Joseph Curl
Columns by Joseph Curl
CURL: Why Obama scandals aren’t scandals at all
Another hot summer week in Washington, another scandal for President Obama. And this one was a shocker: Turns out the president has been doing — Wait, what? Exactly what presidents have been doing since 1978? Stop the presses! Published June 9, 2013
CURL: Remember Memorial Day
Today, we'll take a break from politics to remember the men and women who have served in America's military. Today is their day. If you see a soldier, just say thanks. It's that easy. Published May 26, 2013
CURL: Benghazi is the only scandal that matters
Spoiler alert: The IRS scandal, the AP phone records scandal — they go nowhere. In September, we'll all be looking back thinking, "Huh, that was a big waste of time." It will be — in fact, it already is. Published May 19, 2013
CURL: Watch out for Petraeus in Benghazi scandal
Call it "Oval Office Couch Syndrome." By the second term "inside the bubble," presidents have completely lost touch with reality. Published May 12, 2013
CURL: Senate Democrats fleeing ‘Obamacare’
Like rats abandoning a sinking ship, Senate Democrats are furiously fleeing the coming disaster that is "Obamacare." Published May 5, 2013
CURL: After failed charm offensive, Obama back to bashing GOP
President Obama's charm offensive has been a dismal failure. Of course, he didn't really try all that hard. He bought dinner for a few Republican lawmakers, vowed to meet them halfway, but within a week — after his gun-grab bill went up in flames — he called them "liars" and stomped off in a huff, taking his ball with him. Published April 28, 2013
CURL: W outclasses Barack and Bill, without even trying
Shortly after Barack Obama was elected in 2008, a fellow reporter who'd covered President George W. Bush all eight years told me she'd had enough of the travel and stress and strain of the White House beat, that she was moving on. Published April 25, 2013
CURL: The news and social media’s not good, very bad week
Moore's Law states that computer processors double in complexity and speed every two years. A similar law applies to news: Call it the Law of More. Published April 21, 2013
CURL: The undistinguished press corps
Sometimes, the nation's reporters perform their duties to the highest degree: They root out corruption, uncover scandal, speak truth to power. But increasingly, America's "journalists" are falling well short of what the founders envisioned when they sought to ensure a democracy kept honest by a free and vibrant press. Published April 14, 2013
CURL: Obama’s 1 percent lifestyle hits a nerve
President Obama had another tough week in a second term already filled with bad news and blunders — and he's only 10 weeks in. Published April 7, 2013
CURL: The Obamas live the 1 percent life
Being president of the U.S., the most powerful man in the world, is often most about perception. But something remarkable has happened with these occupants of the White House: Neither President Obama nor first lady Michelle appear to give a damn about perception. Published March 31, 2013
CURL: No go for Joe in 2016
Joseph R. Biden took the vice presidential gig, after something like 87 years in the Senate, because he knew in his tiny heart of hearts that that was the end of the line. Published March 24, 2013
CURL: Young bucks rut on old GOP timbers
After back-to-back drubbings in presidential elections, the Grand Old Party is deep in contemplation — navel-gazing, really — over what went wrong and, more, what to do about what went wrong. Published March 17, 2013
CURL: 13 hours that changed the Republican Party
Sometimes, when you least expect it, Washington can be surprising. Published March 10, 2013
CURL: Obama just wants to watch the world burn
No one can continue to assert that President Obama is simply incompetent. Yes, he is indeed that. But that was all before the "sequester." Published March 3, 2013
CURL: ‘Unoriginal Amateur Hour,’ starring Barack Obama
Twenty-five years ago, I started out as a reporter in Prince William County, Va. Back then, a slew of young reporters were cutting their teeth in the hinterland near Washington, D.C. — John Harris, the great Washington Post reporter and editor of Politico; Pierre Thomas, also at the Post then but now senior Justice Department correspondent for ABC News; and the talented Laurie Kellman, a colleague at the Prince William Journal now on the Hill for The Associated Press. Published February 24, 2013
CURL: ‘Amateur Hour,’ starring Barack Obama
Every year, we young reporters in Prince William County would gather at the county's McCoart Administration Center for the annual budget kabuki dance. And quite a dance it was. Every year, the county staffers would ask for much more money — 9, 10, 12 percent increases. The school system, too. Sometimes, the far higher proposed spending budgets would require increases to tax rates. Teachers, union officials and county gadflies would pack the county building for the show. Published February 24, 2013
CURL: On 100th birthday, income tax still going strong
Exactly 100 years ago Sunday, on Feb. 3, 1913, Delaware became the 36th state to ratify the proposed 16th Amendment, making a nationwide income tax part of the Constitution. Published February 3, 2013
CURL: The terrifying mindset of Secretary Clinton
Her words are already long gone from the daily flow; in fact, they never really resonated at all, were all but ignored by the mainstream media, and were characterized more as a feisty in-your-face comeback than what they truly were. Published January 27, 2013
CURL: The petty partisanship of Barack Obama (Term II)
President Obama's second inaugural address turned out to be words of discord and distemper, a lengthy lecture to the half of America that opposed him Nov. 6, 2012, and an arrogant wink of the eye to the half that supported him. Published January 21, 2013
