Eugene Robinson's Blog, page 105

Eugene Robinson: Republicans are stubbornly blocking the road on climate

We now know that 2014 was the hottest year in recorded history. We also know that President Obama can expect little help from Republicans in Congress — some of them cynical, others clueless — in facing the most daunting environmental challenge of our time.Read full article >>

Eugene Robinson: MLK’s prophetic call for economic justice

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s economic message was fiery and radical. To our society’s great shame, it has also proved timeless.As we celebrate King’s great achievement and sacrifice, it is wrong to round off the sharp edges of his legacy. He saw inequality as a fundamental and tragic flaw in this society, and he made clear in the weeks leading up to his assassination that economic issues were becoming the central focus of his advocacy. Read full article >>

Eugene Robinson: The 2016 campaign is returning to the familiar

Run, Mitt, run! You too, Jeb, and please bring along the whole roadshow of perennial Republican also-rans. Across the aisle: Go for it, Hillary! What all of you see so clearly is that the nation desperately wants to be led forward into the past, or back to the future, or something.Read full article >>

Journalists must stand firm

Je suis Charlie Hebdo. If “freedom of expression” is to be more than an empty slogan, Wednesday’s terrorist attack in Paris cannot be allowed to have the chilling effect its murderous perpetrators intended.Read full article >>

Time for the GOP to pitch in

With Republican majorities in both houses, the new Congress should begin by focusing on traditional GOP priorities: improving the nation’s sagging infrastructure, reforming an unwieldy tax code and finding ways to boost middle-class opportunity.Read full article >>

The GOP has a bad habit of appealing to avowed racists

Here’s some advice for House Majority Whip Steve Scalise that also applies to the Republican Party in general: If you don’t want to be associated in any way with white supremacists and neo-Nazis, then stay away from them.Read full article >>

Economic facts get in the way

Uh-oh. Now that the economy is doing well, what are Republicans — especially those running for president — going to complain about? And what are Democrats willing to celebrate?Last week’s announcement that the economy grew at a rate of 5 percent in the third quarter of this year — following 4.6 percent second-quarter growth — was the clearest and least debatable indication to date that sustained recovery is no longer a promise, it’s a fact.Read full article >>

Five myths about 2014

Washington Post writers explode the biggest misconceptions about the year that was. From the Middle East to the streets of Ferguson, Mo., from your privacy settings to the gridiron, nothing was what it seemed. Not even your paycheck. Read full article >>

Protesters aren’t to blame for NYPD officers’ execution

It is absurd to have to say this, but New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, activist Al Sharpton and President Obama are in no way responsible for the coldblooded assassination of two police officers in Brooklyn on Saturday. Nor do the tens of thousands of Americans who have demonstrated against police brutality in recent weeks bear any measure of blame.Read full article >>

A win for Cuba’s people

President Obama’s historic opening to Cuba is long overdue — and has a chance of hastening the Castro dictatorship’s demise. Critics of the accord should explain why they believe a policy that has failed miserably for half a century could ever work.Read full article >>