Mike Pilewski writes about life, politics and culture in the United States
It seemed like one of those news stories that would come and go quickly — but the media and the politicians aren’t letting it die. Two weeks ago, the city of New York agreed to let a private organization build a $100 million mosque and Islamic community center in Manhattan. This in itself is nothing unusual. People from 190 countries … >>
Here’s a little history quiz for you. Which war was the longest in American history? If you answered “Vietnam,” you’d have been right until about three weeks ago. US combat there officially lasted eight years and eight months. But this June, it was overtaken by Afghanistan, where fighting has gone on uninterrupted since October 2001. The arrival of this fact … >>
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 … >>
Some of my e-mail correspondents in the US forward me nutty chain letters from time to time. Beneath several layers of e-mail addresses is an anonymous rant that someone either made up or copied from a website somewhere without attribution. Topics range from Barack Obama’s secret Muslim origins and plans to ruin America, to how all government is unproductive and … >>
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 … >>
Last week, this column mentioned the deep mistrust many Americans have of their government. This week, the government is doing its best to convince them that it’s working for the public good. It’s hired Olympic skier Ryan St. Onge, current Miss America Caressa Cameron, and former teen star Donny Osmond to do testimonials on television and on YouTube. It’s placed … >>
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 … >>
Well, the people have spoken. Barack Obama had wanted to wait another week to give his State of the Union speech, but they wouldn’t let him. It would have delayed the season premiere of Lost. So he gave it last night instead, while the reruns were still on. For the first half hour or so, I even thought Obama’s speech … >>
It was the right thing to do: when the earthquake hit Haiti last week, Barack Obama promptly sent over $100 million in aid. It was easy to do, because the money was already available. The US had given Haiti three times that amount last year, out of a sense of charity. Haiti is like that family member that no one … >>