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Stephen Dinan

Stephen Dinan

Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.

Articles by Stephen Dinan

Former President George W. Bush begins his speech, Monday, Aug. 27, 2012, during the annual Jim Blanchard Leadership Forum at the Columbus Convention and Trade Center in Columbus, Ga., Monday, Aug. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/The Ledger-Enquirer, Mike Haskey)

Republican convention seeks a break from Bush’s years

The Republican convention may occasionally dip into the weeds this week, but it will do its best to stay away from the Bushes — as in former President George W. Bush, who still casts a long shadow over the party he led for a rocky eight-year tenure. Published August 28, 2012

With New Jersey announcing their votes, Mitt Romney receives enough delegate votes to put him over the top as the Republican nomination for the next president of the United States at the Republican National Convention, Tampa, Fla., Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

Christie vouches for Romney: ‘Solutions will not be painless’

Kicking off Republicans' 2012 nominating convention with a piercing critique of American political life, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Tuesday politicians and voters alike have "become paralyzed" by an inability to live within limits, and he challenged both groups to accept that there are some promises government should not make, and cannot meet. Published August 28, 2012

** FILE ** Judson Phillips, founder of Tea Party Nation. (Associated Press)

Embracers of the Constitution are baffled by what’s really in it

They say they stand for a return to constitutional principles, but it turns out tea party supporters are just as confused as to what rights and powers are in the federal government's founding document, according to the latest The Washington Times/JZ Analytics poll. Published August 27, 2012

President Obama steps off the Marine One helicopter upon arrival on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on Sunday. His convention is next week. (Associated Press)

Obama, Romney in dead heat as voter bases stick

Heading into their nominating conventions, President Obama and Mitt Romney are dead even — down to a tenth of a percent — in the latest The Washington Times/JZ Analytics Poll, which also shows independents, the critical swing group, beginning to pick sides. Published August 26, 2012

** FILE ** In this Aug. 16, 2012, photo Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney writes on a white board as he talks about Medicare during a news conference in Greer, S.C. As they rush towards their party conventions, the rival presidential campaigns are trying to invigorate core supporters while reaching out to a sliver of undecided voters who harbor doubts about President Obama yet aren't sold on Romney. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Seniors boost Obama over fears of GOP Medicare cuts

Voters believe Mitt Romney and other Republicans are more likely to cut Medicare than President Obama and congressional Democrats, according to the latest The Washington Times/JZ Analytics survey, released Sunday. Published August 26, 2012

Joel Jimenez (right) and Issac Page remove an awning outside the Tampa Convention Center, which will serve as the media center for the Republican National Convention, in Tampa, Fla., on Sunday, Aug. 26, 2012. Precautions were being taken in anticipation of Tropical Storm Isaac. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

GOP packs events into three days

It's not as if Republicans didn't see this storm coming. In fact, Tampa, where the GOP is preparing to gather for its quadrennial nominating convention, previously was rejected for exactly this reason. Published August 26, 2012

** FILE ** Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, left, and convention CEO William Harris unveil the stage and podium for the 2012 Republican National Convention, Monday, Aug. 20, 2012, at the Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Scott Iskowitz)

GOP cancels first day of convention as storm Isaac approaches

With a hurricane poised to creep along the Florida coast over the next few days, Republicans on Saturday canceled the first night of their nominating convention, slated for Monday, and said they'll pick up on Tuesday. Published August 25, 2012

Republican Rep. Lamar Smith, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is charging that the Obama administration has “falsified” deportation records to artificially boost numbers by adding Border Patrol apprehensions to the total. (Associated Press)

Deportation statistics said to be inflated

The Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee is charging that the Obama administration has "falsified" deportation records to artificially boost numbers — a move critics of the Homeland Security Department have long suspected. Published August 23, 2012

Retiring Rep. Ron Paul will hold a “We Are the Future” rally Sunday in Florida, where he promises a “speech the Republican National Convention doesn’t want the rest of America to hear.” (Associated Press)

In Paul they trust as he leaves political stage

One way to measure Rep. Ron Paul's ascendance as a political player is to compare the cold shoulder he got from rival Republican presidential candidate John McCain in 2008 with the cozier embrace he has received from 2012 presumptive nominee Mitt Romney. Published August 23, 2012

The Capitol building in Washington, D.C. (Associated Press)

Deferring on budget no longer an option, CBO says

Congress' chief scorekeeper warned Wednesday that the country's top lawmakers can't continue to put off big decisions on the budget and the economy much longer, and said either path — belt-tightening now or even deeper cuts later — will be painful. Published August 22, 2012

**FILE** Members of the group Casa de Maryland rally June 15, 2012, outside the White House in Washington to support President Obama's announcement that the U.S. government will stop deporting and begin granting work permits to younger illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children and have since led law-abiding lives. (Associated Press)

Obama’s immigration move gives states spending and ID headaches

President Obama's new non-deportation policy has thrown many of the thorniest immigration questions back into states' laps, as governors and legislators now must decide whether to issue driver's licenses or allow in-state tuition at public colleges to the illegal immigrants who will be given an iffy legal status. Published August 16, 2012

**FILE** Mark McAfee (right), founder of Fresno, Calif.-based Organic Pastures Dairy, leads a Nov. 1, 2011, protest in front of the Food and Drug Administration headquarters in Silver Spring, Md., against the FDA's ban on interstate transport of raw milk. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

Activists to take on Capitol Hill: Lay off our milk, lemonade

Milk and lemonade may seem like the staples of youthful innocence, but on Saturday a group of activists hope to turn them into the tools of protests when they take to the Capitol to demand the government stop interfering in sales of fresh milk and stop shutting down kids' lemonade stands. Published August 16, 2012

Attendees of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, North America 2012, conference check out one of the exhibits displayed inside the exhibition hall of the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Nev., on Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2012. (Martin S. Fuentes/Special to The Washington Times)

Police chiefs adopt drone code of conduct

The nation's police chiefs have adopted a code of conduct for their use of drones, including letting any images captured by unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, be open to inspection by the public, and that the images not be stored unless they are evidence of a crime or part of an ongoing investigation. Published August 16, 2012

“The president seems to be running just to hang on to power. I think he’ll do anything in his power to try and get re-elected. These personal attacks, I think, are demeaning to the office of the White House.” — Mitt Romney (Associated Press)

Romney seeks to elevate tone of debate

Flashing anger at the direction the presidential campaign has taken, Mitt Romney on Wednesday challenged President Obama to elevate the debate after a month in which Democratic operatives and the Obama campaign charged Mr. Romney was a felon and connected him to a woman's cancer death. Published August 15, 2012

**FILE** Members of the group Casa de Maryland rally June 15, 2012, outside the White House in Washington to support President Obama's announcement that the U.S. government will stop deporting and begin granting work permits to younger illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children and have since led law-abiding lives. (Associated Press)

Obama is ready to sign up immigrants

More than 1.7 million illegal immigrants could become eligible for tentative legal status Wednesday when President Obama's non-deportation policy goes into effect, and after initial fears that the program would backfire, immigrant advocates are urging young immigrants to sign up. Published August 14, 2012

Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan of Wisconsin makes an appearance Aug. 13, 2012, at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa. (Associated Press)

Ryan sparks split on immigration

Rep. Paul Ryan could be Mitt Romney's olive branch to voters who want to see illegal immigrants gain legal status, with the Wisconsin Republican having repeatedly backed legalization efforts and cast himself in the mold of former President George W. Bush, who fought a battle with his own party on the issue. Published August 13, 2012

**FILE** Rep. Duncan Hunter, California Republican (Associated Press)

Congressman: Medal of Honor system broken

A Marine combat veteran who now serves on the House Armed Services Committee said Monday that in at least two recent cases, the system for evaluating Medal of Honor nominations has gone awry, and he blamed bureaucratic infighting for keeping one of the men from a fair appraisal. Published August 13, 2012

**FILE** Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. speaks July 26, 2012, in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington. (Associated Press)

GOP sues to force Obama, Holder compliance on Fast and Furious

A civil lawsuit filed Monday by House Republicans asks a federal court to enforce a congressional subpoena of Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. in his refusal to turn over documents sought in an investigation by a House committee into the failed Fast and Furious gunrunning operation. Published August 13, 2012