Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Opinion: Viewpoints (via Mowser)

08/21/2008Star Parker: Why Rick Warren's forum was a bad idea
A number of years ago, John McCain did a hilarious segment on Saturday Night Live in which he did a spoof commercial for an album called McCain Sings Streisand . Carl Leubsdorf: Are political conventions still worth it?
At my first political convention, Adlai Stevenson unexpectedly left his vice presidential choice to the delegates. It led to an exciting two-ballot battle but saddled him with a running mate he didn't much like. Froma Harrop: It's no longer just about Hillary
After hearing her name placed in nomination at the Democrats' convention next week, Hillary Clinton will no doubt urge her followers to support Barack Obama. What good that gesture will do for the Obama candidacy remains to be seen. Mrs. Clinton has already made it several times, but a new Pew Research Center poll shows that 28 percent of her primary voters do not intend to vote for Mr. Obama, a number virtually unchanged from June. Georgie Anne Geyer: Warren forum offered a great solution
Thanks to Pastor Rick Warren for what he did for common sense and, his favorite word, "civility," in the candidates' visit to his California church Saturday night. 08/20/2008John Cornyn: A record of health care reform
Rick Noriega: How to repair broken health care system
Mark Davis: Chávez name doesn't meet Dallas' bar
In 1966, César Chávez led a march to Austin in support of farm workers from Starr County, along the Rio Grande. As such, from Viboras to San Isidro, from Santa Elena to the county seat of Rio Grande City, if the locals wanted to name a stretch of road after the labor leader, it would make sense. 08/19/2008William McKenzie: McCain should push health care edge
If John McCain's going to win the White House, he will need to win it on issues. His flinty, fighter-pilot persona certainly won't let him out-personality the charismatic Barack Obama. Nicholas Kristof: Malcontents need not apply
BEIJING – To put a smiley face on its image during the Olympics, the Chinese government set aside three "protest zones" in Beijing. Officials explained that so long as protesters obtained approval in advance, demonstrations would be allowed. Balance of Opinion: The Saddleback showdown
Though the Rev. Rick Warren's weekend grilling of Barack Obama and John McCain at his Saddleback Church wasn't a face-to-face debate, the pundits have still cast themselves as arbiters in their commentary. 08/18/2008George Will: John McCain must recast election around Russian aggression
John McCain's hope to pull ahead of Barack Obama rests on his ability to recast this election, focusing it on who should lead America in a world suddenly darkened by Russia's war of European conquest. Linda Chavez: Intermarriage facts shatter the census hysteria
A majority-minority nation. That's what the U.S. Census Bureau is projecting by the year 2042, according to figures released last week. By mid-century, according to the government's projections, Hispanics, Asians and blacks will outnumber non-Hispanic whites by about 32 million. David Broder: Organization and turnout are keys to Obama strategy
While Barack Obama and his family were sunning on the beach in Hawaii last week, it was full speed ahead at his headquarters in Chicago. When I visited for the first time one day, the suite of rooms on the 11th floor of a rather posh office building on North Michigan Avenue – known as "The Magnificent Mile" – was filled with young people, most of them engrossed with the laptops on their desks. 08/16/2008Joel Stein: Maybe foreign oil isn't so bad after all
There are many things I want independence from – incoming e-mail, the section of my wedding vows about monogamy, this bogus corporation I created to lower my taxes but now takes up all of my time – but foreign oil is not one of them. Jim Shea: Can the campaign coverage get any sillier?
For everybody out there who is on vacation and/or still a few weeks from turning your brains back on, let me just assure you that when it comes to the presidential campaigns, you are not missing much. Leonard Pitts: A museum that must not die
First James Cameron died and now they've closed his museum. Wayne Carter: No excuse for the R-word
When my wife first mentioned the commotion brewing over the movie Tropic Thunder a few days ago, I didn't pay much attention. 08/15/2008Mark Lovvorn: What you might not know about the Marcus home and its sale
After opponents of a possible demolition of our home expressed interest in writing an opinion piece about the Nonesuch Road property, I was asked by the Viewpoints editor if I would like to offer another perspective on this issue. It is not my intention to create a point-counterpoint about the home. There are, however, a few details I believe most readers would find of interest. Veletta Lill and Catherine Horsey: Old buildings are sustainable
When we started receiving phone calls and emails alerting us to the potential demolition of the former residence of late Dallas retail icon Stanley Marcus, we were shocked and saddened. When told of the reason for the request for demolition of the Recorded Texas Historic Landmark we were doubly stricken. Thomas Friedman: Eight strikes and you're out
John McCain recently tried to underscore his seriousness about pushing through a new energy policy, with a strong focus on more drilling for oil, by telling a motorcycle convention that Congress needed to come back from vacation immediately and do something about America's energy crisis. "Tell them to come back and get to work!" Mr. McCain bellowed. Balance of Opinion: Foreign-policy tryouts
The ongoing conflict between Russia and Georgia has given both John McCain and Barack Obama an opportunity to put their foreign-policy mettle on display, and pundits are now taking measure.