Barack Obama
Sequester: The Tragic Folly of President Obama’s Tried-and-Failed Negotiating Strategy, Pt. 1
March 25, 2013 | Eric ShapiroOn the heels of an inauguration speech widely celebrated by liberals and progressives, President Obama almost immediately fell back into some of the same patterns that hampered his first term agenda. Despite a more aggressive posture, a candidate who talked a good game about changing the country proved reluctant to alter his own governing style to meet the challenge.
With Second Inaugural, President Obama Lays Out Broad Vision for Progressive Change in Second Term
January 22, 2013 | Eric ShapiroObama’s second inaugural address was, in turns, more modest and bolder than his first. On the one hand, gone were the calls for bipartisanship and, by implication, the idea that an opposition party dedicated solely to thwarting his aims can be counted on as a viable negotiating partner. Changing the political culture in Washington, it seems, is not within the power of the President. John F. Harris and Jonathan Martin of Politico point out that “Obama made no mention of transforming the political and governing process in his speech.”
Flatiron Hot! Pundit: The Case for Judicial Restraint on Gay Marriage
December 11, 2012 | Eric ShapiroProponents of marriage equality were understandably jubilant when the Supreme Court announced that it would rule on the legitimacy of same-sex nuptials. The willingness of the highest court in the land to take on gay marriage represents a victory for activists who have fought for years to acquire a right that all people should have: to enter into a culturally and legally-vital contract with a partner of their choice. Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) are unconstitutional and immoral, and liberals are rightfully calling for the Supreme Court to recognize them as such.