Articles by Harley Dennett

US government workers face the ultimate performance appraisal next week as America finds out what life would be like without them.

There are many dozen staff, journalists and crew who are quite thankful the massive operation that is a prime ministerial trip to America is just about over. It’s an expensive and exhausting experience.

Julia Gillard’s packed tour of Washington establishment this week included several speeches that won’t make a lot of sense to Australians. The prime minister’s address to the US Congress was an affair of high importance to the Americans, with a ceremonial escort consisting of no less than all four leaders of the chambers and nearly […]

If you’re going to out an irrelevant but embarrassing secret of a public figure, you’d better make sure they react badly. That seems to be ACMA’s logic in clearing Channel Seven of breaching standards when it outed NSW MP David Campbell.

A showdown in the US House of Representatives over extending the controversial Patriot Act fell narrowly to civil libertarians today, foreshadowing a larger fight over a permanent extension. Perhaps for the first time since September 11, Americans are questioning the need for heightened security, says Harley Dennett.

In two days US President Barack Obama will lay out his new centrist agenda of leaner government and long-term job growth as he delivers his second official State of the Union address, writes Harley Dennett in Washington DC.

When Sarah Palin went on the offensive, her choice of words sparked a new chapter in the already incendiary debate, accusing her critics, particularly in the media, of “blood libel”, writes Harley Dennett in Washington.

President Barack Obama sighed as he put a stroke through one of America’s most talked-about civil rights debates of the past decade: “We are done.” Now Greg can call his boyfriend from training camp, writes Harley Dennett in Washington DC.

Many Americans would love to have the free flowing and, for the most part, respectful engagement Australia enjoys on immigration, writes Harley Dennett from Washington DC. Amid bitter recriminations, Barack Obama now wants another stab at reform.

US Senator John McCain, once a centrist “maverick” before his presidential run, went apoplectic in the minutes leading up to congress’s historic vote to overturn Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, writes Harley Dennett in Washington DC.

The 17-year battle to allow openly gay and lesbian people to serve in the US military was, for a few days this week, an accepted relic like the battles to desegregate schools or give women the vote. But there’s a spanner in the works, writes Harley Dennett from Washington.

The mid-way stop on Barack Obama’s campaign to save the Democrats from electoral obliteration has taken him to Columbus, Ohio, a bellwether state he won two years ago but looks set to vote firmly Republican on November 2. Harley Dennett reports the Obama magic is still strong.

American is holding its wear purple day next week, called Spirit Day, with almost a million “attending” on its Facebook page, writes Harley Dennett in Washington.

A deadlocked US Congress will do what the Australian Labor Party cannot — pass a mandatory ISP-based Internet filter by the end of the year. And the most remarkable thing is almost nobody dissents, writes Harley Dennett.

Former prime minister John Howard has dumped on “multi-cultural” continental Europe, “irrelevant” UN veto nations and the Islamic world while lauding the moral superiority of the English speakers in a speech in Washington. Harley Dennett reports from Washington.

Today, 777 days ahead of the poll that will decide the next US president, Republican Fred Karger launched the first television advertisement of the 2012 campaign. And NSW wants the same sort of process, asks Harley Dennett from Washington DC?

Chief of the Defence Force Angus Houston issued an instruction Monday revoking the policy that effectively banned transgender service members. The ADF is believed to be the last government agency that specifically fired employees for transitioning gender, writes Harley Dennett.

US federal judge Vaughn Walker has struck down the gay marriage ban in California, effectively ruling that denying homosexuals the right to marry is unconstitutional. Meanwhile in Australia, support for same-sex marriage only grows, writes Harley Dennett.

The US government has scrambled to protect relations with the Pakistan and Afghan governments after the unauthorised release of 91,000 documents sourced from the US Army by whistleblower website WikiLeaks. Harley Dennett writes for Crikey from Washington DC.

One of the most violent countries in the first world — with almost as many guns as people — has taken another step away from gun control. Harley Dennett reports from Washington DC on the Supreme Court decision.