KPCC: Opinion News

What's behind Lou Dobbs' leaving CNN? [Analysis]

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:35:40 -0800

The CNN anchor quit Wednesday after months of tensions with executives, saying he would seek new ways to advocate his opinions. Dobbs evolved as a hard-liner on illegal immigration after the Sept. 11 attacks. His often inflammatory views conflicted with corporate strategy.

How would Abbas' resignation affect peace process? [Analysis]

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:03:56 -0800

The Israeli-Palestinian standoff shows no sign of getting better, and it may soon be getting worse. NPR Senior News Analyst Dan Schorr says that if moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas follows through on his threat to step down, that could lead to the collapse of the Palestinian Authority.

The bombastic fog engulfs Fort Hood [Opinion]

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 12:02:00 -0800

So many voices have already figured out what caused an Army major to open fire on his fellow soldiers, despite the absence of key facts.

On meetings: a note on dreaded corporate etiquette [Opinion]

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:32:25 -0800

The business meeting, often composed of a stale snack, far-from-witty banter and inane blathering, is a test in unspoken social tact. Commentator Alain de Botton attempts to explain what true purpose business meetings serve.

In Afghan war, there's a lot to dither about [News Analysis]

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:36:15 -0800

President Obama is wrestling with an agonizing decision on how to "Afghanize" the conflict, to borrow phrasing from the Vietnam days. As U.S. casualties mount, Obama faces the ultimate question: Get more involved at the risk of losing support from an increasingly disheartened American public, or get less involved and risk facing the blame for letting Afghanistan go down the drain?

Awakening ghosts in an India long gone [Commentary]

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:45:31 -0800

Every evening, commentator Sandip Roy carefully flicks on the lights in his home. Now rounding that spooky time of year, Roy details his memories of a lush, sensuous India haunted by nighttime spirits of the past.

Swine flu treatment: ginger ale and 3 A.M. popsicles [Commentary]

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 13:59:18 -0800

Philo T. Farnsworth invented television in 1927. He must have had two children at home with the flu. There is no greater spur to ingenuity than the desperation of parents who need to distract and amuse sneezing, squirming children.

A thin line between a hoax and a lie [News Analysis]

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:29:42 -0800

As hoaxes go, the balloon boy episode was amazingly successful. The police were less than enchanted at having been made party to the hoax. NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says these days there's a fine line between hoax and just plain lying.

Oh say can you see, it ain't about me [Opinion]

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:33:04 -0800

Commentator Bill Harley got a call from the offices of the local minor league team, asking if he wanted to sing the national anthem at a ball game. "Sure," he said, with barely a thought. Then, as the day approached, a whole different set of thoughts and feelings announced themselves.

Balloon Boy's transfixing effect on the media [Commentary]

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:12:21 -0800

The saga of "Balloon Boy" (or Falcon Heene, as he's known to his new friends at the Larimer Co., Colo., sheriff's office) proved irresistible to the media last Thursday — especially the 24-hour cable news channels, which went into commercial-free crisis mode for more than an hour.

Obama Nobel not the sole symbolic award [Opinion]

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:46:52 -0800

When President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, it was because he came to symbolize for the Norwegian award committee a vision of a better world. Some Americans have not been willing to accept symbolism for accomplishment, but much of what passes for accomplishment in this world is symbolic.

A guilty venture Into baseball 'Fantasyland'

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:01:20 -0800

In bed, when my eyes begin to droop over a novel or nonfiction narrative, I reach for a book I know will give me private pleasure. The cover is soft, well-thumbed and beckons readers like me, called "fantasy players." My pulse races as I dive in and read: "Rocky Cherry, a hard thrower with control issues, was taken from Baltimore in the Rule 5 draft by the Mets."

Obama faces tough decision on Afghanistan [Analysis]

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:22:41 -0800

President Obama's problem, as one observer put it, is that he has to commit money and manpower he doesn't have to prop up an Afghan leader he doesn't believe in, in pursuit of a goal he hasn't defined. Sooner or later, the White House will have to produce some objectives and some numbers. Then the public debate starts — a debate that may be the most daunting test of Obama's presidency so far.

Why Chicago failed to win the Olympics

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 09:56:46 -0800

The Windy City's bid for the 2016 Summer Games was completely solid. But Chicago's talent at politics was offset by new rules meant to protect the International Olympic Committee's voters from the sort of influence peddling that might have worked in the past.

A Soviet strategy for Afghanistan? [Analysis]

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:49:05 -0800

The Obama administration should shape its Afghan policy around the lessons learned from Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's policy in Afghanistan before the Soviet Union's collapse, New Yorker writer Steve Coll says. Coll says Gorbachev pursued a political and diplomatic solution in Afghanistan supported by military means.

Troops in Afghanistan keep nightmare at bay [Commentary]

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 10:33:08 -0800

It was the crime of al-Qaida terrorists, whom the Taliban let use Afghanistan, that brought the U.S. and NATO there. But even if al-Qaida now hides in the hills of Pakistan, host Scott Simon says it would seem another crime to let such murderers take power again.

Growing up the iPod way [Commentary]

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:29:30 -0800

When commentator Andrei Codrescu's iPod died, he borrowed his wife's. But each of the songs on his iPod came with a memory. When he put his wife's music in his ears, he experienced a strange sensation: He started to remember her life.

Why Chicago deserves the 2016 Olympics [Opinion]

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 09:57:59 -0800

The Summer Olympics would bring the world to competing cities like Rio, Tokyo and Madrid for a few weeks. But Chicago reflects the world year round.

How a professor taught me to consult my stomach [Commentary]

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:27:51 -0800

Fred Stocking, an English professor at Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., left an indelible impression on NPR's Barbara Bradley Hagerty. Stocking, who died two months ago at 94, said three simple words that have influenced her for decades.

Health care should focus on big picture [Analysis]

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:06:02 -0800

Daniel Schorr says that U.S. lawmakers should stop worrying about the scattering of illegal immigrants who may get unauthorized health care treatment and think of the millions who can't afford to get authorized treatment.