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Joseph Curl

Joseph Curl

jcurl@washingtontimes.com

Joseph Curl covered the White House and politics for a decade for The Washington Times. He can be reached at josephcurl@gmail.com.

Columns by Joseph Curl

President Obama speaks at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel on Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

CURL: After failed charm offensive, Obama back to bashing GOP

President Obama's charm offensive has been a dismal failure. Of course, he didn't really try all that hard. He bought dinner for a few Republican lawmakers, vowed to meet them halfway, but within a week — after his gun-grab bill went up in flames — he called them "liars" and stomped off in a huff, taking his ball with him.

April 28, 2013
President Obama stands with former presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Jimmy Carter at the dedication of the George W. Bush presidential library on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Thursday, April 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

CURL: W outclasses Barack and Bill, without even trying

Shortly after Barack Obama was elected in 2008, a fellow reporter who'd covered President George W. Bush all eight years told me she'd had enough of the travel and stress and strain of the White House beat, that she was moving on.

April 25, 2013
Alec Baldwin portrays Jack Donaghy in a scene from "30 Rock." (AP Photo/NBC, Ali Goldstein)

CURL: The undistinguished press corps

Sometimes, the nation's reporters perform their duties to the highest degree: They root out corruption, uncover scandal, speak truth to power. But increasingly, America's "journalists" are falling well short of what the founders envisioned when they sought to ensure a democracy kept honest by a free and vibrant press.

April 14, 2013
President Barack Obama waves to the crowd as he watches the first half of the East Regional final in the NCAA men's college basketball tournament between Syracuse and Marquette, Saturday, March 30, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Tenally)

CURL: The Obamas live the 1 percent life

Being president of the U.S., the most powerful man in the world, is often most about perception. But something remarkable has happened with these occupants of the White House: Neither President Obama nor first lady Michelle appear to give a damn about perception.

March 31, 2013
Vice President Joseph R. Biden

CURL: No go for Joe in 2016

Joseph R. Biden took the vice presidential gig, after something like 87 years in the Senate, because he knew in his tiny heart of hearts that that was the end of the line.

March 24, 2013
Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican, speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord National Hotel at National Harbor, Md., on Thursday, March 14, 2013. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

CURL: Young bucks rut on old GOP timbers

After back-to-back drubbings in presidential elections, the Grand Old Party is deep in contemplation — navel-gazing, really — over what went wrong and, more, what to do about what went wrong.

March 17, 2013
President Obama speaks on Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013, at the White House about the sequester as he stands with emergency responders, a group of workers the White House says could be affected if state and local governments lose federal money as a result of budget cuts. (Associated Press)

CURL: ‘Unoriginal Amateur Hour,’ starring Barack Obama

Twenty-five years ago, I started out as a reporter in Prince William County, Va. Back then, a slew of young reporters were cutting their teeth in the hinterland near Washington, D.C. — John Harris, the great Washington Post reporter and editor of Politico; Pierre Thomas, also at the Post then but now senior Justice Department correspondent for ABC News; and the talented Laurie Kellman, a colleague at the Prince William Journal now on the Hill for The Associated Press.

February 24, 2013
President Obama speaks on Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013, at the White House about the sequester as he stands with emergency responders, a group of workers the White House says could be affected if state and local governments lose federal money as a result of budget cuts. (Associated Press)

CURL: ‘Amateur Hour,’ starring Barack Obama

Every year, we young reporters in Prince William County would gather at the county's McCoart Administration Center for the annual budget kabuki dance. And quite a dance it was. Every year, the county staffers would ask for much more money — 9, 10, 12 percent increases. The school system, too. Sometimes, the far higher proposed spending budgets would require increases to tax rates. Teachers, union officials and county gadflies would pack the county building for the show.

February 24, 2013
**FILE** Then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton testifies on Capitol Hill on Jan. 23, 2013, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks against the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

CURL: The terrifying mindset of Secretary Clinton

Her words are already long gone from the daily flow; in fact, they never really resonated at all, were all but ignored by the mainstream media, and were characterized more as a feisty in-your-face comeback than what they truly were.

January 27, 2013
President Obama delivers his second inaugural address at the ceremonial swearing-in at the U.S. Capitol during the 57th Presidential Inauguration in Washington on Monday, Jan. 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

CURL: The petty partisanship of Barack Obama (Term II)

President Obama's second inaugural address turned out to be words of discord and distemper, a lengthy lecture to the half of America that opposed him Nov. 6, 2012, and an arrogant wink of the eye to the half that supported him.

January 21, 2013