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<title><![CDATA[Mark Salter - Articles - RealClearPolitics]]></title><link>http://www.RealClearPolicy.com/authors/rss/archive/15837.xml</link><description><![CDATA[Mark Salter]]></description><category domain="15837">Author</category><item>
							<title><![CDATA[McCain Spent His Life Serving the Dignity of His Fellow Man]]></title>
							<link>https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/john-mccain-spent-his-life-serving-the-dignity-of-his-fellow-man/2018/08/25/ca68d8da-4346-11e8-ad8f-27a8c409298b_story.html?noredirect=on&amp;utm_term=.264e05bac9be</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/john-mccain-spent-his-life-serving-the-dignity-of-his-fellow-man/2018/08/25/ca68d8da-4346-11e8-ad8f-27a8c409298b_story.html?noredirect=on&amp;utm_term=.264e05bac9be]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Sun, 26 Aug 2018 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Mark Salter</author>
							<description><![CDATA[McCain was a romantic about his causes and a cynic about the world. He had the capacity to be both things and to live with the contradiction. He had seen human beings at their best and worst &mdash; often in the same experience.]]></description>
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							<title><![CDATA[Memorial Day Messages That Miss Who We Are]]></title>
							<link>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/05/31/memorial_day_messages_that_miss_who_we_are_134045.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/05/31/memorial_day_messages_that_miss_who_we_are_134045.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Wed, 31 May 2017 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Mark Salter</author>
							<description><![CDATA[On Memorial Day, the Washington Nationals played the San Francisco Giants in the first of a 10-game West Coast road trip. Nationals&rsquo; starting pitcher, Tanner Roark, threw seven shutout innings, and the Nationals led 2-0 going into the eighth inning, the moment when dread creeps...]]></description>
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							<title><![CDATA[Trump, Act 1: All Drama, No Action]]></title>
							<link>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/04/26/trump_act_i_all_drama_no_action.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/04/26/trump_act_i_all_drama_no_action.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Wed, 26 Apr 2017 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Mark Salter</author>
							<description><![CDATA[As he approaches the milestone he embraced as a candidate and tries to downplay as president, Donald Trump&rsquo;s product launch has been a failure. None of the bold strokes he promised in his first months in office to &ldquo;make America great again&rdquo; yet exist in legislative form...]]></description>
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							<title><![CDATA[Why the Senate Must Do the House's Job]]></title>
							<link>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/03/31/why_the_senate_must_do_the_houses_job_133482.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/03/31/why_the_senate_must_do_the_houses_job_133482.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Fri, 31 Mar 2017 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Mark Salter</author>
							<description><![CDATA[An eminent legal scholar, who has studied the workings of the joint congressional committee that investigated the Iran-contra scandal, recently volunteered advice for organizing a special committee to investigate Russian interference in our election. 
&ldquo;First,&rdquo; he cautioned,...]]></description>
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							<title><![CDATA[What Our Children Show Us -- and the World]]></title>
							<link>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/02/22/what_our_children_show_us_--_and_the_world_133147.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/02/22/what_our_children_show_us_--_and_the_world_133147.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Wed, 22 Feb 2017 00:00:00 -0600</pubDate>
							<author>Mark Salter</author>
							<description><![CDATA[Our daughter accepted an assignment as a Peace Corps volunteer yesterday. I&rsquo;ll leave out the particulars of the job except to note she will be living on the other side of the world in a remote location without electricity or plumbing, and she won&rsquo;t be home for two years and...]]></description>
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							<title><![CDATA[A Call for Vigilance -- and Honesty]]></title>
							<link>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/01/13/a_call_for_vigilance_--_and_honesty_132783.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/01/13/a_call_for_vigilance_--_and_honesty_132783.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Fri, 13 Jan 2017 00:00:00 -0600</pubDate>
							<author>Mark Salter</author>
							<description><![CDATA[We are all on a short clock. Whether or not we believe in an afterlife better than our mortal one, most of us like to think an essence of ourselves remains in the world, if only in the fond memories of loved ones. Those with public responsibilities might hope to be remembered in the...]]></description>
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							<title><![CDATA[You Were Tough on Us, 2016]]></title>
							<link>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/12/31/you_were_tough_on_us_2016_132688.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/12/31/you_were_tough_on_us_2016_132688.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Sat, 31 Dec 2016 00:00:00 -0600</pubDate>
							<author>Mark Salter</author>
							<description><![CDATA[Farewell, 2016. You&rsquo;re not a year that&rsquo;s likely to be missed much considering the deaths, tragedies and various calamities for which it will be most remembered.  The following are a few items in its lengthy catalogue of horrors. 
The terrible slaughter in Syria got worse. It...]]></description>
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							<title><![CDATA[A Critic's Hopeful -- But Wary -- Eye on Trump]]></title>
							<link>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/11/11/a_critics_hopeful_--_but_wary_--_eye_on_trump_132323.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/11/11/a_critics_hopeful_--_but_wary_--_eye_on_trump_132323.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Fri, 11 Nov 2016 00:00:00 -0600</pubDate>
							<author>Mark Salter</author>
							<description><![CDATA[British voters rewarded Winston Churchill&rsquo;s inspired wartime leadership by promptly voting him out of office at the war&rsquo;s end. His wife, Clementine, tried to console the exhausted 70-year-old prime minister by suggesting the defeat was a &ldquo;blessing in disguise,&rdquo; to...]]></description>
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							<title><![CDATA[What Trump Can Learn From John McCain]]></title>
							<link>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/10/18/what_trump_can_learn_from_john_mccain_132088.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/10/18/what_trump_can_learn_from_john_mccain_132088.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Tue, 18 Oct 2016 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Mark Salter</author>
							<description><![CDATA[Donald Trump is cruel, selfish, ignorant and proud of it. He&rsquo;s consumed by resentment and insecurity. His self-respect is the opposite of his ego, so small and fragile that an insult undoes him for days. 
He treats women disgracefully, mocks the disabled and sneers at those he...]]></description>
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							<title><![CDATA[The Quiet Virtues of Gen. John Vessey]]></title>
							<link>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/08/31/the_quiet_virtues_of_gen_john_vessey_131670.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/08/31/the_quiet_virtues_of_gen_john_vessey_131670.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Wed, 31 Aug 2016 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Mark Salter</author>
							<description><![CDATA[Humility isn&rsquo;t a common virtue among power players in Washington any more than it is on Wall Street or in Silicon Valley -- or anywhere else successful people congregate. Big egos aren&rsquo;t bigger here, though given the public&rsquo;s low regard for the place, they&rsquo;re...]]></description>
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							<title><![CDATA[The Trump-Putin Ticket]]></title>
							<link>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/07/28/the_trump-putin_ticket_131355.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/07/28/the_trump-putin_ticket_131355.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jul 2016 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Mark Salter</author>
							<description><![CDATA[In 2012, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney argued that Russia was &ldquo;our number one geopolitical foe.&rdquo; President Obama ridiculed his Cold War nostalgia. Romney was right -- as Russia&rsquo;s subsequent aggression in Ukraine, Syria and elsewhere, and Vladimir...]]></description>
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							<title><![CDATA[Why This Republican Won't Vote for Trump]]></title>
							<link>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/06/29/why_this_republican_wont_vote_for_trump_131043.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/06/29/why_this_republican_wont_vote_for_trump_131043.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Wed, 29 Jun 2016 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Mark Salter</author>
							<description><![CDATA[There are many reasons to vote against Donald Trump. Let me cite the most obvious. 
He&rsquo;s an ignoramus whose knowledge of public issues is more superficial than an occasional newspaper reader&rsquo;s. He casts his intellectual laziness as a choice, a deliberate avoidance of expert...]]></description>
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							<title><![CDATA[My Grandfather's America]]></title>
							<link>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/05/19/my_grandfathers_america_130610.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/05/19/my_grandfathers_america_130610.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Thu, 19 May 2016 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Mark Salter</author>
							<description><![CDATA[My grandfather was a staunch Republican. His closest friend for 30 years was a loyal Democrat. They never once voted for the same presidential candidate.
They read the same newspapers and watched the same evening TV newscast, NBC&rsquo;s old &ldquo;Huntley-Brinkley Report.&rdquo; They...]]></description>
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							<title><![CDATA[The Trump Bandwagon Is Rolling Toward a Cliff]]></title>
							<link>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/04/22/the_trump_bandwagon_is_rolling_toward_a_cliff_130354.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/04/22/the_trump_bandwagon_is_rolling_toward_a_cliff_130354.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Fri, 22 Apr 2016 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Mark Salter</author>
							<description><![CDATA[With Donald Trump&rsquo;s resounding New York primary win, the conventional wisdom is on the move again. It&rsquo;s returning to the presumption that Trump will win enough delegates to secure the nomination on the first ballot or come so close he can&rsquo;t be denied it without setting...]]></description>
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							<title><![CDATA[An Easter Lesson in Judging Not]]></title>
							<link>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/03/30/an_easter_lesson_in_judging_not_130132.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/03/30/an_easter_lesson_in_judging_not_130132.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Wed, 30 Mar 2016 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Mark Salter</author>
							<description><![CDATA[He was sure to annoy me, the restless, demonstrative guy who brought his big family to Easter Sunday Mass. But I expect to be annoyed on Easter and Christmas. 
I go to Mass regularly, a lifelong habit instilled in me by my devout mother and 12 years of Catholic education, and reinforced...]]></description>
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							<title><![CDATA[Donald Trump, the Anti-Patriot]]></title>
							<link>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/02/24/donald_trump_the_anti-patriot_129762.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/02/24/donald_trump_the_anti-patriot_129762.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Wed, 24 Feb 2016 00:00:00 -0600</pubDate>
							<author>Mark Salter</author>
							<description><![CDATA[Donald Trump, the petulant GOP front-runner and Twitter troll, never served in uniform except when he dressed up on parade at his military academy. 
You might have thought avoiding military service, even in the reserves or National Guard, while the U.S. was at war, would have instilled...]]></description>
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							<title><![CDATA[Cruz or Trump? Pick Your Poison, GOP]]></title>
							<link>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/01/28/cruz_or_trump_pick_your_poison_gop_129457.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/01/28/cruz_or_trump_pick_your_poison_gop_129457.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jan 2016 00:00:00 -0600</pubDate>
							<author>Mark Salter</author>
							<description><![CDATA[As he often does, Sen. Lindsey Graham colorfully unburdened himself of a grim truth the other day. Speaking to the notion that the Republican establishment (whoever that is these days) prefers bigoted billionaire Donald Trump to self-serving scold Ted Cruz, Graham compared the choice to...]]></description>
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							<title><![CDATA[Starvation in Madaya as U.S. Pols Look Away]]></title>
							<link>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/01/08/starvation_in_madaya_as_us_pols_look_away_129256.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/01/08/starvation_in_madaya_as_us_pols_look_away_129256.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Fri, 08 Jan 2016 00:00:00 -0600</pubDate>
							<author>Mark Salter</author>
							<description><![CDATA[They&rsquo;re eating cats in Madaya. Starving people had been eating grass and leaves, according to news accounts, until the snows came and covered the ground. The reports include pictures of children, bug-eyed and skeletal, letting slip their last precarious purchase on life....]]></description>
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							<title><![CDATA[When the Press Must Cover Private Pain]]></title>
							<link>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/11/14/when_the_press_must_cover_private_pain_128724.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/11/14/when_the_press_must_cover_private_pain_128724.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Sat, 14 Nov 2015 00:00:00 -0600</pubDate>
							<author>Mark Salter</author>
							<description><![CDATA[Writing in the Washington Post, Terrell Starr, a journalist, took issue with the prevailing view that protesting students at the University of Missouri were wrong to prevent a student reporter from photographing their activities, and right to demand that journalists give them privacy in...]]></description>
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							<title><![CDATA[What Ted Cruz Really Stands For]]></title>
							<link>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/10/01/what_ted_cruz_really_stands_for_128264.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/10/01/what_ted_cruz_really_stands_for_128264.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Thu, 01 Oct 2015 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Mark Salter</author>
							<description><![CDATA[Although I find Sen. Ted Cruz&rsquo;s &ldquo;lonely man of principle&rdquo; act as tired as it is phony, I should give the devil his due. Cruz has given Americans exasperated with Washington gridlock hope that Congress can, when sufficiently motivated, find consensus and act. 
In this...]]></description>
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							<title><![CDATA[Trump's a Narcissist. What's His Supporters' Excuse?]]></title>
							<link>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/08/27/trumps_a_narcissist_whats_his_supporters_excuse_127895.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/08/27/trumps_a_narcissist_whats_his_supporters_excuse_127895.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Thu, 27 Aug 2015 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Mark Salter</author>
							<description><![CDATA[Here&rsquo;s how the Mayo Clinic&rsquo;s website describes the symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder:
If you have narcissistic personality disorder, you may come across as conceited, boastful or pretentious. You often monopolize conversations. You may belittle or look down on...]]></description>
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							<title><![CDATA[Donald Trump: P.T. Barnum With Bad Hair]]></title>
							<link>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/07/30/donald_trump_pt_barnum_with_bad_hair.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/07/30/donald_trump_pt_barnum_with_bad_hair.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Thu, 30 Jul 2015 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Mark Salter</author>
							<description><![CDATA[Either the phoniness in American politics has reached record levels or I&rsquo;ve grown irremediably cynical in my old age. I am reminded these days of a notorious 19th century hoax as I observe from a safe distance the weird descent of the 2016 presidential contest into a...]]></description>
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							<title><![CDATA[In Marriage, Gays Get Their &quot;Beautiful Due&quot;]]></title>
							<link>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/06/30/in_marriage_gays_get_their_beautiful_due.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/06/30/in_marriage_gays_get_their_beautiful_due.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Tue, 30 Jun 2015 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Mark Salter</author>
							<description><![CDATA[I grew up in the 1960s and 1970s and shared the conceit common to many of my generation&mdash;a self-assurance that didn&rsquo;t require notable achievement or talent or wisdom to thrive. We just knew we were something new and better.
The baby boomers were original in our fashion sense...]]></description>
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							<title><![CDATA[Obama's &quot;Tough Talk&quot; on Russia Grows Tedious]]></title>
							<link>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/05/29/time_to_arm_ukraine_and_call_putins_bluff.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/05/29/time_to_arm_ukraine_and_call_putins_bluff.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Fri, 29 May 2015 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Mark Salter</author>
							<description><![CDATA[I felt some sympathy for State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf the other day as she responded to questions from CNN&rsquo;s Wolf Blitzer about the administration&rsquo;s Ukraine policy &ndash; or lack thereof. As is her style, Harf delivered her talking points with the indifferent...]]></description>
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							<title><![CDATA[Obama Owes Critics of the Iran Deal an Apology]]></title>
							<link>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/04/13/obama_owes_critics_of_the_iran_deal_an_apology_126239.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/04/13/obama_owes_critics_of_the_iran_deal_an_apology_126239.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Mon, 13 Apr 2015 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Mark Salter</author>
							<description><![CDATA[This is one of those times when I feel my short bio below should be mentioned at the top. I worked for Sen. John McCain for many years, and we remain friends. So, by all means, judge the opinion that follows as the defense of an employer and friend.
President Obama criticized Senator...]]></description>
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							<title><![CDATA[Obama's Middle East Policy Naive &amp; Dangerous]]></title>
							<link>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/03/30/why_obamas_mideast_policy_alarms_us_allies_there_126086.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/03/30/why_obamas_mideast_policy_alarms_us_allies_there_126086.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Mon, 30 Mar 2015 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
							<author>Mark Salter</author>
							<description><![CDATA[As a candidate, President Obama maintained that were he elected he would pursue engagement rather than confrontation with America&rsquo;s adversaries, and effectively defended his position against accusations of naivet&#195;&#169;. Even his harshest critics must concede the president has kept his...]]></description>
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							<title><![CDATA[Putin, Merkel and Cold War Lessons]]></title>
							<link>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/02/24/putin_merkel_and_cold_war_lessons.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/02/24/putin_merkel_and_cold_war_lessons.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Tue, 24 Feb 2015 00:00:00 -0600</pubDate>
							<author>Mark Salter</author>
							<description><![CDATA[German Chancellor Angela Merkel often appears to be the steadiest and most clear-eyed European leader, especially when it comes to reining in the fiscal profligacy of EU members. So the argument she made at the Munich Security Conference earlier this month in defense of her position...]]></description>
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							<title><![CDATA[Why Iowa Caucuses Are So Un-Iowan]]></title>
							<link>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/01/27/why_iowa_caucuses_are_so_un-iowan.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/01/27/why_iowa_caucuses_are_so_un-iowan.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Tue, 27 Jan 2015 00:00:00 -0600</pubDate>
							<author>Mark Salter</author>
							<description><![CDATA[I am an Iowan, and proud to be. I was born and raised and married in the Hawkeye State. Most of my family still lives there. Although I&rsquo;ve lived on the East Coast for most of my adult life, Iowa is still the place I consider home. I return frequently, and it still feels more...]]></description>
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							<title><![CDATA[Obama's Shift on Cuba Comically Overblown]]></title>
							<link>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2014/12/31/on_cuba_obama_should_follow_vietnam_template_125102.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2014/12/31/on_cuba_obama_should_follow_vietnam_template_125102.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Wed, 31 Dec 2014 00:00:00 -0600</pubDate>
							<author>Mark Salter</author>
							<description><![CDATA[For all the media attention paid to President Obama&rsquo;s decision to &ldquo;normalize&rdquo; relations with Cuba, it&rsquo;s not entirely clear what the president can do on his own to justify all the portentous headlines.  On its face, it would seem very little.
He cannot lift the...]]></description>
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							<title><![CDATA[Hagel Didn't Deserve to Be Treated This Way]]></title>
							<link>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2014/11/26/hagel_didnt_deserve_to_be_treated_this_way_124773.html</link>
							<guid><![CDATA[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2014/11/26/hagel_didnt_deserve_to_be_treated_this_way_124773.html]]></guid>							
							<pubDate>Wed, 26 Nov 2014 00:00:00 -0600</pubDate>
							<author>Mark Salter</author>
							<description><![CDATA[No sooner had President Obama clenched soon-to-be-former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel in a farewell embrace, when assorted White House aides went to work -- anonymously, of course -- denigrating not only Hagel&rsquo;s performance in office but the personal attributes of the man their...]]></description>
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