No Job for Mr. Nice Guy- June 24, 2008 Perhaps it's just a coincidence, but in the past few days, I've felt overwhelmed by a tsunami of commentary, all of which purports to prove the fundamental nastiness of Barack Obama or, alternatively, the deep unlikability of John McCain. You thought our presidential candidates were nice guys, regular guys, guys with whom you'd like to sit down and have a beer Guess what, lots of people are now telling me: They aren't.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/23/AR2008062301827.html?nav=r... Pity the Poor Eurocrats- June 17, 2008 Pretty much for as long as I've been paying attention to these things, Europe has been "in crisis" or "in chaos" or "in despair" because one or another European country failed to ratify yet another European treaty. Invariably, something cataclysmically important was at stake, such as the creation of a European currency. Often the difficult country was a small one -- Denmark, say, whose voters rejected the treaty that helped create the European currency in 1992. At that time, France and Germany..http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/16/AR2008061602040.html?nav=r... Whose Race Problem- June 10, 2008 "Will Americans vote for a black man" I've been asked this question by foreigners of various origins a dozen -- or maybe three dozen -- times since the U.S. presidential campaign began for real in January. Now we have the answer: Yes, Americans will vote for a black man. Which means that it is time to turn this rather offensive question around: Will foreigners accept a black American presidenthttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/09/AR2008060902239.html?nav=r... Mugabe's Roman Holiday- June 3, 2008 With an unerring sense of timing, President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe arrived in Rome yesterday, thereby demonstrating the profound limitations of international diplomacy. Indeed, it's hard to think of any other single gesture that would so effectively reveal the ineffectiveness of international institutions in the conduct of human rights and food aid policy. Even someone standing atop the dome of St. Peter's, megaphone in hand, shouting, "The U.N. is useless! The E.U. is useless!" couldn't...http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/02/AR2008060202589.html?nav=r... |