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The fate of Obama's presidency

Posted Fri, Sep 4, 6 a.m.

It hinges on the economy, which is slowly recovering, and Afghanistan, which is fatefully resembling Vietnam.

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The 'socialized medicine' red herring

Posted Thu, Aug 20, 6 a.m.

An experienced user and administrator of the British health care system predicts that nothing like government-run health care is likely to come to the U.S., nor should it. If anything, our reform model might better imitate France's.

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Thoughts on Independence Day

Posted Sat, Jul 4, 7:24 a.m.

We have created, as Ben Franklin said, "a Republic, if you can keep it." How have we done?

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A gutsy commencement address

Posted Thu, May 28, 6 a.m.

Former Iraq ambassador Ryan Crocker, a Whitman graduate, issues an unlikely Niebuhrian challenge to the class of 2009

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Wanted: a local prosecutor to try President Bush for murder

Posted Wed, Jan 28, 6 a.m.

Seattle residents have teamed up with Vincent Bugliosi, who prosecuted Charles Manson, in a campaign to find a prosecutor to try President George W. Bush on murder charges for the deaths in Iraq of more than 4,000 U.S. soldiers.

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The Navy wins on sonar, not that anyone's surprised

Posted Tue, Dec 2, 6 a.m.

Here's an analysis of the recent Supreme Court decision to continue allowing the Navy to use sonar in the presence of marine mammals. It's not as simple an issue as you might think.

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What to watch for in Secretary Clinton

Posted Sun, Nov 30, noon

Good choices for the foreign policy and Defense appointees, but a lot depends on how Hillary staffs her new job and how the new national security adviser conceives of that post.

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On Veterans Day, a brief history of U.S. war

Posted Tue, Nov 11, midnight

More often than not, ham-handed politics have led to the conflicts in which our soldiers have sacrificed.

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A Powder keg of a book

Posted Mon, Oct 20, midnight

Ignore the preface, and get to the poetry and power in this new anthology written by women in combat.

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Now, every governor is a 'commander'

Posted Mon, Sep 8, 10 p.m.

Are we supposed to salute Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin? A look at how Arizona Sen. John McCain is militarizing the quest for the presidency.

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Wanna rent a ranger station?

Posted Tue, Jun 3, 6 p.m.

America's national forests are in the middle of a "heritage" crisis as historic structures fall victim to budget cuts, vandalism, and neglect. Northwest forests are not immune, but citizens can help. How about vacationing in a fire lookout this summer?

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Remembering the soldiers of 1–25

Posted Sat, May 24, 6 a.m.

Another Memorial Day brings another poignant roster of bios and photos paying tribute to those killed in Iraq. Here's honoring a few of them, both for who they really were — and who they weren't.

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Love the warrior but hate the war, and other weekend ruminations

Posted Fri, May 23, 4 p.m.

Also: Whom to blame for gas prices, kudos for the schools supe, Sound Transit's latest audit, and polygamy's free pass.

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A friend goes off to war — for a second time

Posted Tue, Mar 25, 5 a.m.

It's hard when a friend goes off to war, especially when the president is envious.

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The Lazy B's blue funk descends

Posted Sat, Mar 8, 4 a.m.

In the Jet County, they're expending a lot of energy bemoaning Boeing's failure to win a big Air Force contract. There's not much locals can do about that. But a university, that's another matter.

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The Boeing tanker slapdown

Posted Mon, Mar 3, midnight

The state's congressional delegation and others are shocked that we're shipping defense jobs overseas to Airbus. But isn't that the free trade they're always touting?

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Why we hate soccer

Posted Wed, Nov 21, 5 a.m.

Will Paul Allen and Drew Carey succeed in establishing Major League Soccer in Seattle? Some suggest they're kicking the ball uphill.

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The warpath not taken

Posted Mon, Oct 22, 5 a.m.

How would Pacific Northwest history have differed had we taken pioneer James Swan's advice about how to treat the native population?

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The scientific dark age of George Bush

Posted Mon, Oct 8, 5 a.m.

University of Washington computer science professor Ed Lazowska, a onetime Bush appointee, says scientific research and education are sputtering in the "dark time" of the Bush years. He also says Washington state's higher ed system is failing the next generation.

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Norm Dicks, the Northwest's Earmark King

Posted Thu, Aug 9, 5 a.m.

Budget "earmarks" are considered by many the key gauge of wasteful government spending on pet projects, like Alaska's famous "bridge to nowhere." Seniority has its privileges. Tacoma's Norm Dicks, a 15-term Democrat, ranks sixth among congressmen with the most earmarks, raking in $44 million last year.

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Other media

Fareed Zakaria: Why all the pessimism on Afghanistan? The U.S. and its NATO allies have been remarkably successful in job No. 1: Denying al-Qaeda the opportunity to effectively plan terrorist attacks on the West.

Obama is caught in the trap of a campaign ploy on Afghanistan The good war versus bad Bush war in Iraq ploy was cooked up on the Kerry campaign and it worked well politically. But now, argues Charles Krauthammer, young President Hamlet is stuck.

Nail in the coffin for 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'? An article forcefully arguing that the armed forces' anti-gay policies do more harm then good appears in a widely-read military journal, with the implied blessing of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Frank Rich: Eerie echoes for Obama of when JFK was deciding whether to widen a war "Obama finds himself at that same lonely decision point now. Though he came to the presidency declaring Afghanistan a 'war of necessity,' circumstances have since changed. While the Taliban thrives there, Al Qaeda’s ground zero is next-door in nuclear-armed Pakistan. Last month’s blatantly corrupt, and arguably stolen, Afghanistan election ended any pretense that Hamid Karzai is a credible counter to the Taliban or a legitimate partner for America in a counterinsurgency project of enormous risk and cost."

Obama sets full review of Afghanistan strategy The mantra is "strategy before resources," which translates into five full-blown strategy discussions in coming weeks before any decision on troop levels.

Blog posts

A peek at aviation's future

Posted Thu, Jul 30, 6 a.m.

At the Oshkosh Air Show, the future was not exactly imminent, but in drones, spaceships, and scramjets you could get a picture

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The right stuff

Posted Tue, Jul 28, noon

Remembering Ed Freeman, and a certain day in Vietnam

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At the V.A. Hospital

Posted Tue, Jul 21, noon

We were your warhammers, your clear-eyed hoplites, your guardians. Were.

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Robert McNamara and the hubris of technology

Posted Mon, Jul 6, 10:52 a.m.

The architect of 'McNamara's War' is dead, his reputation only partly redeemed by his later years at the World Bank and his recanting of the way the Vietnam War was fought.

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Remembering wars through unforgettable films

Posted Sun, May 24, 9:55 p.m.

Memorial day reflections, refracted through cinema and memories of Bellingham during World War II

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Coming home to a new country

Posted Wed, Jan 28, noon

The heirs to this economic mess are students, workers and soldiers. They're ready.

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A better idea for Detroit

Posted Sat, Nov 15, 3:18 p.m. 2008

Don't bail the automakers out, and don't bankrupt them. Use the government's purchasing power to transform them to the green economy.

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The prospect of a POTUS with PTSD

Posted Mon, Oct 6, 2:02 a.m. 2008

My name is Jack, and I'm a combat veteran. ("Hi, Jack!")

Please note that being a combat vet doesn't make me more eligible than you or anyone else to run for office. It doesn't even qualify me to advise you on whom to vote for.

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I-97 is struck down; a brush with anti-semitism

Posted Fri, Sep 12, 4:11 a.m. 2008

Wednesday, Sept. 10, was "a sad day for grassroots democracy in Seattle," according to Seattle Divest from War and Occupation (SDWO). The group — sponsors of Initiative 97, which would have directed the Seattle City Employees' Retirement System (SCERS) to divest "from stocks and bonds funding war and occupation in the Middle East" — was referring to King County Superior Court Judge Steven Gonzalez's decision that I-97 was unenforceable in that it exceeded legislative authority by making specific investment directions to SCERS, which is bound by the prudent-person rule.

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When Burner was Palin

Posted Wed, Sep 10, 3 p.m. 2008

Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin isn't the only one suggesting that her civilian service gives her a kind of military cred. And I'm not talking about Hillary Clinton's imaginary ducking of sniper fire with Sinbad on the tarmac in Bosnia. Democratic Congressional candidate Darcy Burner has also taken flak for showing photos of herself as a teenage cadet in the Civil Air Patrol.

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