Commentary by Michael Barone

NSA Surveillance, If Ungentlemanly, Is Not Illegal By Michael Barone

"Gentlemen do not read each other's mail." That's what Secretary of State Henry Stimson said to explain why he shut down the government's cryptanalysis operations in 1929.    

America Will Pay a Price for President Obama's Inaction in Syria By Michael Barone

Barack Obama's appointments of Susan Rice as national security adviser and Samantha Power as ambassador to the United Nations have naturally triggered speculation about changes in foreign policy.  

With Lautenberg Gone, WW II Vets Fade From Politics By Michael Barone

Over the last seven decades, 115 veterans of World War II have served in the United States Senate. This week, the last of them, Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, died.    

Tragedy of Detroit Shows 'Big Unit America' Is out of Gas By Michael Barone

Detroit, once one of the nation's most vibrant cities, faces imminent bankruptcy. That's the headline from the report last month of emergency fiscal manager Kevyn Orr, issued 45 days after he was appointed this spring by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder to take over the city's government.

Unintended Consequences Often Bedevil Reformers By Michael Barone

A thoughtful reformer targets the traditional rules of an aging institution that has retarded progress in the past. Time to modernize those rules, the reformer says, and prevent obstruction in the future.

Obama Uses 1917 Espionage Act to Go After Reporters By Michael Barone

There is one problem with the entirely justified if self-interested media squawking about the Justice Department snooping into the phone records of multiple Associated Press reporters and Fox News's James Rosen.   

Low-skilled Workers Get Raw Deal Under Obamacare By Michael Barone

Would you like to have a "skinny" health insurance policy? Probably not. But if you're employed by a large company, you may get one, thanks to Obamacare.

IRS and AP Scandals Cast a Big Chill on Free Speech By Michael Barone

Chilling effect. That's the term lawyers and judges use to describe the result of government actions that deter people from exercising their right of free speech.

Benghazi and IRS Targeting: Politics by Other Means By Michael Barone

What do the Benghazi cover-up and the IRS scandal have in common? They were both about winning elections, under false pretenses.   

Did Clinton and Obama Believe Their Benghazi Baloney? By Michael Barone

What were Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton thinking? Why did they keep pitching the line that the 9/11/12 Benghazi attack that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans started as a spontaneous protest against an anti-Muslim video?    

College Bubble Bursts After Decades of Extravagance by Michael Barone

Markets work. But sometimes they take time.
That's the uncomfortable lesson that proprietors of America's colleges and universities are learning.

Fewer Border Crossings, E-Verify System Justify Bill By Michael Barone

Many loud voices in the debate over immigration have been insisting that effective border enforcement must precede any steps that legalize the status of current illegal immigrants.  

Obama's Blink on Syria Could Bring Peril to Allies By Michael Barone

"We're eyeball to eyeball, and I think the other fellow just blinked," Secretary of State Dean Rusk famously said during the Cuban missile crisis.   

Benghazi Report Revives Troubling Questions By Michael Barone

"What difference, at this point, does it make?"   

As Bush Stays Silent, His Reputation Steadily Gains By Michael Barone

Tomorrow, the George W. Bush Presidential Center will be dedicated at Southern Methodist University in Texas. It's a good time to look back on the performance of the 43rd president, who has been almost entirely missing from the public stage these past four years.    

At Every Turn, Things Were Spinning out of Control By Michael Barone

Chaos. Things seemed to be spinning out of control on many fronts this week.    

Not Such a Hot Idea: Liberal and Conservative Parties By Michael Barone

"More tears are shed over answered prayers," the 16th century nun St. Teresa of Avila is supposed to have said, "than over unanswered ones."    

Extra Care Required in Crafting Immigration Reform By Michael Barone

"Without legislative language," Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy declared in a statement March 20, "there is nothing for the Judiciary Committee to consider this week at our markup."  

Thatcher Insisted on Facing Hard, Uncomfortable Truths By Michael Barone

"Divisive." That's a word that appeared, often prominently, in many news stories reporting the death of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

One senses the writers' disapproval. You're not likely to find "divisive" in stories reporting the deaths of liberal leaders, although every electoral politician divides voters.

"Divisive" here refers to something specific. It was Margaret Thatcher's special genius that she systematically rejected the conventional wisdom, almost always well-intentioned, of the political establishment.

Instead, she insisted on hard, uncomfortable truths.

British Conservatives like Harold Macmillan accepted the tyranny of trade unionism because they had guilty memories of the slaughter of the working-class men who served under them in the trenches in World War I.

Thatcher, who as an adolescent before World War II saved money to pay for a Jewish girl to escape from Austria to England, felt no such guilt.

Mexico Becomes a Stable, Politically Diverse Neighbor By Michael Barone

We Americans are lucky, though we seldom reflect on it, that we have good neighbors.

In East Asia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines face challenges from China over islands they have long claimed in the East China Sea.

In Europe, Germany and other prosperous nations face demands for subsidies from debt-ridden nations to avoid the collapse of the Euro.

When Southern Europeans look across the Mediterranean, they see Muslim nations facing post-Arab spring upheaval and disorder.