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Eugene Robinson

Stories by Eugene

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ROBINSON: Guns and responsibility

WASHINGTON — We may not be sure that the bloodbath in Tucson had anything to do with politics, but we know it had everything to do with our nation’s insane refusal to impose reasonable controls on guns.

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ROBINSON: In search of justice, not convictions

Race still matters in America and justice is not completely blind. Anyone who believes otherwise should examine the case of Cornelius Dupree Jr., who was ruled innocent Tuesday after spending 30 years in prison — almost his entire adult life — for a brutal carjacking and rape that he did not commit.

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ROBINSON: Republicans must tip-toe through health care repeal

If the incoming Republican leadership in the House of Representatives is serious about trying to repeal health care reform, there’s only one appropriate Democratic response: “Make my day.”

ROBINSON: Politicians stalked by snow storms

If you’re a politician, beware of snow. It can bury a career.

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ROBINSON: Reality check for GOP

WASHINGTON — It’s been not quite two months’ time since Republicans won a sweeping midterm victory, and already they seem divided, embattled and — not to mince words — freaked out. For good reason, I might add.

ROBINSON: Obama proves he can still do hope, change

President Barack Obama must be tempted to respond to his progressive critics with a quote from the old-school rapper Kool Moe Dee: “How ya like me now?”

ROBINSON: WikiLeaks fight turning into assault on First Amendment

The most important legacy of the WikiLeaks affair will almost surely be the rapidly escalating cyberwar that the group’s renegade disclosures have sparked. If you think you’re unaffected by unseen “battles” fought with keystrokes instead of bullets, you’re wrong.

ROBINSON: One-man fire brigade

Ben Bernanke may or may not succeed in saving the economy, but at least he has the courage to try — and the honesty to tell the truth. The same cannot be said of our elected officials. Congress is buried under a crushing surplus of cynicism, while the White House seems paralyzed by a deficit of courage.

ROBINSON: Why granny gets searched

It’s hard to love the Transportation Security Administration, especially now that airport personnel seem so intent on touching people’s junk. But the TSA’s job isn’t to be adorable, it’s to be infallible — and also, apparently, to suffer being unfairly maligned.

ROBINSON: Defense budget too big to ignore for debt reduction

Editor’s note: Kathleen Parker is temporarily changing her column schedule due to her new TV show. Eugene Robinson will run on Thursdays and Parker will run on Sundays in the Post in the meantime.

ROBINSON: Race and the tea party's ire

The first African-American president takes office, and almost immediately we see the birth of a big, passionate national movement — overwhelmingly white and lavishly funded — that tries its best to delegitimize that president, seeks to thwart his every initiative, and manages to bring the discredited and moribund opposition party roaring back to life. Coincidence?

ROBINSON: Tea party candidates are a tough comedy act to follow

With their “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear” this weekend, political satirists Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert were late to the party. This weird campaign has been Comedy Central all along.

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ROBINSON: Bad guys of the foreclosure crisis

Don't blame the lawyers. The crisis over faulty or fraudulent paperwork in mortgage foreclosures — which is either a big deal or a humongous deal, depending on which experts you believe — is the fault of arrogant, greedy lenders who played fast and loose with the basic property rights of homeowners.

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ROBINSON: The wave and the cold reality

I’m cautious about the conventional wisdom that the Democratic Party is about to get flattened by a Republican steamroller. Pollsters are less certain than they’d like you to believe about who’s a “likely voter” and who isn’t. It’s easy to imagine how Democrats, facing near-unanimous predictions of a wipeout, could bestir themselves to narrow the enthusiasm gap by just enough to turn a potential “wave” election into a regular midterm setback for the party in power.

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ROBINSON: Looney, and that's no debate

OK, I want to make sure I understand. Two years ago, with the nation facing a host of complex and difficult problems, voters put a bunch of thoughtful, well-educated people in charge of the government. Now many of those same voters, unhappy and impatient, have decided that things will get better if some crazy, ignorant people are running the show? Seriously?

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ROBINSON: The cash cow of anonymity

The Republican grab for Congress is being funded by a pack of wolves masquerading as a herd of sheep.

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ROBINSON: A mighty argument for marriage equality

The 14th Amendment is a mighty sword, and U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker used it Wednesday to slice and shred all the specious arguments — and I mean all of them — that are used to deny full marriage rights to gay and lesbian Americans. Bigotry has suffered a grievous blow.

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ROBINSON: America losing its way in Afghanistan

Could somebody please remind me just what it is that we’re achieving in Afghanistan? Don’t all speak at once. No, I mean what good things we’re accomplishing. Anybody? Hello?

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ROBINSON: The irony of Bishop Long

One of the small ironies of the Bishop Eddie Long scandal is the preacher’s self-pitying complaint, in a Sunday sermon vetted by his lawyers, that he feels “like David against Goliath.”

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ROBINSON: Republicans go from Party of No to Party of Nonsense

The Republicans were doing pretty well for themselves as the Party of No. So why did they decide to rebrand themselves as the Party of Nonsense?

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ROBINSON: The phantom sharia menace

Editor’s note: David Broder is on vacation. His column will resume next week.

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ROBINSON: Enthusiasm is required to beat the 'unelectable'

Not to spoil the fun, but Democrats shouldn’t take the Republican Party’s bitter internal warfare — and the inexperienced, flaky candidates who’ve emerged from the fray — as any kind of reassurance about November. Try as it might, the GOP probably can’t defeat itself. Not this year, anyway.

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ROBINSON: A 'framework' seriously bent

WASHINGTON — Just how corrupt is the U.S.-backed government in Afghanistan? It should be clear by now that President Hamid Karzai doesn’t want us to know. He’d prefer that we just keep sending our troops and our dollars, and not ask too many questions.

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ROBINSON: Voters prepare to throw a big temper tantrum

According to polls, Americans are in a mood to hold their breath until they turn blue. Voters appear to be so fed up with the Democrats that they’re ready to toss them out in favor of the Republicans — for whom, according to those same polls, the nation has even greater contempt. This isn’t an “electoral wave,” it’s a temper tantrum.

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ROBINSON: Even Beck can't mar King's legacy

The majestic grounds of the Lincoln Memorial belong to all Americans — even to egomaniacal talk-show hosts who profit handsomely from stoking fear, resentment and anger. So let me state clearly that Glenn Beck has every right to hold his absurdly titled “Restoring Honor” rally on Saturday.

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ROBINSON: Even Beck can't mar King's legacy

The majestic grounds of the Lincoln Memorial belong to all Americans -- even to egomaniacal talk-show hosts who profit handsomely from stoking fear, resentment and anger. So let me state clearly that Glenn Beck has every right to hold his absurdly titled "Restoring Honor" rally on Saturday.

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ROBINSON: In just 19 months, change has been accomplished

This is a radical break from journalistic convention, I realize, but today I'd like to give credit where it's due -- specifically, to President Barack Obama. Quiet as it's kept, he's on a genuine winning streak.

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Talking to a first-hand source on the oil spill

Flying back to Washington from Pensacola, Fla., on June 15, President Barack Obama and the man he put in charge of handling the gulf oil spill, retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, had a come-to-Jesus talk. The administration was getting hammered for a slow and disorganized response to the environmental disaster, and the president wanted to know, then and there, what resources Allen needed to get the job done. Obama made clear, in Allen's words, that "there would be no do-overs."

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ROBINSON: A mighty argument for marriage equality

The 14th Amendment is a mighty sword, and U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker used it Wednesday to slice and shred all the specious arguments -- and I mean all of them -- that are used to deny full marriage rights to gay and lesbian Americans. Bigotry has suffered a grievous blow.

ROBINSON: A bridge over our troubled racial waters

"Lena Horne is coming on!"When I was growing up, those words were the signal to drop everything and rush to the family room, where Ed Sullivan or Perry Como or Dean Martin had just announced the next performer. At the time, I didn't understand why it was unthinkable to miss one of Horne's appearances. I didn't yet realize that she was one of one of the most significant American entertainers of the 20th century -- and certainly didn't realize how burdened she was by her trailblazing success.

Airwaves hit again by the Old Faithful of nonsense

Can't we send Dick Cheney back to Wyoming? Shouldn't we chip in and buy him a home where the buffalo roam and there's always room for one more crazy old coot down at the general store?

Castro is out to help himself, not America

Editor's note: David Broder's column will not run today due to an illness.

The reality of two black Americas

Forty years after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, we sometimes talk about race in America as if nothing has changed. The truth is that everything has changed - mostly for the better - and that if we're ever going to see King's dream fulfilled, first we have to acknowledge that this is not an America he would have recognized.

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