National Center for Civil Discourse Needs to Include Some Symbols of Incivility

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I very much support the creation of institutions and movements that support civil discourse — and applaud the announcement of this new National Center for Civil Discourse at the University of Arizona which Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush will co-chair.

Eva Peron Wins: The Pretension of a “Savings Lottery”

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Peter Orszag, now a new vice-chairman of global banking at Citigroup and former US Office of Management and Budget under Barack Obama, has written a provocative and (with all due respect Peter) wrong-headed Financial Times oped proposing that the way to promote savings among America’s low-income workers is to attach the prospect of winning millions…

The Coarsening of a Country

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This is a guest post by Jeffrey Stacey, an international engagement officer on contract with the Office of the Secretary’s Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization at the U.S. Department of State. Previously Stacey taught Political Science at Tulane University, Fordham University, and Columbia University, where he obtained his Ph.D.

Hickory Dog is Best in Show

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A Scottish deerhound named “Hickory Wind” has taken best-in-show at Westminster. Carson Ranger, a regular at TWN, let us know the news — and yes, we do like all the pups, even the ones who don’t win ribbons and are in the rescue batches out there.

Russ Feingold Emerges with Progressives United

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I like Russ Feingold, a lot. His successor in the US Senate actually said in the campaign that he didn’t believe US Senators should speak out publicly on matters of war and peace and should rather communicate their views privately and discreetly to the White House. I’m not kidding. I wrote about it here.

Obama’s Stock of Power Gets an Uptick

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Recently, through no fault of the correspondent but unfortunately through context-removing snips by an editor, I was misquoted in the Wall Street Journal. Various conservatives then grabbed my comment to try and score a gotcha point against President Obama and his team.