November 2008

There is a lot of talk about Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group that is strongly suspected of being behind last week's terror assault in Mumbai, India. Below is a quick primer on Lashkar-e-Taiba I've excerpted from an update on the situation in Mumbai I wrote yesterday. There is far more to the terror…

John Ondrasik, the lead singer of Five for Fighting, has released a second "CD for the Troops" -- a free download for anyone with a military ID. Ondrasik is a great guy and this is a worthy project. Spread the word and send people here.

Hat tip: NewsBusters

The terror assault on Mumbai is in its second day as Indian security forces struggle to regain control of the city and clear the remaining terrorists from two hotels and a residential complex. Hundreds of Indian Naval and National Security Guards commandos have been rushed into the capital to help…

The number of injured is up to a gut-wrenching 900, and the Deccan Mujahideen (which Bill connects to Lashkar-e-Taiba) has reportedly taken responsibility for the attacks, sending e-mails to media outlets. The Times of India has more information on hostages and apprehensions: The attacks appeared…

Earlier today, TPM reported that Al Franken's lawyer Marc Elias threatened to take his case all the way to the United States Senate if rejected absentee ballots are not included in the Minnesota recount: "There are a number of ways this can happen, whether it is at the county level, before the…

Thomas Joscelyn is absolutely correct in suspecting the Pakistan and Kashmiri-based terror groups as being behind today's terror attacks in Mumbai. A group called the Deccan Mujahideen, or Indian Mujahideen, has taken credit for today's strike, the Times of India just reported. While it is…

Of the eight targets hit today, authorities say there are still hostages at two of them: A.N. Roy, a senior police officer, said police were continuing to battle the gunmen. "The terrorists have used automatic weapons and in some places grenades have been lobbed, the encounters are still going on…

In some ways, today's terrorist attacks in Mumbai (Bombay), India are unremarkable. India has been repeatedly attacked in recent years. Pakistani and Kashmiri based terrorist groups, as well as so-called homegrown terrorists, kill up to hundreds every year. But if the early reports are correct,…

Via Hot Air, Times of India reports: Armed with AK-47 rifles and grenades, a couple of terrorists entered the passenger hall of CST and opened fire and threw grenades, Mumbai General Railway Police Commissioner A K Sharma said. The terror strike which began at 10:33 PM at Chhatrapathi Shivaji…

As President-elect Obama puts together his national security team, a narrative has emerged to explain the somewhat surprising continuity on foreign policy between President Bush's second term and the incoming administration. There will be a shift to the left, but not a big shift, and certainly…

CNN reports: Minnesota's Canvassing Board voted unanimously to reject Franken's request to include thousands of absentee ballots that are not included in the recount in the Minnesota senate race between the Democratic challenger and Republican incumbent Norm Coleman. The Canvassing Board, which…

The Boston Globe published an interview with Admiral William Fallon, the former CENTCOM commander who was relieved of command in March 2008 after just one short year. Admiral Fallon discusses the situation in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. In a portion of the interview on Pakistan, he…

The campaign claimed that a state constitutional amendment to ban men from marrying men, and women from marrying women, had "everything to do with schools." This is an indirect argument, of course. No one has proposed teaching second graders about homosexuality.…

The London Times has written an over-the-top story on the recent airstrike this weekend that is reported to have killed Rashid Rauf, the al Qaeda operative behind the foiled London airlines strike. The headline alone says it all: Top al-Qaeda terrorist Abu Zubair al-Masri ‘was missile target in…

The economy brings an uptick in "struggling" families, just in time for the holidays. Yuck. "Heavy is the head that wears the tiara." Obama is still asking for your money, at the bottom of public service announcements about the ailing economy and how he'll rescue it. Classy. Good news: SNL hiring…

As an encore to last week's "Giving up on God," Parker is now endorsing a federal subsidy for a daily supply of newspapers to high-school students, which will make students smarter and - Bonus!- save the newspaper industry with your tax dollars. This plan is necessitated, according to Parker, by an…

At the risk of sounding like a "churlish partisan", I'd like to point out that a couple of Obama's appointments should concern conservatives. would like to express displeasure with some Bush's domestic policy council director worked both for AEI and (pro-choice) Democratic senator Daniel Patrick…

Breaking his silence, the man who so skillfully horrified liberals by doing his job in the background of a Sarah Palin interview: "I thought they had panned in on her face…I did try and block the process," he said. Tomes has worked at the Triple D Turkey Farm in Palin's hometown of Wasilla for…

Gates will stay on at Defense; Jim Geraghty notices some gnashing of teeth on the left. Michael Yon writes that the Iraq war is over. Without missing a shot, a corporal tallies 20 kills, as 30 U.S. Marines defeat 250 insurgents in Afghanistan. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco…

The University of Chicago's Eric Posner writes: A conservative estimate is that more than 40,000 Iraqis survive per year today than during the sanctions regime, and probably most of them children. The tight correlation between GDP and child mortality across countries bolsters this conclusion. Let's…

A bizarre development in the story of the pirates operating off the coast of Somalia: The pirates who captured the Saudi oil tanker Sirius Star have broken off negotiations with the ship's owners, apparently insisting they want to talk with a wealthy Virginia woman with close ties to the US…

Nate Silver would probably take issue with this number: 40 percent of Iraqis would have Washington bomb Iran to halt its nuclear weapons programme, while more than half of all Arabs share the US view that a nuclear-armed Tehran is intolerable. Just 60 percent of those surveyed say Obama will be "a…

Over at the Next Right, Patrick Ruffini writes that conservatives shouldn't waste their time crying wolf about the Fairness Doctrine, a regulation that would mandate equal time for political opinions on public airwaves and thus kill conservative talk radio. Ruffini notes that the re-imposition of…

The left gets its first scalp: John Brennan, President-elect Barack Obama's top adviser on intelligence, has taken his name out of the running for any intelligence position in the new administration. In a letter Tuesday, Brennan wrote letter to Obama that he did not want to be a distraction. His…

Harry Reid told the Detroit Free Press that he expects comprehensive immigration reform to be passed relatively early in the next Congress: Q. With more Democrats in the Senate and the House and a Democrat in the White House, how do you see congressional efforts playing out on such issues as health…

Less than a week after the IAEA reported that "a Syrian site bombed by Israel last year had features resembling those of a nuclear reactor site," the AP reports that Mohamed ElBaradei wants to...help Syria build a nuclear reactor: The chief U.N. nuclear inspector said Monday that Syria had a right…

It sounds like that international crisis he promised may already be on its way: A Russian navy task force will sail into Venezuela tomorrow as President Medvedev undertakes a tour of Latin America to challenge the dominance of the United States. The nuclear-powered Peter the Great, one of Russia's…

Eighteen to twenty-nine-year-old turnout did not live up to all the pre-election hype. According to CNN exit polls, the proportion of voters under 30 increased by about 1 percent nationally--from 17 percent of the electorate in 2004 to 18 percent this year. Yet even if their share of the electorate…

Mary Katharine points out that Joe Biden's chief of staff, Ted Kaufman, has been named to fill his boss's seat. Kaufman says he will step down in 2010. By all indications Kaufman is simply keeping the seat warm until Beau Biden, Joe's son and Delaware's attorney general, will return from serving in…

This coming from a country that single-handedly sparked a space weapons race and has thousands of missiles pointed at our Taiwanese ally....China Adopts Russian Anti-BMD Rhetoric: China has followed Russia's lead in recent broad statements about missile defense efforts by "relevant countries." On…

Tyler Cowen offers the NYT audience some lessons from the Great Depression and the New Deal. Among them, "don't raise taxes in a slump" and "don't make unionization easier." Liberals pout. Weekly Standard alum Whitney Blake interviews critics of the new New Deal for Fox News. Rudy goes to Georgia,…

Rasmussen reports: Nearly half of U.S. voters (49%) say the United States should not close the terrorist prison camp at Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba.... Only 32% of voters say the Guantanamo prison camp should be closed, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.…

Attorney General Michael Mukasey fainted during a speech last week to the Federalist Society, but, thankfully, he was released from the hospital with a clean bill of health and appears to be in good spirits. It's really too bad, though, that the actual speech he delivered hasn't received more…

Post-election news from California was dominated by Barack Obama's hefty margin over John McCain in the state and passage of Proposition 8, overturning gay marriage. But it was the unheralded passage of another initiative that may make the most history and crimp Democrat hopes for a prolonged era…

Insect bots coming... Inside missile defense Marines tire of "boring" Iraq, seek employment in Afghanistan Ivan warships embark on Caribbean Cruise American ICBMS: Build New or Buy? Video: Drunk Russian tank driver pwns house

The Dallas Morning News reports: A jury on Monday determined that the Holy Land Foundation and five men who worked with the Muslim charity were guilty of three dozen counts related to the illegal funneling of at least $12 million to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. The unanimous verdicts are…

The boss encourages some fresh thinking. Halperin says the media suffers from extreme pro-Obama bias. Politico finally gets around to vetting Obama's advisers. Jodi Kantor is pleased with herself for trolling facebook...her editors are unimpressed (at least in public). How did our friends on the…

Despite fears of a recession, a drop in consumer spending, and a general onset of malaise, the holiday catalogues keep coming to my door. Take Dean & Deluca, where you can order two 12-ounce Wagyu strips for only $190. Or a generous 8.78 ounces of Calvisius caviar that will only cost you $900. But…

This is outstanding -- better than I could do if I were trying. A question at Politico's "Arena" about the Obama team and a potential stimulus package elicits this response from Harvard (Harvard!) Professor Stephen Walt: "On economics, Obama is putting the right pegs in the proper holes. But the…

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Over the weekend, the U.S. special operations teams of Task Force 88 took another shot at al Qaeda's network operating inside Pakistan's tribal areas. The target of the Predator strike was Rashid Rauf, the man behind the failed bombing in 2006 of London airlines. The plan was for al Qaeda…

Hillary Clinton's move to Foggy Bottom will set off an intriguing parlor game among Democrats in New York state. Whom will Governor Paterson appoint to succeed Clinton? And how will it affect the gubernatorial and senate races in New York in 2010? New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has long…

So many pubs, so few drink specials: Britain is considering a ban on "happy hour" discounts at bars and restaurants to curb drinking, a spokesman said Saturday, as health advocates warned that a rise in liver-related deaths among young people may signal a future epidemic. Health officials will…

President Jimmy Carter, the man who insisted that the Zimbabwe-Rhodesian government allow the Soviet backed Zanu paramilitary liberation movement to participate in national elections, has been denied entry into Zimbabwe by.... Zanu-PF leader and dictator Robert Mugabe. The former United Nations…

Bush, this morning, talking about the $20 billion decision to help out Citigroup:

More evidence to support the theory that progressives will feature prominently in the Obama administration's domestic policy and have almost no role in shaping foreign policy: Melody Barnes, former chief counsel to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) on the Senate Judiciary Committee and head of…

Surely Barack Obama knew what he'd be up against when he tried to bring healing to Washington: McConnell took nine days to return a congratulatory phone call from Reid after the election, but the Republican leader returned a flurry of other calls earlier. McConnell spokesman Don Stewart said…

In a 2002 CNN interview, Eric Holder delivered this answer, which will have the Hope 'n' Changers' heads spinning: One of the things we clearly want to do with these prisoners is to have an ability to interrogate them and find out what their future plans might be, where other cells are located;…

Republicans are doing what they usually do after losing an election, debating the future of the party and perhaps the future of conservatism as well. A struggle between traditional conservatives and a younger group of reformers will be decisive. That's one theory. Another focuses on George W. Bush.…

Too, Too Annoying

The National Gallery in Wartime

The Washington Post's front page story on the Republican Governors Association meeting last week carried the headline "Republican Governors Meet, Glumly." After the jump, the Post bannered its account, "Doom and Gloom at GOP Governors' Meeting."

The election of Barack Obama to the presidency of the United States of America makes all things possible. Really, it does. Not only have the seas stopped rising, but the laws of the space-time continuum have been indefinitely suspended. And so, through the miracle of time travel, THE WEEKLY…

Slumdog Millionaire

A World of Wealth

Bangkok

Russian nationalism is back in the news after a welcome lull, and that offers an opportunity to describe my recent, excited reacquaintance with an early chapter in its checkered history.

Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, a Cuban-American Republican from the Miami area, puts it bluntly: "We have a very, very serious problem." He is referring to the GOP's lack of support among Hispanics, which could derail the party's future presidential hopes.

The day jazz died can be pinpointed with great accuracy: It was the day Charlie Parker put his alto sax to his lips and started sounding like Woody Woodpecker on speed.

True Crime

The MacArthur Fellowships were announced some weeks back, and, for the twenty-seventh year in a row, I did not win one. I could have used the half-million dollars, payable at a rate of $100,000 a year, no doubt about that, but I also find I can live without it. At least no one I loathe won; the…

Miami

Paris

You may have noticed that some presidential Transitions are more equal than others.

In 1976, when Soviet fighter pilot Viktor Belenko defected to the West in his MiG-25, his U.S. debriefers discovered (along with a trove of Soviet secrets) a military man with a life's accumulation of grievances against the Soviet system. Even at the height of Moscow's power, Belenko told them, the…

China's Great Train

Rights, properly understood, are moral entitlements embodied in law to protect all people. They are not earned: Rights come as part of the package of being a member of the human race. This principle was most eloquently enunciated in the Declaration of Independence's assertion that we are all…

Two international meetings to promote interfaith harmony were held in the last two weeks, one in New York and one in Rome. The former, called by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia under the auspices of the United Nations, drew some 20 heads of state to discuss a "Culture of Peace." The latter brought…

Muqtada al Sadr's political party held a rally in Baghdad to protest the U.S.-Iraqi agreement on the posture of U.S. forces in Iraq. Sadr, who has toed the Iranian line on the agreement, and coincidentally lives in Iran, says the agreement is invalid as it brings "shame and humiliation" on the…

During an interview with Minnesota secretary of state Mark Ritchie on Wednesday afternoon, I asked him what protections are in place to prevent ballot tampering in the Coleman-Franken Senate race. "All ballots are in the control of election officials. All ballots are carried with two election…

For a piece on the Coleman-Franken recount in the new issue of TWS, I spent some time at the recount site in Ramsey County (St. Paul) on Wednesday. I was struck by the civility and reasonableness of volunteers for both campaigns. Very few ballots were challenged, and at the end of the day both…

Is Tim Geithner, Barack Obama's choice to succeed Hank Paulson at Treasury, worth 500 points on the Dow? So it seems. No surprise say the professional traders: Markets hate uncertainty, and by making up his mind about this key economic post, Obama has removed a great deal of uncertainty. Plausible,…

It will be some time before we know the full extent of Obama's ambitions on domestic policy, but progressives are sure to feature prominently in any debate over health care, energy, banking, etc. In the realm of foreign policy, however, progressives seem already to have been marginalized, or…

Gov. Bobby Jindal traveled Friday to Iowa, a state that is pivotal to a presidential campaign, in a trip that has heightened speculation that Jindal is planning a presidential bid in 2012. But Jindal said the speculation is misplaced. He said he's running for re-election and has no plans to seek…

British intelligence has reestablished links with Syrian intelligence at the highest level on terrorism issues and other matters after a visit by Foreign Minister David Miliband. "Mr Miliband's visit, the first by a British foreign secretary for seven years, was touted as an opportunity to test…

The media has been noting, with some distaste at the paranoia of backwoods Americans, that the Obama win has triggered an uptick in gun sales: But whatever the reason, gun dealers in red and blue states alike say they've never seen anything like the run on weaponry they've been experiencing since…

Madam Secretary: Hillary Rodham Clinton has decided to give up her Senate seat and accept the position of secretary of state, making her the public face around the world for the administration of the man who beat her for the Democratic presidential nomination, two confidants said Friday. Mrs.…

Presumably this is the first of many commemorative Metro cards to be issued by the DC transit system: obamametro.jpg I can't wait to buy my 'Jindal/Palin' metro card four years from now.

Another Palin Rorschach test. Watch the video and see if you're from real America or fake America. As a real American, it's clear to me that these turkeys had it coming, and, personally, I admire a woman who can keep her wits about her even in the face of such horrific violence. In retrospect, they…

Max Blumenthal talks with the daughter of Malcolm X about the Zawahiri tape and Obama's election victory:: MB: Do you think your father would have been surprised by the level of white support for a black candidate like Obama, especially in the South? MS: No, not at all. He had equivalent support as…

The Pakistani military's reaction to the unmanned U.S. Predator airstrikes in its northwest would be funny were it not that al Qaeda is plotting their next attack on the West from there. Supposedly outraged over the U.S. violations of its sovereignty, the Army has conducted exercises to shoot down…

I guess, technically, he's neither a senator nor the president at the moment, but that didn't stop him from negotiating for an auto bailout during his private meeting with Bush, and leaking his version of the details. Then, he told "60 Minutes" he'd like to "see how this thing plays itself out,"…

Tim Mahoney, the man who replaced scandal-ridden Mark Foley in 2006 before being defeated in the wake of his own sex scandal, is not only Congressionally seatless, but shameless as well: Unbowed by the sex scandal that led to his disgrace and reelection defeat, Congressman Tim Mahoney (D-Fla.)…

Mukasey was about 20 minutes into a speech to the Federalist Society when he began to slur his words and shake slightly before collapsing slowly, into the arms of several nearby men (probably from his security detail) who had rushed to assist him. He lost consciousness briefly, but regained it…

An odd thing is going on beneath the surface of the economic news. Several odd things, in fact. There is no question that all, or almost all, of the economic news is grim. New claims for unemployment insurance soared above the half-million mark last week. Over one million unemployed workers will…

Out on the tour circuit for his new book, "How Mitt Romney, the Fake Conservative, Almost Bought the Republican Primary With His Big CEO Money" "Do the Right Thing," Mike Huckabee took a break from bashing former rival Mitt Romney to take a few whacks at a fellow governor he's never had to compete…

This morning Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and Senator Norm Coleman conducted a conference call to review the latest information on the Coleman/Franken Senate race in Minnesota. Here are the highlights of the call: The recount began yesterday. Counties will continue their work over the…

Quin Hillyer profiles congressional candidate Joseph Cao, who faces 'Dollar Bill' Jefferson in a Louisiana runoff on December 6. Cao sounds like a singular person -- a Vietnamese immigrant who fled to the United States before the fall of Saigon, eventually became a Jesuit novice, then elected to…

Sen. Ted Stevens gives his last speech from the floor, after 40 years and seven felonies. Audio and summary available, here. He has some good words for the Alaska pipeline and still doesn't take kindly to radical environmentalists who prevent Alaska tapping its natural resources. "To hell with…

Roll Call reports that Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid is giving up on a potential bailout for the Big 3 automakers -- at least for now: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Wednesday that they would try to work out a Thursday vote on a…

A friend at the State Department tells of the elation that greeted Barack Obama's election and the subsequent unease at the rumors that Hillary Clinton would be appointed Secretary of State: "That's not the change they voted for." The appointment is not yet a done deal according to the Times, but…

As noted Monday, elements within Pakistan's dysfunctional Inter-Services Intelligence agency (or ISI) continue to support the Taliban and al Qaeda inside Afghanistan. The ISI also supports the extremists inside Pakistan. U.S. intelligence and the leadership of the ISI plan to dismantle the…

Yesterday the Washington Post listed General Jim Jones as a contender for the job of national security adviser in an Obama administration -- a rumor that had circulated for some time already. Jones was floated as a potential running mate for Obama early in the general election (this blog discussed…

Segments of the conservative movement have been questioning Michael Steele's commitment to conservative values, particularly social issues, posing the first obstacle in his bid for RNC chair. At issue is his part in founding the centrist, pro-choice Republican Leadership Council with Christine Todd…

God speed, Norm Coleman. It's gonna be a rough recount.

I was listening to the local pop station this morning, and the three usually inane DJs were enraged by the auto bailout story, particularly the part of the story that had even Congressmen marveling at Detroit's tinnest political ears: After hearing that the chief executives of General Motors, Ford…

"What's it about?" a no-nonsense undergraduate once inquired of the author of The Adventures of Augie March. "It's about 200 pages too long," Saul Bellow replied. This anecdote came rushing back to me as I scanned the numerous obituaries and literary remembrances of David Foster Wallace, who hanged…

A video retrospective on "Uncle Ted" Stevens, if you dare. My personal favorite moment isn't in there, when Ted took the floor of the Senate, his Incredible Hulk tie shaking against his chest with barely contained rage, to declare the Bridge to Nowhere his hill to die on. "I will put the Senate on…

U.S. Special Operations Forces / the CIA struck yet again in Pakistan's northwest. A senior al Qaeda leader named Abdullah Azzam al Saudi is thought to have been killed in the unmanned Predator/Reaper airstrike, but this has not been confirmed by U.S. intelligence. Azzam serves as a liaison between…

iskander.jpg Russia's plan for the new Iskander theater ballistic missile doesn't stop with their proposed Kaliningrad deployment. Aviation Week reports that once domestic requirements are met, Russia may export the weapon to Syria, India, and the UAE -- to start. Algeria, Belarus, Kuwait, and…

The Financial Times reports that Barack Obama is "negotiating terms" under which Robert Gates will remain as Secretary of Defense in an Obama administration. It was widely assumed that Gates would keep his job regardless of who won the election and while I've heard conflicting reports about whether…

He may get the chance to become the underwhelming, charmless Secretary of the Interior, if he is disappointed in his quest to become the underwhelming, charmless Secretary of State.

National Journal reports that Barack Obama has selected CBO Director Peter Orszag to head up the Office of Management and Budget. Orszag is widely respected on both sides of the aisle for his professionalism and his command of budgetary detail. The Orszag appointment also suggests that one of…

Flournoy.jpg Senator Clinton isn't the only female in the hunt for a major cabinet position in the Obama administration. Word on the street is that Michèle Flournoy is under strong consideration for the Secretary of Defense post. Ms. Flournoy, a graduate of Harvard and Oxford, made her bones as a…

Rasmussen released results of a new national poll yesterday showing Americans put more faith in the concept of free market capitalism than they do in our national leaders' ability to apply it. According to the poll: Forty-four percent (44%) of Americans agree with President Bush's declaration last…

Campaign 2008, which went on for four years, if not for four centuries, was rich in dramatic personae with strange tales -- candidates from Alaska, the Canal Zone, and Hawaii; mavericks, moose-hunters, and multi-racial messiahs -- but none has been so bizarre as the story of Hillary Clinton, who…

CNN and AP are both reporting that Stevens fell short in the Alaska Senate race against Democrat Mark Begich (although CNN is only sourcing Begich's campaign at this point, which let's face it, could be the same source AP is using as authoritative.) The AP is apparently so excited about the…

Oh, dear: She has coruscating intelligence, beauty, style and -- drumroll, please -- a butt. (Yes, you read that right: I'm going to talk about the first lady's butt.) As I gradually relaxed, as Michelle strode onto more stages and people started focusing on her clothes and presence instead of her…

What is best in life? To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women. This is precisely what the Democratic party achieved with Barack Obama's historic victory on November 4. The Democrats increased their majorities in both the House and Senate while…

Since everyone's been a bit preoccupied with the question of Sarah Palin's next political or entertainment venture, I shamelessly propagate this rumor read on a celebrity blog (by a friend of mine who sent it to me while I was just sitting here reading "The Economist," of course). Desperate…

Afghanistan's president raised quite a few eyebrows yesterday when he insisted he would provide safe passage to senior Taliban leaders for negotiations, including Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omar. The Taliban responded immediately to Karzai's offer, rejecting it of course. Mullah Bahadar, the…

Michael Isikoff reports that yet another Clintonite will serve in the Obama administration: President-elect Obama has decided to tap Eric Holder as his attorney general, putting the veteran Washington lawyer in place to become the first African-American to head the Justice Department, according to…

Chief Justice John Roberts has been known to liven up his dissents by writing like a crime novelist. Jan Crawford Greenburg notes that his predecessor, Chief Justice Rehnquist, had a penchant for the theater: Rehnquist, who had a flair for drama (remember the gold stripes he'd later add to his…

Rob Portman, former US Trade Representative and OMB Director under George W. Bush, shares his thoughts here. The renewal of the Republican Party starts with an embrace of the core principles of fiscal conservatism, smaller government, traditional values, personal responsibility and ethics, not just…

Jonah Goldberg has an innovative proposal to counter Obama's plans to "experiment in order to get people working again": I want to be experimental too. So here's my idea: Just stop. Stop talking about bailouts and stimuli. Stop pondering ever more drastic action. Give it a rest. Let it be. One of…

Patrick Ruffini assembles a list of all potential 2010 Republican challengers to Democratic incumbents in the Senate. A couple names I'd add: Congressman and former governor Mike Castle to take on Joe Biden's replacement in Delaware and Tommy Thompson to challenge Russ Feingold in Wisconsin.…

From today's Washington Post: After the G-20 global economic summit wrapped up Saturday afternoon, the Italian prime minister headed for ... the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City. A mall? Since he's already seen Washington's famous monuments, Berlusconi really wanted to see one of the area's famous…

Senate Democrats have chosen not to give Joe Lieberman a reason to leave the party: Senate Democrats backed away from a major rebuke of Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-Conn.) on Tuesday morning, keeping their colleague as the chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in the next…

The New York Times editorial page endorses the Colombia Free Trade Agreement.

Time's Washington bureau chief Jay Carney swoons: From Obama's 60 Minutes interview, this seemingly obvious but all-too-rare, refreshingly non-ideological declaration about how best to govern: We've gotta come up with solutions that are true to our times and true to this moment. And that's gonna be…

Joshua Kurlantzick's analysis of how the global economic crisis will affect the Chinese regime is well worth your time. One of the lessons of the current mess is that so-called "decoupling" - the theory that emerging markets were no longer dependent on the major economies - has been exposed as…

rodriguez.jpg She divorced him, got custody of their daughter, married a tennis instructor, and so as to prevent a descent into divorce cliches, she thought outside the box and worked to defeat constitutional reforms he proposed in 2007, which would have made him president for life. Not your…

Roll Call covers the after-action report by Chris VanHollen (D-MD), Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). VanHollen gets credit for the 24-seat gain (so far) Democrats achieved in the 2008 election. He's quick to point out that despite the impressive Democratic gains,…

Neocons may indeed be hailing the coming Hillary era at State, as the Guardian reports: Hillary Clinton plans to accept the job of secretary of state offered by Barack Obama, who is reaching out to former rivals to build a broad coalition administration, the Guardian has learned. Obama's advisers…

Is Pakistan's shadowy Inter-Services Intelligence agency supporting and even fighting alongside the Taliban and allied groups against NATO and Afghan forces? Defense Tech's Christian Lowe posted a snippet of an interview with Eric Edelman, the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, which suggests…

Among the questions raised by President-elect Barack Obama's victory, one has been largely overlooked by his critics and supporters: What fate awaits the international missile defense system Washington has been building over the past decade? After all, as is his way, the president-elect has been…

The New York Times has a report today on alcohol abuse in Wisconsin: When a 15-year-old comes into Wile-e's bar looking for a cold beer, the bartender, Mike Whaley, is happy to serve it up - as long as a parent is there to give permission. "If they're 15, 16, 17, it's fine if they want to sit down…

Sir Paul McCartney recently revealed to BBC Radio that his former band kept hidden a song they recorded 40 years ago but that "the time has come for it to get its moment." For Beatles aficionados, could there be anything more exciting? Entitled "Carnival of Light," the track runs approximately 14…

Mike Allen reported over the weekend that "Gregory B. Craig, a well-known Washington lawyer who quarterbacked President Bill Clinton's impeachment defense, has been chosen White House counsel by President-elect Barack Obama". Believe it or not, the time Craig spent shilling for Clinton may have…

There appears to be little angst among conservatives at the prospect of Hillary Clinton joining the Obama administration as Secretary of State. The idea was warmly embraced by Henry Kissinger, who our President-elect seems to hold in high-esteem, Governor Schwarzenegger, who likely has no more sway…

Fake hate in our newly post-racial society, created to "get a reaction" in the wake of Obama's election: A black man from Mississippi has been arrested and accused of sending racist death threats over the Internet to three black students at Louisiana's Nicholls State University. The FBI in New…

Over the weekend, the Pakistani government closed down the vital border crossing to Afghanistan in the Khyber tribal agency. The decision was made after the Taliban hijacked and looted a convoy of vehicles transporting supplies and two Humvees to NATO forces in Afghanistan. The crossing was…

This chart from a recent Pew report about the youth vote is fascinating. We've all seen the numbers on the growing Obama and Democratic edge among voters under 30 repeated ad nauseam. But it's interesting how closely various subgroups of voters over 30 divided. 2008 would have been a nail biter…

One day after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki's cabinet approved the proposed U.S.-Iraqi status of forces agreement, Iran is signaling it is changing its tune on supporting the pact. From the Associated Press: Iran and Syria, longtime adversaries of Washington, have said an immediate…

The Army Times reports on the views of American soldiers toward the incoming administration, including why some members of the military backed Obama rather than a decorated veteran. Notwithstanding Barack Obama's promises to help our men and women in the armed services by pulling them out of Iraq,…

National Journal links to a new advertisement by the AFL-CIO in support of the Employee Free Choice Act: It looks like Big Labor's strategy for selling the EFCA can be summed up in one word: obfuscation. There's no mention in this ad of any of the provisions of Card Check--wiping out the secret…

Ed Morrissey was impressed by Michael Steele's performance on Fox News Sunday yesterday: Steele hits the nail on the head with his warning about communications. The Republicans need to have someone who relentlessly offers positive alternatives along with rational opposition to the Democratic…

Change is coming to Israel, one might say. The kind of "change" that specializes in dealing with reality, not dictators.

Apparently unsatisfied with the fact that Republican leadership suffers fewer consequences for crushing defeat than team leaders on "The Apprentice," several conservatives are making some waves. Jim DeMint is angling for a spot on the seat on the finance committee, despite lagging several others in…

The headline of Newt Gingrich's appearance on "Face the Nation" today has been that he declared that Sarah Palin will not be the future of the GOP. What he actually said was less inflammatory and more sensible. What he did was praise her as a "wonderfully aggressive, intelligent, hard-working…

In times like these, when conservatives are licking their wounds and trying to figure out what comes next, a helpful framework exists. It starts with a simple, self-evident fact: There is such a thing as elite opinion that is not the same as popular opinion.

A strange thing happened to me this election cycle. After examining my conscience, determining that I did indeed have one, I decided not to cast a vote for president. I informed my inner circle, who immediately attacked. I was called an idiot, an irresponsible citizen, and less than a man. Even…

The folks over at Newsweek have a sly sense of humor. They put New York mayor Michael Bloomberg on the cover of their November 3 issue and let him dispense fiscal advice to the next president. In the article, Bloomberg, who has presided over record levels of spending and debt increases, chastised…

Courage, Aristotle says somewhere, is the first of the virtues, because courage makes the other virtues possible. Our friend and colleague Dean Barnett was brave. He was brave to a degree that perhaps only his beloved wife, Kirstan, and others in his immediate family were able to appreciate.

It is a topsy-turvy world: At the United Nations--an organization born out of the struggle against Nazi Germany and intended to embody the lessons of the Holocaust--a head of state openly spouts anti-Semitic propaganda in an address before the General Assembly. Granted, he takes the trouble to…

David and Winston

Desert Island Discs is a long-running favorite program of BBC radio, on which guests name the eight recordings that would help sustain them on a desert island. Responding to an invitation by THE WEEKLY STANDARD, I choose to omit operas because there I wouldn't know where to begin. For other music,…

Red Bird

Human

In politics, as one suspects in life, no good deed goes unpunished. John McCain staked everything on success in Iraq. He advocated the surge publicly and made the case for it privately. He defended it passionately and intelligently, and was indispensable in beating back critics, shoring up nervous…

Republicans have a big problem. Nope, it's not figuring out how to rebuild their party after consecutive defeats in national elections (that's easy). Nor is it finding new leaders in Congress (also easy) or latching onto fresh ideas that might improve the Republican brand (easiest of all). The…

Joseph Bottum on the disturbing authorized biography of V.S. Naipaul.

In August 2004, a then-obscure Illinois state senator delivered a dazzling keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. Of special interest, because it departed from the election season's bitter partisanship, was his eloquent insistence on the unity undergirding the nation's great…

The Courtier Chronicles

Small changes can have dramatic consequences. The electorate shifted about 4 points toward the Democrats in between the 2004 and 2008 elections--from 48.3 percent of the popular vote four years ago to 52.5 percent today. But those 4 points gave Obama the largest share of the vote since 1988, the…

George M. Cohan, the song-and-dance man, is invited to the Oval Office by Franklin D. Roosevelt. He is an old man, and thrilled beyond words to discover his president is a fan. FDR asks Cohan to tell him the story of his life, and thus begins Yankee Doodle Dandy, James Cagney's glorious 1942…

"To those Americans whose support I have yet to earn--I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your president too."

What will Barack Obama's sweeping victory mean for the U.S. economy? Here are a few guesses.

Let us bend over and kiss our ass goodbye. Our 28-year conservative opportunity to fix the moral and practical boundaries of government is gone--gone with the bear market and the Bear Stearns and the bear that's headed off to do you-know-what in the woods on our philosophy.

Las Vegas As she dealt one losing hand after another at Mandalay Bay's $10 blackjack tables early Wednesday evening, Trisha, a chatty dealer from Bloomington, Minnesota, changed the subject from cards to Barack Obama.

Paris

Barack Obama and Michelle met up with CBS' Steve Kroft on "60 Minutes" this evening. Obama was well-spoken, characteristically cryptic, and seemed to be whistling a different tune than we heard from him on the trail. For instance, did you know that both parties bear some responsibility for the…

Ward Connerly is founder and president of the American Civil Rights Institute. This year, he led efforts to approve ballot propositions banning affirmative action in Colorado and Nebraska. Amendment 46 in Colorado failed with 49 percent of the vote, while Initiative 424 passed in Nebraska with 58…

Karl Rove wrote in the Wall Street Journal yesterday: History will favor Republicans in 2010. Since World War II, the out-party has gained an average of 23 seats in the U.S. House and two in the U.S. Senate in a new president's first midterm election. Other than FDR and George W. Bush, no president…

The Hill reports that Congressman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) has at last hired a forensic investigator to review his financial records and ethics filings: Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) has hired the accounting firm of Watkins, Meegan, Drury and Company to investigate his financial records and prepare a…

Our ever vigilant colleague Anne-Elisabeth Moutet draws to our attention an operatic sendup of the Obama coronation so brilliant as to be worthy of mention in the same breath as I Disonesti, David Tell's unforgettable parody of the Lewinsky affair from our March 1, 1999, issue. David was opinion…

The first appeasement: One source close to Hillary Clinton tells CNN that as of early yesterday, Senator Clinton had not been contacted by the transition team about a possible cabinet appointment. This same source tells CNN that Senator Clinton would not necessarily dismiss such an offer. Obama…

As the security situation in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province continues to deteriorate, the Taliban are threatening to take control of Peshawar, the provincial capital. As the Taliban grow bolder, they have begun to target foreigners of all stripes. Even one of their own. Today, two…

This story will surprise no one who has lived in a deeply liberal community that prides itself on its tolerance and diversity above all else. A brave Illinois 8th-grader, daughter to a conservative dad and liberal mom, conducted a social experiment in the weeks before the election in the tolerant,…

Will Barack Obama choose Hillary Clinton to be his secretary of state? She was in Chicago yesterday, and Politico reports that "Obama has, himself, recently discussed the possibility with advisors," some of whom like the idea. Jennifer Rubin looks at the merits of making Clinton secretary of state:…

It looks like Republicans may be able to foil the narrow Democrat majority in its quest to dole out money to the first in a list of private companies making bad business decisions that should be rewarded with your tax money: House Republican leader John Boehner, Richard Shelby, the top Republican…

The U.S. military has struck yet again inside Pakistan's lawless tribal areas. U.S. Predators hit an al Qaeda safe house in the Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan. Twelve people, including five "foreigners" were killed in the attack. The strike occurred just one day after…

Bill Ayers describes Barack Obama as a "family friend" in a new foreward to his 2001 book. At least he didn't say they were "pals".

London-to-Phoenix-to-Washington does more than throw one's body clock into a spin. It is disorienting. The gloom in London is thicker than the fogs of yesteryear, and the prime minister is trying to avoid culpability for his nation's economic woes by blaming its and indeed the world's problems on…

Miami -- In an interview after her speech at the Republican Governors' Association meetings here today, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin criticized the Bush administration for exacerbating voter "distrust" by shifting money from the $700 billion bailout from buying bad bank assets to purchasing…

Via Allahpundit: Get the latest news satire and funny videos at 236.com.

TPM reports that American labor leaders are coming to Washington to meet and spell out their priorities for the incoming Obama administration: According to a senior AFL-CIO official, the labor leaders -- who could include AFL-CIO head John Sweeney, AFSCME chief Gerald McEntee, and others -- will be…

In a recent Financial Times interview, Germany's former Green foreign minister Joschka Fischer slams Chancellor Angela Merkel for renouncing "any claim to leadership in shaping Europe's response to the financial and economic crises" and for "acting purely nationally". In contrast, Fischer praises…

CNN reports: The Roman Catholic Church is cutting off funds to the community organizing group ACORN, citing complaints over its voter registration drives in the November 4 election as part of the reason. The Catholic Campaign for Human Development froze its contributions to the group in June amid…

In his Washington Post column on Sarah Palin's post-election media blitz, Howard Kurtz perpetuates the myth that Palin "never held a news conference" as a vice-presidential nominee. According to CBS News, she held a full-scale press conference on October 17: "For the first time since becoming a…

Allergists dispute Obama's claim that there are "hypoallergenic dogs:" President-elect Barack Obama has said his young daughters have been promised a dog with their move to the White House. And in his first post-election news conference last week, he announced that Malia "is allergic, so it has to…

The famously loudmouth radical is "breaking his silence" in an interview with "Good Morning, America," tomorrow where he'll be promoting the reissue of his book, "Fugitive Days." The great irony of calling out Obama for his association with an unrepentant, domestic terrorist is that the likely…

Pakistani politicians continue to blame U.S. airstrikes against Taliban and al Qaeda camps in the lawless tribal areas for alienating the public, but refuse to address their own problems in conducting counterinsurgency operations. The latest objection to U.S. military airstrikes comes from…

The Taliban is urging the United Nations, the European Union, and the Red Cross to intervene to halt the execution of three Taliban fighters on death row. "We strongly request the U.N., the EU, the Red Cross and human rights groups to earnestly prevent this barbaric act," the Taliban said in a…

Chris Reed catches His framing of the issue is bogus: Yeah, Dukakis didn't vote on weapons as a governor. But his positions on military issues were endlessly explored by the media in 1988. He was one of two finalists to be commander-in-chief. Of course he would be pressed on his views. And a Nexis…

The Anchorage Daily News reports: Mark Begich made a dramatic comeback Wednesday to overtake 40-year incumbent Ted Stevens for the lead in Alaska's U.S. Senate race. Begich, who was losing after election night, now leads Stevens by 814 votes -- 132,196 to 131,382 -- with the state still to count…

The headline will be that she's ready to jump on an energy panel to serve Barack Obama in the spirit of bipartisanship he has instilled in even the most hateful of backwoods politicians. In fact, she says she's happy to help him tap into domestic resources to earn our energy independence- an idea…

As the security situation in Afghanistan continues to spiral downward, the notion that the United States and her allies should open talks with the Taliban has gained wide acceptance in Washington. Anonymous aides to President-elect Obama have indicated that talking to the Taliban (as well as Iran,…

As the security situation in Afghanistan continues to spiral downward, the notion that the United States and her allies should open talks with the Taliban has gained wide acceptance in Washington. Anonymous aides to President-elect Obama have indicated that talking to the Taliban (as well as Iran,…

The bailout of the Big 3 automakers is going full speed ahead--if GM can survive until the check comes, that is. Business Week reports that GM barely has enough in cash reserves to keep the doors open until the end of 2008. And President Bush seems less than eager to dispense billions in taxpayer…

The FBI has arrested Tarek Mehanna and charged him with lying in an affidavit about his relationship to Daniel J. Maldonado, "a former Methuen resident who was suspected of training at an Al Qaeda terrorist camp to overthrow the Somali government." Maldonado pled guilty to receiving training from a…

Some recent headlines: N. Korea to halt border crossings with S. Korea N. Korea rejects request for nuclear sampling Kremlin Plans Missiles Targeting NATO if U.S. Defense Shield Proceeds Russia rejects U.S. missile proposals Cuban president Raul Castro to visit Russia Iran test-fires new missile…

Noted primary loser John Edwards began his rehabilitation last night with a closed event at Indiana University. How long before cell-phone video emerges of an irate college student asking how he could possibly endanger the ascendancy of Hope and Change by hiding his extra-marital affair with Rielle…

The BBC reports: Attackers in Afghanistan have sprayed acid in the faces of at least 15 girls near a school in Kandahar, police say. They say that the attack happened shortly before at least six people were killed in a bomb blast near a government building in the city. Doctor say that the six girls…

It will not end with Ryan Lizza, the Washington Times, New York Post, and Dallas Morning News getting kicked off the campaign plane, if this profile of the prospective press secretary is to be believed. They call Robert Gibbs the "Barack Whisperer," which reveals that he a) has a very close…

Michael Scherer notes a few of McCain's highlights: On Sarah Palin: "Did you expect mavericks to stay on message?" On discord within his campaign: "I think I have at least 1,000 top advisers. 'Top advisers said...' " On sleeping like a baby: "Sleep two hours, wake up and cry. Sleep two hours, wake…

Megan McArdle explains: Why bail out Wall Street and not GM, demand many people. Why do we care about bankers and not ordinary folks? I think this misses the point of the financial bailout. Whether or not it works--and I sure hope it will--I don't think very many people wanted to bail out the…

The New York Times reports that Democratic senator Max Baucus will unveil his nationalized health care proposal today, and (surprise!) it would require all Americans to purchase health insurance: The plan proposed by Mr. Baucus, Democrat of Montana, would eventually require everyone to have health…

In the Washington Post, writes: Late last year, separate teams of Japanese and American researchers announced that they had produced pluripotent stem cells, or cells that retain the ability to become any body cell, by using gene insertion technology that causes body cells to revert to embryonic…

The race between Barack Obama and John McCain was supposed to be about winning the middle. Both candidates embraced the theme of moving from partisan gridlock to seeking bipartisan consensus. Obama's speeches evoked a country that was "not blue states and red states, but more United States." McCain…

Jen Rubin writes: Some are hearing, in Sarah Palin's recognition of the failure of Republicans to attract Hispanics, an embrace of John McCain's immigration plans. (They feel compelled, of course, to label this "amnesty"). It is interesting that immigration reform opponents immediately make the…

Whew, that was a close one! Just imagine what it would have done to our opinion of him as a fair arbiter of the news if he had actually gone into the voting booth and cast a vote for Barack Obama. Now, we know he was the only commentator in the entire country to claim that Barack Obama didn't go…

We all know by now that President-elect Obama improved his performance among a host of voter subgroups compared to John Kerry four years ago. Political Scientist Charles Franklin arrays the change in this interesting chart that displays how well Obama did and how far McCain slipped among key…

Today, as we reflect on the sacrifices of those who fight for our freedom, it's good to remember there's plenty we can do to thank them. I've been part of the fund-raising crew for Project VALOUR-IT for several years now, and we're at it again, raising money to get voice-activated laptops to…

The Wall Street Journal reports: President-elect Barack Obama is leaning toward asking Defense Secretary Robert Gates to remain in his position for at least a year, according to two Obama advisers. A senior Pentagon official said Mr. Gates would likely accept the offer if it is made. No final…

Bill Sammon's sources tell him Steele may announce as soon as Thursday, and is courting the endorsement of Newt Gingrich, which if landed, would do much to scare off the incumbent and possible challengers: The source also contradicted a report in Tuesday's Washington Times that Steele and Gingrich…

The Pentagon is planning to expand the number of air bases in the remote regions of Afghanistan's south and east, USA Today reports. The bases will allow the U.S. military to sortie more of the deadly unmanned Predator and Reaper aircraft that provide surveillance and striking power for U.S. forces…

In the first part of Sarah Palin's interview with Matt Lauer, Palin highlights a few reasons why the Republican ticket was defeated: the loss of the Hispanic vote, Obama's fundraising advantage, and anti-incumbency sentiment. In light of her remarks about the Hispanic vote, Allahpundit observes:…

Thomas Frank got a lot of attention a few years ago for his book What's the Matter With Kansas, in which he wondered why lower-income voters would back candidates who offered them little in the way of expanded government services. Frank and a host of liberal analysts found it astounding that so…

While Pakistan's president thinks the war against the Taliban in the tribal areas is going well, several reports from the frontlines tell a different story. The London Times, the Washington Post, and the New York Times all share grim accounts of the fighting in Pakistan's tribal agency of Bajaur.…

A characteristically thoughtful and provocative column by David Brooks today, this one the coming "fight over the future of conservatism." There are two camps, Brooks argues, the Reformers and the Traditionalists. Traditionalists are the people who believe that conservatives have lost elections…

A website intended to showcase great American role models in uniform was launched today by Matt Daniels and Sequoia Capital. GreatAmericans.com is an online video portal, similar to YouTube, that features videos of American soldiers, policemen, firefighters, and others. Matt Daniels, the creator of…

While President Bush's executive order allowing U.S. forces and the CIA to attack al Qaeda around the world may not have been much of a secret, it certainly was and is a vital measure in waging the war on terrorism. As Richard H. Shultz Jr. wrote in a January 2004 article in THE WEEKLY STANDARD:…

Allahpundit catches The New Republic and MSNBC falling for an anti-Palin hoax.

The New York Times tells us today that the Bush administration granted approval for the U.S. military "to use new authority to attack the Qaeda terrorist network anywhere in the world, and a more sweeping mandate to conduct operations in countries not at war with the United States." The U.S.…

Don't think Republicans are the only ones gnashing their teeth about their party's future. Democrats are also debating the meaning of the 2008 election and where they go from here to consolidate and expand their gains. (True, their debates are still under the heavy influence of Dom Perignon). One…

Meet Renegade, Renaissance, Radiance and Rosebud. I'm mostly just goofing, although three-syllable code names are not usually the order of the day. Renaissance? George W.'s and Laura's names are Tumbler and Tempo, respectively. Sarah and Todd Palin were reportedly Denali and Driller, which are…

President-elect Obama's most confounding national security challenge may not lie with our enemies, but rather our allies. Michael Yon writes Most of our allies are not very helpful. With the exception of the British, Canadians, Dutch, and a few others such as the Aussies, we are not fighting this…

...being able to call yourself a "Richmond outsider" if you run for governor in Virginia, as former DNC chairman Terry McAuliffe plans to do.

Professor Bainbridge makes the case that the best help one could give to GM is to allow it to file for bankruptcy: Let's focus on GM. GM's problems are manifold, but at the top of the list are: 1. An incredibly inefficient bureaucracy... 2. An excessive number of brands, which results in…

Via Hot Air, Piper Palin tells Alaska radio that she'd like to be president someday.

If it would be difficult for the state to make a case for earmarks. If there was one thing that [Barack Obama and John McCain] both agreed on it's that the earmark reform process will take place--no more abuse of earmarks. Barack Obama and John McCain both though acknowledged there's nothing wrong…

John Harwood writes in the New York Times: In the battleground state of Ohio, where Mr. Kerry lost the presidency to George W. Bush, the 2.74 million votes he received almost precisely matched Mr. Obama's 2008 total. Mr. Obama won because John McCain received 300,000 fewer votes than Mr. Bush did.…

Courtesy of the inimitable Ken Levine.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari believes the war against the Taliban and al Qaeda in the troubled Northwest Frontier Province is going well. "I think from where it was when we took over, we are in a much better place," Zardari told the Associated Press. "We used the force of the government and…

Jonathan Martin has a piece on GOP contenders maneuvering for the 2012 nomination. Already? I know. Before you click on that link, consider what Hayley Barbour tells Martin: "Oh, man," drawled Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, when asked about 2012 and specifically his own interest in a possible…

John Podesta "If human embryonic stem cell research does not make you at least a little bit uncomfortable, you have not thought about it enough." -- James A. Thomson A decade ago, Thomson was the first to isolate human embryonic stem cells. Last week, he (and Japan's Shinya Yamanaka) announced one…

I certainly had not intended to be anywhere near a war zone, particularly one involving an irritated Russian Army, having always avoided even being on the same continent as one, fearful that in the heat of battle (or the fog of war), the contestants might not be able to distinguish a Bermuda shorts…

Via Isaac Chotiner, Newsweek reports: The day of the third debate, Palin refused to go onstage with New Hampshire GOP Sen. John Sununu and Jeb Bradley, a New Hampshire congressman running for the Senate, because they were pro-choice and because Bradley opposed drilling in Alaska. The McCain…

Refusing to take Ronald Reagan's famous advice--don't just do something, stand there--conservative machers are all in a swivet, reading the leaves of the 2008 verdict, plotting to pick off this or that set of voters, opining on what it all means. Actually, just standing there seems like a pretty…

MD-1: Democrat Frank Kratovil leads Republican Andy Harris by 2,003 votes in this district that includes all of Maryland's Eastern Shore and parts of three counties west of the bay. Harris's campaign thinks there are about 10,000 outstanding provisional and absentee ballots. In order to win, the…

The New York Times reports: two intelligence officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the nature of their work said that they were concerned that any step that could be perceived as a victory for Al Qaeda, like pulling troops out of Iraq right away, would only strengthen its…

Via Allahpundit, here's a video of a school teacher telling her student before the election that the girl's father, who's serving in the military, could spend 100 years in Iraq if John McCain wins: The superintendent has launched an investigation into the teacher's actions, but I doubt she

At President-elect Obama's first press conference he was asked nine questions, most of which were softballs. Fishbowl DC notes that almost all of the major networks got to ask Obama a question: Nedra Pickler (AP), Lee Cowan (NBC), Jake Tapper (ABC), Chip Reid (CBS), Karen Bohan (Reuters), John…

The Washington Post reports that Barack Obama called Nancy Reagan to apologize for joking that he wouldn't be holding any seances like the former first lady did: "President-elect Barack Obama called Nancy Reagan today to apologize for the careless and off-handed remark he made during today's press…

Ed Morrissey takes a look at Rahm Emanuel's tenure as a board member of Freddie Mac.

The Anchorage Daily News reports that Palin chatted with the press today in the lobby of the governor's office: The governor talked about her future role in national politics, her rocky relationship with Democrats and the anonymous criticism from McCain staffers who claimed she went on a shopping…

Bestselling author and TV producer Michael Crichton, who died of cancer Tuesday at the age of 66, had an ambivalent view of science but an unfailingly benevolent attitude toward humanity. His writings are particularly important for having brought an intelligent, nuanced view on science to a popular…

I still can't believe I missed this concert. As the Washington Post's J. Freedom du Lac reports: The iconic folk singer Joan Baez opened her Wednesday night concert at the Birchmere with a civil rights anthem that suddenly sounded celebratory: "We Shall Overcome," the old protest song whose message…

Dave Barry's pre-election post-election column is a great way to start your weekend. It's extremely funny - but it's also extremely wise: You know what I miss? I miss 1960. Not the part about my face turning overnight into the world's most productive zit farm. What I miss is the way the grown-ups…

Obama makes a joke at Nancy Reagan's expense at his first post-partisan, uplifting press conference. The press corps enjoys it. Ronald Reagan's 86-year-old widow is currently recovering from a broken pelvis suffered in October. Perhaps picking on her is part of Obama's vaunted "social perception,"…

The Associated Press previews a very disturbing possible outcome to the dispute over the Minnesota Senate race between Norm Coleman and Al Franken: The Minnesota election law envisions Senate involvement. Once a result is contested in district court - which must come within a week of the…

Krauthammer: With [Obama] we get a president with the political intelligence of a Bill Clinton harnessed to the steely self-discipline of a Vladimir Putin. (I say this admiringly.) With these qualities, Obama will now bestride the political stage as largely as did Reagan. But before our old soldier…

As President-elect Obama told the world on Election Day, his girls will finally get that puppy they've been wanting for so long. (Even though Obama's daughter Malia has allergies.) The selection of the presidential pooch is no laughing matter. Obama must demonstrate his commitment to change while…

What does Obama think? That's a question raised by the Federal Circuit's decision this week in Rothe Development Corp. v. Department of Defense, which held unconstitutional a federal law that sets aside five percent of defense contracting dollars for businesses owned and controlled by "socially and…

The 2008 campaign produced a record number of surveys, and it turns out that most of the major public polls were pretty accurate. That's the assessment of Fordham political scientist Costas Panagopoulos, who writes: On average, pre-election polls from 23 public polling organizations projected a…

Rasmussen reports: When asked to choose among some of the GOP's top names for their choice for the party's 2012 presidential nominee, 64% say Palin. The next closest contenders are two former governors and unsuccessful challengers for the presidential nomination this year -- Mike Huckabee of…

The New York Times today engages in a little revisionist history and plain old bias: A Dreadful Jobs Report Recalls the 1980s Today's jobs report was dreadful - much worse than economists had anticipated - and you will be hearing a lot of comparisons that try to put it in context. This one may be…

Stuart Rothenberg on the aftermath of the 2008 election: Some will predict the end of the GOP. Others will merely consign it to minority party status for years because of demographic changes. I know that this will happen because I've seen it before: each time a party has suffered big losses,…

Levels of religious practice remained a key indicator of voting preferences in 2008, with the religiously observant strongly still favoring the Republican, if slightly reduced from 2004. Evangelicals remained the strongest voting bloc for Republicans, giving 74 percent to John McCain, according to…

Last month the North Korean pianist Kim Cheol Woong gave two special performances in Washington, D.C. He first played at the State Department and then, near nightfall, in the dim, chandeliered rooms of the Polish Embassy. His purpose wasn't to win laurels or make a name for himself. There weren't…

Markos Moulitsas notes that Norm Coleman's lead over Al Franken has been diminishing: A reader has been tracking vote results updates from the Minnesota's SoS office: 9:15 AM Coleman: 1,211,520 Franken: 1,211,077 10:15 AM Coleman: 1,211,525 Franken: 1,211,088 1:20 PM Coleman: 1,211,527 Franken:…

From what's known so far, the Obama campaign's outreach to white evangelicals appears to have helped. Obama strategists never thought that Obama would win a majority of evangelical voters in any state, and he didn't. But Obama aides had their eyes on certain states they aimed to contest, and they…

Let's add some context to the Carl Cameron and Newsweek airing of rumors from anonymous McCain/Palin staffers. The most controversial claims, all of which come without names attached because the purveyors are apparently determined to stick around to undermine future campaigns and candidates, are…

Byron York, Jen Rubin, and Michelle Malkin all have smart takes on the McCain aides' smearing of Sarah Palin. The Anchorage Daily News has a couple videos of Sarah Palin talking to the press after arriving back in Alaska, and it looks like she's more than capable of defending herself, if she…

As Paul Mirengoff points out, Obama's selection of Illinois Democrat Rahm Emanuel as White House chief of staff is yet another sign that the president-elect intends to govern from the center of the center-left: "I suspect ... that it is Democratic heads Emanuel will be knocking. Republican heads…

On Fox and Friends today, Bill Kristol gave some advice to the former McCain aides who have been leaking negative stories about Sarah Palin to the press:

It was months ago--back when Hillary Clinton was still inevitable as the next president of the United States--that Rahm Emanuel first laid out his "New Deal for the New Economy." He talked about it again in his speech at the Democratic convention. I suspect it has been well poll-tested and is…

In Baghdad, the reaction to Obama's election: In the normally querulous Union of Iraqi Writers club in Baghdad, there was a rare unanimity among the secular, the religious, Shiites, Sunnis and former regime loyalists: While the election of the first black man to the highest office in the United…

Meet the bad cop to Obama's good: Democratic officials say Barack Obama's fellow Chicagoan Rahm Emanuel has agreed to be White House chief of staff. One of Obama's first decisions as president-elect was to ask the Illinois congressman to run his White House staff. Emanuel accepted Thursday after…

From today's Times: For domestic audiences, among the biggest news [in Russian President Dmitri Medvedev's recent televised speech] was the proposed extension of the president's term by two years. After Mr. Medvedev made his speech, Kremlin spokesmen told the Interfax news agency that the change to…

I know what you've been thinking. Sure, America is engaged in two wars, is in the beginning stages of the worst economic downturn in a quarter century, and has a bloated government that is perhaps impervious to reform. But you have your eye on the real prize. You've been wondering, along with…

He'll make way for Eric Cantor of Virginia. Adam Putnam has already stepped down, and while Boehner is expected to stay on, there are rumblings in the grassroots about ousting him. He makes his case, here. Blunt's letter on his decision: Thursday, November 6, 2008 Dear Republican Colleague, In…

Vladimir Zhirinovsky takes the prize for the oddest assessment of Barack Obama yet: Barack Obama is the "American Gorbachev" who will ultimately destroy the United States, militant Russian nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky said on Tuesday. Credited in the West for leading the former Soviet Union…

The Times reports on some potential lower-level officeholders in President-elect Obama's cabinet: For national security adviser, Mr. Obama might pick between James B. Steinberg, a former deputy national security adviser, and Gregory B. Craig, a former State Department official. Mr. Danzig and…

A few weeks ago, Robert J. Samuelson wrote an excellent column describing why young people should be angry. Here's why. The two largest government programs, Social Security and Medicare, transfer wealth from the young and working to the old and retired. These programs are set to grow much, much…

gibbs.jpg Meet the new face of the Obama White House. A little McClellan-esque for my taste. This is my favorite Robert Gibbs moment of the campaign, when Mark Halperin got surprisingly tough on him about the Obama-Ayers relationship. He's also well-known for a pretty decent shouting match with…

Big Labor is expecting a big payoff for its efforts to elect Barack Obama and congressional Democrats. But depending on how the three up-in-the-air Senate races are resolved, labor groups won't get their biggest wish: the passage of "card-check" legislation that would effectively bring an end to…

Breaking from the AP: "Mideast peace deal unlikely by year's end: White House."

The Anchorage Daily News reports "If they're an unnamed source, then that says it all. I won't comment on anybody's gossip, or allegations that are based on anonymous sources. That's kind of a small, evidently bitter type of person who would anonymously charge something foolish like that, that I…

Patrick Ruffini on the youth vote: People have been focusing on whether the youth vote was up. It was -- slightly: going from 17 to 18 percent. But the real story about the youth vote is not how many "new" voters Obama got to show up. It's how he produced a gargantuan 25% swing among existing young…

Headline from today's New York Times: "Black TV Is Wearing Its Politics on Its Sleeve"

Jen Rubin points out this very good behind-the-scenes piece in the Wall Street Journal on what sank the McCain campaign.

Europe rejoices. The wish of its political elites and most Europeans has been granted. Barack Hussein Obama is the president-elect, and on January 20 will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States of America. No more George W. Bush, with his crazy notion that the spread of democracy…

A sizable chunk of the vote in the Oregon Senate race between Republican incumbent Gordon Smith and Democratic challenger Jeff Merkley has not yet been counted, but The Oregonian is calling the race for Merkley. Though Merkley only holds a lead of 2,000 votes, most of the uncounted votes are from…

Rod Dreher on the failure of Prop 8: by appealing to the courts to impose something as radical as same-sex marriage, something that has never in the history of human society existed, they invited this backlash. Now, traditional marriage has been constitutionalized, and same-sex couples are worse…

Vice-president-elect Joe Biden famously told a group of Seattle donors that the world would "test" Barack Obama within six months of his winning the presidency. Try less than 24 hours.

Baseball season is over, but inside baseball season is just beginning. Florida Rep. Adam Putnam announced today that he will relinquish his post as House Republican Conference chairman. Putnam's departure as the third-ranking Republican leader in the House, opens the door to Texas Rep. Jeb…

Turnout increased by over 10 million people compared to 2004, according to preliminary estimates by political scientist Michael McDonald at George Mason University. McDonald posts a lot of interesting data about voting levels on his website here. Some argued that because 2004 generated such high…

Todd Gitlin on Barack Obama's 2008 victory party in Chicago's Grant Park, where student protests turned violent during the Democratic National Convention 40 years ago: "He stands on the shoulders of the crowds of four decades ago," Mr. Gitlin said. "His rebellion takes the form of practicality. He…

As Senator John McCain ended his poignant concession speech last night and slowly walked off the stage, was anyone else reminded of the movie Crimson Tide? If so, it's because the music for McCain's exit was actually taken from the submarine thriller (composed by Hans Zimmer). After the final…

Several outlets (including Roll Call) report that Joe Lieberman will meet with Harry Reid on Thursday to discuss Lieberman's place in the next Congress. Speculation is rampant that Reid will strip Lieberman of his chairmanship: A growing number of Senate Democrats have been pressuring Reid to…

Cantor is a very bright, solid conservative with proven political and fund-raising skills. The word is that he plans to run for House Republican whip.

Four of the eight Republican-held House seats that were undecided late last night now have a clear winner: Republicans will hold on to retiring Rep. Deborah Pryce's seat in OH-15, with Republican Steve Stivers leading Democrat Mary Kilroy by five percent and only one precinct outstanding. Michigan…

With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Ted Stevens is winning by 3,353 votes, but there are still 40,000 absentee ballots to be counted, so Begich would need to beat Stevens by 9 points among absentee voters in order to win. Stevens's performance is unexpected based on the polls. Who could have…

Phoenix, Arizona

For Republicans, losing the White House and watching Democrats pile up bigger majorities in the Senate and House was bad enough. But there was another painful downside to the 2008 election. Republicans have been practically driven out of an entire section of the country: the Northeast.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Norm Coleman is beating Al Franken by 726 votes. There will be an automatic recount.

What a weird night. When it comes to marriage, it appears there are no red states or blue states. Florida also passed a gay marriage ban narrowly, as did Arizona. Methinks if California is passing gay marriage bans, the great leftist mandate and majority have not yet arrived.

I'm not sure why this is, but the Minnesota secretary of state's election results website shows Coleman doing better than CNN's website does: With 95 percent of precincts reporting the Republican senator is up by 11,000 votes. If the CNN map is to be trusted, the bad news is that the uncounted…

Norm Coleman and Al Franken are separated by mere hundreds of votes with 95 percent of precincts reporting. Coleman is currently up about 400 votes, with the Independent candidate garnering 400,000. Michael Barone said earlier in the evening that, given what's left to report, he thought the state…

Taking into account all House races, Democrats are poised to gain a net of at least 17 seats with a possibility of gaining a total of 25 seats. Worst case scenario for the GOP will be a 261/174 breakdown in the House. Democrats are leading comfortably or have been declared the winner in these…

A little past midnight, I walked through Farragut Square, a couple blocks north of the White House, where one could see and hear the

Because she may have been my favorite part of this campaign, and because she's good for cheering you up on a disappointing night. Yes, the Obama girls are adorable, but no one's been more of a natural on the trail than Piper.

I do not know who he is. I do not know which Obama will show up in Washington, D.C. to govern. My good feelings for him have diminished considerably throughout the campaign, as I've become increasingly convinced that his post-partisan, post-racial pitch was naught but a political pose. But Obama…

John McCain opened with a stirring account of Obama's win as an indicator of just how far we've come when it comes to bestowing the full blessings of our country on all of our citizens, as he appeared on stage with his wife, mother, running mate, and her husband. "Let there be no reason now for any…

You'll be glad to know, that in his celebratory speech, Sen. Harry Reid said that the mandate Democrats got tonight is not a mandate for a "political party or for an ideology," but for coming together. I imagine they'll flip-flop on that in about two weeks. The ideological mandate is what they're…

The guy who replaced Mark Foley running on honesty and family values has lost his seat to a Republican challenger. Republican challenger Tom Rooney, a lawyer and former Army officer, had trailed early in the campaign until news broke last month about Mahoney's affairs. Rooney quickly gained ground…

CNN calls CT-4 for Democrat James Himes. Republican Christopher Shays represented the Connecticut suburbs of New York City as New England's lone Republican congressman.

Phoenix, Arizona -- A somber mood here at the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix, where Republicans, dressed in their best Indian summer cocktail attire, are gathering to hear John McCain concede to Barack Obama. Jim Woolsey was seated below a mounted television in a crowded bar when Fox News projected…

Behold CNN's venture into the Brave New World of hologram reporting: Embedded video from CNN Video It gives you the apearance that the person is right in the studio, but it costs

MO: State Attorney General Jay Nixon (D) wins governor race over Republican congressman Kenny Hulshof. IN: Incumbent Mitch Daniels (R) wins governor Race over Jill Long Thompson. WV: Joe Manchin (D) wins governor race over former legislator Russ Weeks. NH: John Lynch (D) wins governor race over…

That's seriously the new pitch for the cable network/arm of the Obama campaign.

Dole's failure in the Tarheel State doesn't bode well for the McCain campaign in that state, showing that the anti-Republican tide is strong enough to knock over even a very famous incumbent. Things are looking bad for McCain in bellwether counties in North Carolina, but Virginia which had polled…

Fox News calls the race in Kentucky for Republican Mitch McConnell and in North Carolina for Democratic challenger Kay Hagan.

The fairly moderate former governor was up against another former governor, Jim Gilmore, who although solidly conservative may have been the only candidate who significantly hurt his image by making a primary presidential run. Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner has breezed to victory in his bid for…

NOTE: If you haven't voted, go vote. These numbers should not discourage anyone, as they have a history of being totally wrong. Please see the handy-dandy, "10 Reasons You Should Ignore Exit Polls" while I begin to obsess over them. Gawker had the first exit poll numbers, reporting rather small…

This morning in Miami-Dade County, Naylette Soublette went to vote at the same precinct where she's been voting since she was 18. The marketing professional and daughter of Cuban immigrants didn't expect her choice of candidates to be inspected by a poll worker. But as she was inserting her ballot…

Mark Blumenthal at Pollster.com has some good advice about exit polls. Why hasn't any information about preliminary results been floating around in emails and on blogs like in years past? Following a lot of criticism about early leaks in 2004, the network consortium that conducts the exits polls…

Mark Blumenthal at Pollster.com has some good advice about exit polls. Why hasn't any information about preliminary results been floating around in emails and on blogs like in years past? Following a lot of criticism about early leaks in 2004, the network consortium that conducts the exits polls…

Mark Blumenthal at Pollster.com has some good advice about exit polls. Why hasn't any information about preliminary results been floating around in emails and on blogs like in years past? Following a lot of criticism about early leaks in 2004, the network consortium that conducts the exits polls…

Marathon Pundit notes an extraordinary irony in today's ballot: Barack Obama and Bill Ayers had the opportunity to vote today on whether to extend the term of Cook County Circuit Court Judge Richard Elrod -- a tragic victim of the Weather Underground: Elrod is a parapalegic. His neck was broken,…

He fears the "intimidation" is a "systemic thing," and that his name being dropped from rolls was not a "random elimination." He ended up being able to vote, and Susan Sarandon was unimpeded.

First Read reports that Ralph Nader held a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. where he "instructed reporters that he would only give one-word answers to all questions posed -- in a sarcastic nod to the sound-bite nature of election coverage." A sampling: What is your…

The Black Panthers guarding the polls in Philadelphia have attracted a lot of attention. Why are they there? The Black Panther website explains: "We will not allow some racists and other angry whites, who are getting upset over an impending Barack Obama Presidential victory to intimidate Blacks at…

In the summer of 2007, Jonathan Rauch published an article in The Atlantic making the case for a long presidential campaign. The long campaign would be a test for the candidates, Rauch argued, and would also allow the parties to form U.K.-style "shadow governments" ready to take over on January 20,…

In 2006, "Maestro" Alan Greenspan leveraged his wildly exaggerated reputation into an $8 million book deal with Penguin Press. Around this time, Greenspan gave interviews in which he suggested a "well-financed independent presidential candidate" would emerge in time for the 2008 ("or 2012")…

Over at the First Things blog, Kevin Palischek notes the passing of Col. John W. Ripley, who was one amazing Marine: In late March 1972 twenty thousand North Vietnamese communists launched an offensive designed to reach Saigon and achieve a military and psychological victory over the South…

The McCain campaign is hoping a lawsuit will be heard within the next hour, so that the secretary of state will have to allow Republican poll-watchers back within earshot of the new voter registration tables. Right now, they're being kept up to 40 feet away, which doesn't do a lot of good for…

Video via Allahpundit: The Chicago Tribune's Frank James snarks: Citing her right to privacy, Gov. Sarah Palin refused to say who she voted for after emerging from her polling place in Wasilla, Alaska. That's right, she wouldn't say she voted for her own presidential ticket. We assume she did, but…

Whew, good thing we've got these guys around to prevent intimidation. And, what better tools for preventing intimidation than all-black paramilitary uniforms and billy clubs? Thank you, New Black Panther Party!

The seas will recede when he becomes president, and the nation will find a renewed purpose, but the press? He thanks them for merely being "gracious." The report calls Obama's trip to the back of the plane to thank the press a "rare foray," during which he took no questions. Meanwhile, Huffington…

Mickey Kaus argues here and here that Democrats ought to be grateful John Kerry lost four years ago. Kaus: "What would have happened if Kerry had won? 1) He would have presided over a slow motion loss, or continuing stalemate, in Iraq. No way Kerry would ever have approved the "surge." 2) He would…

Someone in Starbucks's legal department made a big oops. The company put together a promotion for today where they would give out a free drip coffee to people who had voted. Only this might run afoul of some election laws, so at the last minute they amended the giveaway to everybody. So head to…

Arrived at the office this morning to find a voicemail waiting for me from the Obama campaign. Their get-out-the-vote effort is so extensive that they had a live person calling me work. Even the volunteer seemed a little surprised. Here's the message she left me: My name is Caroline, I'm a…

So it turns out that not only is Sarah Palin completely vindicated in the state-trooper non-scandal, but the New York Times has discovered that maybe that gulag down at Guantanamo isn't such a bad idea after all. Here's the WSJ taking apart the Times: In their 1,600-word dispatch "Next President…

Not only did Barack Obama leave his Internet donation process open to money from foreign nationals, he's now deploying insipid liberal, foreign actors to phone bank for him. Please, Barack, send Orlando Bloom to Western Pennsylvania. I'm sure that'd help you connect.

Some good new for the McCain campaign: I voted in Arlington, Virginia this morning at 10:45 a.m. and the polls were empty, which leads me to believe that Northern Virginia--Obama's stronghold in the Old Dominion--is not turning out. Now there's a chance I might have missed the long lines…

Chuck Schumer defends the Fairness Doctrine because he thinks that regulating talk radio is just like regulating pornography: Jonah Goldberg writes that this is one of the single dumbest things he's ever heard a politician say.

Moran always manages to stick a foot in his mouth shortly before elections, but it makes little difference, as he's running in the heavily blue Northern Virginia 8th District. In 2006, he proclaimed that, "When I become chairman [of a House appropriations subcommittee], I'm going to earmark the…

There are a few liberals who have been mocking the idea that the incoming Democratic Congress, or an Obama FCC, may try to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine, a Truman-era regulation governing political content on the airwaves that could effectively shut down talk radio. This, despite the fact that…

A Washington Post/ABC News poll indicates only 9 percent of likely voters consider Iraq to be a main concern. As the Post explains in today's editorial, "Simply put, the situation in Iraq has been transformed in the past two years, and voters recognize it.... The irony is that the reversal of…

The wizards at The Onion are covering the election. Here's today's top headline: "Voting Machines Elect One of Their Own as President". And here's the report:

From Andrew B. Wilson's "Five Myths About the Great Depression": Far from a free-market idealist, Hoover was an ardent believer in government intervention to support incomes and employment. This is critical to understanding the origins of the Great Depression. Franklin Roosevelt didn't reverse…

Eugene Robinson's last two columns have been very good. Here he is today on Obama's - and America's - achievement: Even if John McCain somehow prevails, that won't change the fact that Obama won all those primaries, or that he won the Democratic Party nomination, or that he raised more money than…

Bret Stephens's excellent column today is worth quoting at length: The animating impulses of Mr. McCain's life have always revolved around the act of confrontation: against the traditions and methods of the Naval Academy; against his captors in Vietnam; against "special interests," especially those…

Peter Baker: In 16 of the 17 presidential elections since the Redskins moved to Washington in 1937, the incumbent party has kept the White House if the team won its last home game before the election while the out-of-power party has taken over if the Redskins lost. (The only exception came four…

Hope this helps cut the Election Day tension: Lyrics via Hot Air: Obama on the left McCain on the right We can talk politics all night And you can vote however you like You can vote however you like, yeah Democratic left Republican right November 4th we decide And you can vote however you like You…

Obama and the "guys in his neighborhood" will vote today at an elementary school in Hyde Park. Who else votes there? Bill Ayers and Louis Farrakhan. The press preoccupies itself with the straw man, "Are we ready for a black president?" My concern is we're so very not ready for a Hyde Park president.

Funny business in Philadelphia, Minnesota, and Milwaukee.

This morning in Miami-Dade County, Naylette Soublette went to vote at the same precinct where she's been voting since she was 18. The marketing professional and daughter of Cuban immigrants didn't expect her choice of candidates to be inspected by a poll worker. But as she was inserting her ballot…

In the Wall Street Journal Fred Barneswrites that Of course journalists point to the many times they've taken on liberal politicians, especially Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and, at times, Sen. Obama. But their criticism is of a special type. They point out political…

In his New York Times column, Bill Kristol takes a look at McCain's chances: What if the polls, for various reasons, are overstating Obama's support by a couple points? And what if the late deciders break overwhelmingly against Obama, as they did in the Democratic primaries? McCain could then…

The Anchorage Daily News reports: A new report just released -- hours before the polls open on Election Day -- exonerates Gov. Sarah Palin in the Troopergate controversy. The state Personnel Board-sanctioned investigation is the second into whether Palin violated state ethics law in firing her…

Very sad news: Madelyn Dunham, 86, Senator Barack Obama's grandmother, died late Sunday evening in Hawaii after battling cancer, which Mr. Obama announced upon arriving here on Monday for a campaign stop on the eve of Election Day. "She has gone home," Mr. Obama said, his voice tinged with emotion…

Be sure to check out Robert J. Samuelson's Newsweek cover story on the financial crisis. Warning: It's not a pick-me-upper. Here's a key quote: [T]he long-term problem is ... to mediate between all the competing demands on the nation's income and to expand the economy's capacity to produce the…

I should have gotten this out earlier, but just didn't get all the video clips together quick enough. In putting this together, it's been surprising, even to someone who's followed the entire presidential race in great detail, the extent to which Obama has gotten away with blatant position…

Oh, the angsty music, the riveting images, the stirring speeches, and the decent production values of a mainstream media outlet's pathos-ridden paean to the Obama campaign in its final days. "Will Karl Rovian tactics be capable of crushing the sun of a new day dawning back below the dismal…

Lest you find yourself discouraged about voting or worse, still undecided, on this the last day before the national election, here are a few incentives for you to get out and make your vote count. 1. Free coffee at Starbucks. Starbucks locations nation-wide will be giving out free cups of regular…

I note that the Prowler reports that Barack Obama's campaign team was aware that his aunt was living in Boston illegally, and elected to do nothing about it: Instead, according to the source, Axelrod reached out to his former client, [Massachusetts Governor Deval] Patrick, who had retained…

Not that this is news to conservatives, but it's still worth reading Howard Kurtz's column in today's Washington Post, in which he states, "If anyone doubts there is a liberal entertainment establishment, it has been vividly on display" during this presidential campaign. Kurtz then compares Obama's…

Fran Drescher TEXT "hate and bigotry"

Well, here's hoping. I swear, if I hear one more media wimp complain about the "negativity" (unprecedented, of course) of this campaign... The whinging is more unseemly than the worst advertisements I've seen. This is a contest, people. A hard-fought contest. Hundreds of hard-fought contests, in…

I'm not a fan of campaign finance "reform." I believe it always results in unintended consequences--usually worse than the status quo. But Democrats have changed directions so quickly on the issue, the party may have to issue neck braces to manage their strained principles. Look, I get it. The…

One Obama fan explains her enthusiasm for The One: "I won't have to worry about putting gas in my car, I won't have worry about paying my mortgage. You know, if I help him he's going to help me." That clip makes you wonder how many Obama supporters really think the world might look a little…

Rasmussen's numbers show that Democrats, ever eager to choose their own adventure on Election Night and subject the rest of us to it for the next four years, are more willing to participate in exit polls than McCain voters. That, of course, will make the numbers suspect: The bottom line is that in…

Barack Obama, who allegedly wants so much to change the map, to overcome our differences, to soothe our tensions, sure has a funny way of showing it. Yesterday, Newsbusters uncovered a tape of Obama discussing coal-fired plants with the San Francisco Chronicle. Safely seated at the reclaimed wood…

On September 29, before the vice presidential candidates' debate, Sarah Palin tweaked Joe Biden. She said of the Delaware senator: "I'm looking forward to meeting him... I've never met him before, but I've been hearing about his Senate speeches since I was in, like, second grade.'' Politico reports…

Michelle Obama in 2004 on her husband's prospects of running for president: "It's way to soon he hasn't done anything." Michelle Obama yesterday: "He thinks he can really do anything - he does. With his own power and will, he can fix it." So ... what exactly did Barack Obama do--besides run a…

I gotta tell you the people who are closest to the action are feeling very good. ... making a million calls a day at this point. ... What happened to the all of the other HIllary Clinton support? Do you feel a bit lonely I think it's true that a lot of the Hillary supporters are not speaking out…

In another YouTube video captured by Pamela Geller, Democratic congressman Jerrold Nadler says that Barack Obama lacked the "political courage" to walk out of Jeremiah Wright's church. Via Jake Tapper: Says Nadler: "I have no personal knowledge of what I'm about to say. What I'm about to say is my…

Published in 1881 as an appendix to his final novel, Bouvard et Pécuchet, Flaubert's Dictionnaire des Idées Reçues--or Dictionary of Accepted Ideas--is a blistering satirical attack on philistinism, bourgeois culture, and literary convention. The author's sharp wit is in evidence throughout. He…

Drawing the Line at the Big Ditch

Americans have traditionally rated their statesmen's moral stature above all other accomplishments. "The truth is," says a foreigner to a Frenchman in Stendhal's classic of 1830 Le Rouge et le Noir, "that your aged society values conventionality above everything; you will never rise higher than…

As you settle in with your bowl of popcorn and drink to watch the quadrennial competition for America's highest office, you need a scorecard. You are eagerly anticipating seeing the national map light up in red and blue--a welcome reminder of our federalist design--but what should you be watching…

"Does evil exist?" the Reverend Rick Warren asked John McCain and Barack Obama at the Saddleback Forum on August 16. "If so, should we ignore it, negotiate with it, contain it, or defeat it?"

The in-your-face Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) is currently being investigated for voter-registration fraud in 13 states. ACORN is often referred to as the spawn of Saul Alinsky (1909-72), the godfather of radical community organizers, whose most famous aphorism was…

A Manifesto for Media Freedom

Not long ago, I acquired for seven dollars a handsome Oxford University Press edition, published in 1937, of Macaulay's Literary Essays. For years I had been meaning to read more of this acknowledged master of English prose, best known for his classic History of England. This was, after all, Thomas…

Now airing in theaters before the coming attractions, "American Warrior" is a stunningly unorthodox commercial for the U.S. National Guard. Directed by Academy Award-winner James Mangold, the two-minute-and-35-second music video combines a kick-ass song by Kid Rock with visuals that cut between the…

A traveler passing through the Mid-Ohio Valley might see little incentive to stop in Parkersburg, West Virginia, with its landscape dominated by strip malls, windowless gambling parlors (deceptively styled "cafés"), and billboards advertising the hazards of copper wire theft and crystal meth. But…

Reykjavik

It's always darkest before it goes totally black. This is one of John McCain's favorite remarks, ascribed (apocryphally, it seems) to Chairman Mao. Well, with 10 days to go before the election, it's getting pretty dark out there.

The Raven King

It was a bright, breezy morning of drifting sunlight and chorusing birds, so I decided to ruin it by taking the SAT. The SAT used to be the Scholastic Aptitude Test. In the early 1990s, at the height of political correctness, the name was changed to Scholastic Assessment Test, "aptitude" having…

Speaking in Code

In July 2007, pollsters for the New York Times and CBS News asked respondents to name the issues most important to them as they considered which candidate they would support for president. The top choice for both Republicans and Democrats was national security--Iraq for Democrats, terrorism for…

Lorne Michaels is the longtime executive producer of Saturday Night Live. Sarah Palin appeared on SNL in mid-October, after which Michaels noted, "Her politics aren't my politics." But that wasn't all he said. "I think Palin will continue to be underestimated," Michaels told EW.com. "I watched the…

Save the World on Your Own Time

At an event at a Boca Raton synagogue, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) said that the United States should let Russia invade Georgia. Beginning at the 3:50 mark in the following YouTube video, which was recorded by Pamela Geller of the blog Atlas Shrugs, Nadler says: We have not been willing to…

Was the 2008 presidential campaign the greatest ever? The conventional wisdom in the political community and the media seems to be congealing around that idea. David Broder, the political columnist of the Washington Post, thinks the 2008 race was best he's ever covered. Was it really that good? I…

Via Ben Smith: Too little, too late?

Ben Smith notes

Jake Tapper reports that Obama says he'll answer questions from the press "on Wednesday".

Campaigning in Des Moines, Iowa on Friday, Barack Obama said: "On the day of the Iowa caucus, my faith in the American people was vindicated, and what you started here in Iowa has swept the nation." At a rally in Ohio yesterday, McCain responded to Obama's statement: "We learn more and more about…

In an email sent to reporters last night by Ted Stevens's spokesman, Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) made a statement that Stevens would not be tossed out of the Senate due to his conviction: "As the Senate has done in every other instance in its long 220-year history, I am absolutely confident that…

What is it about San Francisco that makes Barack Obama say things that offend Pennsylvania voters? During his infamous San Fran fundraiser back in April, Obama said that folks in Pennsylvania bitterly clung to their guns, religion, and xenophobia because they were economically depressed. Now,…

Via Allahpundit, McCain responds to Obama's infomercial and goes through some closing strategies to win the election (my favorite is "the sad grandpa"), and in the third clip, Ben Affleck does a pretty great impression of Keith Olbermann. This sketch gives me a reason to post another very funny…

The AP reports: U.S. deaths in Iraq fell in October to their lowest monthly level of the war, matching the record low of 13 fatalities suffered in July. Iraqi deaths fell to their lowest monthly levels of the year. Eight of the 13 Americans died in combat, most of them in northern Iraq where…

During the past week, many of Dean Barnett's friends and admirers have written tributes to him. An updated, but by no means comprehensive, list can be found here. Paul Seyferth, who was Dean's co-blogger at SoxBlog, writes this: Like many others, Dean's death has hit me pretty hard. He didn't mean…

In a late campaign move intended to wrap up Iowa once and for all (looks like it may have worked), Barack Obama recently announced his plan to increase by two-thirds the federal mandate for ethanol and other renewable fuels. John McCain, unfortunately, may have missed a chance to effectively…

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