Huffington Post 09/06/2012 By Michael Shank Being here in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the 2012 Democratic National Convention, having watched the Republican National Convention religiously on television, one thing that is explicitly different between the two national conventions is the diversity of delegates. Walking the convention hallways, the arena stairways, […]
Huffington Post 08/23/2012 By Michael Shank In pursuing politics in Washington, and as a former senior congressional staffer, I am the odd one out in my extended family: many, if not most, of my relatives are farmers, preachers or teachers. At family reunions, consequently, like the one I recently returned […]
Huffington Post 08/13/2012 Al Jazeera 08/21/2012 By Michael Shank Look past the boyish, small-town Wisconsin charm, the incredible commitment to physical fitness, and the impressive clarity in communicating fiscal conservatism, and what does America get with the Paul Ryan vice president pick? Having served as a senior policy advisor to […]
Huffington Post 08/10/2012 By Michael Shank On the heels of the Sikh Temple shooting in Wisconsin, the U.S. Department of Education is hosting its third annual Federal Partners in Bullying Prevention Summit this week, which is fortuitously timed and desperately needed. Without question, the alleged Sikh temple shooter, Wade Michael […]
Huffington Post 07/27/2012 By Michael Shank One week after the Aurora theater shootings in Colorado and our government has been utterly lackluster in its response. Will Americans be safer going forward? Likely not. Why? Because while President Barack Obama has mentioned that assault weapons belong in the hands of US […]
Huffington Post 07/20/2012 Al Jazeera 07/21/2012 By Michael Shank Why must the tragic Colorado theater shootings stimulate a debate on more than mere gun control? Not simply because, or however remarkable the fact that, violent mass killings — whether in Columbine, Virginia Tech or now Aurora — tend to have […]
Huffington Post 06/04/2012 By Michael Shank CBS News’ 60 Minutes recently produced a show about Turkish Muslim scholar Fethullah Gulen, spurred by concern about the so-called Hizmet movement’s alleged connection to a growing network of high performing and nationally ranked charter schools in the U.S. These schools rank in Newsweek’s […]
Huffington Post 06/01/2012 By Michael Shank and US Congressman Michael Honda (D-CA) With NATO’s recent meeting in Chicago building consensus on critical next steps vis-a-vis anticipated withdrawals and deadlines, discussion of the development agenda post-withdrawal in Afghanistan must not slip from our radar screen. The truth is that development in […]
Huffington Post 05/23/2012 By Michael Shank Recent Istanbul negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 and this week’s Baghdad negotiations have tempered, albeit temporarily, the cry for war. It was close under President George W. Bush, who rallied regime-changers to invade, but it is worse now. The Pentagon publicly prepares plans, […]
Huffington Post 05/14/2012 By Michael Shank Republican Sen. Richard Lugar joins the ranks this month of his ousted moderate colleagues and predecessors, from former Sens. Chuck Hagel and Lincoln Chafee to former Reps. Wayne Gilchrest, Chris Shays and Sherwood Boehlert. Frankly, it is a little depressing. Wait, more than a […]