<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss" xmlns:geo="http://www.w3.org/2003/01/geo/wgs84_pos#" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>IdeasCategory: Opinion &#124; Ideas &#124; TIME.com</title>
	<atom:link href="http://ideas.time.com/category/opinion/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://ideas.time.com</link>
	<description>Essential Insights. Great Debates. Informed Opinions.</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:56:00 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<language>en</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
	<generator>http://wordpress.com/</generator>
<cloud domain='ideas.time.com' port='80' path='/?rsscloud=notify' registerProcedure='' protocol='http-post' />
<image>
		<url>http://0.gravatar.com/blavatar/4a5a5789fb6022cca3cfc269d8bcb536?s=96&#038;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs2.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.png</url>
		<title>IdeasCategory: Opinion &#124; Ideas &#124; TIME.com</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com</link>
	</image>
	<atom:link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="http://ideas.time.com/osd.xml" title="Ideas" />
	<atom:link rel='hub' href='http://ideas.time.com/?pushpress=hub'/>
		<item>
		<title>Fareed Zakaria: Be Open, Be Optimistic, Speak Up</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2013/05/11/fareed-zakaria-be-open-be-optimistic-speak-up/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2013/05/11/fareed-zakaria-be-open-be-optimistic-speak-up/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 11 May 2013 13:45:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Fareed Zakaria</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[U.S.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[commencement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fareed Zakaria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[future]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[graduation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=32352</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Fareed Zakaria, TIME editor-at-large and host of Fareed Zakaria GPS on CNN, delivered the following commencement address at the University of Oklahoma&#8216;s graduation ceremony on Friday evening, in Norman, Okla.  President Boren, Trustees, Members of the Faculty, Parents, Friends, and most importantly, Members of the Class of 2013, Congratulations. You made it and now we’re gathered here to mark the occasion and celebrate the moment. Congratulations. And thank you. Thank you for inviting me to be part of these celebrations. I’m honored and delighted. I’ve been to a few of these back east but they tend to be somewhat smaller affairs. Everything seems bigger in the Great Plains. You know, you might have invited me thinking that you were getting this global affairs guy with an exotic name and foreign background. In fact, I’m a local — of sorts. My wife’s grandfather, Marvin Dumas Henley, was born in Bluejacket, Oklahoma in 1897. He remembered attending the statehood parade in 1907.  He received two degrees from this university and practiced medicine in Tulsa until he died in 1972. My wife’s mother, Joan Henley Throckmorton, lived in many cities around the world. But for much of her life, she wrote a weekly column for the Tulsa World, keeping them informed of what was going on out there. So you see, I’m basically a Sooner — and very proud to have an association with this great state and this great school. (MORE: Graduation Day: 5 Steps to a Great Career) Those of you who are entering the “real world” — I’m never quite sure why we call it that, as if reading and thinking and making friends isn’t real — may be apprehensive. This seems a tough time to leave the comfortable confines of university life. The American economy is in a sluggish recovery from a deep and wrenching recession. Unemployment remains high. And there is a widespread sense that we have entered a new world. Technology is making old jobs obsolete and foreign competitors are taking the new ones.  Meanwhile, our politics in Washington are<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=32352&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2013/05/11/fareed-zakaria-be-open-be-optimistic-speak-up/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Education</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/u-s/education/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/graduate.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/graduate.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/graduate.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Graduate</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/eaeda6e65b66ef6d8071a508ca25bfca?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timecontributor</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>There are Sex Slaves All Over the U.S.  Right Now.</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2013/05/09/cleveland-viewpoint-there-are-sex-slaves-all-over-the-u-s-right-now/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2013/05/09/cleveland-viewpoint-there-are-sex-slaves-all-over-the-u-s-right-now/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 09 May 2013 16:02:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Belinda Luscombe</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[American Cities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crime]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life & Style]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Society]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[U.S.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Amanda Berry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ariel Castro]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cleveland abductions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gina DeJesus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Michelle Knight]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sexual abuse]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=32259</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[People who deprive young girls of their freedom for years and years are obviously crazy sickos who need to be put away for life. Nobody’s going to argue about that. Except that for most of history, treating women like they’re ownable was the normal thing to do. In many places in the world, it’s still the normal thing to do. And although they don&#8217;t always get the coverage that Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight are receiving, women are being held against their will all the time in the U.S. (MORE: The Mind of the Kidnap Victim: How They Endure and Recover) About a month before the voluble Charles Ramsey (who turns out to have been a repeat domestic abuser) was helping to kick down the door to free Berry and her daughter, Julio Cesar Revolorio Ramos of Adelphi, Md., was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison for sex trafficking a 15-year-old girl. He was part of a multi-state kidnapping and prostitution ring that has victimized hundreds of women and girls since at least 2008. And then in New York on April 30, just a week before the Ohio case, seven women were freed when another prostitution ring was broken up and 13 people arrested. Most of the women had been trafficked through Mexico, typically by men whom they believed at the time to be their boyfriends. The U.S. attorneys prosecuting the case allege that the women were beaten, threatened with physical harm to them and their family, sexually assaulted, and verbally abused if they declined to have sex with strangers for money. Or sometimes even if they didn&#8217;t. This doesn’t sound all that different from what we know about what happened in Ohio, or in Austria (twice!), or in Utah, or in California or in any of the high profile cases where girls have been kidnapped and held captive for long periods. But unless you’ve been looking, you may not have heard about the rescued prostitutes, even though their story is arguably a bigger one. According to the<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=32259&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2013/05/09/cleveland-viewpoint-there-are-sex-slaves-all-over-the-u-s-right-now/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Crime</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/u-s/crime-u-s/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/ide-abduction-130507.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/ide-abduction-130507.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/ide-abduction-130507.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Well wishers gather at Gina DeJesus&#039; home in Cleveland, Ohio, in anticipation of her homecoming, May 7, 2013.</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/d2931913f0335d21416a74173a6a7f9d?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">blandnotblond</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>&#8220;You Will Run Again&#8221;: Top Commentary on Boston Marathon Bombing</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2013/04/19/you-will-run-again-top-commentary-on-boston-marathon-bombing/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2013/04/19/you-will-run-again-top-commentary-on-boston-marathon-bombing/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 19 Apr 2013 14:17:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Erin Skarda</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bombings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Boston marathon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[explosions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marathon]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=31486</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The explosions that rocked the Boston Marathon on April 15 left the country reeling. While investigators apprehend the suspects, commenters have taken to the web to provide insight on what the bombings mean for America. Did we miss one? Share the opinions that caught your attention this week in the comment section.  “The Saudi Marathon Man” in The New Yorker Who: Amy Davidson, senior editor at The New Yorker The Idea: As police searched for a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing, one Saudi man was heavily guarded at the hospital. Later, federal officials would search his home and interview his roommate. Finally, a day later, officials announced that he was not a suspect, but a witness. “What made them suspect him?” asks Davidson. “Was it just the way he looked, or did he, in the chaos maybe call for God with a name that someone found strange?” We get so close to being selfless, compassionate and unafraid in times of tragedy, Davidson says, but then we profile people without caution. “What’s missing?” Davidson asks. “Is it humility?” Sum-it-up Quote: “The bombing could, for all we know, be the work of a Saudi man—or an American or an Icelandic or a person from any nation you can think of. It still won’t mean that this Saudi man can be treated the way he was &#8230; It is at these moments that we need to be most careful, not least.” (MORE: Cover Story—Horror and Heroism) “The Boston Marathon Bombing: Keep Calm and Carry On” on The Atlantic Who: Bruce Schneier, security expert and author The Idea: The hard truth about events like the Boston bombings is that “we will never be 100-percent safe from terrorism,” Schneier says.  “We need to accept that.” Instead of exaggerating the threats that terrorists pose to our nation, we should “refuse to be terrorized.” It’s a tough thing to do, Schneier admits, but terrorist attacks are still “rare” — “something that almost never happens.” It’s important for citizens to keep that in perspective, he says. “Criminal masterminds<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=31486&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2013/04/19/you-will-run-again-top-commentary-on-boston-marathon-bombing/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Opinion</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/opinion/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/marathon.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/marathon.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/marathon.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Boston marathon memorial</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cf417fee1f6d1faf35c3c14556bcd432?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">erinleighskarda</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Stop Telling Me I&#8217;ll &#8220;Change My Mind&#8221; About Wanting Kids</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2013/04/17/stop-telling-me-ill-change-my-mind-about-wanting-kids/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2013/04/17/stop-telling-me-ill-change-my-mind-about-wanting-kids/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Apr 2013 09:45:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jen Kirkman</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Children]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life & Style]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[birthrate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[childless by choice]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[children]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kids]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[parenting]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=31318</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As a woman of a certain age — and really ever since I hit puberty and my baby-making parts were suddenly subject to public debate — I’ve been told over and over again that I will “change my mind” about not wanting kids. I have been told this by friends (who also once insisted I would change my mind about being a vegetarian and loving Morrissey — they’ve gotten over that) and by random strangers at comedy clubs after they just paid good money to laugh at my stand-up routine where I say, “I can’t have another person running around the house who is more helpless than me.” Once, at a friend’s wedding, I was cornered by another guest and forced to answer the question, “Well, what would happen if you accidentally got pregnant?” She was implying that under that circumstance, I would have to change my mind. A passing acquaintance, at a wedding, was basically confronting me about whether I would choose abortion over my silly little lifelong commitment to not raising children, you know, if push came to shove. (MORE: Caitlin Flanagan: What About the Children?) I was livid. More than livid, I was embarrassed. I understand the pressure from parents who want to become grandparents, but from another woman, it&#8217;s bullying, plain and simple. Asking questions about why I don’t want kids is really none of your business, but at least it’s a dialogue. Telling me straight up that I will “change my mind” because you are so sure that I will suddenly realize one day that my decision is the wrong one — that’s not only rude, it’s an attack. And think about how painful that kind of statement might be to a woman who can’t have kids, and who has thus far been politely humoring you so she can get another glass of white wine before they shut down the open bar? You can see this bullying in the media coverage of those who are “childfree by choice” (which sounds like a dull and defensive name<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=31318&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2013/04/17/stop-telling-me-ill-change-my-mind-about-wanting-kids/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Family</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/life-style/family/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/1500_id_kids_toys_0417.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/1500_id_kids_toys_0417.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/1500_id_kids_toys_0417.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Toy horses</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/eaeda6e65b66ef6d8071a508ca25bfca?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timecontributor</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Top Opinions of the Week : April 6–12</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2013/04/13/top-opinions-of-the-week-april-6-12/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2013/04/13/top-opinions-of-the-week-april-6-12/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 13 Apr 2013 12:30:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Erin Skarda</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[budget]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[college admissions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gun control]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Margaret Thatcher]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[President Obama]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=30784</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[“The Great Gun Control Fizzle” on Politico Who: Rich Lowry, editor of the National Review The Idea: Despite the president’s strong push for stringent gun control laws, public opinion is moving the opposite direction. Again, Lowry says, the president is “hopelessly detached as a legislative mechanic and ineffectual as a shaper of public opinion.” While the proposed legislation focuses on “trying to keep guns out of the hands of common criminals,” that isn’t going to prevent events like Newtown, Lowry says. All-in-all, the president’s push for gun control looks “like a complete fizzle.” Sum-it-up Quote: “Gun control always founders on the fundamental paradox that it is possible to write new laws for the law-abiding but difficult or impossible to reach criminals who don’t care about the laws.” (MORE: Should Parents Ask Other Parents About Guns in the Home?) “Margaret Thatcher and Misapplied Death Etiquette” in The Guardian Who: Glenn Greenwald, columnist The Idea: The death of Margaret Thatcher brought the Iron Lady’s advocates and critics out of the woodwork — and both sets of opinions, Greenwald says, are valid and appropriate, even in time of mourning. “Whatever else may be true of her, Thatcher engaged in incredibly consequential acts that affected millions of people around the world … To demand that all of that be ignored in the face of one-sided requiems to her nobility and greatness is a bit bullying and tyrannical, not to mention warped,” he says. In other words, in death, one’s bad acts should be commemorated along with the good. Sum-it-up Quote: “That one should not speak ill of the dead is arguably appropriate when a private person dies, but it is wildly inappropriate for the death of a controversial public figure, particularly one who wielded significant influence and political power.” “To (All) the White Girls Who Didn’t Get Into the College of Their Dreams” on Racialicious Who: Kendra James, contributor The Idea: Do minority students take away spots at Ivy League schools from white students just for diversity’s sake? Definitely not, says James, who berates<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=30784&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2013/04/13/top-opinions-of-the-week-april-6-12/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Opinion</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/opinion/</primary_category_link>
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cf417fee1f6d1faf35c3c14556bcd432?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">erinleighskarda</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Top Opinions of the Week: March 23–29</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2013/03/29/top-opinions-of-the-week-march-23-29/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2013/03/29/top-opinions-of-the-week-march-23-29/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 29 Mar 2013 20:44:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Erin Skarda</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christianity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Defense of Marriage Act]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DOMA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gay marriage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ivy League]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marco Rubio]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obamacare]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prop 8]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rand Paul]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=30275</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[“Can One Nation Have Two Moralities?” in The American Conservative Who: Patrick J. Buchanan, author and columnist The Idea: Gay marriage has divided America into two moralities, says Buchanan, both of which are irreconcilable to the other. “One half of the nation sees the other as morally depraved, while the latter sees the former as saturated in bigotry, sexism and homophobia.” If “common faith and moral code” have historically held the country together, Buchanan asks, “how do we stay together in one national family” if Americans can no longer agree on what is moral and immoral? Sum-it-up Quote: “But if we no longer stand on the same moral ground, after we have made a conscious decision to become the most racially, ethnically, culturally diverse people on earth, what in the world holds us together?” (MORE: Why the Supreme Court Is Likely to Rule for Gay Marriage) “The Ivy League Was Another Planet” in the New York Times Who: Clare Vaye Watkins, author and assistant professor of English at Bucknell The Idea: As a study recently found, “Even the most talented rural poor kids don’t go to the nation’s best colleges,” says Watkins. As a high school student growing up in Pahrump, Nev., Watkins says there were no college recruiters visiting her school. But there were military recruiters. “The most important thing the military did was walk kids and their families through the enlistment process,” says Watkins, while the students applying to college were left to navigate blindly. “If top colleges are looking for a more comprehensive tutorial in recruiting the talented rural poor, they might take a cue from one institution doing a truly stellar job: the military.” Sum-it-up Quote: “The Army needs every qualified candidate it can get, while competitive colleges have far more applicants than they can handle. But if these colleges are truly committed to diversity, they have to start paying attention to the rural poor.” (MORE: Can &#8216;Mindfulness&#8217; Help You Focus?) “Gay Rights Opponents&#8217; Last Argument” on CNN Who: Paul Waldman, author and contributing editor at<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=30275&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2013/03/29/top-opinions-of-the-week-march-23-29/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Opinion</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/opinion/</primary_category_link>
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cf417fee1f6d1faf35c3c14556bcd432?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">erinleighskarda</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Top Opinions of the Week: March 9–15</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2013/03/15/top-opinions-of-the-week-march-9-15/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2013/03/15/top-opinions-of-the-week-march-9-15/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 15 Mar 2013 16:35:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Erin Skarda</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[budget]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gay marriage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[GOP]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lean In]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paul Ryan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pope Francis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rob Portman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sheryl Sandberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[St. Francis of Assisi]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=29790</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Internet&#8217;s big thinkers shared their perspectives on the issues of the week — from the election of Pope Francis to the 2013 budget proposals. Here are some of the opinions that got us thinking. Did we miss one? Share the &#8220;ideas&#8221; that caught your attention this week in the comment section. Wolf Whisperer in the Vatican in the New York Times Who: Timothy Egan, author and Times columnist The Idea: Pope Francis’s first move was the most radical by a pontiff in a long time, says Egan — choosing the name Francis. As patron of the environment, the poor and the dispossessed, St. Francis of Assisi didn’t believe in owning property. He “slept on dirt floors and dined with lepers,” Egan says. Now, with nearly half the world living on less than $2 a day, Pope Francis might be exactly the type of pontiff that the Church needs. “It may be too much to expect that this new Francis will be devoutly inspired by the old Francis,” Egan says. But “Pope Francis can claim a mantle from a pauper who still changes lives, eight centuries after his death.” Sum-it-up Quote: “By the philosophy of St. Francis, the church of Rome would not spend its days lecturing people about condoms and condemning homosexuals. There would be no secretive obsession with protecting the organized crime network built around pedophile priests. Humility would be a guidepost.” (MORE: What It Means to Have a Jesuit Pope) Africa Doesn’t Need Our ‘Pity’ on CNN Who: John D. Sutter, human rights and social justice columnist The Idea: Does the Western world “pity” Africa too much? A nonprofit group called Mama Hope is dedicated to “reframing the way the Western world thinks of Africa, particularly African women.” Their “Stop the Pity” campaign consists of humorous and light-hearted videos that reflect the other side of Africa — the side that is thriving — and are created in hopes that people from richer countries will see those who live in poorer places in a different way. Sum-it-up Quote:<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=29790&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2013/03/15/top-opinions-of-the-week-march-9-15/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Opinion</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/opinion/</primary_category_link>
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cf417fee1f6d1faf35c3c14556bcd432?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">erinleighskarda</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Top Opinions of the Week</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2013/03/01/top-opinions-of-the-week-4/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2013/03/01/top-opinions-of-the-week-4/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 01 Mar 2013 19:21:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Erin Skarda</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chuck Hagel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marissa Mayer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pope]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pope Benedict XVI]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[President Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[republicans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Roman Catholic Church]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sequester]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sequestration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Violence Against Women Act]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[work from home]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=28832</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Internet&#8217;s big thinkers shared their perspectives on the issues of the week — from Yahoo&#8217;s work-from-home ban to the sequestration. Here are some of the opinions that got us thinking. Did we miss one? Share the &#8220;ideas&#8221; that caught your attention this week in the comment section. &#8220;15 Budget Ideas That Are Better Than Sequester Plan&#8221; on Bloomberg View Who: Ezra Klein, columnist and policy analyst for MSNBC The Idea: Sequestration isn&#8217;t proof that the government is broken, says Klein. It&#8217;s proof that it&#8217;s dumb. While sequestration is in itself a compromise born in 2011, there are much better ideas out there on how to fix the U.S. budget, many of which come from the Hamilton Project at MIT. From a plan to transition Medicare to a &#8220;bundled payment&#8221; system to cutting fossil fuel subsidies from the tax code and converting some tax deductions to 15%, every one of the project&#8217;s 15 ideas is better than the manufactured crises Washington is coming up with. Sum-it-Up Quote: &#8220;Each [Hamilton Project idea] is an attempt to formulate intelligent policy that will make the country better as it makes the deficit smaller. That&#8217;s a far cry from sequestration — and the last few years of policy making generally — in which Washington appears to have resigned itself to deficit reduction of almost exclusively bad, dumb ideas.&#8221; (MORE: How Not to Compromise) &#8220;Science and Sensibility&#8221; in the New York Times Who: Timothy Egan, author and columnist The Idea: On Thursday, the Violence Against Women Act passed in the House of Representatives after a year-and-a-half delay, giving Native American tribes the ability to prosecute white men who rape and abuse Indian women. While many Republican representatives still voted against the Act, Egan hopes that its passage — along with other sudden movement on so-called &#8220;liberal&#8221; issues by prominent Republicans — means that the GOP is coming to their senses and realizing that the world around them is changing, and their perspectives need to change with it. Sum-it-up Quote: &#8220;You see with a single vote<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=28832&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2013/03/01/top-opinions-of-the-week-4/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Opinion</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/opinion/</primary_category_link>
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cf417fee1f6d1faf35c3c14556bcd432?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">erinleighskarda</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Top Opinions of the Week</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2013/02/22/top-opinions-of-the-week-3/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2013/02/22/top-opinions-of-the-week-3/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 22 Feb 2013 17:48:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Erin Skarda</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Catholic Church]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Emily Rapp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gun control]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oscar Pistorius]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pope]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reeva Steenkamp]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=28582</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Internet’s big thinkers shared their perspectives on the issues of the week — from the Oscar Pistorius case to gun control legislation. Here are some of the opinions that got us thinking. Did we miss one? Share the “ideas” that caught your attention this week in the comment section. “Suffer the Little Children” on Slate Who: Kate Roiphe, author and professor at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University The Idea: Why are we drawn to tragic stories, especially those that involve children? Roiphe talks about her experience reading Emily Rapp’s memoir The Still Point of the Turning World, which chronicles the life of her son, Ronan, who was diagnosed with a terminal disease when he was nine months old. As Roiphe read the book, she wondered why we are drawn to stories of loss and extreme grief. In the end, she finds that such stories allow us to “look at death without blinking. It offers us the precise combination of vividness and distance necessary to think through the unthinkable.” Sum-it-up Quote: “My avidness made me think about what lies behind our appetite for stories of extreme suffering, for descriptions of terrible things happening to babies and tiny children, for the well-narrated, almost unbearable heartbreak that Rapp’s book represents?” (MORE: In Defense of Hilary Mantel: Royalty, Fashion and Fertility in the Public Eye) “Cry, the Misogynistic Country” in The New York Times Who: Eusebius McKaiser, radio host, author and associate at the Center for Ethics, University of the Witwatersrand The Idea: “It is a tragic truism that South Africa is one of the world’s most violent countries outside of war zones,” writes McKaiser. But the shooting of Reeva Steenkamp allegedly by superstar Paralympic runner Oscar Pistorius shows that violent crime “is not limited or the poor or committed by impoverished blacks against wealthy whites.” McKaiser goes on to discuss the rampant violence against women in South Africa, and how, with this case, violence is not precluded by class, affliction or athletic ability. Sum-it-up Quote: “The Pistorius<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=28582&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2013/02/22/top-opinions-of-the-week-3/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Opinion</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/opinion/</primary_category_link>
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cf417fee1f6d1faf35c3c14556bcd432?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">erinleighskarda</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Top Opinions of the Week</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2013/02/15/top-opinions-of-the-week-2/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2013/02/15/top-opinions-of-the-week-2/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 15 Feb 2013 21:41:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Erin Skarda</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chuck Hagel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marco Rubio]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[national security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pope Benedict]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[President Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[State of the Union]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=28431</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Internet’s big thinkers shared their perspectives on the issues of the week — from the President’s State of the Union speech to the Pope’s hasty resignation. Here are some of the opinions that got us thinking. Did we miss one? Share the “ideas” that caught your attention this week in the comment section. “The State of the 4-Year-Olds” in the New York Times Who: Gail Collins, Times columnist and author The Idea: The State of American 4-year-olds is not strong, President Obama proclaimed in his State of the Union Address on Tuesday night, calling for “high-quality preschool” for all American children. This is a noble idea, Collins says, but if history is any indication, it’s an idea that will fail. In 1971, Senator Walter Mondale led the drive to “make quality preschool education available to every family in the United States.” The bill even passed with bipartisan support, before being vetoed by President Nixon. Collins hints that such a proposal today might meet a similar fate, despite the fact that a lack of quality preschool programs is harming American families. Sum-it-up Quote: “We have no bigger crisis as a nation than the class barrier … A child born to poor parents has a pathetic chance of growing up to be anything but poor. This isn’t the way things were supposed to be in the United States. But here we are.” (MORE: Aiming Low, Missing Greatness) “Rubio Missed the Year of the Woman” on CNN          Who: LZ Granderson, CNN columnist The Idea: Before delivering the GOP’s rebuttal speech to Obama’s State of the Union on Tuesday night, Marco Rubio joined 21 Republican male colleagues in voting no on the Violence Against Women Act. According to Granderson, Rubio’s failure to vote yes for this legislation did not represent the “new, kinder, women-friendly Republican party” that they’ve been heralding. “From a political standpoint,” Granderson said, “Rubio blew it long before he lunged off-camera to grab a swig of water,” especially when his reasoning for voting no — disagreement on shifting funding<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=28431&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2013/02/15/top-opinions-of-the-week-2/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Opinion</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/opinion/</primary_category_link>
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cf417fee1f6d1faf35c3c14556bcd432?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">erinleighskarda</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Top Opinions About Pope Benedict’s Resignation</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2013/02/12/top-opinions-about-pope-benedicts-resignation/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2013/02/12/top-opinions-about-pope-benedicts-resignation/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 12 Feb 2013 21:03:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Erin Skarda</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Religion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Catholic Church]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pope]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pope Benedict]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[resignation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=28351</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Pope Benedict’s surprising abdication inspired some thoughtful commentary on his legacy and the papacy in general. Did we miss one? Share those that caught your attention in the comment section. “The Pope’s Legacy” in America: The National Catholic Review Who: Rev. James Martin, Jesuit priest and editor-at-large The Idea: While John Paul II felt that staying in his position in the face of his declining health was a testament to the suffering of the human condition, Pope Benedict XVI determined that his advanced age was preventing him from doing his job properly in a time of “rapid changes.” Neither decision is wrong, but just a different interpretation of God’s plan. Father Martin goes on to say that while Pope Benedict will likely be remembered for his “newsworthy” acts — most notably his efforts to strengthen the orthodoxy of the church — his books on Jesus will provide his “lasting legacy.” Sum-it-up Quote: “Far more people will most likely read those moving testaments to the person who is at the center of his life—Jesus of Nazareth—than may read all of his encyclicals combined.” (MORE: Benedict XVI Retires: How They Will Pick a New Pope) “Church in Crisis: Pope Benedict Polarized More Than Unified” on Spiegel Online International Who: Peter Wensierski, German journalist The Idea: Germany rejoiced when Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was chosen as the Pope in 2005. Now, eight years later, Wensierski argues that the country’s Catholics are glad to see him go. Wensierski points to a recent study that found that even the most loyal Catholics in Germany don’t trust their own bishops. He also claims that the church in Germany has been divided between those who want reform and fundamentalists who “wanted to turn the clock back to before the Second Vatican Council.” Pope Benedict, Wensierski says, wasn’t able to bridge the gap, but he hopes the next pop will “begin resolving the deep crisis facing German Catholics.” Sum-it-up Quote: “With all due respect to the first pope to voluntarily step down in hundreds of years: In the eight years he held office, the<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=28351&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2013/02/12/top-opinions-about-pope-benedicts-resignation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Religion</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/life-style/religion/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/benedict.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/benedict.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/benedict.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Pope Benedict Resignation</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cf417fee1f6d1faf35c3c14556bcd432?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">erinleighskarda</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Top Opinions of the Week</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2013/02/08/top-opinions-of-the-week/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2013/02/08/top-opinions-of-the-week/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 08 Feb 2013 15:32:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Erin Skarda</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Al Cardenas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Michael Gerson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[opinions of the week]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Peter Bergen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Thomas B. Edsall]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=28244</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Internet&#8217;s big thinkers shared their perspectives on the issues of the week — from immigration reform to President Obama&#8217;s drone policies. Here are some of the opinions that got us thinking. Did we miss one? Share the &#8220;ideas&#8221; that caught your attention this week in the comment section.  “The Persistence of Racial Resentment” in The New York Times Who: Thomas B. Edsall, Columbia University journalism professor and author of The Age of Austerity The Idea: Have racial attitudes in America changed since the election (and re-election) of President Barack Obama? According to research quoted by Edsall, racial resentment toward blacks has risen since Obama was first elected in 2008, especially among Republicans. Yet despite this, Obama was able to earn a higher number of white votes than his Democratic predecessors. Why? Edsall blames the GOP’s “deepening conservatism” and cautions that, in order to win the White House again, the Republican party must “assuage the social conscience of mainstream, moderate white voters among whom an ethos of tolerance has become normal.” Sum-it-up Quote: “Not only is the right risking marginalization as its views on race have become more extreme, it is veering out of the mainstream on contraception and abortion, positions that fueled an 11 point gender gap in 2012 and a 13 point gap in 2008.” “Why Conservatives Should Back Immigration Reform” on Politico Who: Al Cardenas, Chairman of the American Conservative Union The Idea: Cardenas argues that politicians on both sides of the aisle should forget about the political ramifications of immigration reform (i.e., votes) and work together to find an “acceptable” solution because it’s the right thing to do. Sum-it-up Quote:  “Let me be clear about the choices we face. They are: A continuation of our current unacceptable executive fiat or a bipartisan solution, which may be imperfect but at the very least significantly improve the status quo.” (MORE: Why Higher Education Must Be Part of Immigration Reform) &#8220;Should We Still Fear al Qaeda?&#8221; on CNN Who: Peter Bergen, CNN’s national security analyst and director at the<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=28244&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2013/02/08/top-opinions-of-the-week/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Opinion</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/opinion/</primary_category_link>
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cf417fee1f6d1faf35c3c14556bcd432?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">erinleighskarda</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Viewpoint: The Problem with the &#8220;We Are All&#8230;&#8221; Trope</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2012/10/22/the-problem-with-the-we-are-all-trope/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2012/10/22/the-problem-with-the-we-are-all-trope/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 22 Oct 2012 14:41:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jeffrey Kluger</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Salman Rushdie]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[We are all Malala]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=24304</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Here&#8217;s how you can figure out if you&#8217;re Egyptian: Do you live in Egypt or carry an Egyptian passport? No? Then you&#8217;re probably from somewhere else. Here&#8217;s how you can figure out if you&#8217;re Salman Rushdie: When you look in the mirror, does Rushdie look back at you? No? Then you&#8217;re probably someone else. And unless you&#8217;re a 14-year old Pakistani girl who was brutally attacked by the Taliban for speaking out for universal education, then you&#8217;re probably not Malala Yousafzai either. (MORE: The Malala Yousafzai Saga: Like Father, Like Daughter) That, however, is not how the larger world sees it. Not only are you Malala, so am I — and so is everybody else you know. UNESCO says so; Foreign Policy magazine says so; Angelina Jolie says so. We&#8217;re all Egyptians too, it turns out — a claim most famously staked by American-born Nicholas Kristof, in the 2011 column he wrote for The New York Times about the country&#8217;s pro-democracy demonstrations. And if you happened to be in New York in 1989, when Rushdie went into hiding, you might have heard the assembled writers of the PEN Society declaring, &#8220;I am Rushdie! We are all Rushdie!&#8221; That was true as far as it went, except that the writers were free to repair to a bar after their declarations of solidarity, while Rushdie dared not poke his nose outside for nine years. We are all, it now seems, a great many things. We were all Hokies, back in 2007 after the Virginia Tech shootings. We were all Danes in 2006 when a newspaper in Denmark published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, sparking threats and demonstrations in the Muslim world.  This increasingly common trope has an easy, fill-in-the-blank quality to it that allows us to affect a bit of purloined heroism, put it on the credit card of someone else, and feel pretty darned good about ourselves in the bargain. But if the device has been fast to boil, particularly in the instant-meme Internet age, it took a long time to<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=24304&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2012/10/22/the-problem-with-the-we-are-all-trope/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Opinion</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/opinion/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/id_malala_10221.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/id_malala_10221.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/id_malala_10221.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">I am Malala</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f2cdfe953fad799c6100332224e6ecb9?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">jkluger</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Do the Romneys Suffer from a Siege Mentality?</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2012/09/28/do-the-romneys-suffer-from-siege-mentality/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2012/09/28/do-the-romneys-suffer-from-siege-mentality/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 28 Sep 2012 11:25:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Judith Warner</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[47%]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ann Romney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mitt romney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mormon]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ideas.time.com/?p=22811</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As parents, we often encourage our children to give others a chance, to get to know them better, to take the time to discover that when you get beneath the surface, most people are a lot more sympathetic than they first appear. Unfortunately, there may be exceptions to that would-be golden rule, people with whom familiarity breeds unease. Such has been the case with Mitt and Ann Romney. Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve gotten repeated glimpses of their under-the-surface selves, and the experience hasn’t been uplifting. First we had the governor’s surreptitiously taped comments from a Boca Raton, Fla., fundraiser in which he dismissed 47% of the population as being sniveling, entitled “victims” and complained that he’d have “a better shot” at the presidency if he were Latino. Not so nice. (MORE: Is Mitt Romney Doomed? Not Yet) Then we were treated to Ann Romney’s churlish exclamation on Radio Iowa that her husband’s critics should just “stop it” and get over themselves enough to recognize “how lucky we are to have someone with Mitt’s qualifications and experience and know-how to be able to have the opportunity to run this country.” And most recently, her entirely cynical comment to Jay Leno this week that created an equivalence between the significance of our having elected our first African-American President and the good we might do, in terms of “leaving prejudices behind,” if we elect her husband. (Because, as we all know, anti-Mormon prejudice — particularly the oppression of white, multigenerationally wealthy, powerful and well-connected men like Mitt Romney — has played a central and damning role in our nation’s history.) (MORE: Hilary Rosen Is Right: Ann Romney Is out of Touch with Most Women) What emerges from the composite inner self-portrait the Romneys have painted of late is a siege mentality. (Check out, once again, if you’ve forgotten it, the sound of the “you people” Ann Romney served up to Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts when she was impolite enough to ask questions about the Romneys&#8217; tax returns back in July.) This mentality, unfortunately, has become a familiar routine:<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=ideas.time.com&#038;blog=27622548&#038;post=22811&#038;subd=timeopinions&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2012/09/28/do-the-romneys-suffer-from-siege-mentality/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Opinion</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://ideas.time.com/category/opinion/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/id_romney_0927.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/id_romney_0927.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timeopinions.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/id_romney_0927.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Mitt Romney, Ann Romney</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cf417fee1f6d1faf35c3c14556bcd432?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">erinleighskarda</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
	</channel>
</rss>
