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History News Network

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Week of October 7, 2013

#1 Obama, the Debt, and the 14th Amendment
by Sean Wilentz

Actually, the 14th Amendment DOES give the president the power to raise the debt ceiling.

NEW YORK TIMES


#2 Stalin: The Tyrant as Editor
by Holly Case

Stalin wasn't just a ruthless dictator -- he was a damn effective editor.

CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION


#3 The Shutdown Is a Sideshow. Debt Is the Threat
by Niall Ferguson

An entitlement-driven disaster looms for America, yet Washington persists with its game of Russian roulette.

WALL STREET JOURNAL


#4 Defaming the Cold Warriors
by Conrad Black

Returning to Diana West's book, American Betrayal.

NATIONAL REVIEW


#5 Tea Party Tactics Lead Straight Back to Secession
by Stephen Mihm

Forget the Confederacy -- look the nullification crisis for a way out of this mess.

BLOOMBERG


#6 The Moderates Who Lighted the Gingrich Fuse
by Geoffrey Kabaservice

How GOP moderates enabled the Tea Party takeover.

NEW YORK TIMES


#7 Republicans on the Wrong Side of History
by Timothy Egan

The die is cast. They wrecked the car, dug their own grave; no matter what you call it, history’s verdict came early.

NEW YORK TIMES


#8 Five Things Bill O’Reilly Flubs in "Killing Jesus"
by Candida Moss

The Holy Spirit may have inspired "Killing Jesus," but he didn’t fact-check it.

CNN


#9 Erdogan Stokes the Sectarian Fires
by Halil M. Karaveli

Turkey was supposed to be the stable Middle East partner of the West. No more.

NEW YORK TIMES


#10 Nazis, Lynching and Obamacare
by Frank Bruni

How absolutely bonkers -- yet how unsurprising -- our political analogies have come to this.

NEW YORK TIMES