Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials -- January 28, 2014

President Barack Obama works on his State of the Union address with Director of Speechwriting Cody Keenan in the Oval Office, Jan. 22, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

How Obama Prepares For The Grueling State Of The Union -- Jon Favreau, Daily Beast

The president puts in back-to-back 2 a.m. nights rewriting his speech to make it “sing” and hopefully sway Congress. A former speechwriter shares what it’s like inside the White House.

There are plenty of reasons to think that the State of the Union address is a huge waste of everyone’s time.

For one thing, it’s really long. Imagine if a friend asked you to sit quietly for nearly an hour while he spoke with great detail and flourish about his many plans for the year ahead. Probably not, right? This is a speech that doesn’t seem like the best fit for a public whose attention span are 140 characters and pictures that disappear in ten seconds.

Read more ....

Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials

State of the Union speech: what to expect on the issues -- Linda Feldmann, Christian Science Monitor

Challenger, Reagan and a Powerful, Unplanned Speech -- Carl M. Cannon, Real Clear World

Insight: At Syrian peace table, embittered enemies face off -- Dominic Evans and Khaled Yacoub Oweis, Reuters

America Is Winning the Syrian Civil War -- Zachary Keck, National Interest

Iran After Khamenei -- Ramin Parham & Saeed Ghasseminejad, Real Clear World/Jerusalem Post

Iraq in Crisis -- Anthony H. Cordesman and Sam Khazai, CSIS

Will the Next World War Start in the Middle East? -- Isaac Chotiner, New Republic

In Afghanistan, a war that has lost its purpose -- Richard Cohen, Washington Post

Egypt’s al-Sisi: The Field Marshal Who Could Be Pharaoh -- Karl Vick, Time

Egypt's military backs strongman for presidency: Back to the future? -- UPI

The Muslim Brotherhood Will Fight On -- Eric Trager, New York Times

Why Nigeria Is About to Become Africa's Biggest Economy -- Erin Conway-Smith, Real Clear World/Global Post

The Failing Ukrainian State -- Vladimir Rzyhkov, The Moscow Times

Will Ukraine Be the Next Yugoslavia? -- Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg

Putin's Criminal Olympics -- Michael Weiss, Daily Beast

Knights Templar cartel beware? Mexico strikes deal with vigilantes. -- David Agren, Christian Science Monitor

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