Commentary: Honoring the First American on Constitution Day

In Philadelphia 235 years ago today, 39 delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed the U.S. Constitution. Eleven years had passed since the Declaration of Independence was adopted, and this historic event marked an important milestone for our remarkable experiment in self-government.

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Commentary: The East Slams the West’s Climate ‘Colonialism’

Narendra Modi

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent explosive comments about Western elites and their notions about climate policy are not surprising to anyone who has been closely observing the opposition of India and China to western pressure for policies contrary to the two countries’ economic objectives.

“The colonial mindset hasn’t gone,” Modi said at a Constitution Day event. “We are seeing from developed nations that the path that made them developed is being closed for developing nations . . . If we talk about absolute cumulative [carbon] emissions, rich nations have emitted 15 times more from 1850 till now . . . The per capita emission is also 11 times more in the U.S. and the EU.”

Senior ministers in the past have called out the colonial nature of climate politics. This is the first time, however, that Modi has publicly recalled in this context the colonialism of the 18th and 19th centuries, when Western countries denied basic rights and autonomy to India and other colonies.

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Sens. Gary Peters, John Kennedy Celebrate U.S. Senate’s Passage of Resolution Marking Sept. 11-17 as Patriot Week

U.S. Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and John Kennedy (R-LA) applauded Senate passage of their  bipartisan resolution designating Sept. 11-17 as Patriot Week.

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