PostPartisan - Quick takes by The Post's opinion writers - January 31, 2010

Tom Tancredo and the right-wing mind

Tom Tancredo used to be my congressman. The large geographic swath outside of Denver that he represented included ranchers and suburban families. And though once upon a time Tancredo had a wider array of issue interests, his brain gradually...

By Kevin Huffman | February 6, 2010; 11:46 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (112)
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When will Washington listen to Ed Rendell?

In the old days, when we listened to music on vinyl discs, sometimes the needle would get stuck in a groove. A particular piece of music would repeat and repeat until you were forced to move the needle --...

By Jonathan Capehart | February 6, 2010; 9:59 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (9)
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Big weekend for New Orleans

New Orleans hasn't had a nail-biter of a weekend like this since Hurricane Katrina came roaring up the Gulf Coast that fateful August weekend in 2005. Today, voters in the Crescent City will go to the polls in a...

By Jonathan Capehart | February 6, 2010; 7:00 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (4)
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Shelby to the U.S.: hold everything!

Alabama Republican Sen. Richard Shelby has found a way to resurrect New Gingrich’s 1995 attempt to close down the federal government. He has placed a hold on all 70 pending nominations that President Obama has sent up to the...

By Harold Meyerson | February 5, 2010; 4:50 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (96)
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Jenny Sanford, no longer a role model

Jenny Sanford was my role model, until I read her book. Well, not role model, exactly, but improbable heroine. When her cheating, blubbering, disappearing-with-his-soul-mate husband turned up on national television to confess that he had not been hiking the...

By Ruth Marcus | February 5, 2010; 2:48 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (105)
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Obama dismisses Blanche Lincoln's plea to be more centrist

President Obama’s sharp exchange of views with House Republicans made a splash the other day -- though for civility and substance, I much preferred the excellent left-meets-right encounter between Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) and our very own wunderkind Ezra...

By Charles Lane | February 4, 2010; 1:47 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (144)
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Spain's prime minister confounded by U.S. health-care system

Is Spain’s prime minister perturbed that the U.S.-European summit he was planning for Madrid in May had to be cancelled, due to President Obama’s refusal to attend? “It’s not a problem,” Jose Luis Zapatero insisted in a meeting with...

By Jackson Diehl | February 4, 2010; 12:54 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (18)
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John McCain's errors in judgment

Ever since his shameful performance at the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on "don't ask don't tell," everyone is asking the same question: what happened to John McCain? The Arizona Republican was the guy Democrats liked because he said...

By Jonathan Capehart | February 4, 2010; 8:09 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (65)
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Obama's right to skip U.S.-EU summit

“Obama disses Europe.” That, more or less, is how Europeans have described the American president’s decision not to attend the annual U.S.-EU summit, which had been scheduled for May. Some use more polite language -- the president is variously...

By Anne Applebaum | February 3, 2010; 7:28 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (8)
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Keep 'No Child Left Behind'

The Obama administration said this week it wants sweeping changes in No Child Left Behind, President Bush’s landmark education law. Specific details are yet to come, but one thing is crystal clear: no way will the signature title, “No...

By Jo-Ann Armao | February 3, 2010; 1:41 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (10)
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Can the GOP's nominees veer back to the center?

The good news for Republicans is that in the contests for the Senate seats vacated by President Obama and Vice President Biden, the party has put up two moderate and popular candidates. In Delaware, Rep. Mike Castle, a long-time...

By E.J. Dionne | February 3, 2010; 1:30 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (14)
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Obama irresponsible on nuclear power

In his State of the Union address last week, President Obama promised to build “a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants” in America. He quickly backed that up: In his proposed budget, out this week, he asks...

By Stephen Stromberg | February 3, 2010; 1:05 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (9)
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Don't buy the administration's spin on the Christmas day bomber

Am I supposed to feel comforted by the Justice Department's claim that the would-be Christmas Day bomber is cooperating? Am I supposed to cheer now that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is allegedly gabbing like a school girl about others who...

By Eva Rodriguez | February 3, 2010; 12:03 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (135)
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Sec. Gates and Adm. Mullen show leadership on gays in the military

What happened at Tuesday's Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the military's ill-advised "don't ask don't tell" policy was nothing short of extraordinary. The policy that bans gay men and lesbians from serving openly in the military is on...

By Jonathan Capehart | February 3, 2010; 7:20 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (89)
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We are all losers this Oscar season

I confess to taking the Academy Awards pretty seriously. For the past several years, I have spent the Saturday preceding the Oscars at an all-day movie marathon of the films nominated for best picture. I also usually manage to...

By Jo-Ann Armao | February 2, 2010; 12:59 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (25)
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On debt, Canada shows us the way out

Wondering how seriously to take the Obama administration’s claims that its new $3.8 trillion budget plan represents fiscal restraint? Look northward, to Canada. Compared to the belt-tightening that government imposed on itself in recent years, Obama’s effort appears trivial...

By Charles Lane | February 2, 2010; 12:11 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (108)
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PostPartisan: January 31, 2010 - February 6, 2010