"We live in an era when stark choices define our political decision making. Choose any side on a list of issues we hear about often. Tax cuts versus spending programs, immigrant rights or migrant criminals, and the continued war or immediate withdrawal.
There, you weighed in. You might feel better, but even if the solution you picked were imposed, would it really solve the problem? Not likely.
But the sharp tone of our political discourse masks the complexity of nearly every problem. If you look beyond the headlines or news sound bites, you quickly discover that there are consequences, good, bad and terrible, associated with what choice the nation makes. Governing is not always about the best decision, but looking for ways to avoid total calamity.
Consider the recent visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao. The narrative of his visit to Seattle was mostly about the prospects for a golden era for trade, a sentence or two of human rights added for effect. But as Hu traveled to Washington, D.C., the story advanced to one about the imbalance in that same trading relationship."
Get the Story:
Mark Trahant: Few easy choices in dealing with Saudis
(The Seattle Post-Intelligencer 4/30)
More Mark Trahant:
Mark Trahant: Hope for the best, plan for the
worst (4/24)
Trahant: We should decide
how our taxes are spent (4/17)
Mark
Trahant: Entering the immigration debate (4/3)
Mark Trahant: America is a blending of cultures
(3/27)
Mark Trahant: Unsaid debates
dominate agenda (3/20)
Mark Trahant:
Bush and human rights in Pakistan (3/13)
Mark Trahant: Hank Adams, Indian visionary
(3/6)
Mark Trahant: Health care spending
on the rise (2/27)
Mark Trahant: Future
taxpayers will cough up dough (2/13)
Mark Trahant: Sooner or later, America will go
broke (2/6)
Mark Trahant: Bush will tell
us everything is great (1/30)
Mark
Trahant: Abramoff turning into blame the Indians (1/23)
Mark Trahant: Cultural changes come, some slowly
(1/9)
Mark Trahant: Starting new year
off with correction (1/4)
Mark Trahant:
How about a coin for Vine Deloria? (12/19)
Mark Trahant: The really great state of the economy
(12/12)
Mark Trahant: America's numbers
don't add up (12/5)
Mark Trahant: Few
writers as powerful as Deloria (11/21)
Mark Trahant: Media sometimes isn't fair
(11/14)
Mark Trahant: No one wants to talk
about immigration (11/7)
Mark Trahant:
The ultimate power of the Fed (10/31)
Mark Trahant: Is there no trust in the government?
(10/24)
Mark Trahant: The next pick for
Federal Reserve job (10/10)
Mark
Trahant: I was wrong about voting by mail (9/26)
Mark Trahant: Rebuilding New Orleans, a unique city
(9/19)
Mark Trahant: Katrina testing
limits of charity (9/12)
Mark Trahant:
Democracy an unfinished experiment (08/29)
Mark Trahant: You write the news, you pick it
(8/15)
Mark Trahant: Tribal stories
don't matter to science (8/8)
Mark
Trahant: Congress focuses on real issues (8/1)
Mark Trahant: Judicial debate conceals big issue
(7/25)
Mark Trahant: Wasting time at
work can be productive (7/18)
Mark
Trahant: Appoint Indian to U.S. Supreme Court (7/11)
Mark Trahant: Readers offer junk mail solutions
(06/20)
Mark Trahant: Junk mail invades
home, office (6/13)
Mark Trahant: Social
Security needs new compact (6/6)
Mark
Trahant: Readers upset over military cartoon (5/30)
Mark Trahant: Healing the world with totem poles
(5/23)
Mark Trahant: We're all as young
as we feel (5/16)
Mark Trahant: Social
Security debate masks failures (5/9)
Mark Trahant: Public sees bias in the news media
(5/2)
Mark Trahant: Few salmon left for
tribal ceremonies (4/25)
Mark Trahant:
Tax system unfair and complicated (4/18)
Mark Trahant: Our nation must pay its own tax bill
(4/11)
Mark Trahant: Latest numbers on
economy scare me (4/4)
Mark Trahant:
C-SPAN just as important today (3/28)
Mark Trahant: Does democracy mean supporting Bush?
(3/21)
Mark Trahant: Academic freedom
for Churchill too? (03/07)
Mark Trahant:
Journalism more interactive than before (2/28)
Mark Trahant: Social Security debate all about 'me'
(2/21)
Mark Trahant: Social Security
push ignores big issue (2/14)
Mark
Trahant: Human beings only react during crisis (2/7)
Mark Trahant: Election tales usually one-sided
(1/31)
Trahant: Public school system not
good enough (01/24)
Mark Trahant: Three
cheers for the First Amendment (01/10)
Mark Trahant: Did my vote count? Did yours?
(12/20)
Mark Trahant: Bush plan leaves no
room for salmon (12/13)
Mark Trahant:
Two friendly faces on the news (11/29)
Mark Trahant: Mainstream media doesn't matter
(11/22)
Mark Trahant: Do political
endorsements matter? (11/8)
Mark
Trahant: So what happens after the election? (11/1)
Mark Trahant: Vote early and avoid campaign sleaze
(10/25)
Mark Trahant: Congress should
abide by laws too (10/18)
Mark Trahant:
Election changing as we speak (10/11)
Mark Trahant: NMAI must change the story
(09/27)
Mark Trahant: Media's view of
elections should change (09/20)
Mark
Trahant: What happened to Pakistan? bin Laden? (09/13)
Mark Trahant: Payroll tax not fair to all Americans
(8/23)
Mark Trahant: Bush's answer was
slightly better (8/9)
Audio: Bush
explains meaning of tribal sovereignty (8/6)
Mark Trahant: The one that didn't get away
(08/02)
Mark Trahant: Living in a world of
easy credit (7/26)
Mark Trahant:
Congress still stealing Indian land (07/12)
Mark Trahant: Raising the next peace generation
(7/6)
Mark Trahant: How far does
'terrorist' definition go? (6/28)
Mark
Trahant: The big five-oh a good time to reflect (6/21)
Mark Trahant: Ordinary Reagan was extraordinary
(06/14)
Mark Trahant: Indian girls team had
game back in 1900s (06/07)
Mark Trahant:
Voice mail filled with views on Iraqi war (05/17)
Mark Trahant: A familiar story of cultural
change (03/22)
Mark Trahant: One
Indian in Senate is wrong number (03/08)
Mark Trahant: Division marked another major war
too (2/23)
Mark Trahant: We're still
fighting the Cold War (01/26)
Trahant: Selling democracy to Indian
Country (11/17)
Trahant: Can't trust
Uncle Sam with Indian money (11/10)
Mark Trahant: Bush needs to note success and
failure (10/20)
Mark Trahant:
Technology and the news world (09/29)
Mark Trahant: Preparing for the unthinkable
(09/22)
Trahant: When tribes succeed,
someone changes rules (09/1)
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