Xan White
Xan White
Recent Stories
White: Lingering on process
The switch of Sen. Arlen Specter LAW ’56 from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party has left me with a bittersweet feeling: some genuine happiness, lots of schadenfreude, a fair amount of cynicism.
White: Progress marches
Last Friday must have been an easy day for people who get paid to rail against gay marriage on the Internet.
White: An American hero helps again
It’s high time for someone to thank Michael Phelps for taking that bong hit. Not because we should lionize a guy who racked up 14 gold medals to go with his 2004 DUI and his highly public incident of marijuana use — all before age 24! — but because Phelps’ adolescent antics have somehow spawned an adult discussion about drug policy in America.
White: Stimulus need seen in Elm City
On Monday night, the Senate voted 61-36 to end debate on the $838 billion stimulus bill, precluding a filibuster and clearing the way for an up-or-down vote tomorrow. Barring some calamity that incapacitates more than 20 Democratic senators overnight while leaving the Senate Republican caucus unscathed, the stimulus will clear the Senate today.
White: Church and state, subtly split
The overt Christianity on display at the inauguration of President Barack Obama made more than a few people cringe.
White: Democracy reigns in Colorado
In 1913, the 17th Amendment to the United States Constitution made the federal government more democratically accountable by eliminating state legislatures’ role in appointing members of the Senate. Almost a century later, Barack Obama’s aggressive penchant for filling his administration with sitting senators — starting with himself, but also including Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton LAW ’73 and Ken Salazar — has left the residents of four states wondering what happens when the democratic process is unavailable as an option for filling an empty seat.
White: Reason, innovation on the way
The hallowed editorial page of the nation’s Oldest College Daily hasn’t seen a whole lot of bipartisan good feeling in the wake of Barack Obama’s election.
White: Treat your vote seriously
What do Americans choose when we elect a president? Will we, in six days, vote for a set of guiding principles and policies, along with the judgment capacities of the people who will implement them? Will we vote for the two people we like best? Are we choosing America’s hockey-mom-in-chief?
White: More liberty for guns and gays
White: More liberty for guns and gays
White: Anti-intellectuals run amok in U.S.
After eight years of Bush, maybe America woke up to the real-life consequences of anti-intellectualism run amok. Palin’s three-week journey from fresh face to national embarrassment suggests that something has finally changed. And if the (seemingly) approaching defeat of McCain-Palin ’08 signals a more thinking-friendly era in American politics, well, all the better.