John Peeler: Joining the conservative chorus against Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the federally sponsored mortgage giants, Gingrich has had trouble explaining his receipt of $1.8 million over several years as a consultant to Freddie Mac.
About John Peeler
John Peeler is a retired professor of political science at Bucknell University, specializing in Latin American and international affairs. His op-ed essays have appeared in The Christian Science Monitor and USA Today, as well as many in local papers in central Pennsylvania where he lives. He has had letters published in both the New York Times and the Washington Post.
Nittany Lion Country: Gut-Check Time
November 15, 2011 By
John Peeler: We are Penn State if we have ever been part of an organization that chose to keep a scandal quiet and in-house, rather than reporting it to the authorities.
The GOP Campaign: It Would Be Funny If It Weren’t So Serious
November 15, 2011 By
John Peeler: So now they’re left with, of all people, Newt Gingrich! This man has so much baggage he needs a train to haul it.
Shock and Awe versus Aw Shucks: Taking Out the Bad Guys
October 23, 2011 By
John Peeler: Obama has set a major contrast in style and strategy with George W. Bush: he does not grandstand, he does not order massive military interventions. He doesn’t question Bush’s commitments, but he set up the rules of engagement and the negotiating positions to allow him to dial them back.
What Occupy Wall Street Can Learn from the Tea Party
October 22, 2011 By
John Peeler: Occupy Wall Street has an opportunity here to develop the kind of clout that the Tea Party has, but to do it they will have to be every bit as hard-nosed and disciplined.
Obama Betrays the EPA
September 5, 2011 By
John Peeler: In what has become a pattern for Obama, he backed down, adopted the essentials of the Republican argument, and left his own EPA Director swinging in the wind.
Arab Spring: The Kings and the Presidents
August 25, 2011 By
John Peeler: Just as with the fall of the Soviet Bloc in Eastern Europe, success in Tunisia encouraged protesters elsewhere; success in the most important Arab state, Egypt, meant that success was conceivable anywhere.
Obama vs. Boehner: Point Guard and Linebacker
August 12, 2011 By
John Peeler: Obama dribbles across mid-court, fakes left, moves right, deftly avoids Boehner’s attempted steal, and goes in for a lay-up. Boehner cuts him off at the knees, grabs the loose ball and runs it back for a touchdown.
Americans Elect?
July 28, 2011 By
John Peeler: Disillusioned liberals ought to know that if this effort takes off, it is very likely to siphon votes away from Obama and facilitate a complete Republican takeover of the federal government.
Lost Decade?
July 13, 2011 By
John Peeler: One of the most striking features of our current global economic morass is that many Third World economies are weathering the crisis rather well, while the supposed leaders of the world economy (the United States, the European Union, the Japanese) are in deep trouble that looks to get deeper.
Reimagining Capitalism: An End to Mythologies
July 7, 2011 By
John Peeler: The economy, like the polity, ought to be democratically controlled. Democracy should operate at the level of the firm as well as the community: employees should be owners.
Facing Pakistan After Bin Laden
May 9, 2011 By
John Peeler: We cannot say that Pakistan is two-faced: that would imply a degree of unity that does not square with what we know about that country. Pakistan has many faces because no one is fully in control.
Obama Takes Out Osama
May 3, 2011 By
John Peeler: Obama may not much like war, but he has shown that if he believes he must wage it, he intends to win it. Liberals who were hostile to the Iraq war, skeptical of the Afghanistan war, and dubious about the Libyan intervention will find little comfort here.
What’s Obama’s Game in Libya?
April 11, 2011 By
John Peeler: It’s just possible that things are going pretty much as the administration intends. That is, Qaddafi’s position is deteriorating, he will ultimately fall, and Obama’s fingerprints will not be on the deed.