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Articles Archive (2016 & Earlier)

 

2016

Trump: it wasn’t Russia wot won it. It’s the Democrats who threaten to undermine American democracy. Spiked, 13 December 2016.

Revenge of the deplorables. Our US correspondent on Trump and the death of the establishment. Spiked, 9 November 2016.

Neither Trump nor Clinton. Our American correspondent on why neither deserves your ballot. Spiked, 7 November 2016.

Why emailgate matters. Hillary's server scandal shows she is careless and entitled. Spiked, 2 November 2016.

Trump and Clinton: how low can they go?. This is the lamest, sleaziest presidential contest in living memory. Spiked, 11 October 2016.

Hillary or Trump? Pick your poison. The debate showed why both candidates are so unpopular. Spiked, 27 September 2016.

Trashing the white trash: Hillary and the new bigotry. Clinton's attack on "deplorables" reveals an ugly prejudice. Spiked, 19 September 2016.

Note to Democrats: being anti-Trump is not enough. Obsessively bashing Trump could backfire on Hillary. Spiked, 2 August 2016.

The GOP is the Trump Party now. Republican disarray has allowed for a total Donald takeover. Spiked, 23 July 2016.

After Dallas: let’s move beyond grief and fear. The US needs to rediscover its universalist outlook. Spiked, 14 July 2016.

Why it’s been such a slog for Hillary. Her troubles expose the disarray of the Democratic elites. Spiked, 2 June 2016.

The end of the Grand Old Party. Trump's rise confirms the alarming decay of the Republicans. Spiked, 5 May 2016.

Berned out. Boiled down, Bernie Sanders’ message was just too pessimistic. Spiked, 25 April 2016.

Is the game rigged against Trump and Sanders? No, these outsiders aren't being done in by their parties. Spiked, 7 April 2016.

Trump: a monster made by PC. The elite can't fight The Donald because it unwittingly created him. Spiked, 14 March 2016.

The rise of Trump and the fall of the Republican establishment. The crisis of the GOP is greater than people realize. Spiked, 2 March 2016.

Trump, Sanders and the new American populism. These two candidates are shaking up a staid political life. Good. Spiked, 24 February 2016.

Antonin Scalia: defending democracy against judicial agitation Scalia was right: judges have become too powerful and political. Spiked, 16 February 2016.

New Hampshire: rage against the political machine The rise of Sanders and Trump reflects the decay of the establishment. Spiked, 10 February 2016.

Treating Trump supporters like an exotic tribe The bigotry of elites who sneer at those who back The Donald. Spiked, 1 February 2016.

2015

Why The Donald trumps the opposition The clueless attacks on Trump have fuelled his campaign. spiked, 15 December 2015.

Obama’s ‘biggest fear’? The American people From guns to speech, terrorism has become an excuse to limit liberty. spiked, 7 December 2015.

The University of Racial Indoctrination Recent campus protests expose the ugliness of the new racial politics. spiked, 17 November 2015.

Why American liberals *heart* Pope Francis His visit has given the PC elite some much-needed moral authority. spiked, 1 October 2015.

Kim Davis: criminal or conscientious objector? Why dissent on same-sex marriage is punished so harshly. spiked, 8 September 2015.

After Charleston: a show of common humanity No, Dylann Roof’s act of nihilism was not ‘the real America’. spiked, 23 June 2015.

Rachel Dolezal: desperately seeking victim status. The Dolezal story exposes the disturbing influence of identity politics. spiked, 16 June 2015.

Boycotting the boycotters: the wrong way to oppose BDS. Clamping down on BDS will only fuel its intolerant campaign. spiked, 27 May 2015.

Riots in Baltimore: A crisis of authority. The instability points to a moral vacuum in America's inner cities. spiked, 29 April 2015.

Rolling Stone and UVA: More than a failure of journalism. The real problem is the unhinged moral panic about rape on campus. spiked, 7 April 2015.

Selma 50 years on: Why King's dream still matters. Today's new racialists are judging people on the colour of their skin. spiked, 25 March 2015.

Why frat boys, even racist ones, should have free speech. Racist views can only be tackled through open debate, not censorship. spiked, 16 March 2015.

Netanyahu in Washington: how Bibi eclipsed Barack. His speech stood in stark contrast to the relativism of the modern West. spiked, 5 March 2015.

Jon Stewart, king of snark, abdicates. How the once funny comedian became a viral snark-generator for lazy liberals. spiked, 12 February 2015.

2014

This ban is a fracking outrage New York's ban on fracking is an act of pure green elitism. spiked, 22 December 2014.

The fight for the right to fraternize Frats are taking the rap for the non-crime of rape culture. spiked, 15 December 2014.

Rolling Stone and the myth of a rape epidemic Rolling Stone's rape hoax speaks to a new hysteria on US campuses. spiked, 8 December 2014.

After Ferguson: no, the US is not "congenitally racist" The shooting was terrible. But so is the fatalism of much of the response. spiked, 28 November 2014.

The Democrats are running on empty The US midterms exposed the Obama administration's utter exhaustion. spiked, 7 November 2014.

Berkeley vs Bill: FSM turns in its grave After the Bill Maher debacle, Berkeley needs a new Free Speech Movement. spiked, 4 November 2014.

Why we should all hail the Redskins The campaign against the Redskins' name is an insult to fans. spiked, 27 August 2014.

Sorting fact from fiction in Ferguson Same old racism? Actually the riots show how much has changed in the US. spiked, 19 August 2014.

Pikettymania: thou shalt not doubt St Thomas Why does any criticism of Thomas Piketty really rattle liberal observers? spiked, 4 June 2014.

A not-so Sterling attack on free speech. The LA Clippers owner has been hounded out of the NBA for a speech crime. spiked, 30 April 2014.

The purge of gay-marriage heretics begins. The ousting of Brendan Eich from Mozilla because of his views on gay marriage sets a dangerous precedent. spiked, 8 April 2014.

Who are the real bigots in the St Pat’s spat? Gay-rights groups are becoming the enforcers of social conformism. spiked, 17 March 2014.

The West’s double standards on Ukraine. Our leaders claim to be defending Ukrainian sovereignty. In fact, they’re overriding it. spiked, 11 March 2014.

Incompetent imperialists reign in Ukraine. The meddling of the US and the EU has produced nothing but chaos. spiked, 3 March 2014.

You don’t know that Woody Allen is guilty. In the name of supporting Dylan Farrow, commentators have unleashed a wave of prejudice and intolerance against Woody Allen. spiked, 13 February 2014.

Marijuana and the myth of libertarian America. The new pro-dope consensus is more authoritarian than liberal. spiked, 15 January 2014.

2013

Free speech after Duck DynastyA reality-TV controversy in the US shows that social intolerance can be just as bad as government censorship. spiked, 30 December 2013.

Why JFK still haunts America. In our cynical, downbeat era, we long for some Kennedy positivity. spiked, 18 November 2013.

Let’s debunk the de Blasio myths. Far from being a socialist, New York City’s new mayor is Bloomberg Take 2. spiked, 8 November 2013.

Standing up to the new paternalists Today's nudging elite poses a threat to our everyday freedoms. spiked, 21 October 2013.

Loathed and leaderless in Washington DC As the shutdown rumbles on, the depth of America's political crisis becomes clear. spiked, 14 October 2013.

US shutdown: the abdication of the political class The shutdown shows how lost and immature US rulers have become. spiked, 2 October 2013.

Big, bad America, slayed by a communique Why's no one talking about the fact-lite, frenzied shutting of US embassies? spiked, 14 August 2013.

Who’s really promoting prejudice? The pro-Trayvon campaign shows how illiberal ‘anti-racism’ has become. spiked, 16 July 2013.

Gay marriage's echoes of the Cultural Revolution Politicians publicly renouncing their former beliefs, the youth raging against the elderly... the SSM campaign has eerie echoes of history. spiked, 1 July 2013.

Oklahoma: a swirling storm of anti-human prejudice As people in Oklahoma heroically dealt with their tornado disaster, observers were busy pinning the blame for it on greedy mankind. spiked, 22 May 2013.

America declares war on two losers Why did the most powerful military nation on Earth freak out over a 19-year-old idiot in a backward baseball cap? spiked, 23 April 2013.

Israel-bashers: masters of the double standard Radicals who protest against the censorship of anti-Israel academics cheer with hypocritical glee when Israeli academics are banned. spiked, 11 February 2013.

The inauguration of illiberal liberalism President Obama’s inaugural speech confirmed that he plans to keep waging an elite Culture War against "backward" values. spiked, 23 January 2013.

Newtown: "a 9/11 for gun control"? Both liberals and the right responded to the dreadful Sandy Hook massacre by denigrating liberty. spiked, 9 January 2013.

A bad cliffhanger The US "fiscal cliff" talks were depicted as a tense dash to save America, but in truth all the big questions were left out. spiked, 3 January 2013.

2012

America: the decline of politics, the rise of tribes Bush was booed for chasing after the votes of certain racial and cultural groups. Obama is cheered for doing the exact same thing. spiked, 14 November 2012.

A small victory in a small campaign Barack Obama has returned to the White House following one of the most acrimonious, negative and ideas-free campaigns in living memory. spiked, 7 November 2012.

Hurricane Sandy: a political storm Pundits’ exploitation of Sandy to big up Barack Obama shows how desperate they have become. spiked, 31 October 2012.

Never mind Big Bird. Where are the Big Ideas? After expending all his energies demonising his opponent, Obama lost the TV debate because the truth emerged: Romney is not actually evil. spiked, 16 October 2012.

Obama and the end of great expectations In 2008, Obama won by exciting and raising people’s expectations. In 2012, he hopes to win by lowering them. spiked, 2 October 2012.

The real losers in this election are the voters Romney’s videotaped dismissal of swathes of the electorate will hurt him, but Obama remains a lame duck, too. spiked, 20 September 2012.

Giving the green light to grievance The Obama administration seems to see free speech as a bigger problem than attacks on its overseas embassies. spiked, 18 September 2012.

Shouting 'Liar, liar, pants on fire!' is not serious politics The rise of a tyranny of fact-checkers in the US election, who constantly call out politicians on their ‘lies’, is a very unhealthy development. spiked, 13 September 2012.

Romney’s empty suit vs Obama’s empty chair With the hope hoopla of the 2008 campaign a distant memory, now we have a contest between a letdown president and a vacuous challenger. spiked, 3 September 2012.

Enlightened liberals vs chicken-chewing morons The Chick-fil-A controversy in America reveals just how illiberal and intolerant supporters of same-sex marriage are becoming. spiked, 7 August 2012.

Why I’m coming out... against gay marriage A New York progressive braves the opprobrium of his peers by questioning same-sex marriage. spiked, 14 May 2012.

Obama vs Romney: who do you hate least? Both Obama and Romney are now tossed between public enthusiasm and public disdain, showing just how volatile this campaign has become. spiked, 30 April 2012.

Goading Goldman Sachs: a new sport. Half self-promotion, half banker-bashing, there was nothing brave about Greg Smith's resignation letter. spiked, 21 March 2012.

Why the contraception controversy matters. American liberals are wrong: Obama’s contraception rule is a violation of important religious liberties. spiked, 16 February 2012.

A political fiasco of historic proportions. Obama is ailing, yet the bunch of political misfits posing as Republican presidential candidates can’t make any mileage from that. spiked, 24 January 2012.

2011

Occupy: the sad reality and the mad fantasies. Far from being clear-eyed, Occupy Wall Street is a blank slate on to which every opportunistic op-ed writer is scribbling his or her pet concerns. spiked, 23 November 2011.

Turning protest into a freakfest. Why do the great and good of America want to be best friends with the Occupy Wall Street oddballs? spiked, 20 October 2011.

After 11 September: their "resilience", and ours . New Yorkers demonstrated true bravery and heroism in response to 9/11. The same cannot be said for America’s political leaders. spiked, 9 September 2011.

What the hurricane hype reveals about NYC. City Hall’s overreaction to Irene suggests New York City is losing its reputation for toughness and swagger. spiked, 30 August 2011.

President Obama’s Summertime Blues. Yes, his approval ratings have plummeted, but Republicans shouldn’t gloat: Americans have had it with the whole political class. spiked, 22 August 2011.

The real cause of the US debt crisis? Slow growth The pantomime political debate about the debt ceiling is distracting attention from the parlous state of the productive economy. spiked, 2 August 2011.

Debt ceiling debate: bad political theatre . Even more than the Eurozone crisis, the debt discussion in the US shines a harsh light on the dysfunctional nature of the modern political class. spiked, 26 July 2011.

Weiner: what a rubbish sex scandal. The Anthony Weiner incident shows that politicians are now so lame that they don’t even do scandal well. spiked, 9 June 2011.

"Mediscare": the US politics of fear. The debate over Medicare shows that both Republicans and Democrats now rely on panic over principle. spiked, 6 June 2011.

US budget showdown: the politics of pantomime. For all the attempts to talk up the budget clash as a great historical drama, in truth it revealed the pathetic state of American politics. spiked, 13 April 2011.

Libya: moral blackmail trumps political debate. In his address to the nation, Obama cynically elevated the moral imperative over 'nasty' political criticisms. spiked, 30 March 2011.

Libya: how the West just made things worse. Sean Collins reports from New York on how the UN’s green light for military action may wreck any hope of freedom for the people of Libya. spiked, 18 March 2011.

Republicans make Wisconsin their battle ground. The Australian, 5 March 2011.

A faux war in Wisconsin. This is not a return of class war to America. It’s a clash between nervous-nellie Republicans and trade unions that can only play the victim card. spiked, 1 March 2011.

Obama on Egypt: more confused than cool. The idea that Obama played it ‘brilliantly cool’ on Egypt represents a spectacular rewriting of history. spiked, 15 February 2011.

For America, stability trumps freedom. In echoing Mubarak’s call for an "orderly transition", the US is undermining the fight for democratic rights. spiked, 8 February 2011.

Message to America: Hands off Egypt! After decades of backing autocrats, the best thing Washington can do for the cause of Egyptian democracy is to butt out. spiked, 2 February 2011.

Falsely accusing the Tea Party of murder. Liberal commentators’ rush to blame the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords on heated political rhetoric exposes their censoriousness and intolerance. spiked, 10 January 2011.

2010

A protest vote not a Republican revolution. The real lesson of the US midterm elections was that voters have little faith in either party to solve America’s problems. spiked, 4 November 2010.

The truth about the Currency Wars. America should get its own economic house in order rather than blame the slump on China’s currency antics. spiked, 14 October 2010.

Wall Street 2: we’re all Gordon Gekkos now. In Oliver Stone’s sequel, released in British cinemas today, it’s no longer only the pinstriped bankers who are sinfully greedy - it’s all of us. spiked, 6 October 2010.

In the Tea Party debate, who’s really acting crazy? Liberal activists’ dismissal of the Tea Party as "insane" only shows how cut-off they are from the American masses. spiked, 27 September 2010.

The Koran controversy: what was that all about? It was the profound jitteriness of Western society that allowed one cranky pastor from Florida with 50 followers to hold the whole world to ransom. spiked, 14 September 2010.

The Culture War over the Ground Zero mosque. It’s hard to know who’s worse in the NYC mosque debate: the opportunistic, anti-Muslim right or the Muslim-loving, masses-fearing liberals. spiked, 17 August 2010.

This is a ‘digital deluge’, not the Pentagon Papers. Some are comparing Wikileaks’ 92,000 Afghan documents to the internal US study of Vietnam leaked in 1971. But the differences are striking. spiked, 2 August 2010.

Staging a mutiny in Rolling Stone magazine. General McChrystal’s anti-Obama blabbing to a hippie mag exposes the internal disarray of the US elite. spiked, 24 June 2010.

Obama: the Gulf between words and deeds. Instead of all the dithering, lofty rhetoric and tough talk, the US president should be honest about the need to keep on drilling. spiked, 17 June 2010.

Why Mrs Europe is bashing the bankers. Angela Merkel’s unilateral decision to ban "short selling" shows how deluded and divided the political class is. spiked, 24 May 2010.

Why Greece matters. The economic turmoil in southern Europe shows that, far from going away, the global financial crisis has entered a dangerous new phase. spiked, 17 May 2010.

The trouble with "anti-capitalism". ELECTION ESSAY: contemporary so-called "anti-capitalism" – which is underpinned by a powerful misanthropy – is the main barrier to progress today. spiked, 6 May 2010.

The Tea Party? Get over it already. In their discussion of the Tea Party as "delirious" and "unhinged", liberals like Bill Clinton are exposing their own snobbery. spiked, 30 April 2010.

The villain in a dumbed-down morality play. The SEC’s lawsuit against Goldman Sachs will only let politicians off the hook for the state of the economy. spiked, 21 April 2010.

This is not History with a capital H. The health reforms in the US are neither historic nor disastrous. They simply show what ‘Change’ means under Obama: tinkering on the edges. spiked, 22 March 2010.

"Jihad Jane" and the politics of fear. Far from "keeping America safe", the elite’s depiction of the US as fragile and at-risk makes even lonely weirdos seem like a deadly threat. spiked, 17 March 2010.

The real scandal is this obsession with scandal. As Republicans and Democrats squabble over who is most corrupt, the American people become more cynical about the entire political class. spiked, 9 March 2010.

Palin: if she didn’t exist, they’d have to invent her. It is the Democrats’ deep-seated disdain for the masses and the Republicans’ continued state of disarray that allows Sarah Palin to thrive. spiked, 11 February 2010.

Bashing the bankers is making Obama go blind. Obama’s plan to reform the big banks is rank political opportunism and will do little to address the underlying problems of the financial crisis. spiked, 25 January 2010.

What the ‘Mass mutiny’ shows about the Obama era. A win for a Republican unknown not only spoiled Obama’s one-year anniversary in office – it also exposed a deeper crisis of American politics. spiked, 21 January 2010.

2009

The spectacular discovery no one is talking about. One month ago, NASA made one of the most important discoveries of our lifetimes: water on the moon. Why aren’t we more excited about it? spiked, 18 December 2009.

A bizarre declaration of war-and-withdrawal. In sending an invading force of 30,000 and admitting the war is unwinnable, Obama’s Afghan policy is as dangerously unhinged as Bush’s was. spiked, 3 December 2009.

This isn’t a recovery. It’s an Obama Bubble. Just because the Dow Jones Industrial Average recently reached 10,000, that doesn’t mean the US economy is springing back to life. spiked, 22 October 2009.

This is not only the end of the Kennedy dynasty. Yes, Ted’s death represents the end of the line for ‘America’s royals’, but it also exposes the ideology-shaped hole in the Democratic Party. spiked, 1 September 2009.

America’s health wars. The backlash against Obama’s modest healthcare reforms is born from the fear of an uncertain future and a distrust of the political class. spiked, 17 August 2009.

Obama: the king of low expectations. Healthcare controversies, dumb comments about the arrest of a Harvard professor, and ‘frumpy jeans’: is Obama losing his Midas touch? spiked, 28 July 2009.

Government Motors is no substitute for General Motors. Yes, GM showed itself incapable of mass-producing decent cars and keeping people employed – but Obama’s intervention won’t turn things around. spiked, 9 June 2009.

No, the economic crisis is not good for America. When even Time hopes the downturn will teach ‘childish, irresponsible, fat’ Americans a lesson, it’s clear recession porn has gone mainstream. spiked, 31 March 2009.

It takes more than money to revive an economy. Why President Obama’s $787 billion recovery package won’t fire up the US economy — and might even make things worse in the long term. spiked, 18 Februrary 2009.

Standing up to the ‘sapping of confidence’. The speech was perceptive, but Obama won’t be able to ‘renew America’ until he can properly define its crises and enemies. spiked, 21 January 2009.

Yanking up the spending spree. Why the New York Yankees are being attacked for flashing the cash during a recession. spiked, 13 January 2009.

2008

Memo to Obama-crush liberals: he’s just not that into you. Now that he’s lined up a conservative cabinet, Obama’s supporters are in disbelief and denial. spiked, 9 December 2008.

The morning after History was made. Calls for ‘epochal Obama’ to get on with ‘ordinary politics’ show how small the political imagination remains. spiked, 6 November 2008.

Three cheers for the 140million voters. The election shot down the stereotype of Americans as thick and apathetic. spiked, 5 November 2008.

Why the crisis-rattled elite is banking on Obama. The endorsement of Obama by every liberal’s favourite Republican, Colin Powell, springs from disarray and desperation in DC circles. spiked, 20 October 2008.

Republican rallies: the myth of a crazed mob. The liberal media’s depiction of McCain supporters as a Weimar-like gang of rednecks shows their own fear of the white working class. spiked, 14 October 2008.

The whole presidential election is a sideshow. Many now look upon the Palin-Biden clash as a ‘sideshow’. In truth, this entire contest has become irrelevant to real-world events. spiked, 7 October 2008.

Challenging the politics of passivity. Whether lecturing parents or exaggerating security threats, both Obama and McCain see Americans as helpless victims. spiked, 16 September 2008.

The truth about the pitbull in lipstick. She’s neither evil incarnate nor the saviour of the Republicans, but an opportunist who plays the ‘hockey mom’ lifestyle card. spiked, 8 September 2008.

The American Promise: more personality politics. Obama and McCain have remodelled themselves, and yet both remain hindered by low horizons and identity politics. spiked, 1 September 2008.

Fannie, Freddie and the ‘economics of fear’. The troubles at America’s big, folksy-named mortgage providers are a symptom of today's wider anxiety about the future of society. spiked, 22 July 2008.

After Pennsylvania: demography is destiny. With neither Clinton nor Obama offering a compelling political vision, the primaries are becoming a deeply entrenched war of identities. spiked, 24 April 2008.

What ‘Bittergate’ reveals about the 2008 race. Barack Obama’s views about rednecks clinging to guns and God are certainly offensive. But he isn’t the only Democrat who holds them. spiked, 17 April 2008.

Baseball’s Salem. Witch-hunting steroid-users in baseball will do more to undermine the integrity of America’s national pastime than any amount of drug-taking. spiked, 9 April 2008.

Bear Stearns: politicians bail out. The collapse of another bank shows the credit crunch is spreading from ‘contamination’ to ‘contagion’. Why isn’t the political class paying attention? spiked, 17 March 2008.

Spitzer is down, but Spitzerism remains. The Governor of New York State has been reduced to ‘Client Number 9’ in a prostitution case, but his cynical approach to politics lives on. spiked, 12 March 2008.

Clinton v Obama: the identity wars. With Hillary as ‘put-upon woman’ and Obama as ‘race victim’, the Democrat contest is all about Who You Are rather than what you believe. spiked, 4 March 2008.

Desperately seeking the authentic president. With little meat in the US elections, voters are looking longingly into the eyes of the candidates hoping to glimpse the 'real' person within. spiked, 14 February 2008.

Why this year’s Super Tuesday was different. Media confusion, changeable voters, distrust in voting technology… yesterday’s ‘Tsunami Tuesday’ highlighted some big changes in US politics. spiked, 6 February 2008.

Will Obama change American politics?. After his big win in South Carolina, Barack Obama said the word ‘change’ a dozen times. Does he really have a transformative, convention-busting vision? spiked, 28 January 2008.

Getting to grips with Obama-mania. He has charisma, a good physique and ‘hip-mod grey suits’, and a policy programme that consists only of ‘hope’. Barack Obama takes the politics of personality to a new low. spiked, 8 January 2008.

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