Brandeis University's Community Newspaper — Waltham, Mass.
The Russian and Chinese governments probably didn’t plan to do the United States a huge favor last week that would enable the country to quickly improve its strategic posture. But, whether they intended it or not, they did. As in the way of international politics, of course, they expressed their goodwill in a manner more […]
Five and a half years ago, a then little-known state senator from Illinois named Barack Obama declared at the 2004 Democratic National Convention that, “There is no red America, there is no blue America—there is only the United States of America.” Despite his soaring rhetoric, Obama, after one year into his presidency, has failed to […]
President Obama gave his State of the Union address Wednesday night. If you didn’t know that, you might as well stop reading and go back to the rock under which you’ve been living. I hope it didn’t lose too much value in the housing collapse. Not that you would know about that either. Much has […]
President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address on Wednesday did not connect means and ends. The speech pointed to a few obvious “big and difficult challenges: ”a sluggish economy generating high unemployment, an inefficient health care system that leaves some uninsured, and a gaping annual budget deficit. Solving these problems will likely cause Americans […]
The president of Venezuela, Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías, has played his cards well for the past 11 years. He knows that Venezuelans tend to forget history quite fast, and even faster once the government does a “revolutionary project” here and there. The devaluation of the Bolívar (Venezuela’s currency) on Jan. 8 – which will be […]
In response to inflation and the economic ills of the time, Ronald Reagan declared, in his first inaugural address, that “government is the problem…not the solution.” Twenty-eight years later, many people considered the election of Barack Obama a repudiation of this core tenet of modern conservative dogma. Unfortunately, a year into his presidency, with much […]
Editor’s Note: The following piece is factually embellished and contains multiple incidents that did not actually occur. “Hurry up, Bret,” I said. I was getting impatient. “Hold your horses,” he replied, carefully studying the shot glass in his hand. “I’ve got work to do later, and I can’t go overboard.” “F*ck you and your f*cking […]
At the time of publication, I have been assaulted with news of epic proportions and far-reaching political ramifications. It was predicted beforehand, though at one time unthinkable, and the conclusion alters decades of elections norm. And no, it’s not that Scott Brown beat Martha Coakley. (Maybe we’ll have an equally smart and progressive candidate with […]
One does not need to be at Brandeis very long to feel the pervasive influence of some of the great thinkers who have come to and from our school. From the artistic festival dedicated to Leonard Bernstein to the semi-frequent visits from Thomas Friedman, the university works hard weaving its relatively short but highly illustrious […]
SENATE PRESIDENT: The Chair recognizes Senator Smith! SENATOR SMITH: Thank you sir. Well, I guess the gentlemen are in a pretty tall hurry to get me out of here. The way the evidence has piled against me, I can’t say I blame them much. And I’m quite willing to go, sir, when they vote it […]
