The Thirteen Lessons of 2013

By David K. Shipler

            1. Every solution creates at least one new problem. (Obamacare.)

            2. The natural alternative to autocracy is more autocracy, not democracy. (Egypt.)

            3. The initial result of revolution is anarchy. (Syria, Libya.)

4. Radical ideas can survive the ballot box. (Tea Party.)

5. The threat of compromise is less satisfying than the threat of warfare. (Iran, Israel.)

6. Racism is animated, not eliminated, by electing a black president. (Obama.)

Why is the United States Too Big to Fail?

By David K. Shipler

It’s not our fault. We can’t help it that others are less worthy, with flawed values, weak currencies, lame economies, oppressive politics, and anemic militaries. We Americans can hardly be held responsible for being “exceptional,” a relative term, after all. It’s no badge of honor to be exceptional in such a world, I’ll tell you.

If you want to blame us, blame us for being too good. Blame us for being the land of opportunity and justice and unbridled freedom, for being a frontier on which the humblest masses can carve prosperous futures. Blame us for doing battle for human rights and personal dignity around the globe. Blame us for thinking up solutions and then putting them into action. Blame us for winning all those Nobel Prizes every year.

And if you believe all that—if you see our Nobel brilliance and don’t recognize our political ignorance—it's not our fault. It’s the fault of those who imagine an America too beautiful to exist. It’s the fault of those who think—or who once thought—that everything that we have said about ourselves is true. It’s the fault of those around the world who desperately yearn for us to be a perfect beacon, and who feel lost and frightened when the light dims and flickers. People hate us when we fail to be what they want us to be. They need heroes.

Taxes and Politics: The IRS Befuddled

By David K. Shipler

            The Internal Revenue Service looks more befuddled than partisan when it comes to enforcing the federal prohibition against mixing political activity with the benefits of tax-exemption—a concept introduced into law in 1954 by Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson to help himself in a tough reelection campaign.

In practice, the statute has been widely ignored, even as conservative churches have made repeated efforts for years to provoke the IRS into withdrawing their tax-exempt status so they could challenge the law’s constitutionality in court. In the run-up to the election last fall, right-wing preachers denounced President Obama from the pulpit, endorsed conservative candidates, and urged parishioners to campaign and vote against politicians who favor abortion rights and same-sex marriage—and publicized their sermons widely to spark a reaction.

It hasn’t worked. The IRS has not taken the bait, at least so far, and the recent tempest makes it even less likely that the agency will gather its courage in the face of a well-organized conservative movement.

The Other Argument For Gay Marriage

By David K. Shipler

Government has no business telling people whom they can marry. It’s as simple as that, and why most small-government Tea Partiers and other conservatives don’t see it is one of those vexing mysteries of hypocritical politics.

President Obama did not make that argument when he finally completed his circular “evolution” of 16 years and returned to where he had stood in 1996, when he had said, “I favor legalizing same-sex marriages.” Yesterday, he declared on ABC, “Same-sex couples should be able to get married.”

It seems that he has finally come around to accepting his own opinion. That’s what integrity looks like. Now let’s see if he can lead some of the Americans on the other side to accept it as well.