Mike Pilewski writes about life, politics and culture in the United States
So far, Barack Obama has been one of our best Republican presidents — which is fine, except that he claims to be a Democrat. Despite his promise of “change”, some things haven’t changed at all since the days of George W. Bush. We’ve seen unrepentant bankers get big bonuses, government advisers be recruited from Wall Street and corporations, and nearly … >>
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Barack Obama is making a mistake. He has this strange tendency to get involved in fights that don’t concern him. This started when Henry Louis Gates, Jr., was arrested (leading to Obama’s famous “beer summit”). Then Obama stepped too far into the health-care debate (leading some to believe he was dictating … >>
As the results of Tuesday’s Congressional election came in, it was clear: the Republicans had gained control of the House of Representatives, while the Democrats had lost seats but kept control of the Senate. Representative John Boehner, a Republican from Ohio, expected to be named House Majority Leader, cried tears of joy. Senator Harry Reid, the Democrat from Nevada, said … >>
Two countries. Two governments. Both unpopular. And one of them will have a test to meet in less than two weeks’ time. On Tuesday, November 2, Americans will elect all 435 members of the House of Representatives and one third of the 100-member Senate. It is widely believed that the Democrats will lose some or all of the substantial majority … >>
It was my first real encounter with the Chinese. Sure, I’d known a few Chinese people; I’d learned some Chinese history in college; I’d read a lot about China in the news; and Chinese food had always been my favorite. But it was a different experience altogether to go to the Chinese embassy with my visa application in hand — … >>
Earlier this month, a news headline caught my eye: Kim Yong-il had stepped down! Finally, the winds of change had reached the distant shores of North Korea. Finally, its self-imposed isolation might end. Finally, there was a chance that the last relics of the Cold War would be swept away. Only it turned out that the story was about Kim … >>
The year was 2004. The chance of America finding an easy way out of Afghanistan and Iraq was fading as fast as George W. Bush‘s popularity. The Democrats thought they could easily kick him out of office. So why didn’t they? Well, for one thing, the Democratic candidate, John Kerry, wasn’t as inspiring as he could have been. There were … >>
It’s been said that the American media don’t often cover politics in other countries. That’s not much of an exaggeration. Medium-sized newspapers often have only one page of international stories, on page 4 or page 6 at best. TV news focuses on those countries with an immediate and obvious relation to the US — NATO partners, China, Afghanistan, and so … >>
Three weeks ago, this column expressed the opinion that Barack Obama was wasting his time trying to get Republican support for his health-care reform bill. And, lo, in the historic vote held close to midnight on Sunday, not a single Republican voted for it. All Obama needed to do was concentrate on appeasing conservative Democrats — but even that was … >>
You’ve read it here first: Barack Obama is nuts. My diagnosis is based on the popular American saying: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results.” In the past 13 months, Obama has sat down several times with the Republican opposition to try to get some agreement on matters of national importance. He’s visited Republican … >>