http://www.news-star.com/section/columns news-star.com delivers up-to-the-minute news and information on the latest top stories, weather, entertainment, politics and more. Sun, 19 May 2013 7:30:44 +0000 http://www.news-star.com/article/20130519/NEWS/130519813/1008/OPINION?rssfeed=true Sun, 19 May 2013 1:07:00 +0000 By George Will, Washington Post http://www.news-star.com/article/20130519/NEWS/130519813/1008/OPINION Last week, a disagreement between two conservative think tanks erupted when the Heritage Foundation excoriated the immigration reform proposed by a bipartisan group of eight senators. Heritage’s [...]]]> http://www.news-star.com/article/20130518/NEWS/130519814/1008/OPINION?rssfeed=true Sat, 18 May 2013 1:03:00 +0000 By Kathleen Parker, Washington Post http://www.news-star.com/article/20130518/NEWS/130519814/1008/OPINION This, we are supposed to accept, is the conclusion to be drawn about the terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya, despite congressional testimony suggesting that significant efforts were made to camouflage those mistakes.
As Democrats and Republicans alike know all too well: It’s always the cover-up.
Yet in this case, where so clearly the State Department and others in the Obama administration took extra steps to mischaracterize what happened the night Ambassador [...]]]> http://www.news-star.com/article/20130517/NEWS/130519815/1008/OPINION?rssfeed=true Fri, 17 May 2013 1:01:00 +0000 By Dana Milbank, Washington Post http://www.news-star.com/article/20130517/NEWS/130519815/1008/OPINION Late Monday came the breathtaking news of a full-frontal assault on the First Amendment by his administration: word that the Justice Department had gone on a fishing expedition through months of phone records of Associated Press reporters.
And yet President Obama reacted much as he did to the equally astonishing revelation on Friday that the IRS had targeted conservative groups based on their ideology. He [...]]]> http://www.news-star.com/article/20130516/NEWS/130519910/1008/OPINION?rssfeed=true Thu, 16 May 2013 1:35:00 +0000 By Michael Gerson, Washington Post http://www.news-star.com/article/20130516/NEWS/130519910/1008/OPINION The IRS has managed a similar confirmation. For years, tea party and patriot groups have breathlessly alleged that federal bureaucrats were conspiring against the [...]]]> http://www.news-star.com/article/20130515/NEWS/130519911/1008/OPINION?rssfeed=true Wed, 15 May 2013 1:32:00 +0000 By E.J. Dionne, Washington Post http://www.news-star.com/article/20130515/NEWS/130519911/1008/OPINION Massacres and terrorist incidents cannot be ignored, but the day-to-day toll from gun violence is often swept aside. Politicians who tout themselves as advocates of law and order don’t want to be unmasked as caring even more about their ratings from gun lobbyists.
And opponents of the most moderate gun reforms engage in a shameless game of bait-and-switch. Because measures such as background checks would not stop [...]]]> http://www.news-star.com/article/20130514/NEWS/130519912/1008/OPINION?rssfeed=true Tue, 14 May 2013 1:01:00 +0000 By Esther Cepeda, Washington Post http://www.news-star.com/article/20130514/NEWS/130519912/1008/OPINION In the third “Iron Man” -- a series that spent its first two installments glorifying the reckless life of a spoiled, rich genius -- Stark, the man inside the metallic exoskeleton, seems to have finally taken a turn toward wellness.
No spoiler alerts are needed for me to point out that, though subtle, Stark set beautiful examples of healthful eating throughout this latest episode.
In a scene set in what appeared to be a familiar chain [...]]]> http://www.news-star.com/article/20130513/NEWS/130519996/1008/OPINION?rssfeed=true Mon, 13 May 2013 1:55:00 +0000 By Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post http://www.news-star.com/article/20130513/NEWS/130519996/1008/OPINION The next day Jay Carney said precisely the opposite: “Red line” was intended and deliberate.
Which is it? Who knows? Perhaps Obama used the term last [...]]]> http://www.news-star.com/article/20130512/NEWS/130519997/1008/OPINION?rssfeed=true Sun, 12 May 2013 1:51:00 +0000 By Michael Gerson, Washington Post http://www.news-star.com/article/20130512/NEWS/130519997/1008/OPINION Recent congressional testimony by Gregory Hicks, Stevens’ deputy in Libya, established one point beyond doubt: Those closest to the attacks were not confused about their nature. They were responding to a coordinated terrorist assault followed by a [...]]]> http://www.news-star.com/article/20130511/NEWS/130519998/1008/OPINION?rssfeed=true Sat, 11 May 2013 1:41:00 +0000 By Dana Milbank, Washington Post http://www.news-star.com/article/20130511/NEWS/130519998/1008/OPINION The president had played this game many times before. “I have made clear that the use of chemical weapons is a game-changer,” he said in March, in one of his administration’s many repetitions of the term.
But what game does Obama propose to change? “By game-changer,” ABC News’ Jonathan Karl asked him on Tuesday, “do you mean U.S. military action?”
The coach was not about to share [...]]]> http://www.news-star.com/article/20130510/NEWS/130519999/1008/OPINION?rssfeed=true Fri, 10 May 2013 1:01:00 +0000 By Kathleen Parker, Washington Post http://www.news-star.com/article/20130510/NEWS/130519999/1008/OPINION As so often happens with contemporary debate, arguments being proffered in support of allowing teenagers as young as 15 (and possibly younger) to buy the “morning-after pill” without adult supervision are false on their premise.
Here’s an experiment to demonstrate.
Question 1: Do you think that women should have access to Plan B, also known as the morning-after pill, to be used at their own discretion? Yes!
Question 2: Do you think that girls as [...]]]> http://www.news-star.com/article/20130509/NEWS/130509759/1008/OPINION?rssfeed=true Thu, 9 May 2013 1:00:00 +0000 By E.J. Dionne, Washington Post http://www.news-star.com/article/20130509/NEWS/130509759/1008/OPINION You can argue that this perception isn’t fair. The Affordable Care Act, if it’s implemented well, will improve a lot of lives. The economy is adding jobs, not shedding them. The deficit is coming down. Two front- [...]]]> http://www.news-star.com/article/20130508/NEWS/130509760/1008/OPINION?rssfeed=true Wed, 8 May 2013 1:01:00 +0000 By Esther Cepeda, Washington Post http://www.news-star.com/article/20130508/NEWS/130509760/1008/OPINION Let me illustrate:
While earning my master’s in special education, I became aware that the 1975 Education for All Handicapped Children Act gave equal protection to children with disabilities.
This important piece of legislation opened doors for untold millions of children who would have otherwise been [...]]]> http://www.news-star.com/article/20130507/NEWS/130509801/1008/OPINION?rssfeed=true Tue, 7 May 2013 1:01:00 +0000 By George Will, Washington Post http://www.news-star.com/article/20130507/NEWS/130509801/1008/OPINION But under today’s regulatory state, which Madison could hardly have imagined, the legislature, although still a source of much mischief, is not the principal threat to liberty. Suppose a federal executive department flagrantly abused its regulatory powers for the unmistakable purpose of suppressing truthful speech that annoys the [...]]]> http://www.news-star.com/article/20130505/NEWS/130509995/1008/OPINION?rssfeed=true Sun, 5 May 2013 2:32:00 +0000 By Kathleen Parker, Washington Post http://www.news-star.com/article/20130505/NEWS/130509995/1008/OPINION During the dedication of his library at Southern Methodist University, nary a word was spoken about the most controversial aspect of his tenure, the Iraq invasion. All living presidents were in attendance and made only generic references to mistakes and regrets familiar to all. Of course Bush famously acknowledges no mistakes or [...]]]> http://www.news-star.com/article/20130504/NEWS/130509996/1008/OPINION?rssfeed=true Sat, 4 May 2013 2:28:00 +0000 By Dana Milbank, Washington Post http://www.news-star.com/article/20130504/NEWS/130509996/1008/OPINION Most of the country sees the worst part: the triumph of money and power.
For the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner Saturday and its related soirees, media companies and lobbyists spend many millions of dollars to fete Hollywood celebrities and politicians. The dinner’s charitable origins were long ago lost, replaced by a desire of journalists to be players -- to flatter the powerful [...]]]> http://www.news-star.com/article/20130503/NEWS/130509997/1008/OPINION?rssfeed=true Fri, 3 May 2013 2:24:00 +0000 By E. J. Dionne, Washington Post http://www.news-star.com/article/20130503/NEWS/130509997/1008/OPINION And since last week saw a cross-party celebration of the opening of George W. Bush’s presidential library, I’d add a second mystery: Why is it that conservative Republicans who freely cut taxes while backing two wars in the Bush years started preaching fire [...]]]> http://www.news-star.com/article/20130502/NEWS/130509998/1008/OPINION?rssfeed=true Thu, 2 May 2013 2:20:00 +0000 By Esther Cepeda, Washington Post http://www.news-star.com/article/20130502/NEWS/130509998/1008/OPINION This is not a trivial question. As Hispanics start populating academia, newsrooms, boardrooms and courtrooms across the country, they face the tricky terrain of interacting with people who have different backgrounds and upbringings. And sometimes those folks say the craziest things.
Recently, the Chicana writer and Huffington Post blogger Michele Serros wrote about once finding herself as the [...]]]> http://www.news-star.com/article/20130501/NEWS/130509999/1008/OPINION?rssfeed=true Wed, 1 May 2013 1:01:00 +0000 By George Will, Washington Post http://www.news-star.com/article/20130501/NEWS/130509999/1008/OPINION Barack Obama used a recess appointment to make Cordray director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. But a federal circuit court has declared unconstitutional three other recess appointments (BEG ITAL)made the same day(END ITAL) because the Senate was not in recess. So Hensarling has [...]]]> http://www.news-star.com/article/20130430/NEWS/130439999/1008/OPINION?rssfeed=true Tue, 30 Apr 2013 1:01:00 +0000 By Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post http://www.news-star.com/article/20130430/NEWS/130439999/1008/OPINION Not quite right. He did not just keep us safe. He created the entire anti-terror infrastructure that continues to keep us safe.
That homage was paid, wordlessly, by Barack Obama, who vilified Bush’s anti-terror policies as a candidate, then continued them [...]]]> http://www.news-star.com/article/20130429/NEWS/130429814/1008/OPINION?rssfeed=true Mon, 29 Apr 2013 4:09:00 +0000 By Kathleen Parker, Washington Post http://www.news-star.com/article/20130429/NEWS/130429814/1008/OPINION For stories and characters, one needs only a pair of walking shoes in this city, where recent attentions have turned to two salacious stories. One concerns a murder-for-hire plot involving a banker, his wife, his lover’s ex-husband and his ex-lover’s husband’s cellmate. Not to be confused with his soul mate.
No, that designation refers to the other story making rounds on the cocktail circuit. Yes, he’s back but maybe not [...]]]>