Word: month
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Well, we survived August, which is good news. It was not a month that will be recorded in the Enlightened Discourse Hall of Fame. In fact, it was a national embarrassment - not just the steady stream of misinformation about the nature of President Obama's health-care proposals, but the racism - both overt and opaque - the death threats, the imprecations (calling someone a Nazi is evidence of the evil of banality), the idiots bearing assault rifles at presidential events. As the lunatics took over the asylum, the President's poll ratings dropped, and the chances for a truly bipartisan health...
...great sweep of history, this presidency has barely begun. The mistakes Obama has made are rookie mistakes that can be corrected. And the general tendency of his Administration - toward civility, as opposed to the ugliness we've seen in the past month - is the right one. But he can't allow his desire for civility to neuter the requirements of leadership. He has to lead, clearly and decisively, starting right...
...Then again, Grassley, who will be 76 this month, has always been a free spirit. He still lives in the Butler County precinct where he was born, farming 710 acres of corn and soybeans with his son and making a point of holding at least one meeting a year in each of the state's 99 counties. Ever thrifty, he coasts his 13-year-old Lincoln (bought used, of course) down the ramp to his spot in the Hart Senate Office Building garage to save on gas. As a Senator, he bucked President Bush to work with Baucus and House...
...pacifist resistance against the colonial British inspired independence hero Aung San, father of Suu Kyi. In 2002, this was one of the few places the Nobel Peace Prize winner visited between stints of house arrest, and she called for political change from its lawn. Then, two years ago this month, Shwe Zedi was among the first places in Burma to organize pro-democracy rallies, a doomed effort that ended in the junta gunning down unarmed demonstrators. "At first, I was scared to join the protests," recalls one teenaged monk. "But I had faith that even if it failed...
...regime promises another nationwide ballot, but few expect clean elections. Particularly concerned are members of Burma's 100-plus ethnic minorities, who fear that their already limited autonomy will be erased by the polls. Fighting between the state army and a hill tribe in northern Burma erupted last month, and the monks of Sittwe themselves are from the Arakan minority that chafes against ethnic Burmese rule...