THE WASHINGTON TIMES

EDITORIAL: Abracadabra war strategy

President Obama on Wednesday held the fifth in a series of high-level meetings on Afghanistan strategy. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the meeting was part of a continuing process and did not produce the "one magic sentence or one magic phrase" that would lead to a decision. This raises the question, is the administration waiting for magic to strike before taking action?

October 16, 2009

EDITORIAL: The upside to flu shots

Last week, like many of you, The Washington Times' employees lined up for annual seasonal flu shots. Getting the vaccination is quick, safe for the vast majority of healthy people and - after decades of use - is proven to limit flu-related deaths. The odds are much greater that it will prevent harm than do any.

October 15, 2009

EDITORIAL: Tort reform savings

Sen. Max Baucus' health care bill consists of a dog's breakfast of taxes after taxes after more taxes. With so much new pressure being put on taxpayers, you might think senators would jump at the chance to find some savings that could eliminate the need for some of the tax increases. Think again. Too many senators are in the hip pocket of the wealthy plaintiffs' lawyers for them to consider any savings that would diminish the lawyers' jackpots.

October 15, 2009

EDITORIAL: Fox hunting

Let's face it. Fox News runs stories that the Obama administration would rather ignore - from the sleaziness and corruption in the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) to the bizarre views and actions of senior presidential appointees such as Van Jones and Kevin Jennings.

October 15, 2009

EDITORIAL: Undermining Honduras

When Yale Law School Dean Harold Koh was chosen as chief legal counsel to the State Department, we editorialized that it was an "offensive nomination." We explained that "Mr. Koh's repeatedly stated agenda is contrary to the American tradition of law originating in the 'consent of the governed.' " Little did we know that Mr. Koh would trample on the consent of the governed in other countries, too.

October 14, 2009

EDITORIAL: Incorrigible Iran

The Obama administration has adopted Russia's "go slow" approach to imposing sanctions on Tehran for its illegal nuclear program. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced their meeting of the minds yesterday, stating that sanctions should only be a last resort when all diplomatic means are exhausted. This posture hands a blank check to Iran.

October 14, 2009

EDITORIAL: Deeds dwindles

Memo to Creigh Deeds - If an admirer compares you to a tested wartime president, that's gratifying. When you compare yourself to Harry Truman, you look small and desperate. Truman faced millions of Japanese soldiers and the choice to use nuclear weapons. You face some transportation problems and a state government that spends more than it takes in.

October 14, 2009

EDITORIAL: Please don’t ask again

The commander in chief on Saturday reiterated his support for having homosexuals serve openly in the military. Fortunately, there's a good chance this is another issue on which President Obama is all talk.

October 13, 2009

EDITORIAL: Tarnishing a Scout’s honor

Boy Scouts are supposed to "Be Prepared." But how could a New York Eagle Scout prepare himself to have his dreams derailed by a school's imbalanced "zero tolerance" policy?

October 13, 2009

EDITORIAL: An administration of radicals

We know that "safe schools czar" and "Queering Elementary Education" essayist Kevin Jennings failed to oppose homosexual man-boy relationships and that science czar John Holdren has written, without objection, that "laws requiring compulsory abortion could be sustained under the existing Constitution." We know that one-time Health and Human Services secretary nominee Tom Daschle had to withdraw because of a failure to pay his taxes. But what has not been adequately tallied is how many of President Obama's nominees and appointees are radical or just plain embarrassing.

October 13, 2009

EDITORIAL: Another radical judge

If, in the future, a historian seeks the first proof positive that President Obama was intent on seeding the lower federal courts with radicals, the answer may well be that Butler did it.

October 12, 2009

EDITORIAL: Jennings falsely claims discrimination

As President Obama's "Safe Schools Czar," Kevin Jennings' job is to protect students from harassment and harm. By Mr. Jennings' own accounts, there are at least two students he failed to protect from dangerous situations. Regarding one of these cases, he admitted, "I can see how I should have handled this situation differently." But time after time, Mr. Jennings has acted as if political causes are more important than veracity. That is not someone who should be trusted with our children's safety.

October 12, 2009

EDITORIAL: The American journey

In the 19th century, Christopher Columbus was regarded as one of the most heroic and significant figures of his or any age. The "Admiral of the Ocean Seas" was celebrated throughout the Americas as a visionary who braved the unknown on a mission of discovery that created a New World. Our national capitol district was named in his honor because he opened the door to a new era of freedom that America represents.

October 12, 2009

EDITORIAL: A Nobel for nothing

The news Friday that President Obama was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize was met with widespread incredulity and skepticism. "For what?" was the most uttered phrase of the day. The almost universal sense of disbelief was reinforced when word spread that the deadline for nominations had been Feb. 1, less than two weeks after Mr. Obama entered office. By rights, the nomination should have been diagnosed as a symptom of an extreme case of Obamamania and quietly discarded.

October 11, 2009

EDITORIAL: It takes one to know one

If House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's pledge to "drain the [congressional] swamp" of corruption actually had teeth, she'd have to boot more than just embattled Ways and Means Chairman Charles B. Rangel.

October 11, 2009

EDITORIAL: CBO’s rosy insurance projections

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Senate Finance Committee's health care bill will reduce the number of uninsured in 2019 "by about 29 million." That's grandly overoptimistic for one simple reason - CBO assumes no one will respond to large economic incentives to game the system that are built into the legislation. If so, it would be a first in economic history.

October 11, 2009

EDITORIAL: Time to update the tanker fleet

The United States military is the most powerful in the world in large part because it is the most lavishly funded and technologically advanced. So it's odd that, when American fighters built in the last few years are refueled in the air, they depend on tanker aircraft designed before Elvis Presley's first album hit the charts.

October 9, 2009

EDITORIAL: America’s Internet police

You may have won $10 million dollars!!! Or not, but the same federal agency that can't stop those dishonest sweepstakes mailings wants the right to supervise everything bloggers, Facebookers, tweeters and practically anyone else writes on the Internet starting in December. You see, bad, bad regular people may write something nice about puppy kibble after nefarious corporate goons pay them off with a free bag of dog food. Consumers must be protected from such trickery.

October 9, 2009

EDITORIAL: A Russian alliance in Afghanistan?

One of the worst ideas we have heard recently regarding Afghanistan is to bring in the Russians. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen suggested that 20 years after the Soviet Union's defeat there, Moscow now might hold the key to victory. "Russia could provide equipment for the Afghan security forces," Mr. Rasmussen said. "Russia could provide training. We could explore in a joint effort how we could further Russian engagement." A moment of clarity is in order.

October 9, 2009

EDITORIAL: Return of Walpin-gate

When last we left Gerald Walpin, the unfairly fired inspector general for the Corporation for National and Community Service, he had filed a lawsuit on July 17 protesting his dismissal. He submitted technical amendments to his complaint on July 24, and the government was supposed to respond within 60 days. Seventy-five days later, the government still is stonewalling.

October 8, 2009