By Adam J. Szubin Special To The Washington Post As one of the architects of a 10-year sanctions campaign against Iran under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and the Treasury Department official charged with delivering sanctions relief pursuant to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), I find the debate over the 2015 […]
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Russia looks to gain back land, power
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s personally expressed dismay at the collapse of the Soviet Union connects directly to two current events: Russia’s war of conquest in Ukraine and the Russian Army’s large-scale war games in western Russia and Belarus. By the way, the Russian military calls its war game enemy “The Western Coalition.” The name deliberately […]
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Colleges come to their senses the hard way
Harvard University came under justified attack when it named Chelsea Manning a visiting fellow. Critics asked how Harvard could honor a former U.S. Army private convicted of leaking 750,000 classified or sensitive documents. The university rescinded the invitation, and Manning hit back, tweeting, “Honored to be 1st disinvited trans woman visiting Harvard fellow.” That went […]
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Public education deserves failing grade
At a National Archives ceremony last Friday in Washington, D.C., 30 immigrants became naturalized U.S. citizens. In a video, President Trump encouraged them to embrace the “full rights, and the sacred duties, that come with American citizenship.” It was a noble sentiment that once resonated with Americans who believed passing along their history to a […]
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Sean Spicer at the Emmys no laughing matter
“Was nothing real?” — Jim Carrey in “The Truman Show” Funny covers a multitude of sins. That has long been my go-to explanation of a dynamic unique to comedy. Meaning the fact that you are allowed to be crude and shocking, to transgress all kinds of isms, all bounds of propriety, if you can get […]
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Middle-class comeback inspires hope
WASHINGTON — The middle class is back — or so it seems. That’s the message from the Census Bureau’s latest report on “Income and Poverty in the United States.” The news is mostly good. The income of the median household (the one exactly in the middle) rose to a record $59,039; the two-year increase was […]
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The 'wall' — to build or not to build, that is the question
Build that wall! Eventually. Or at least patch up some existing fencing. If Chuck and Nancy will agree. Donald Trump’s signature pledge to build a border wall, aka The Wall, is diminishing almost by the hour. No battle plan survives contact with the enemy, said Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, the 19th-century German field marshal. […]
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Is Kim Jong Un crazy and unpredictable, or smart and strategic?
LONDON — I am sometimes asked what world figure I would most want to interview. For me, the answer is obvious: Kim Jong Un. The general impression around the globe continues to be that the North Korean leader is crazy, provocative and unpredictable, but I think that he might well be strategic, smart and utterly […]
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Sometimes the truth gets you in trouble
What did Jemele Hill get wrong? Let’s consider the evidence. He was sued for systematically refusing to rent to African Americans and settled out of court. He demanded the death penalty for five black and Hispanic kids charged in the notorious Central Park jogger rape case — and refuses to recant to this day, though […]
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Consolidating city governments benefits L-A taxpayers
Question 1 on the November ballot in Lewiston and Auburn gives voters the power to merge their two city governments into one consolidated city government. They should seize this opportunity. Proponents point out that consolidation will create efficiencies that save money and improve city services. Research conducted by independent firms with no skin in the […]