If we could write the script for the events unfolding in the Middle East, peaceful demonstrators would overwhelm the dictators, who would quickly agree to democratic transitions without bloodshed.The newly liberated countries would proclaim, with universal approval, a future of tolerance, peace and friendship at home, among people of different tribes, religions and beliefs, at home as well as abro

March 1, 2011

It is not immediately obvious, but nearly all street protests involve only a minuscule proportion of a country’s population. None of the high-profile protests in recent memory, whether in Bahrain, Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Iran or Moldova, have involved even 1 percent of the people.The 300,000 Egyptians, for instance, who descended on Tahrir Square in Cairo represent just 0.4 per cent of the country’

March 1, 2011

The response of the United States and the international community to the atrocities committed by Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi against his people has been frustratingly slow and ineffectual.While President Obama and other world leaders have dithered, the slaughter waged by Gadhafi’s mercenaries has claimed the lives of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of peaceful protesters on the streets of Tripol

Feb. 28, 2011

President Obama’s proposed federal budget is far too large.In public statements it has become obligatory to make a smoke cloud about fiscal responsibility, and Obama has done that. “Let’s invest in our people without leaving them a mountain of debt,” he said.The mountain is already there. As a percentage of the gross domestic product, the mountain of debt is now the highest since the Truman admini

Feb. 28, 2011

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is wrong. The way to fix his state’s fiscal crisis isn’t by destroying public-sector unions and the half-century tradition of collective bargaining among teachers and state employees.Walker argues that given the growing state deficit, there is no other choice than to slash the wages and benefits of public-sector workers whose compensation, he suggests, far exceeds t

Feb. 28, 2011

With a rapidity that would have been unimaginable only a month ago, oppression in the Middle East ― Tunisia, Egypt and now, hopefully, Libya ― is on the run. Whatever the short-term challenges, what emerges will probably be better than the old dictatorial regimes.That’s different than proclaiming that democracy and freedom have arrived. Creating a representative political system of self-rule in th

Feb. 28, 2011

Political fanaticism fosters moral relativism. That’s the lesson we should all learn from the gruesome case of Shawna Forde, the Arizona anti-immigrant vigilante who was recently convicted lof two counts of first-degree murder.Prosecutors argued that Forde and two accomplices killed 29-year-old Raul Junior Flores and his 9-year-old daughter, Brisenia, in a botched robbery attempt meant to raise mo

Feb. 27, 2011

Marijuana should be legalized, regulated and taxed. The push to repeal federal prohibition should come from the states, and it should begin with the state of Washington.In 1998, Washington was one of the earliest to vote for medical marijuana. It was a leap of faith, and the right decision. In 2003, Seattle was one of the first places in America to vote to make simple marijuana possession the lowe

Feb. 27, 2011

Largely hidden in its attack on the federal budget, the House of Representatives has approved a key Republican campaign promise to big business: Protecting it from what the new majority argues are the handcuffs of environmental safeguards. The Republicans would cuff the Environmental Protection Agency instead.If they prevail in the Senate and overcome a White House veto, they would hobble the Clea

Feb. 27, 2011

It comes with a nice office and a grand title. You would probably have a pretty generous expense account. And there may well be a lucrative consulting gig with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. when it is all over.Even so, you would have to be bordering on insanity to accept the role of European Central Bank president when Jean-Claude Trichet steps down in October this year.It’s the job from hell. The euro

Feb. 27, 2011

Target has adopted new guidelines for donations to trade associations that prohibit the use of the company’s contributions in political campaigns. The decision is a victory for gay rights activists, who objected to the retailer’s donation to a group that supported a candidate opposed to same-sex marriage. But Target’s turnaround has a wider importance. It shows that consumers and activists can hol

Feb. 25, 2011

The nonpartisan Pew Research Center for the People & the Press has released a fascinating poll that finds that people on the West Coast are far more likely to regard their states’ budget crises as “very serious” and are increasingly open to solving them through a combination of spending cuts and tax increases.Those findings suggest that circumstances and popular attitudes may be turning in favor o

Feb. 25, 2011

A part from agreeing on a set of indicators to measure economic imbalances, the Group of 20 emerging and developed economies that met in Paris last week shared the observation that rising prices of primary industry commodities including food are becoming a risk factor for the global economy.Finance ministers and central bankers from the G20 economies agreed to analyze the causes of excessive price

Feb. 25, 2011