May 07 Gwen’s Take: The Politics of Panic By Gwen Ifill It felt as if everyone was rushing to the ramparts this week. From Times Square to the Gulf Coast to Greece and Wall Street, the world has seemed positively out of breath. Part of the reason, of… Continue reading
Apr 30 Gwen’s Take: ‘Washington Rhetoric: The Decoder’ By Gwen Ifill Emotion. Fear. Guilt. Racism. These drivers, according to former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson, are the four horsemen of a rhetorical apocalypse that stops things from getting done in Washington. "Those are the four things I find in my time… Continue reading
Apr 16 Gwen’s Take: Debating the Debate By Gwen Ifill I got a lot of mail this week, almost all of it online, and much of it angry. The reason? I tried to tell both sides of a story. The occasion was our PBS NewsHour "Spotlight Series" in Tampa, Florida. Continue reading
Apr 09 Gwen’s Take: Looking Anew at the Rise of President Obama By Gwen Ifill When The Washington Post asked me to review David Remnick's new book "The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama," I quickly said yes. As someone who spends my days trying to peer inside, through and around national… Continue reading
Mar 26 Gwen’s Take: Translating the History of Health Reform By Gwen Ifill I have a little hobby as a journalist. I love to listen to how people use words. That sounds simpler than it is. It requires the listener to be skeptical rather than cynical, yet to cheerfully expose the meaning behind… Continue reading
Mar 19 Gwen’s Take: Health Care Deadlines, Schmedlines… By Gwen Ifill "If you don't set deadlines in this town, things don't happen.The default position is inertia."- President Barack Obama July 22, 2009We enter another weekend with yet another health care deadline hanging low on Washington's horizon. It will… Continue reading
Mar 12 Gwen’s Take: Washington Press Corps Being Distracted by ‘Squirrels!’ By Gwen Ifill I loved the movie "Up." I would have given it my Oscar party vote for Best Picture if I hadn't seen (and loved) "The Hurt Locker." But the part of "Up" that makes me laugh out loud every… Continue reading