Monthly Archives: December 2016

New Year’s Resolutions

BY MICHAEL S. JOHNSON | DEC 30 2016

The American media did not have a good year. Their favorability ratings remained in the cellar, on a par with politicians and Congress. Not so good, and, worse yet, they may have actually contributed to the election of their evil nemesis, Donald Trump.

Well, there’s nothing like reflection and reconciliation to make things better.

That may have been the spirit that prompted columnist Jennifer Rubin to offer her media colleagues resolutions to ponder over champagne and caviar this New Year’s Eve (media did not have a bad year financially; they made a bundle on their campaign coverage). Continue reading

Mark Halperin was Right

BY RICH GALEN
DEC 29, 2016 | Reprinted from Mullings.com

Three weeks from tomorrow – the Trump era will begin. That means the Obama era will come to an end.

At this time one year ago, Barak Obama’s approval rating was four percentage points underwater, 46-50 according to the Gallup Tracking Poll. Then, the calendar clicked over into the Presidential year, the spotlight turned to Trump, Clinton, Cruz, Rubio, Sanders, et. al. and Obama’s approval ratings rose in the shadow thus created.

Today, a year later, President Obama’s approval record stands at 56-40 a swing of 20 percentage points. Continue reading

Christmas 2016

BY RICH GALEN
DEC 26, 2016 | Reprinted from Mullings.com

This is an edited version of the Mullings column of Christmas 2003 which was written from Tikrit and Baghdad, Iraq. At the time, according to the Congressional Research Service, there were 130,600 U.S. troops in Iraq.

This Christmas, while most of them are home, the sound of sabers rattling echoes again throughout the land.

As we close 2016, the Department of Defense estimates there are “roughly 220,000 American service members serving overseas this holiday season. They operate in more than 100 countries, on every continent.” There are also tens of thousands of American civilians stationed around the globe. They won’t be home for Christmas this week, either. Let’s not forget they are all still out there. Continue reading

Among Globe’s Greatest Failures

BY MICHAEL S. JOHNSON | DEC 20, 2016

“My belief is that when the military is used as the sole instrument of power, that never has a good outcome. If there’s no one to take ownership and develop that failed state, human suffering can be even worse than that created by the conflict itself. “
— Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, retired Army General Martin Dempsey

For decades the sole instrument of power in Syria has been the military, an instrument of death and destruction wielded by the dictatorial family of Assad, a father and son who have carried out unimaginable atrocities against their own people illustrating the unlimited potential of man’s inhumanity to man. Continue reading

Drain the Swamp, It Fills Back Up Again

BY STEVE BELL  |  DEC 15, 2016

The legendary Speaker of House, Sam Rayburn of East Texas, once said, “If you can’t run an election against big banks and big oil, it must not be America.”

A variation of that theme animated the successful campaign of President-elect Donald Trump—another incarnation of long-running political theater starring Andrew Jackson, William Jennings Bryant, and Huey Long. And the billionaire, Ivy League-educated, casino maestro played his role well.

He would lead the rebels against the swamp. Continue reading

Fix Washington? Here’s the Bill.

BY BETSY WRIGHT HAWKINGS
DEC 14, 2016 | Reprinted from Real Clear Policy

When we at the Democracy Fund Voice set out to identify the roots of congressional dysfunction through our systems mapping project, we didn’t worry too much about making our case. Fewer than 2 percent of the bills originating in the House of Representatives become law; nearly two-thirds of respondents to a recent survey of Washington-based congressional staff reported that they were looking for new employment; and fewer than 10 percent of Americans recently polled by Gallup say they have a great deal of trust in Congress. Clearly, Congress needs help. The question is what to do about it.  Continue reading