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The Atlantic | October 2006 HISTORY judges good presidents by what they do, bad ones by how long they take to undo. Although history hasn’t yet caught up with President George W. Bush, midterm elections are about to—and those are often a referendum on presidential performance. Now is therefore as good a time as any…
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New York Times Book Review | September 3, 2006 MY friends Jenny and Greg were still digesting the news that Jenny was pregnant with triplets when, only moments later, their fertility doctor sat them down. After recounting the many things that might go wrong in a triple pregnancy, he said, “You really should consider reducing.” Overwhelmed…
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National Journal | August 12, 2006 CHALMETTE, LA. — By the time water encroached on the Chalmette Medical Center parking lot, the worst of Hurricane Katrina was over. Upstairs on the second floor, Dr. Bryan Bertucci had spent a sleepless night admitting emergency cases, taking medical histories, conducting physicals. That job done, he caught an…
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The Atlantic | June 2006 PRESIDENT CARTER ducked the presidential debate of September 21, 1980, but Ronald Reagan and John Anderson, the independent candidate, were on hand for a revealing exchange. The question was whether Reagan’s proposed tax cuts, if not balanced by spending reductions, would fuel inflation. Anderson thought so: “I have been very…
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National Journal | April 1, 2006 “AND now, polygamy,” sighs Charles Krauthammer, in a recent Washington Post column. It’s true. As if they didn’t already have enough on their minds, Americans are going to have to debate polygamy. And not a moment too soon. For generations, taboo kept polygamy out of sight and out of mind in…
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The Atlantic | March 2006 ARIEL SHARON could boast of as daring a military and political career as anybody since Andrew Jackson, but he saved his biggest surprise for late in the game. The champion of the Right conquered the Israeli center. In doing so, he transformed Israeli politics. More than that, he showed the…
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National Journal | July 30, 2005 IN JUNE, conservatives howled when the Supreme Court upheld the right of New London, Conn., to condemn an entire neighborhood in order to make room for private development. House Republicans, in particular, took turns denouncing the Court’s decision in Kelo v. New London. Among them was Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C.…
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The New Republic | May 30, 2005 IN 2003, when a bare majority of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ordered the state to recognize gay marriages, the three dissenting judges based their opposition largely on children. “It is difficult to imagine a State purpose more important and legitimate than ensuring, promoting, and supporting an optimal…
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The Atlantic | October 2004 GEORGE W. Bush is not the President he wanted to be. In 2000 he campaigned, famously, as “a uniter, not a divider,” and by all indications he was perfectly sincere. As the governor of Texas he prided himself on finding common ground with the state’s Democrats. But in the White…
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The Wall Street Journal | December 27, 2004 President Reagan, ever the optimist, loved a story about a boy who yelps with delight at a pile of dung, digging into it eagerly with both hands. “With all this manure,” says the boy, “there must be a pony in here somewhere!” Nearly two months after the…