations from 1988 to 2003. His forthcoming book, "Can America Have Another Great President?," will be published by Bantam Books.] If there is one lesson to be learned from the controversy over the proposed mosque near Ground Zero, it is that messing with memory, particularly tr

Michael Lind: Happy Birthday, Social Security!

[Michael Lind is Policy Director of the Economic Growth Program at the New America Foundation.] On Saturday, Aug. 14, Social Security celebrated its 75th birthday. For three-quarters of a century, America’s most successful social program, signed into law by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt during the depths of the Depression, has helped Americans in multiple ways. By providing a guaranteed income to all Americans in retirement, Social Security has made utter destitut

Alexander Golts: Putin’s Power Vertical Stretches Back to Kursk

[Alexander Golts is deputy editor of the online newspaper Yezhednevny Zhurnal.] Russia’s 10-year anniversary of the sinking of the Kursk nuclear submarine played out as expected: maudlin prayers for the 118 crew members who perished, bombastic speeches and pompous television programs. Those who bore direct responsibility for the tragedy, such as former Northern Fleet commander Admiral Vyacheslav Popov — who was given a cushy job as a senator in the Federation Council — did not even

Tom Bethell: Our One-Term President

[Tom Bethell is a senior editor of The American Spectator and author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science, The Noblest Triumph: Property and Prosperity Through the Ages, and most recently Questioning Einstein: Is Relativity Necessary? (2009).] It's a good bet right now that Barack Obama will be a one-term president. The enthusiasm that once shielded this hyphenated American has dissipated. His supporters, although still numerous, have discovered that he lacks Bill Clinton's

Bret Stephens: Our 'Moderate Muslim' Problem

[Mr. Stephens writes the Journal's "Global View" column on foreign affairs.] Items of interest in the news media's coverage of "moderate Muslims": • The New York Times, Oct. 19, 2001: "Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki, spiritual leader at the Dar al-Hijra mosque in Virginia, one of the nation's largest. . . . is held up as a new generation of Muslim leader capable of merging East and West." • NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, Dec. 9, 2

Toby Harnden: The battle over the mosque at Ground Zero

[Toby Harnden is the Daily Telegraph's US Editor, based in Washington DC.] August tends to be an inauspicious month for elevated debate in American politics. Last year, everyone was bickering about whether health-care reform would usher in "death panels" that could dispatch Granny to her grave. Now, as Europe holidays, the United States is in a frenzy about the building of a mosque at Ground Zero, principal site of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Polls indicate t

Joan Walsh: Why Catholics Should Thank Anti-Catholic Bigots

[Joan Walsh is editor-in-chief of Salon.] I would like to thank New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, on behalf of my Irish Catholic relatives; indeed, on behalf of all Irish Catholics, including the Kennedy family, for reminding us of the debt we owe to anti-Catholic "Nativists." Yes, even though I was raised to believe the Nativists spread anti-Catholic prejudice and bigotry with lies about who we were and what we believed, Douthat says I was raised wrong (not surprisin

Ross Douthat: Islam in Two Americas

[Ross Douthat is a columnist for the NYT.] There’s an America where it doesn’t matter what language you speak, what god you worship, or how deep your New World roots run. An America where allegiance to the Constitution trumps ethnic differences, language barriers and religious divides. An America where the newest arrival to our shores is no less American than the ever-so-great granddaughter of the Pilgrims. But there’s another America as well, one that understands itsel

Andrew Leonard: Jimmy Carter: Worst. American. Ever!

[Andrew Leonard is a staff writer at Salon.] Let's get the big honking disclaimer out of the way first. As a callow 18-year-old, I cast my first vote for president of the United States in 1980 to reelect Jimmy Carter. While I can't claim to be have been a hugely enthusiastic supporter of the much-beleaguered president (he reinstated registration for the draft, for crying out loud!), there was no doubt in my mind that he was infinitely superior to that joke from California, a has-bee

Waller R. Newell: It's the Ideology, Stupid

[Waller R. Newell is professor of political science and philosophy at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.] Wherever the global jihad strikes, it does so with the same goal: the establishment of a worldwide Islamist state. This is as true when the Taliban conducts suicide operations in Pakistan as it is when Turkey’s Islamist government sends a “freedom flotilla” seeking martyrdom in support of Hamas. It is true of terrorists plotting attacks on America, Europe, Asia, and Africa,

Jennifer Lind: Apology Diplomacy at Hiroshima

[Jennifer Lind is Assistant Professor of Government at Dartmouth College and the author of Sorry States: Apologies in International Politics. She has worked as a consultant for RAND and for the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Defense; lived and worked in Japan; and written previously for The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Policy.] Tad Akiba, Mayor of Hiroshima, didn't listen to instructions. During his visit to the White House last January, Akiba and a throng of