Sisyphus
Observations, reflections and thinking out loud on the way up the mountain and back down again.
Latest Blog Posts
- Ft. Hood and the “clash of civilizations” on Nov 11, 2009
There is not much we know yet about the man who committed the crimes at Ft. Hood other than he was an officer and a Muslim and about to be deployed to Afghanistan. We know nothing about his motivations to commit violence whether he was mentally dera...
- The US Senate tradition of stonewalling democracy on Nov 10, 2009
Under our federal system of government established in the 18th century, the legislature is divided into two bodies – one that represents people and one that represents states. The latter is the United States Senate. There is very little that is d...
- The greatest health care system in the world? on Nov 5, 2009
Whenever there is a debate about any major change in the laws or services of society there is a perfectly legitimate concern about whether or not the change is really needed. It’s the old “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” line of thinking...
- Progress on three fronts – Iraq, Iran and Pakistan on Oct 27, 2009
When the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced President Obama as winner of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize there were some Americans who claimed he had not earned it. A few rather condescendingly came up with lists of things he could do to earn it.Yet in...
- White House decision on Afghanistan: Take your time but don’t dither on Oct 22, 2009
Tom Ricks lays out four simple rules for the White House internal debate on the future of the war in Afghanistan: 1) the generals are not necessarily right, even about military operations, and especially about strategy; 2) presidents should take all...
- McDonnell’s style-and-stealth campaign in Virginia’s race for governor on Oct 20, 2009
It used to be that Virginia’s suburbs were leaning or solidly Republican. Changes in demographics have now made the suburbs – particularly those in Northern Virginia – the battleground for swing voters. That is where Tim Kaine won the governo...
- Drawing police and military personnel into a world of false conspiracy theory on Oct 19, 2009
It’s never clear as to how serious to take political fringe groups that peddle paranoia. They are nothing new to the political scene of any country and in this one they have an absolute First Amendment right believe and say what they wish. On the...
