May 2009

On Fox News Sunday, the boss says that the more you look at Sotomayor's 2001 "wise Latina" speech the worse it is (read the full text of her speech here): KRISTOL: ... It was a carefully prepared text, published in La Raza Law Journal. WALLACE: This is her 2001 speech at Berkeley Law School.…

We don't have a very good understanding of Judge Sotomayor's reasoning in the Ricci v. DeStefano racial preferences case because she and her two colleagues issued a one-paragraph "per curiam opinion [that] adopted in toto the reasoning of the District Court, without further elaboration or…

George Tiller, a doctor who performed third-trimester abortions in Kansas, was murdered today. Princeton's Robert George writes at NRO: Whoever murdered George Tiller has done a gravely wicked thing. The evil of this action is in no way diminished by the blood George Tiller had on his own hands. No…

The average American may have an excuse for not being familiar with the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA), President Obama's unfamiliarity with NGA is troubling. The NGA is a key source (if not the only source) for information on many of the issues he is being briefed about on a daily…

How soft are we getting on detainees? This soft: All 17 Uighurs are now allowed to order fast-food, and they're getting laptops so they can practice sending email. They can't email outsiders but this type of training is, no doubt, vital for their post Gitmo lives. Of course, the last type of…

There are a few missing from the list, like the Special Operations Command Intelligence Support Activity (ISA)--which may have another name by now. Officially, it doesn't exist, but its job is to gather intelligence in support of SOCOM operations, including the very black ones. It was formed after…

It turns out the Obama administration isn't quite as keen as its supporters to let al Qaeda-trained Uighurs settle in the United States. NRO's Andy McCarthy reports on the latest developments: The Obama Justice Department told the Supreme Court this evening that the Uighurs have no right to be…

I know there are sixteen intelligence agencies, but I could only name eight before I had to turn to Google. Then again, I'm not the President of the United States. Ben Smith reports: On his trip to get a burger with Brian Williams at Five Guys this afternoon, the President appears to have learned…

Obama: Sotomayor would have "restated" her wise Latina comment. Robert George on Obama and his pro-life apologists. Carl Levin alleges VP Cheney is lying about memos showing harsh interrogations worked. How much do you have to pay to become Obama's ambassador to Japan? $600,000 Jennifer Rubin, Rich…

"I think she'd say that her word choice in 2001 was poor," said White House press spokesperson Robert Gibbs un-empathetically today. Wasn't Gibbs's comment on his boss's Supreme Court nominee a bit harsh? Isn't a poor choice of words kind of a problem for a judge? But Gibbs had just begun his…

Obama's uncle Charlie on why the president is heading to a concentration camp in Germany next week: SPIEGEL: Mr. Payne, early in June your great-nephew, President Barack Obama, will visit the former concentration camp Buchenwald, which you helped liberate at the end of the war. Will he be…

From the boss's latest editorial posted here: So Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs declared, "I think it is probably important for anybody involved in this debate to be exceedingly careful with the way in which they've decided to describe different aspects of this impending confirmation." Not just…

The Washington Post reports that Europe has a message for Obama about accepting Gitmo detainees: You, first. BERLIN, May 28 -- The Obama administration's push to resettle at least 50 Guantanamo Bay prisoners in Europe is meeting fresh resistance as European officials demand that the United States…

A new Quinnipiac poll shows that 54 percent of voters approve of Obama's pick of Sotomayor. The most interesting question, I think, in the poll is this: Do you think making the Supreme Court look like the rest of the nation in terms of race, religion, ethnicity, and gender is more important than a…

Casablanca, Morocco This is not your father's (OK, this is not your grandfather's) Casablanca. The bougainvillea, wisteria, roses, orange trees, eucalyptus, and date palms that adorn Marrakech-so plentiful are Marrakchi palm trees, in fact, and so revered, that some have been left to grow up…

Kimberly Strassel has an excellent piece in the Wall Street Journal on Obama's nomination of Sotomayor: President Barack Obama has laid down his ground rules for the debate over Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. The big question now is whether Republicans agree to play by rules that neither…

Fear not. America will not go bust. At least not in the sense of being unable to cover all of the IOUs it has peddled to China and other investors. After all, hidden in some Washington and Fort Worth, Texas basements are the printing presses that turn out dollar bills on command. So if America â s…

John Cornyn

In the wake of Tom Tancredo's outlandish statement that Sotomayor is a member of the "Latino KKK" (aka National Council of La Raza), the media will have an easy time dismissing concerns about Sotomayor's association with the group as right-wing moonbattery. But a TWS friend points out that the New…

Any doubts I had that it was not just right in principle but also politically smart to challenge the Sonia Sotomayor pick disappeared this morning: The National Journal reports that its survey of "GOP Insiders" shows 64 percent advising that Republicans dodge a battle, with only a quarter…

Stuart Taylor digs up another example from Sotomayor's Princeton days: In October 1974, Princeton allowed Sotomayor and two other students to initiate a seminar, for full credit and with the university's blessings, on the Puerto Rican experience and its relation to contemporary America. I went to…

A Rasmussen poll shows that "Forty-nine percent (49%) of all voters have a favorable opinion of Sotomayor while 36% hold an unfavorable view." While Sotomayor's favorable rating is right about where Alito's was after Bush nominated him for the Supreme Court, Sotomayor's unfavorable rating is…

Sarajevo On a quick trip to the Balkans, I found myself inadvertently following in the footsteps of Vice President Joseph Biden, who swung through Bosnia-Hercegovina, Serbia, and Kosovo last week. Biden's comportment during his visit, which lasted three days from May 19 to 21, reaffirmed much about…

Last October, the Wall Street Journal editorialized that Argentina "serves as a cautionary tale on how to ruin an economy." Now President Cristina Kirchner may pay a political price for her--and her husband's--mismanagement. With national legislative elections scheduled for next month, the…

Not many outside the evangelical world have yet heard of him, but 37-year-old Donald Miller is one of the Evangelical Left's fresh faces. His 2003 spiritual odyssey Blue Like Jazz, a sort of evangelical version of Jack Kerouac's On the Road, sold over a million copies, launching Miller as a leader…

Obama on national health care: "If we don't get it done this year, we're not going to get it done." Dana Milbank: Latina Woman, Tongue-Tied Man Quinnipiac: Specter leads Toomey by 9 points. Obama's car czar's conflict of interest. Jennifer Rubin: Roxana Saberi tells her story. Frederick Kagan and…

Bloomberg's Michael McKee reports: The U.S. housing market is nowhere near recovery and signs of stabilization are premature, said David Sokol, a top aide to billionaire investor Warren Buffett who oversees the nation's second-largest real estate brokerage. Sokol was among money managers who told…

The New York Times reports "Sotomayor's Appellate Opinions Are Unpredictable, Lawyers and Scholars Say". The story isn't that surprising when one considers this 1996 Sotomayor quote that Ed Whelan dug up: "The public expects the law to be static and predictable. The law, however, is uncertain and…

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This morning Steve Hayes noted reports that the Obama administration is planning on giving the FBI a greater role in its "global justice initiative" whose "premise [is] that virtually all suspects will end up in a U.S. or foreign court of law." Gary Schmitt makes a few additional points about the…

The latest news from the Florida GOP primary race: Mike Huckabee and Jeb Bush Jr. endorsed Marco Rubio yesterday, a nice gift to the former Florida state house speaker, who turns 38 today. Rubio had endorsed Huckabee back in December 2007, so it's not a surprise that Huckabee decided to scratch…

Mark Hemingway reads Harry Reid's memoir The Good Fight, so you don't have to: Released a year ago, the book got one glowing review: from his hometown paper. Every other major media outlet has been standoffish. Take this blurb from the Washington Post, proudly emblazoned on the back of the…

Three days after North Korea conducted its second nuclear test, public attention has already shifted to President Obama's Supreme Court pick and there seems to be little consensus about how the United States and its allies should respond. The Obama administration seems intent on continuing the Bush…

The car czar's conflict of interest. Blame the board! Meet Caroline Miller, a 7th-generation West Point grad. Dear Obama, gay groups are not protesting your appearances because they think you're totally awesome. Crist breaks pledge, hikes taxes. Consistency: NYT editorials on Sotomayor vs. Thomas…

Marrakech, Morocco In beautiful Marrakech, we admire the towering Atlas Mountains in the distance from our bougainvillea-laden terrace. Nork nukes and Sotomayor feel blessedly far away. Moroccans care not at all about our Supreme Court nominee, and only slightly more about the North Korean missile…

On April 16, Barack Obama released memos detailing harsh interrogation techniques employed by CIA officers. A former top CIA official told me that the move had "devastated morale" at the Agency. Then, when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi brazenly accused CIA officials of lying to her and misleading…

Enter Robert George. A professor of politics (and a lot more) at Princeton--he holds an endowed chair once held by Woodrow Wilson--George wants to bring intellectual vigor to the Republican party and the conservative movement, especially on social issues like pornography and marriage. "We need to…

The Huffington Post banner headline reads: Dem Senators Open To Allowing Innocent Chinese Detainees To Live In U.S. But read Ryan Grim's (very fair) piece and you'll see that these Dem Senators say nothing of the sort. Asked whether he'd be open to letting the Uighurs "live" in the U.S., Dick…

Spiegel reports that the UN is sitting on evidence that proves Hezbollah assassinated former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri. UPDATE: This Michael Young piece, posted Wednesday, is the most sophisticated and perceptive response to Spiegel so far.

At least her husband wasn't a fan of the Alaskan Independence Party: Sotomayor's college yearbook page included a quote from Socialist Party presidential candidate Norman Thomas. George Will says Sotomayor didn't save Major League Baseball--in fact, she harmed it. Law professor Jonathan Turley says…

The public expects the law to be static and predictable. The law, however, is uncertain and responds to changing circumstances. one must accept the proposition that a difference there will be by the presence of women and people of color on the bench. Personal experiences affect the facts that…

Rep. Joe Sestak is telling his supporters he will run for Senate in Pennsylvania in 2010 against freshly-minted Democratic incumbent Arlen Specter. The younger, more telegenic, more Democratic politician more beloved of the money-raising Netroots will soon be discussing his final decision with his…

Via Ben Smith, Joe Biden cracked the following joke after his telemprompter fell over while he was giving a speech in Colorado Springs: "What I am going to tell the president when I tell him his teleprompter is broken? What will he do then?" Remember, as Reason.tv says, It Can Always Get Worse

Pam Hess reports: The nation's two intelligence chiefs are locked in a turf battle over overseas posts, forcing National Security Adviser James L. Jones to mediate, according to current and former government officials. The jockeying between CIA Director Leon Panetta and National Intelligence…

Below is a video that purports to show the Academic Ensemble of Moscow Military District performing a musical mocking Europe and the Ukraine for their dependence on Russian natural gas. They joke that if Ukraine joins NATO, they'll just cut the gas. If Russia doesn't win Eurovision, they'll just…

USA Today: "Federal tax revenue plunged $138 billion, or 34%, in April vs. a year ago - the biggest April drop since 1981, a study released Tuesday by the American Institute for Economic Research says." How exactly are we going to pay for national health care?

Playboy journalist Mike Guy got himself waterboarded last month but I missed the video -- probably because it doesn't confirm everything the left already knew to be true and thus has very little news value. On the assumption that many other folks didn't get the chance to see this, watch the video…

Remember when Barack Obama pledged he wouldn't raise taxes on anyone who made under $250,000? Remember when the Tax Day Tea Parties were all a bunch of nonsense because Barack Obama had yet to raise anyone's taxes? Perhaps the protesters were more prescient than they're given credit for. While…

The Washington Post corrects the record (via CQ): A May 22 editorial on Virginia's Democratic gubernatorial primary incorrectly stated that Terry R. McAuliffe had described himself as a "huckster." In his autobiography, Mr. McAuliffe described himself as a "hustler."

After four months of denials, dissembling and delays, the Obama administration has finally released a Pentagon report on recidivism among former Guantanamo Bay detainees. Yes, it's true that the report was only released after the New York Times reported extensively on its contents last week. And…

The number of people who are qualified to disagree with Joe Klein is dwindling. I have been drafted here at THE WEEKLY STANDARD Online to take issue with Time's political columnist, as I am not now, nor have I ever been Jewish, Roman Catholic, or physically disabled. At such time as any of those…

Gallup shows support for gay marriage declining since 2007, when it stood at 46 percent. That number is now just 40 percent, with 57 percent opposed to legalizing gay marriage. More important politically is the fact that just over half of Democrats favor gay marriage (55 percent), and fewer than…

TNR digs up another instance in which Sonia Sotomayor de Noonan appears to have received preferential treatment: A large Washington law firm-Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge-has been forced to apologize to a Yale Law School senior after a student-faculty tribunal found one of its partners had…

Make sure to check out Ed Whelan's coverage of Sotomayor over at NRO's Bench Memos blog. Also, see Jennifer Rubin's take here and Andy McCarthy's take here.

John Taylor: "The [national] debt was 41 per cent of GDP at the end of 1988, President Ronald Reagan's last year in office, the same as at the end of 2008, President George W. Bush's last year in office. If one thinks policies from Reagan to Bush were mistakes does it make any sense to double down…

Sen. Roland Burris's hometown paper, the Chicago Sun-Times, felt obliged to identify the senator as a "Chicago Democrat" in its story on the latest development in the Burris-Blago 'pay-to-play' scandal, but the word "Democrat" is curiously missing from the New York Times's report:…

This morning, John McCormack noted several outlets highlighting a New Republic piece by Jeffrey Rosen, with the headline: "The Case Against Sotomayor." McCormack ended his post writing: "We eagerly anticipate Rosen's latest take, in which we will surely learn that in reality Sotomayor has a…

John Yoo says she's not a threat to the revolution: Obama had some truly outstanding legal intellectuals and judges to choose from-Cass Sunstein, Elena Kagan, and Diane Wood come immediately to mind. The White House chose a judge distinguished from the other members of that list only by her race.…

Liz Cheney, the Nora O'Donnell-slaying voice for Bush-era national security measures and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, isn't currently considering a run for office, but didn't rule one out, either: "It's not something I'm focused on right now, I do have five little kids and I'm…

Ross Douthat: In postfeminist America, men are happier than women. California Supreme Court upholds democratic government. Norks reportedly fire another missile. Ramesh Ponnuru: Sotomayor as Obama's Harriet Miers. Is this what empathy for crooked New Jersey pols looks like? The White House wants…

Just as the Obama administration and its allies in Congress try to ram through cap and trade legislation, European countries are moving to exempt entire industries from the regulation lest they simply relocate their operations to more business-friendly nations. The Financial Times reports: Berlin…

Don't count Sonia Sotomayor as one of the justices of the Supreme Court quite yet. Yes, the odds of her winning confirmation as the first Hispanic woman on the court are almost prohibitive, especially since Democrats have an overwhelming majority in the Senate. But the odds are 90 percent, maybe 95…

Jeffrey Goldberg embarrasses Fareed Zakaria here and smacks Roger Cohen here.

The New York Times did its best to carry water for the potential Bloomberg challenger, but after telling the paper that Mayor Mike was smearing him with push polling and negative stories and that the strategy was only pushing him towards running ("I don't walk away from a fight," he said) Anthony…

Anthony R. Dolan, former chief speechwriter to President Reagan and special advisor in the offices of Secretaries of State and Defense in the Bush administration, writes THE WEEKLY STANDARD in response to Paul Kengor's "Duped at Notre Dame" from the May 18 issue: Gratitude is due Paul Kengor for…

I wonder why this was released the same day as Sotomayor was nominated: The Pentagon says about 5 percent of terror suspects released from the U.S. navy prison at Guantanamo Bay so far have returned to the fight against the U.S. and its allies. Data released Tuesday suggests that an additional 9…

Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio says that "there is much in [Sotomayor's] legal background that is troubling", and he hopes that she doesn't get a free pass because of her ethnicity: "I look forward to hearing more about Judge Sotomayor and her views about the proper role of the courts and…

After launching a public campaign to force Princeton University to hire faculty and administrators of "Puerto Rican or Chicano heritage," Sotomayor finally got her way. But she wasn't finished complaining. Despite being appointed to a student advisory board that would counsel the University on the…

Now that Obama has picked Sonia Sotomayor to take the seat of the retiring David Souter, the summer promises to be really interesting. By the last week of June the Supreme Court will have decided Ricci v. DeStefano. This is the case alleging racial discrimination in employment on the part of New…

The New York Times' report on Sotomayor's 2001 speech to La Raza includes a couple of choice quotes from Obama's Supreme Court appointee: "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't…

Obama, during his speech on national security last week: "I ran for President promising transparency, and I meant what I said." But on the easiest transparency pledge he made, the president has fallen consistently short. Here is yet another newspaper story on his failure to post bills on…

Sotomayor was a tireless crusader for Latino affirmative action while at Princeton University. She was at war with the administration over what she told the student newspaper was a "lack of commitment" in hiring "Puerto Rican and Chicano administrators." In 1974 Sotomayor wrote an ope-ed in the…

During his remarks this morning, President Obama pointed out that Sotomayor was appointed as a district court judge in 1992 by Republican George H. W. Bush. But a friend on Capitol Hill notes this bipartisan talking-point is empty. The following 1992 New York Law Journal article explains that…

According to Sotomayor's philosophy, Steele's opinion (what with the "richness of his experiences") is more valuable than noted white man Mitch McConnell's opinion, so I thought it was worth posting: "Republicans look forward to learning more about federal appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor's…

The Canadian Governor General doesn't just hunt animals in her spare time, and drape the spoils over the sofa in her office. No, Michaelle Jean guts harp seals with her bare hands and devours their hearts as part of a ceremony of political solidarity with seal hunters: Jean knelt above a pair of…

This is the roll call vote from Sotomayor's nomination to the U.S. Circuit Court in 1998. She was opposed by 29 Republicans, 11 of whom are still in the Senate today: Brownback (R-KS) Enzi (R-WY) Grassley (R-IA) Hutchison (R-TX) Inhofe (R-OK) Kyl (R-TX) McCain (R-AZ) McConnell (R-KY) Roberts (R-KS)…

Drudge highlights Jeffrey Rosen's New Republic piece, in which a number of Second Circuit clerks and "eminent liberal scholars" expressed concerns about Sotomayor's temperament and intellect. Sotomayor is simply "not that smart and kind of a bully on the bench," as one clerk said. Rosen followed up…

The boss, from his Blackberry: "Where policy is made." That's how, in 2005, reported Supreme Court pick Sonia Sotomayor characterized the Court of Appeals, where she now serves. It's undoubtedly even truer, in her eyes, about the Supreme Court. The debate over her confirmation could be an…

AP: Officials tell The Associated Press that President Barack Obama intends to nominate federal appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor (SUHN'-ya soh-toh-my-YOR') as the first Hispanic to serve on the Supreme Court. Sotomayor, 54, would succeed retiring Justice David Souter if confirmed by the Senate.…

Today kicked off the second annual "Ride 2 Recovery" Memorial Challenge ride through Virginia. The riders -- many of them amputees or other wounded warriors -- started today with a ride from Washington, DC, to Manassas. Tomorrow, they ride from Manassas to Fredricksburg. And by week's end they'll…

And then goes golfing: His remarks in the Rose Garden today were inserted into his schedule and were an escalation of yesterday's statement, calling North Korea's reported nuclear and missile tests "a great threat to the peace and security of the world." (Yesterday, he said the region.) Although…

The boss asks who else will step forward, and what will happen if no one does: Both Cheney and Gingrich have the background and stature to address credibly national security issues. Here's an interesting question: Will any Republican whose career lies mostly ahead of him -- or her -- step up to…

John Bolton predicted North Korea's latest nuclear test in the Wall Street Journal on May 20, despite the Obama administration's happy-go-lucky attitude toward Kim's regime: The curtain is about to rise again on the long-running nuclear tragicomedy, "North Korea Outwits the United States." Despite…

We all love scary stories, and the 2009 report from the trustees of Social Security and Medicare is one of the most frightening that's been published in years. Unfortunately, it's nonfiction.

Well, that settles it. Maureen Dowd thinks Dick Cheney should shut up. Cheney, she writes, is "batty," has "numskull ideas," and "still loves torture."

And Justice for All

When I was a boy, maybe eight or nine, my father took me aside to show me a baseball. I'd seen the ball before. It had been sitting on his dresser for as long as I could remember. But I'd never taken it off the dresser for a closer look or even given it a second thought.

When accused of being too aggressive on behalf of the United States at the United Nations, Daniel Patrick Moynihan was fond of repeating a French proverb: "Cet animal est fort méchant, / Quand on l'attaque il se défend." Imagine--an animal so mean that, when attacked, it defends itself!

Meg Whitman is the most interesting person in American politics and, potentially, a formidable Republican leader at the national level. At age 52 and a year after stepping down as CEO of eBay, she's running for governor of California. Like Ronald Reagan, she's a well-known star from another…

The Future of Liberalism

Jimmah's Back

D.C. EDUCATION PROPOSAL

Government lawyers in the Department of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) appear to have leaked to the press parts of a confidential--and classified--draft report concerning the actions of Bush administration lawyers. The report calls for state bar associations to investigate,…

Built of Books

Baltimore

The Triumph of Music

Bad Girls Go Everywhere

Orlando

In order to please our European allies and our Third World critics, the Obama administration may be tempted to surrender one particular manifestation of American "dominance": central management of key aspects of the Internet by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Other countries are pushing for more…

Delicate Edible Birds

Jon Stewart likes the boss's confession of allegiance to Darth Vader on Special Report this week (see this video starting at the 1:15 mark): THE WEEKLY STANDARD has always had a soft spot for Darth Vader. See Jonathan V. Last's May 2002 "The Case for the Empire": The deep lesson of Star Wars is…

For many on the left, even Khalid Sheik Mohammed has become little more than a victim of Bush administration abuse, his role in the attacks of 9/11 overshadowed by the rough treatment to which he was subjected after his capture. But it turns out that even the return of the rule of law can't help…

In the not too distant future President Obama will outline his "peace plan" for the Middle East. Perhaps as early as next month, when he travels to Cairo to address the Muslim world, he'll mention to Israel and the Arab states surrounding her how he thinks they can all work together to solve the…

Barack Obama put domestic policy director Melody Barnes in charge of his task-force to bring pro-life and pro-choice leaders together to reduce the number of abortions. It was a bit of an odd choice, considering that Barnes was once a board member of Planned Parenthood, the billion-dollar…

Well, he's on a message. Just because it happens to be Dick Cheney's message is no reason to judge Joe harshly. Baby steps: Speaking to reporters on the final day of his tour of the Balkans, Vice President Joe Biden acknowledged the administration still hasn't figured out what to do with all the…

David Frum has written a column in The Week magazine called "The pro-life delusion" in which he claims that a recent Gallup poll showing that 51 percent of Americans self-ascribe as pro-life is wrong. Worse, it's misleading-and threatens to send Republicans careening in precisely the worst possible…

The Atlantic's Chris Good writes: "A bus full of kindergarteners got turned away from the White House Thursday, 10 minutes late for a tour. (An event with the Pittsburgh Steelers prevented White House staff from letting them in.)" Jim Treacher writes: "Sorry, kids! Obama doesn't change his schedule…

Yesterday Obama offered this critique of waterboarding: "I know some have argued that brutal methods like water-boarding were necessary to keep us safe. I could not disagree more. As Commander-in-Chief, I see the intelligence, I bear responsibility for keeping this country safe, and I reject the…

Kim Strassel reports that Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty took on his Democratic legislature over spending and tax hikes. And amazingly, Pawlenty won. Strassel: Upon receiving the last spending bill, [Pawlenty] announced that he would exercise the power of "unallotment," which has been on the books…

The press release: WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate unanimously passed an amendment last night introduced by U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) which establishes a procedure to block release of the detainee photos. Last week, after consulting with General Petraeus, General…

The bad news is that President Obama is keeping his campaign promises to raise taxes on upper-income families, borrow-and-spend, use taxpayers' money to fund the survival of auto-company dinosaurs, take over the health care system, and otherwise pursue an agenda that it is an understatement to…

Earlier this week California senator Dianne Feinstein said that Gitmo detainees could easily be held at Supermax federal prison in Colorado, but Colorado senator Michael Bennet opposed this proposal, saying, "Because the detainees are being tried by military tribunals, they should be held in…

Video via Hot Air: Quoth Allahpundit: "the fact that government has now decayed to the point where congressmen feel safe openly admitting that they don't know what they're voting on suggests a civic breakdown in need of emergency repair." How true.

In his speech today, President Obama surrounded himself with images of the law. In a hall housing the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, the president clearly sought to portray himself as one who was protecting America's legal heritage after almost eight years of "fear" and…

First off, let me concede that having a clerk read parts of the cap-and-trade climate bill Micro-Machines style is pretty funny, and far beyond the levity quotient one expects from Rep. Henry Waxman. On the other hand, this is the United States Senate, sir. Could we not spring for the actual Micro…

Andy McCarthy writes: President Obama's speech is the September 10th mindset trying to come to grips with September 11th reality. It is excruciating to watch as the brute facts of life under a jihadist threat, which the president is now accountable for confronting, compel him forever to climb out…

Friends of Nan swept her off the grill today, voting 252-172 (Ron Paul, of course, and Walter Jones of North Carolina voted with the Dems) to block an effort to investigate her assertion that she never heard of waterboarding, but if she did, she didn't know it was gonna be used, but if she did know…

Everyone heard Obama introduce us to "William" Gates this morning. He was introduced at the Pentagon as "Ronald" Gates on Tuesday. That introduction was not by Obama, which the AP story linked above sort of suggests. Here's the video. The Pentagon's video links are failing me, so go to the main…

Always coming through with a meme (that's right, I said it) that soars, Jim Treacher brings us Cheneykus on Twitter. A selection of his work: Remember, lefties I'm not running for office Your polls make me laugh Hello, Jon Stewart You cried on September 12 But haven't since: Why? I'm bald and…

In rereading his speech, it's in this sentence: Today, I'm an even freer man. Your kind invitation brings me here as a private citizen - a career in politics behind me, no elections to win or lose, and no favor to seek. Hmmm, the very thing that brings our hero (Obama) to his knees is what makes…

In his speech at the National Archives today, President Obama touted his administration's efforts to defend the United States, saying "We are investing in the 21st century military and intelligence capabilities that will allow us to stay one step ahead of a nimble enemy." The events of recent days…

Another TWS friend writes in about Obama's speech: I thought this part was telling: I stand here today as someone whose own life was made possible by these documents. My father came to our shores in search of the promise that they offered. My mother made me rise before dawn to learn of their truth…

While insisting "we need to focus on the future," President Obama devoted much of his speech on terrorist detainees today to denouncing the policies of President Bush's administration. He faulted everyone in Washington for "pointing fingers at one another," yet pointed his own finger frequently,…

Four random thoughts about Barack Obama's speech today. *Obama repeatedly complained about "fear-mongering" and a "climate of fear" and unnamed people making unspecified arguments designed to arouse the irrational fears of the American public. The White House doesn't get it. Terrorism is scary.…

I hope that President Obama is enjoying this debate, and one certainly hopes that he will continue to embrace it, because it is a debate that he has been asking for since he decided to run for president. From a series of reckless positions on national security while serving as a United States…

I've read both speeches. Obama's is the speech of a young senator who was once a part-time law professor--platitudinous and preachy, vague and pseudo-thoughtful in an abstract kind of way. This sentence was revealing: "On the other hand, I recently opposed the release of certain photographs that…

A friend writes: "I am listening to Obama's speech and I find it really unattractive (not to mention hypocritical) for Mr. Hope 'n Change to keep harping on the past. Boo hoo, you have to be a real leader now. Deal with it!" Well said. You can read Obama's remarks as prepared for delivery after the…

Via David Freddoso, an Obama gaffe that would have been noteworthy, I suppose, if he were Sarah Palin:

THE WEEKLY STANDARD has obtained an advance copy of VP Cheney's remarks as prepared for delivery later this morning at the American Enterprise Institute. I've read it quickly. I think fair-minded people will find it very well-argued and powerful. Thank you all very much, and Arthur, thank you for…

Politico's Mike Allen writes: CHENEY, BUSH POPULARITY RISES (A TAD) -- CNN/OPINION RESEARCH CORPORATION POLL OUT AT 6 a.m.: "Most Americans still don't like Dick Cheney, but they like him a little more than they did just after he and George W. Bush left office. 55% of the public has an unfavorable…

In an interview yesterday Hillary Clinton chillingly suggested it is now U.S. policy to demand not only that Israel dismantle "illegal outposts" and stop any further settlement expansion in the West Bank, or Judea and Samaria, but also--and no distinction made here--to put a halt to "natural…

The Times reports: Iran test-fired a sophisticated missile on Wednesday that was capable of striking Israel and parts of Western Europe, adding to concerns that Iran's weapons-development program is fast outpacing the American-led diplomacy that President Obama has said he will let play out through…

Marc Ambinder gets a preview that includes, Step 1) Blame Bush: Obama will caution that he does not have "the luxury of starting from scratch" -- cleaning up something that is "a mess that has left in its wake a flood of legal challenges that we are forced to deal with on a constant basis and that…

Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently raised eyebrows by noting that China is "developing capabilities" that "seem very focused on the United States Navy and our bases that are in that part of the world."

Beverly Hills and the Appalachian Mountains don't have a lot in common--geographically, culturally or politically. One region produces a lot of coal to keep people warm and fuels American industry; the other is the home of Hollywood and generates, well . . . a lot of hot air. That's one reason why…

The good news is they were snitched on and caught. The bad news is they're all U.S.-born: The FBI busted a homegrown terror cell late Wednesday night as the men sneaked around a Jewish temple in Riverdale planting what they thought were packages of C-4 explosives, sources told the Daily News. The…

"So, um, guys..Really, I meant to call before now." I imagine this meeting felt like the first post-break-up coffee with an embittered ex. It's Obama's unpleasant duty to lie to them, let them yell, and validate their feelings. It's their place to yell, feel momentarily assured, and walk away…

On February 2, a Department of Defense spokesman told THE WEEKLY STANDARD that a Pentagon report documenting the recidivism of some former Guantanamo detainees would be released imminently. The report was coming so soon that we were told to check defenselink.mil for it that afternoon.

Jennifer Rubin on the Guantanamo two-step. Andy McCarthy: Will Congress Save Obama on the "Prisoner Abuse" Photos? Arlen Specter remembers he's a Democrat (unlike that other time) and defends Nancy Pelosi. Gingrich says Pelosi must go; Hoekstra calls her "incompetent." Mitch Daniels-mania continues…

In answer to Barack Obama's prayers for a "positive response to his outreach for opening a dialogue with Iran by the end of the year," some withering disapproval from Leon Panetta, who calls Iran a "destabilizing force in the Middle East," and a really scary warning from Hillary Clinton that the…

If you're a Republican you may want to stop reading right now - or at least don't let the kids see this! Gallup issued a new report yesterday tabulating changes in party identification across a host of subgroups between 2001 and 2009. The results? The political equivalent of a car wreck.…

Earlier today, California Senator Dianne Feinstein said that the supermax federal prison in Florence, Colorado, would be a good location to hold Gitmo detainees. In an emailed statement to THE WEEKLY STANDARD, Colorado's newest senator, Democrat Michael Bennet, disagrees: "I strongly support the…

Delivered by Slate's John Dickerson: Obama just called space shuttle astronauts who've repaired Hubble. Asked them to use its high power lens to find him a policy for Guantanamo

Politico reports on a very public clash among administration officials: The Pentagon No. 3 official, Michele Flournoy, said the only way the United States can get European nations to accept some of the 240 detainees at the military prison is by agreeing to bring some of them to the United States as…

"Yes, children, hypocritical congressional investigations and foreign kangaroo courts are really our friends," Michael Gerson writes today in the Washington Post, describing the Democrats' "Mr. Rogers approach" to assuaging the intelligence community during their all-out assault on CIA morale:…

New York Times: An unreleased Pentagon report provides new details concluding that about one in seven of the 534 prisoners already transferred abroad from the prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, has returned to terrorism or militant activity, according to administration officials. The conclusion could…

Greg Sargent reports that all three cables will carry Cheney's speech tomorrow morning live directly after the president makes his speech. The Democrats have developed a bad habit of elevating Cheney without engaging the substance of his attacks -- the hope being that his low public approval…

Presumably, new credit-card regulations constitute "emergency" legislation given that Obama is once again breaking his pledge to post legislation online five days before signing, in order to sign it Friday. President Obama will quickly sign the credit card legislation that just passed through…

A new McLaughlin & Associates poll of 600 likely voters (PDF) shows: Seven in ten voters (71%) say the United States will not be safe with a nuclear Iran. If Iran is able to produce a nuclear weapon, nearly eight in ten voters (79%) say it is likely that Iran will provide nuclear weapons to…

Think how easy it will be to track them in the snow: Carl Levin , chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said that construction and staffing at a new maximum-security prison in Michigan could help his cash-starved state. "If the governor and the local officials are open to it, that's something…

Normally careful wordsmith Joe Klein appears to be so rattled by the reaction to his comment about Charles Krauthammer that he's making elementary errors of diction. "Malingerers" makes no sense in the first sentence of Klein's post--unless he thinks malingerers means "maligners," those who malign.…

The view from AEI on the coincidence that Obama will be speaking on the same issue at the same time as Cheney: The announcement of the former Veep's address went out officially from AEI on May 12, though he had been asked to give a talk a couple of weeks before. (We asked him because this is one of…

A day after Harry Reid took a hardline against the relocation of terrorists now being held at Gitmo to prisons inside the United States, FBI director Robert Mueller goes up to the Hill and shares his concerns: "The concerns we have about individuals who may support terrorism being in the United…

There appears to be a growing fissure between senior politicans on the Hill and the Pentagon when it comes to closing Gitmo. Yesterday, Senate Majority Harry Reid said that he did not want detainees released or even imprisoned in the U.S. The Senate has decided not to fund the Obama…

If you want to understand the buzz about Marco Rubio, the underdog candidate challenging Gov. Charlie Crist in the Florida GOP Senate primary, watch this clip of Rubio's farewell address to the Florida House of Representatives, via Robert Stacy McCain at Hot Air: Moe Lane writes (HT again to R.S.…

The White House announces: Who: President Obama to Deliver Major Speech When: Thursday, May 21, 2009...10:10 AM Wonder why the president chose that time?

Senator Dianne Feinstein suggested during floor remarks earlier today that California prisons could handle detainees: FEINSTEIN: Yes, we have maximum security prisons in California eminently capable of holding these people as well, and from which people - trust me - do not escape. So I believe that…

Ben Smith's profile today of Charles Krauthammer contains this quote from Joe Klein: "There's something tragic about him too," Klein said, referring to Krauthammer's confinement to a wheelchair, the result of a diving accident during his first year of medical school. "His work would have a lot more…

A victory for gun rights certainly helps wash down the sour taste of a credit card reform that shifts costs away from irresponsible borrowers and onto the backs of those who pay their debts on time and in full: To the frustration and discouragement of many Democrats, House and Senate lawmakers and…

Jan Crawford Greenburg reports that a leading Supreme Court candidate, Judge Diane Wood, is in Washington today: Sources tell me Obama has not decided whom he will choose. But of the three, Wood comes closest to meeting the criteria he has laid out in a justice. She could be his home run pick: She…

Liberals pray for card check passage. Surprise: People hate newspapers more than airlines or cell phone providers. Yipes! The fiscal future, in pictures. Barack Obama bestows upon the nation most innovative, genius idea in car-manufacturing of the last 20 years. How nice of him! What's your NPR…

The Hill reports that "A massive amount of sensitive, national security-related information from the Clinton administration has gone missing from the national archives." The Inspector General of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) told congressional committee staffers Tuesday…

For the past 120-odd days, President Obama's efforts to address the flagging economy have mainly been compared to Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. If one is looking for lessons in economic policy, this is undoubtedly a reasonable place to start. If the question is politics, however, there may be more…

In a recent op-ed, Tom Daschle repeatedly invokes a baseball metaphor when discussing government-run health care. His apparent aim is to make it seem as American as baseball or apple pie. But government-run health care is really about as American as government-owned Chevrolet--and would prove even…

The excuse some universities give for not permitting ROTC on campus is don't-ask-don't-tell. This is of course a policy the military follows pursuant to legislation passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton in 1993--but the universities choose to blame the military. Now it turns out that…

Today, as is often the case, the policy of California was exported to the federal government in the form of far more stringent fuel-efficiency and emissions standards. It is usually to the detriment of the rest of the country that policy moves from west to east like a liberal weather system, as…

Ross Douthat: Dan Brown's America Obama praises Pelosi for "cracking the whip and making Congress so productive over the last several days". Mason-Dixon poll shows Crist beating Rubio by 35 points in the primary and his Democratic opponents by 30 points in the general election. Allahpundit:…

A press release: Senators Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) today introduced the Detainee Photographic Records Protection Act which would establish a procedure to block release of the detainee photos. The Senators plan to offer the legislation as an amendment to the Supplemental…

Today, the Pentagon said the U.S. is on schedule to close Gitmo by January 2010. According to AFP, DOD spokesman Geoff Morrell said, "I see nothing to indicate that that date is at all in jeopardy." Morrell added, "As far as I can tell, everything remains on track for action to be taken with regard…

So, after a brief interruption during which George W. Bush reversed generations of American policy and put pressure on the Palestinians before making demands of the Israelis, it's back to business as usual for U.S.-Israel relations. What happened at yesterday's meeting between Bibi Netanyahu and…

Seventy-three percent of applicants for Massachusetts teaching licenses failed the math test. On second thought, not so shocking-not if you've had any experience with public school recently. Can't wait to here how they done on the English egzam.

Hey, what's a little oral sex joke on the news? Surely no one thought Anderson Cooper was trying to "disparage" the protesters! "I think it's an incorrect statement to say I was, in any way, trying to disparage legitimate protests," said Cooper. "I don't think it's my job to disparage, or…

David Attenborough and friends say they've found the Missing Link, and her name is Ida. She looks like a lizard to me, but maybe Bill Clinton would like to date her.

A statement after my own heart from Rummy aide Keith Urbahn: The slides in the "World Intelligence Update" were prepared on a daily basis by military personnel serving on the Joint Staff, which reported to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, not the Secretary of Defense. The report was briefed…

Seventy-three percent of applicants for Massachusetts teaching licenses failed the math test. On second thought, not so shocking--not if you've had any experience with public school recently. Can't wait to here how they done on the English egzam.

You'll find yourself in jail if you've the effrontery to fail to hold the escalator rail, says Toronto's Globe and Mail.

Earlier today Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said at a news conference that he doesn't want any Gitmo detainees held in prisons in the United States. CQ has the transcript: QUESTION: (inaudible) REID: Change course on what? QUESTION: On funding the closing of Guantanamo Bay. REID: Well, the…

Joe Biden's commencement address at Wake Forest on Sunday was unfortunately overshadowed by Obama's stunning "We hold these truths to be arguably untrue" speech at Notre Dame. Thankfully, Mark Hemingway has pulled together a collection of Biden's most unintentionally hilarious remarks at Wake…

Newsweek, according to Howard Kurtz and Jon Meacham, has carved out a path that is totally new and totally different, breaking away from its old objectivity as a news magazine for the multitudes that runs down the middle, and recasting itself as an elite publication for the elite (and the liberal)…

Her next column comes tomorrow and inquiring minds are eager to hear how, precisely, the Pulitzer prize-winning New York Times columnist managed to "inadvertently lift" an entire passage from a blog post and insert it into her Sunday column. Slate's Jack Shafer credits Dowd for her quick response…

Yesterday Art Laffer and Stephen Moore wrote in the Wall Street Journal: Lawmakers in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York and Oregon want to raise income tax rates on the top 1% or 2% or 5% of their citizens. New Illinois Gov. Patrick Quinn wants a 50%…

Counterinsurgency gurus David Kilcullen and Andrew Exum wrote an op-ed over the weekend on the U.S. Predator campaign against al Qaeda, the Taliban, and allied terror groups based in the region. Essentially Kilcullen and Exum argue that the campaign is misguided because it hampers the Pakistani…

It's amazing what a little accountability will do for you: President Barack Obama's allies in the Senate will not provide funds to close the Guantanamo Bay prison next January, a top Democratic official said Tuesday. With debate looming on Obama's spending request to cover military and diplomatic…

It's amazing what Google turns up these days. Here is Haass on the Charlie Rose show in September 2003, two months after he left the administration to become president of the Council on Foreign Relations. Presumably free to speak his mind, and at a time when the war in Iraq was already going badly,…

CIA officials tell the Washington Post that the administration is making us less safe: The Obama administration's decisions to close the U.S. military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, make public Justice Department memos sanctioning harsh interrogation, and ban techniques authorized by the…

Lawrence Wilkerson is having trouble keeping his story straight. And on Rachel Maddow's show last night, his story fell completely apart.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Happiness is...being old, male, and Republican. Just when you thought the "peace" movement might have lost some of its hateful self-righteousness... Robert Byrd in hospital with infection. Obama's personal investments show a shocking lack of money in "weatherizing," "electronic medical records,"…

It's fun watching Richard Haass preen about his vociferous "dissent" before the Iraq war: Haass says it's painful to hear the list of all the policies that he was against -- including the Iraq war and U.S. policy on Afghanistan. "I believed in diplomacy, I believe in multilateralism, I believe in…

From yesterday's press briefing: Q Somebody suggested that Speaker Pelosi should come forward with the evidence of her allegation that the CIA misled her. Does the President agree that she should have some evidence -- MR. GIBBS: You know, I appreciated the opportunity to get involved in this on…

Via the FPI Overnight Brief, Yonhap reports: North Korea executed its pointman on South Korea last year, holding him responsible for wrong predictions about Seoul's new conservative government that has ditched a decade of engagement policy toward Pyongyang, sources said Monday. Choe Sung-chol, who…

As the Taliban, its Afghan detachments swelling with local jihadists, penetrates deeper into an apparently-collapsing Pakistan, politicians and media around the world, amid visible paralysis, are "rediscovering" the brutality of which the South Asian radical Islamists are capable. As with other…

In his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today, President Obama said the following: "If there is a linkage between Iran and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, I personally believe it actually runs the other way, to the extent that we can make peace… between the…

Kevin Hassett provides the factoid of the day: "Extrapolating out the 2007 CBO forecast, our government plans to spend about $5.6 trillion more between 2009 and 2018 than was projected to be spent when the Democrats took over control of Congress." Samuelson and Continetti are on the same page.…

Said President Obama: We should have a fairly good sense by the end of the year as to whether they are moving in the right direction and whether the parties involved are making progress and that there's a good-faith effort to resolve differences. Leave aside how silly it is that the President seems…

And why not: Arrested Somali pirates who are now in the Netherlands on trial for their deeds say they would like to stay in the Netherlands. "It's a good life here." Suspected pirate Sayid will stand trial on Monday with four of his countrymen in the first Dutch pirate trial. "I want an education…

After reading Obama's speech at Notre Dame on abortion as well as the media coverage of it, a couple things stand out. First, almost every outlet--from the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Times to the Washington Post and the New York Times--reports that Obama "directly" confronted the…

After reading Obama's speech at Notre Dame on abortion as well as the media coverage of it, a couple things stand out. First, almost every outlet--from the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Times to the Washington Post and the New York Times--reports that Obama "directly" confronted the…

From the Onion: BREAKING: Pelosi Alleges CIA Failed To Tell Her Democratic Party Would Be Opposed To Waterboarding

The only thing that surprises me about this photo is that Helene Cooper isn't sitting there taking notes for her next story on Israel. She must have been just outside the shot with Chas Freeman, Rashid Khalidi and Ali Abunimah.

Andrew Breitbart writes a fantastic column today owning up to a misguided but well meaning attempt to confront some anti-war protesters. They were, as Breitbart had suspected, anti-war protesters -- they just weren't protesting the Iraq war, or the Afghanistan war, or the war on terror, or the war…

On ABC's This Week (video here. ) Sen. Jim Webb said no Gitmo detainees, including the Uighurs, should be brought to the United States: SENATOR JIM WEBB The situation with the Chinese Uighurs that you're talking about, on the one hand it can be argued that they were simply conducting dissident…

It was that kind of day-and it has been that kind of presidency: Barack Obama, moving as he wishes to move, and the world bending itself to him. That from Jon Meacham's "exclusive" interview with President Obama. What's most disturbing is that Meacham likely believes this, despite all evidence to…

Calderone gets another statement from the Times: Maureen had us correct the column online as soon as the error was brought to her attention, adding in the sourcing to Marshall's blog. We ran a correction in today's paper, referring readers to the correct version online. There is no need to do…

New Jersey voters could witness a real slugfest this November in the state's gubernatorial election. Incumbent Democratic Governor John Corzine is facing stiff competition from Republican Chris Christie, according to a new Rasmussen poll released last week. Looking behind the numbers suggests the…

Over the weekend, President Obama selected Utah governor Jon Huntsman, a Republican (duh! It's Utah!), to be his ambassador to China. Huntsman is fluent in Mandarin, whip-smart, and a guy who holds respectable, establishmentarian opinions on a host of issues, namely, the need for the GOP to…

For a long time in America, the Religious Left, Catholics and Protestants alike, have been duped, played like fiddles. It happened again at Notre Dame yesterday.

Maureen Dowd plagiarized (or in the parlance of the Huffington Post, "inadvertently lifted") the work of a partisan left-wing blogger, reproducing it word for word, and then offering this bizarre explanation: i was talking to a friend of mine Friday about what I was writing who suggested I make…

One of the main reasons large swaths of Pakistan has fallen under Taliban control is that the military has nearly no capacity to fight a counterinsurgency operation. The Pakistani Army is built to battle the Indians on the eastern plains, not the Taliban in the mountainous northwest. The Pakistani…

Tacitly conceding this weekend that Fred Armisen's Barack Obama is just heinous, and even if it weren't they probably wouldn't have the guts to actually go after Obama, SNL went back to making fun of George W. Bush. In this skit, Will Ferrell reprises his impression of W. by admonishing Darrell…

Obama presumably to give Bibi a Zune loaded with "The Bible" as read by Charlton Heston. "New Testament optional, Beebs!" "You're a hypocrite!" one man yelled. "I'm a winner, pal," Graham shot back. Coleman v. Franken to the Minnesota Supreme Court. Dear California, Seriously? Seriously. Focus on…

Me Cheeta

Republican leaders in Congress have created something called the National Council for a New America (NCNA). It describes itself as "not a Republican-only forum" but one that seeks to "engage people in a discussion to meet common challenges and build a stronger country through common-sense ideas."…

The Adventures of Tintin

Hebrew Writers on Writing

William Strunk and E. B. White's Elements of Style turned 50 last month, and the most interesting thing about the anniversary, which came and went with a smattering of notices and a chinpull here and there, was what it revealed about the book's reputation. Half a century into its reign as the…

Researching an article on Ireland that ran in the STANDARD last week, I came across a pessimistic series of employment projections by PwC. They sounded important. But I had a problem before I could cite them. Who or what was PwC? Was it the acronym of some trustworthy national statistics office? Of…

All across campus, the flowers have begun to bloom, their dull Indiana roots stirred by the spring rain, and the grass is almost green again at Notre Dame. Beneath a 16-foot statue of the Blessed Virgin, the main administration building sits, as always, its gold dome sparkling in the warm spring…

Joschka Fischer and the Making of the Berlin Republic

The question of whether to open a criminal investigation into the conduct of Bush administration officials with regard to interrogation methods for detainees is burning bright for the Obama administration and the legal community at home and abroad. For some, the question is a simple one: Such…

Looking for a surefire sign that the economy is poised for a recovery? Here it is. A few weeks ago, the Associated Press ran the story "Bartering makes a comeback for those short on cash." It reported that cash-strapped consumers were increasingly bartering goods for services, rather than…

President Obama and the Democratic leaders of Congress have made it clear that health care reform is their top legislative priority this year. The administration laid down some general markers in its budget, and the president has enunciated principles in several speeches. Key committees in both…

Last Tuesday, Republican Marco Rubio, former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, announced a bid for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mel Martinez. At 37, Rubio, a fresh-faced charismatic Cuban American and Jeb Bush protégé, would seem to be the perfect recruit for statewide…

On February 17, the Navy took delivery of its first refurbished W76 warhead. The W76 is a nuclear payload that sits atop the Trident II missiles carried by America's Ohio-class submarines. As such, it represents an important part of the country's nuclear arsenal. The refurbishment of the aging W76s…

Jack Kemp lived every day as "the big game"--a fresh chance to score touchdowns and win the contest. He always heard the potential roar of the crowds, and he was energized by the possibility of achievement. More than any Republican since Theodore Roosevelt he believed in the strenuous life and…

The Washington Dauphin

In the past three years, three dozen film critics have been told by the struggling newspapers and alternative weeklies for which they work that their interpretations of the latest Hollywood and foreign fare are no longer part of the business plan in a business that no longer has much of a plan…

San Diego

Over at the Washington Post's Post Partisan blog, the boss writes: Commentators have been struck -- though not perhaps as much as they should have been -- by the extraordinary character of CIA Director Leon Panetta's blunt and stark rebuke of Nancy Pelosi. Responding to political debates that…

Are the editors of the New York Times aware that the World Trade Center towers were, in fact, in lower Manhattan? On its face it is an absurd question, but when you read their editorial this morning you have to wonder. The Times worries that President Obama is making responsible decisions with…

Or more specifically, what is not torture. In the 1980s, Toensing started the Justice Department's Terrorism Unit where she "supervised the legality of apprehending terrorists to stand trial." Her standard, she says, was that the treatment of terrorists could not "shock the conscience of the…

When the Obama White House authorized the release of the so-called torture memos, the Washington Post report noted that the release was, at least in part, a response to criticism from the former VP, Dick Cheney: A source familiar with White House views said Obama's advisers are further convinced…

Joe Biden is proving impossible to parody. In one of the few funny jokes at the White House correspondents dinner, Wanda Sykes won loud laughter when she joked that terrorists interested in learning America's most important secrets would only have to ask Biden how he's doing. According to an…

Obami scouts, reconnoitering this week in Cairo, have narrowed the field to three possible venues for the U.S. president's address to the Muslim world next month, the AP reports; most highly recommended is the Al Azhar Mosque, . . . one of the oldest, most prestigious and most influential…

Obami scouts, reconnoitering this week in Cairo, have narrowed the field to three possible venues for the U.S. president's address to the Muslim world next month, the AP reports; most highly recommended is the Al Azhar Mosque, . . . one of the oldest, most prestigious and most influential…

Greg Sargent gets a statement from Nancy Pelosi: We all share great respect for the dedicated men and women of the intelligence community who are deeply committed to the safety and security of the American people. My criticism of the manner in which the Bush Administration did not appropriately…

Ace: San Fran Nan Changes Her Story Again: When I Said the CIA Briefers Had Lied to Me, I Meant the Bush Administration Had Lied to Me. Joseph Bottum on Catholic Culture and the Notre Dame Protests. Also, in case you missed it, see his TWS story on Obama and Notre Dame. Allahpundit: Axelrod…

Remember when Barack Obama was announcing his Obamacare plan, touting the 1.5 percent yearly decrease over 10 years in health care costs he had already wrung from health care providers? Yeah, about that: The president of the American Hospital Association said Thursday that a deal with the White…

TWS contributor Adam White emails: I saw in Politico that Al Gore is attacking Cheney, and asserting that "I waited two years after I left office to make statements that were critical." That struck me as completely untrue, and it took me about two minuets to confirm my recollection. Here are just a…

Via Jim Treacher, who in the wonderful world of Twitter, has created a new kind of poetry in honor of the Democrats' great leader: I am not lying Except for what I just said And what I'll say next For more Treacher humor, check him out here. Update: Here's mine: Like Rice-a-Roni I'm a San Francisco…

The Hill's Sam Youngman reports: CIA Director Leon Panetta challenged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's accusations that the agency lied to her, writing a memo to his agents saying she received nothing but the truth. ... Panetta, President Obama's pick to run the clandestine agency and President…

On April 27, former State Department chief of staff Lawrence Wilkerson told the Huffington Post that several lawyers in the Bush administration should be "at a minimum, disbarred" and that the government should appoint "a special prosecutor such as Fitzgerald, armed to the teeth, and give him or…

Larry Wilkerson, via Spencer Ackerman at The Washington Independent, tries to respond to my criticism of his new story alleging that Vice President Cheney authorized waterboarding in order to generate phony intelligence connecting Saddam's regime to al Qaeda. Wilkerson's response does nothing to…

He's all net: "I think this is the most despicable, dishonest and vicious political effort I've seen in my lifetime. . . . She is a trivial politician, viciously using partisanship for the narrowest of purposes, and she dishonors the Congress by her behavior."

When TPM asked me for a comment on the news that my former colleague and good friend Brian Rogers was going to be working for Al Gore Alliance for Climate Protection, I couldn't help having a little fun. Here's how it got played by TPM: Earlier today, Ben Smith reported that McCain research…

James Kirchick revives an earlier, more Freemanesque, delusion from former Colin Powell chief of staff Lawrence Wilkerson. Kirchick describes Wilkerson as "a third-rate conspiracy theorist and a borderline bigot," and he pulls this quote Wilkerson gave to Robert Dreyfuss (one of Chas's most…

In the days when it was still necessary to explain to one's parents just what an economist does, my first job was to crank out a forecast of economic activity in the coming quarter. Get it wrong often enough, and you were gone. More senior employees assigned themselves the longer-term outlooks:…

Not only are the Huffington Post's contributors so wealthy that they're willing to do it for free, but the people who normally do it for free, the interns, are so wealthy they're willing to pay for the chance to not edit copy for the illiterati: How bad is the job market for media types? A charity…

When the speaker of the House accuses the CIA of deliberately lying to her, you'd think most respectable newspapers would put that story on Page One. And you'd be right. Mike Allen notes that the Washington Post, the Washington Times, and USA Today all reported Pelosi's accusation on the front…

Warren Kozak has a great piece in the Journal on the man who "ordered the deaths of more civilians than any other man in U.S. history." Most of our readers are probably pretty familiar with LeMay's achievements, but since the left hasn't yet dragged LeMay's name through the mud in this latest round…

Lieberman sends out a statement: "I am very pleased that the President has decided that the military commissions are the proper forum to try prisoners captured on the battlefield in the war against those who attacked America. By taking this action, President Obama has reinforced that we are at war,…

CNN is running a story on Lawrence Wilkerson's claim that Dick Cheney ordered a detainee to be waterboarded in order to prove an Iraq-al Qaeda link. As Thomas Joscelyn wrote yesterday, Wilkerson's facts simply do not add up. Also note Wilkerson's weasling statement to CNN: "I couldn't walk into a…

In 2010, South Carolina will elect a new Governor to replace the term-limited Mark Sanford. Today there is a new entrant into the race: America's first Indian-American Republican legislator. Nikki Haley - first elected to the South Carolina statehouse in 2004 - is a 37-year old accountant, and a…

Rio de Janeiro

The Australian Department of Defence recently released its first defense White Paper in almost a decade. The much anticipated Defending Australia in the Asia Pacific Century: Force 2030 addresses Australia's strategic priorities, taking the bold step of proposing a defense framework for addressing…

The results of India's month-long elections, expected this weekend, will clarify at least one political fact: the world's largest democracy faces a disruptive cultural force that will not easily fade away, a tidewater of Hindu nationalism. Popularly known as "Hindutva," it is a political ideology…

Rasmussen: California Voters Say Cut Government Spending, Don't Raise Taxes Cornyn expects Hutchison to resign sometime this fall. Fox: New Jobless Claims Rise More Than Expected, as Auto Layoffs Increase. Rove on Pelosi. Murtha threatens political opponent? Specter signals he's ready to flip-flop…

Via Glenn Thrush, a lively floor debate between Eric Cantor and Steny Hoyer: Rep. Cantor: "I share with the gentleman the notion we need to follow the law. But if there is somehow a belief, and I'd ask the gentleman whether he shares this belief, that somehow the CIA or others have intentionally…

Politico reports: Democrats on the House intelligence committee said Thursday that CIA officers broke the law in 2002 if they told Nancy Pelosi then that they had not yet engaged in waterboarding. "If they make a false report, absolutely it's illegal," said Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), a member of the…

I know we're supposed to have great confidence in the effects of global warming as conveyed to us by our betters in the scientific community, but it appears that the consensus view of how much sea levels would rise were Antarctica's western ice sheet to melt has just been cut in half: A new…

Last week, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District paid $75,000 for Tom Friedman to spend "about two hours with the group, including answering questions and autographing copies of his latest book, "Hot, Flat and Crowded." This week Friedman can be booked for roughly the same length of time at…

The AP headline: Pelosi says Bush team misled her on waterboarding I thought Pelosi was flailing about accusing the entire government of perpetrating a massive conspiracy (including even Jon Stewart) to make her look complicit in the policies of the Bush administration: "At the same time, the Bush…

Lawrence Wilkerson, the former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, has a new story out claiming that the Bush administration authorized the Egyptians to waterboard top al Qaeda camp commander Ibn al Shaykh al Libi in order to generate phony intelligence connecting Iraq and al Qaeda.…

That's what Tom Ricks claims: I am told that General Odierno's objections to the timing of the release of a new round of photos of detainees being abused in Iraq were decisive to President Obama's decision Wednesday to reverse himself and decide against the release of those photos. Ricks says this…

He wouldn't leave the decision up to the courts, as Andy McCarthy pointed out again this morning at NRO: Why is the president continuing to pretend that this is a judicial call, concerning which he is just a bystander? Apparently, the "delay" is to be accomplished by having the Justice Department…

Scientists at the University of Manchester (England) in pursuit of the origins of life--as all good chemists, molecular biologists, and prebioticists ought to be--believe they have hit upon the answer to a question that has long vexed them: if DNA and RNA are both too complicated to have "emerged…

An exchange on MSNBC: MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell: "Speaker Pelosi came out today and essentially when asked if the CIA is lying, she said, ‘they mislead us all the time.' Do you agree with that? Does the CIA mislead Congress all the time?" Senator Joe Lieberman: "No, on that specific point, I…

A bipartisan group of Senators led by Kay Bailey Hutchison has signed a letter to Senators Dorgan and Bennett, the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, urging them to increase funding for a 2005 program that would provide loan guarantees for…

At his last prime-time press conference Barack Obama disabused us of at least one crazy notion: And -- and that's why I'm always amused when I hear these, you know, criticisms of, "Oh, you know, Obama wants to grow government." No. And yet, George Will persists in pointing out facts that seem to…

Over at The Long War Journal, I've been putting together what I call the Pakistan Red Map for almost three years. The purpose of the map is document the Taliban takeover of the Northwest Frontier Province, one of Pakistan's four provinces (the map has since expanded into Punjab and Baluchistan).…

The Obama administration has turned down former Vice President Dick Cheney's request for the declassification of two CIA reports on the effectiveness of the Agency's detainee program, THE WEEKLY STANDARD has learned. A letter dated May 7, 2009, from the CIA's Information and Privacy Coordinator,…

A livstream of ESPN instead of the president, from the competent, tech-savvy Obama team.

In press conference this morning, Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused the CIA of "misleading" Congress concerning the use of enhanced interrogation techniques (EITs), especially waterboarding. Pelosi was briefed on the techniques by the CIA in early September 2002, but says "the only mention of…

Our Democratic Congress moves to attach restrictions to funding for the closure of Gitmo: None of the [$50 million] could be spent until 30 days after Defense Secretary Robert Gates has provided a detailed plan for where the funds will go, according to a summary provided by a congressional source…

Husain Haqqani, Pakistan's Ambassador to the U.S. appeared on The Daily Show with John Stewart last evening to explain his government's fight against the Taliban. The interview highlights the schizophrenia that is Pakistan. Haqqani describes the Taliban as "a nuisance" and tries to convince us that…

Dan Balz can't find a single Republican to knock the vice president on record, but he still writes a story about how Cheney's current role is making Republicans "wince." Rather, it's "Republican political strategists" who are wincing on background, keenly aware that the people who pay them are…

Most ethical Congress ever blocks ethical inquiry of Jack Murtha for eighth time. Obama has 'til October to make his magic work on Mahmoud. Roxana redux: Two U.S. journalists to go on trial in North Korea in June. Mankiw, 1. Krugman, 0. Measuring jobs created or saved. Time to bail out Cali. "The…

The Associated Press reports that Congress is going to appropriate $50 million for the closing of Gitmo, as requested by the Obama administration. But, the money comes with a catch. A bill by Senate Democrats would fund the closure of the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but it would block the…

The world's best illusions throw you a curve ball.

German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is on the campaign trail. He is running as the left-wing SPD party's candidate to replace incumbent center-right CDU Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Bundestag elections set for September 27, 2009. For Steinmeier--a rather dull 53-year-old…

Capitol Hill insiders often use the phrase "kick the can" to describe legislative procrastination. Can't fix a problem? No worries. Leave it to the next Congress. And on thorny issues, where consensus is elusive, lawmakers do a lot of kicking.

Jonathan Tobin at Contentions argues that the Israelis' ire at Pope Benedict XVI, and particularly their disappointment with his address at Yad Vashem on Monday, is misplaced. True, he says, "many Israelis on both the left and the right expected the first post-Holocaust German Pope to apologize for…

Republicans in the House are keeping up the pressure on Pelosi by pushing for answers about what she knew and when she knew it, emailing this report from Rick Klein (whose made it his job to jam up Pelosi on her continued backpedaling): Pelosi told reporters today that she won't answer questions on…

Via Ed Morrissey, Chuck Schumer said the following in 2004: There are times when we all get in high dudgeon. We ought to be reasonable about this. I think there are probably very few people in this room or in America who would say that torture should never, ever be used, particularly if thousands…

ABC News interviews Ryan Frazier, a 31-year-old African-American city council member from Aurora, Colorado, and Republican U.S. Senate candidate in 2010. The interview begins at about the six-minute mark. Check out his Tea Party speech here: HT: Josh Kraushaar

The boss praised Rubio on Special Report last night: KRISTOL: I think given that the mood it in 2010 will be pretty antiestablishment, anti-Washington, I think some of these challengers have a pretty good shot. I think Rubio has a real shot against Crist. I would prefer him personally. I think he…

Left to Obama: Rawr! Another Democratic tax scandal. Jeff Anderson on health care. Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee hires Daily Kos blogger. Allahpundit: Keith Olbermann keeps up his assault on 21 year-old Miss California. Ace: Study: Up to 25% of Overseas Ballots, Mainly from the Military,…

From his statement on the photos: He described abuses "carried out in the past by a small number of individuals." It's hard to spin this as anything but a major blow to the left's push for terrorist rights.

Dowd on May 2: This was precisely Condi's problem. She simply relayed. She never stood up against Cheney and Rummy for either what was morally right or what was smart in terms of our national security. Dowd today: W. admired Cheney's brass (he used another word) but grew increasingly skeptical of…

The senators praise Obama's decision: "We applaud the President for making the right decision for our troops and our country to fight the release of the photographs of the detainees. The publication of those photographs would only endanger the safety of our troops who go into harm's way in defense…

There's no memo that could ever justify this kind of abuse.

The critics of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship had their chance to publicly criticize it in a Senate hearing today, but they were nowhere to be seen. National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel once called the program an "ongoing threat to public education in the District of…

Obama's made a habit of reversing himself on key national security issues when the politics shift. He flipped on telecom immunity after promising to filibuster the provision. He flipped on military commissions for detainees -- or at least reports in the Washington Post and New York Times indicate…

During the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing today, the conversation turned to the closing of Gitmo. Philip Zelikow, the director of the 9/11 Commission and former Bush administration lawyer, said there is a "broad spectrum" of detainees held at Gitmo, "many of whom do not show large signs of…

Moe Lane has put together an interesting chart comparing Rasmussen's poll last October to its poll this month asking which party voters trust more on a variety of issues. On every issue--from taxes and the economy to national security and abortion--there's been a shift in the Republicans'…

Sometimes when you are a world-famous rock star (or his wife) and you're in a hot hurry to get somewhere--say, for instance, the White House Correspondents Association has invited you to worship with them at the altar of the One--you just gotta jettison your deeply held carbon footprint principles…

Despite candidate Obama's repeated statements that he would be willing to talk to our enemies, including Iran, President Obama has yet to fully engage Tehran. Beyond a public message to the people of Iran on the occasion of the Persian New Year, a letter to the Iranian government inquiring about…

This morning, the Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing named "What Went Wrong: Torture and the Office of Legal Counsel in the Bush Administration." As you might guess from the title, the hearing is slated to be a decidedly one-side political charade, and not a serious discussion of the…

Well-deserved: The Daily Show With Jon Stewart M - Th 11p / 10c Waffle House thedailyshow.com Daily Show

Even Politifact, the left's favorite 'fact-check' outfit, concludes that Pelosi isn't telling the truth about what she knew about interrogations. Scott Gottlieb: How ObamaCare Will Affect Your Doctor Nate Silver on Obama's devious plot to get the Olympics in Chicago. Blue Dogs silent on public…

A great performance today by Liz Cheney v. Eugene Robinson and 18 MSNBC news anchors (I estimate roughly): Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

From White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs's press briefing today: Q ... Is this something that is being considered, by the president, for reversal? Or is this the policy that will go forward? And does he have any anxiety about the potential consequences of the release of these photographs? MR. GIBBS:…

There's a mild controversy in Philadelphia where Will Bunch, a leftist scourge at the Daily News is attacking the Inquirer for its hiring of John Yoo as a once-a-month columnist on its op-ed page. This move has pushed Bunch into hysterics, prompting him to demand that "Last Sunday's column by Yoo…

For the second time in two days we write in praise of Barack Obama. Yesterday he took the necessary step of replacing his commander in Afghanistan ahead of schedule in an attempt to regain the initiative in that war. Today we learn that the Obama administration sent a letter to the British…

The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza picks up the boss's Daniels 2012 speculation and runs with it.

Throw your boss under the bus: Interrogation Probe Should Include What Pelosi Knew, Hoyer Says House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer said Tuesday that investigations into the Bush administration's use of so-called enhanced interrogation techniques on terrorism suspects should look into what…

Detroit, Mich.

It was only a month ago that the Times exposed for all the world the existence of (gasp) a political campaign being run right out of the campaign offices of Mayor Mike Bloomberg. Today we get the second installment in the series -- the Bloomberg campaign may actually be feeding negative information…

One left-wing blogger feels it: The argument against torture is slipping away from us. In fact, I'm getting the sinking feeling that it's over. What was once taboo is now publicly acknowledged as completely acceptable by many people. Indeed, disapproval of torture is now being characterized as a…

NRSC chairman John Cornyn has said repeatedly that he reserves the right to endorse candidates in Republican primaries, but last week he told the St. Petersburg Times that he expected the NRSC would stay out of the Florida race: Marco Rubio [joined] the race this week, and Cornyn said he has talked…

And are they gonna swear her in?

Hundreds of lawyers have flocked to serve the cause of detainees held at Gitmo. They often present themselves as merely concerned citizens fighting against a government (the Bush administration) that was seeking to destroy the U.S. Constitution by imprisoning terrorists and suspected terrorists…

The boss has a new column in today's Washington Post: The Republican Party's navel is a pretty unattractive thing. So maybe Republicans should stop obsessively gazing at it. Instead, the GOP might focus on taking on the Obama administration, whose policies are surprisingly vulnerable to political…

Rasmussen reports that the American people are absolutely clueless about cap and trade. CBO projects deficit will be $1.8 trillion this year, or 50 percent more than it estimated in January. Pelosi in Baghdad: "If we are going to have a diminished physical military presence, we have to have a…

The Jerusalem Post reports: A leading Palestinian cleric commandeered an evening devoted to interfaith dialogue with Pope Benedict XVI on Monday to rant against Israel for "killing Gaza's children," "bulldozing Palestinian homes" and "destroying mosques." In an impromptu speech, delivered in Arabic…

A knowledgeable and well informed friend writes in on the change in command in Afghanistan: Earlier today, Defense Secretary Bob Gates unexpectedly announced that he had asked for the resignation of General David McKiernan, the top commander in Afghanistan. For most Afghan policy insiders, this…

He says he's already seen them, and he says they show Pelosi knew about and approved of the EITs: "The American people should be given the full picture on what was known and agreed to on Capitol Hill on a bipartisan basis about the enhanced interrogation program," Hoekstra said. "I think the…

Boehner: Our fight in Afghanistan is critical to the security interests of the American people, and I support the President's strategy to dismantle al Qaeda and other transnational terrorist networks and stabilize the country. I appreciate General David McKiernan's service as Commander of both our…

A little success in Afghanistan: Maftah is the first private school in Afghanistan's northern Parwan Province. But its history is brief, having opened its doors only two months ago. Enrollment fees, at $15 per month, are beyond the reach of most Afghans, but the presence of 300 children at the…

Gibbs momentarily forgets just how egregious the numbers are.

Gibbs momentarily forgets just how egregious the numbers are.

The Obama administration's decision to replace Gen. David McKiernan as NATO commander in Afghanistan with Gen. Stanley McChrystal is a good thing, but it's much more a question of policy than personnel. The question is about the Obama administration's basic approach to the war in Afghanistan.…

Via Newsbusters, CBS's Harry Smith reported today that Keith Olbermann said of Wanda Sykes' "joke": "'I'm not sure, I think that was probably -- probably in bad taste.'" A number of media outlets are reporting that the following statement by press secretary Robert Gibbs amounts to an official White…

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels gave one heck of a commencement speech Saturday at Butler University. Highlights: We Boomers were the children that the Second World War was fought for. Parents who had endured both war and the Great Depression devoted themselves sacrificially to ensuring us a better…

In an interview with TimesOnline on the eve of Bibi Netanyahu's visit to the U.S., Abdullah declares he will act as the peace broker between the Arab states and "Fortress Israel," as he calls it, as long as U.S. pressure forces Israel to agree to the terms of the Arab "peace" proposal: full…

Tom Friedman's amazing facility for unembarrassedly stating the obvious and spouting globaloney in the pages of the New York Times and between the covers of bestselling books-What? Are we running out of Sleep Ease?-has generated enough hot air over the years to put a dent in the polar ice cap.…

The Journal has an important editorial today on the Democrats' "public option" for health care coverage. This would be a government-run program, like Medicare, open to folks of all ages who don't have health insurance. The public option is a cornerstone of the Obama administration's health care…

plane_1399636c.jpg Sure, he thought it was funny, at the time. But upon reading reaction to the joke further reflection, the administration believes 9/11 jokes are beyond the pale: White House press secretary Robert Gibbs this afternoon expressed displeasure with the comedy stylings of Wanda Sykes,…

That's what doctors fear, as 61 high school girls were hospitalized today in Parwan suffering the same symptoms that afflicted girls just two weeks ago in the same town. As they await the results of blood tests, we can wonder along with them whether somebody-the Taliban or their ilk, maybe, who…

In case you missed Fox News Sunday, the boss pointed out that Pelosi was well-aware in June 2002 of unsuccessful attempts to get Zubaydah talking--three months before she was briefed on "enhanced interrogation techniques" that had been used on Zubaydah: KRISTOL: ... there's more evidence yet that…

Ben Shapiro writes at Big Hollywood: Wanda Sykes ... is the most gutless and feckless performer ever to grace the White House Correspondents Dinner. Sykes, for those who haven't seen her stellar work in gems like CondomNation, Brother Bear 2, and Over the Hedge, is a militant lesbian with a grating…

Counterinsurgency gurus David Kilcullen and Andrew Exum wrote an op-ed over the weekend on the U.S. Predator campaign against al Qaeda, the Taliban, and allied terror groups based in the region. Essentially Kilcullen and Exum argue that the campaign is misguided because it hampers the Pakistani…

The Washington Post reports: Last October, as the Bush administration was touting a dramatic drop in the number of suicide bombings in Iraq, four young Tunisian men left their homes for Libya and then headed to Syria. There, they were met at the Damascus airport and taken to a safe house. Six…

Politico's Patrick Gavin Although comedian Wanda Sykes' remarks on Saturday about Rush Limbaugh continued to generate buzz, the radio talk show host avoided the topic during his Monday broadcast. The Telegraph's Toby Harnden has the pithiest take: "Obama seemed to think this bit was pretty…

Congressman Joe Sestak appeared on Good Day Philadelphia today, and it sounds as if he's all but decided to challenge Arlen Specter in next year's Democratic Senate primary: Not only does Sestak sound as if he's ready to make the run, it seems he already has his campaign themes. He mocks the D.C.…

George Stephanopoulos is reporting that Edwards staffers who began to believe the rumors about their boss' infidelity had a "doomsday" strategy to destroy his campaign from the inside out if it looked like he were going to win the nomination: They said they were Democrats first, and if it looked…

Elliott Abrams had a must-read in the Journal Saturday on the coming White House meeting. He offers guidance on how to interpret the language, the statements, the subsequent leaks, etc. And he offers this interesting assessment of what may be the most important issue on the table next week:…

OB-DQ490_Iran05_D_20090511074008.jpg

John Yoo offered some advice to the president (and hopefully nobody puts him in jail for it): With solid majorities in Congress, Obama's policies face little meaningful Republican opposition. Therefore, he should seek judges who will give the bills of his Congress as little trouble as possible,…

Drug companies, insurers, doctors to go to White House to beg for least livelihood-destroying socialist health-care bill possible. Lt. Dan 2012? The Scare Force One picture: Worth it? Will the handover of Iraq leave it in good hands? Zardari goes populist on the Obama administration: "The U.S. aid…

Star Trek

Obsession

When my brother-in-law Bill Dwyer asked if I'd be interested in judging a cook-off, I leapt at the opportunity. I'd always wanted to be a food judge--though I'd never imagined that the competition would be among Bill's fellow firefighters, or that it would take place in a firehouse kitchen.

Wildwood

The Catholic Side of Henry James

To both departing Justice David Souter and party-switching Senator Arlen Specter, one is tempted to say: Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Taipei

The Wagner Clan

On April 22, several hundred Taliban fighters moved from their stronghold in the Swat Valley to the neighboring district of Buner, just 60 miles from Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton underscored the seriousness of the crisis, accusing the Pakistani government…

No one knows why the chicken crossed the road, but why Arlen Specter crossed the aisle to the Democrats is a matter of rather less mystery, if intense debate. The why is quite simple: Free-range Republican, he was about to lose next year's Pennsylvania primary by a large margin, a problem he solved…

We've Only Just Begun

Baghdad at Sunrise

Rahm Emanuel says that the Republican party has become the party of "no"--devoid of constructive alternatives to those parts of the Obama program to which Republicans and conservatives object. There is some truth in that. After all, there is much to which to say "no": a stimulus program that hasn't…

Anyone who has watched an Arab summit knows that the Middle East is racked with divisions. The highlight reel from the March 2009 Doha summit leads with a lengthy ad hominem attack by Libya's leader Muammar Qaddafi against Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, so severe that the Qatari hosts cut the audio…

More than any other country over the past two decades--more even than China--Ireland has given up its traditional culture for the global economy. In a quarter century, it went from being a little, poverty-stricken, priest-ridden agricultural backwater to a swingin', low-tax, wide-open, unregulated…

"Decision Points" is not just the title of George W. Bush's memoir -- it's also the Obama administration's Gitmo strategy. Which is to say, after announcing the closure of Gitmo, the administration has, according to National Security Adviser Jim Jones, not made a single decision about how to…

Germany has almost certainly benefited more from the NATO alliance than any other country. But the Germans seem already to have forgotten what it was like to be always vulnerable to Russian aggression.The current NATO exercises in Georgia, scheduled in January of 2008, began last week and will run…

Iran→Egypt→Gaza→the U.N.→Iran . . . ad infinitum.

If you've ever had the misfortune of turning on the TV while Wanda Sykes is trying to tell a joke, you already know she's not funny. Tonight, she made clear at the White House Correspondents' Dinner how utterly vile she is, too: "You've had your fair share of critics. ... Rush Limbaugh said this…

The Washington Post refers to Abu Zubaydah, a top al Qaeda operative, as an "alleged al-Qaeda operative" and as a "terrorism suspect." How is it that almost eight years after the September 11 attacks a major U.S. newspaper is still referring to Zubaydah in a such a manner? Is it merely ignorance?…

Passed to a friendly reporter at the Washington Post late on a Friday afternoon is news that President Obama will continue the system of military commissions he railed against as a candidate. The administration will make a few minor tweaks, but as Andy McCarthy points out at the Corner in a post…

Washington Post: A top aide to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi attended a CIA briefing in early 2003 in which it was made clear that waterboarding and other harsh techniques were being used in the interrogation of an alleged al-Qaeda operative, according to documents the CIA released to Congress on…

What Jack Kemp Accomplished

Right after Obama released the interrogation memos, John Podesta, the head of the Center for American Progress and Obama's chief transition adviser, called for the impeachment of federal judge Jay Bybee, who signed off on the memos while at the Justice Department. "Bybee has neither the legal nor…

Jules Crittenden has a good compendium of the chatter about what Pelosi knew and when she knew it. Kimberley Strassel on the Burr-Coburn alternative to ObamaCare. Continetti does Bloggingheads. Obama throws staffer under the bus for authorizing $357,00 Scare-Force One flyover of New York City. CBS:…

As if we don't already have enough people extending their quarter-life crisis getting various and sundry Master's degrees in social sciences, Victorian poetry, and running non-profits, so that they can then enter the workforce in debt up to their ears and destined never to make enough money to…

Another hit from the Elena Kagan archive: an article she wrote for the Daily Princetonian a week after Ronald Reagan's victory in the 1980 election. The final graph of that piece contains her hope that the 1984 election will bring in a "more leftist left" than the Carter administration: Looking…

David K. Rehbein, national commander of the American Legion, writes in the Wall Street Journal: A picture may be worth a thousand words, but is it worth the death of a single American soldier? Is any photograph worth the life of your Marine Corps daughter? Or your neighbor's deployed husband? I…

The Post reports that Obama's address to the Muslim world will be made in Cairo, not Indonesia as was first expected. It's a shame the President didn't have the courage to make his speech from the capital of a free and democratic Iraq. Indonesia, too, is a vibrant democracy. But Cairo is the heart…

Greg Sargent reports: GOP Rep. Pete Hoekstra is upping the stakes of the torture fight in response to Nancy Pelosi's claims that she wasn't briefed on the use of waterboarding. His office tells me that he's seen documents that will prove this isn't true. Hoekstra spokesperson Jamal Ware says that…

That's the suggestion in this latest piece in the Hill: Rep. Pete Hoekstra (Mich.), the top Republican on House Intelligence, in an interview Friday said the document proves that Pelosi knew waterboarding occurred but has denied is because of political pressure from the liberal base of her party.…

The environmentalists aren't going to be happy about this, but Obama has sided with the Bush administration and decided to "uphold a George W. Bush-era rule under the Endangered Species Act that prevents linking greenhouse gas emissions from facilities to degradation of the polar bear's habitat,…

Ben Smith and Jonathan Martin add some more depth to the story of Jim Jones' difficult transition to the job of National Security Adviser and the dueling profiles that came out this week in what seems, at least to the authors, like an administration effort to bolster the general's standing in the…

According to the CIA, Pelosi was briefed on the enhanced interrogation techniques (EITs) that were used on Abu Zubaydah. Pelosi's defenders are parsing the report, asking whether this includes waterboarding, which is mentioned specifically as it relates to other briefings but not for the briefing…

Not since the end of the Cold War have I witnessed such an intense, exhaustive, and heated debate among foreign policy scholars. The conflagration took place this morning at the Washington office of the German Marshall Fund. The hotly contested issue: Is Tom Hagen, consigliere to the Corleone crime…

Batten down the hatches. America is about to be overwhelmed by an inflationary wave that will threaten the value of the dollar and its ability to remain the world's reserve currency. Or not.

Debra Burlingame, the director of the National September 11 Memorial Foundation, has an op-ed in today's Journal. At a White House meeting shortly after his inauguration, the president promised Burlingame and others whose family members had been killed by al Qaeda that there would be "swift and…

The Obama administration has sent mixed signals on missile defense. Secretary of Defense Gates last month announced that the Administration would terminate the Multiple Kill Vehicle program and the Kinetic Energy Interceptor program, put the Airborne Laser Program into research and development…

Hey, let's destroy Carrie Prejean for agreeing with the President! Though Republicans are largely powerless on Senate Judiciary Committee, lefties are already gearing up for the character destruction of Sen. Jeff Sessions. You know, just for fun. Barack Obama to visit Auschwitz Buchenwald, the…

The National Right to Life Committee points out that Obama's budget would repeal the "Dornan Amendment", which prohibits taxpayer-funded abortions in the District of Columbia. Meanwhile, Center for Reproductive Rights is outraged that Obama (breaking another campaign promise) isn't trying to repeal…

Thirty years ago this week, Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister in the UK, promising a new future of growth and prosperity. She ushered in an era in which policymakers took for granted their role not as managers of the economy, but as custodians of the conditions in which economic prosperity…

Jack Kemp frequently reminded me of Milton Friedman--I worked for Kemp at HUD for four years, and I studied economics at the University of Chicago for five. They were certainly different--the athlete turned politician and the distinguished economist and scholar--and while they are both often…

Ridge won't run in Pennsylvania. Dem centrists press Pelosi to shelve climate bill. Rep. Jason Chaffetz proposes the "Cap-and-Trade Tax Disclosure Act which will require utility companies to disclose and separately itemize the impact of cap-and-trade taxes on each customer's utility bill." AP…

Pelosi on April 23, parsing the difference between whether the techniques could be used or would be used: "In that or any other briefing…we were not, and I repeat, were not told that waterboarding or any of these other enhanced interrogation techniques were used. What they did tell us is that…

Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) spoke at AEI this morning on the Obama administration's defense budget and his concern that it reflects "the wrong budget priorities for our country. Cornyn said that "when you look at the Administration's blueprints for both the base budget and the supplemental, you see…

When the best the left can come up with in response to the growing opposition to closing Gitmo and moving the terrorist to a neighborhood near you is the absurd suggestion that the GOP is, by extension, disparaging corrections officers... ON GUANTANAMO, GOP DISPARAGES MEN AND WOMEN WHO KEEP OUR…

Republicans pounce on a ridiculous statement by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA): "I think we can use the Uniform Code of Military Justice in the military courts which are very much a home-court advantage and we can held up to the rest of the world that we're giving these detainees the same due process we…

It's a great name for a bill, and it will make great fodder for 2010 campaign ads -- who wants to be the guy who voted against keeping terrorists out of America? The bill was announced at a press conference this morning with the ranking members of each House committee present. It would require the…

The Danger Room reports on the nomination of Tara O'Toole as DHS under secretary for science and technology: "This is a disastrous nomination. O'Toole supported every flawed decision and counterproductive policy on biodefense, biosafety, and biosecurity during the Bush Administration," Rutgers…

In hockey it's called the third-man-in rule -- the third man in to any fight gets thrown out of the game. I was never a fan of that rule. If your teammate needs help in a fight -- even if he started it -- you're pretty much expected to join in. So it's not surprising that Rasmussen found:…

This week more than 1,000 recipients of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship gathered in the heart of Washington, D.C. Dressed in little plaid school uniforms, holding signs that read, "Options = Power" and "My voucher is my future," they sang, cheered, and chanted within sight of the Capitol where…

John Kerry has said that the release of photos, demanded by the ACLU, that show alleged abuse of detainees will be used as a "propaganda tool" by terrorists, but the Obama administration is "not releasing [the photos] because they want to, but because there was a FOIA request and a judge is…

Remember last week when all your Democrat friends were engrossed in ritual schadenfreudic dances of glee over Sen. Arlen Specter's switch to the Democratic Party? Surely, it was not a good day for Republicans when he switched, but a week or so out, things aren't looking quite as bad for them,…

You know you've got a problem when John Kerry is calling your approach to the world weak and feckless. Yet that's precisely where Congressman David Obey, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, now finds himself. On Monday, Obey suggested that President Obama had a year to turn around…

Yesterday, ABC's Jake Tapper and Luis Martinez reported: This morning in Riyadh, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he spoke to Saudi Assistant Minister of the Interior Muhammed bin Nayaf about sending the roughly 100 Yemeni detainees currently in the detainee center at Guantanamo Bay to Saudi…

Those who were concerned that a former four-star general might not be a great fit for the job of National Security Adviser, which is essentially a staff job, will have their fears confirmed in two profiles of Jim Jones today -- one in the New York Times and the other in the Washington Post. From…

Details of Friday's memorial service for Jack F. Kemp open to family, friends, and former colleagues: A memorial service for Jack Kemp will be held Friday, May 8, at 2 pm at Washington National Cathedral. Seating for the service begins at 1 pm, and attendees should plan on arriving as close to 1 pm…

In recent weeks, the Obama administration has quietly done an about-face on free trade with Latin America. On April 20, U.S. trade czar Ron Kirk told reporters that President Obama did not think it would be necessary to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). This marked a…

The Obama administration is reportedly set to announce the release onto U.S. soil of at least some of the 17 Uighur detainees currently being held at Gitmo. All 17 are members or associates of the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Party (ETIP), a designated terrorist organization with ties to al Qaeda. The…

Senator Arlen Specter's party switch last week rekindled the long-smoldering debate about the Republican party's future. For many, his high-profile defection is more evidence that the GOP is destined for a fiery demise. It's part of what Real Clear Politics writer Jay Cost describes as "the GOP is…

Maine gets same-sex marriage democratically. Michael Moynihan: The United Kingdom's selective intolerance of free speech. Content warning: Iowahawk has a new topless photo of gay marriage opponent. Ridge, Specter, top primary opponents in poll. James Antle looks at Ridge's record in the House.…

On the heels of a gathering of more than 1,000 recipients of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship in the heart of Washington, D.C. today, the Obama administration has alighted upon yet another squirrelly position on the program: President Obama will seek to extend the controversial D.C. school voucher…

I always knew he was with us: "I usually side with the minority, so my sympathy would be more the Republican side" -- the Dalai Lama, to the NY state Senate

Josh Rogin, who covered the cybersecurity beat for FCW before becoming the defense reporter for CQ, knows this issue as well as anyone. Yesterday he dropped a major piece on the growing cyber threat from China, which is in "constant attack mode" and almost certainly responsible for the "dramatic…

At least 1,300 school kids and several hundred adults (many of them single parents who had to get off work) gathered at Freedom Plaza to rally for the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program in Washington Wednesday. Funding for the program was cut by Congress this spring, and it must now be…

A majority of Americans approve of waterboarding and oppose investigations into the Bush administration's use of such techniques according to a new poll from CNN. The report: A new national poll indicates that most Americans don't want to see an investigation of Bush administration officials who…

Republicans send around this NIMBY Gitmo story featuring a quote from Senator Max Baucus (D-MT): "I understand the need to create jobs, but we're not going to bring al-Qaeda to Big Sky Country - no way, not on my watch," said Sen. Max Baucus, a Democrat. Meanwhile, Harry Reid is demanding specifics…

Jonathan Chait writes: First, there's no such thing as a government policy of "torturing terrorists. " There's only a policy of torturing people the government thinks are terrorists. Many of the suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, subjected to agonizing stress positions, turned out not to be…

only the music is much, much better. (HT: volokh.com)

The NEFA Foundation has released a translation of the latest statement by the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Party (ETIP), which is formerly known as the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM). What is the ETIP/ETIM? It is a UN and U.S. designated terrorist organization allied with al Qaeda. The…

Eli Lake has another big scoop: President Obama's efforts to curb the spread of nuclear weapons threaten to expose and derail a 40-year-old secret U.S. agreement to shield Israel's nuclear weapons from international scrutiny, former and current U.S. and Israeli officials and nuclear specialists…

DC School Choice Press Conference 034(2).jpg Richard Holassie, an 8-year-old D.C. Opportunity Scholarship student, talks to Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) about why the program should keep its funding.

Earlier this week, President Obama called Republican Senator Orrin Hatch to discuss the vacancy on the Court left by Justice Souter. According to Hatch's office, the president "assured Hatch...that he would appoint a pragmatist, not a radical, to this important position." Among the names considered…

palin.jpg Mitt Romney grabbed headlines at the inaugural town-hall event of the National Council for a New America this Saturday by taking what many perceived as a whack at Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. For what it's worth, I thought it sounded more like the slightly clumsy joke typical of Romney (humor…

John Bolton writes in the Washington Post: Obama has taken ambiguous, and flatly contradictory, positions on whether to prosecute Bush administration advisers and decision makers involved in "harsh interrogation techniques." Although he immunized intelligence operatives who conducted the…

Take heart, Republicans! I have good news to deliver from the deepest blue part of purple Virginia. Alexandria City elected one Republican and one Republican-leaning Independent to its City Council yesterday, knocking off two Democratic incumbents. Frank Fannon IV, a mortgage banker, and Alicia…

Arlen Specter should get used to that title: The Senate last night stripped Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.) of his seniority on committees, a week after the 29-year veteran of the chamber quit the Republican Party to join the Democrats. In announcing his move across the aisle last week, Specter asserted…

Washington Whispers reports and Marc Morano sends it around: He admits that it's counterintuitive, but Gallup Poll Editor Frank Newport says he sees no evidence that Al Gore's campaign against global warming is winning. "It's just not caught on," says Newport. "They have failed." Or, more bluntly:…

When people picture Jack Kemp, the Republican congressman, cabinet member, and presidential candidate who died last week, they think of Ronald Reagan's sidekick. They envision the two men--a football player and an actor--enjoying a warm, cozy, political partnership that guided 1980s economic policy.

AFP reports: A US senator said Tuesday he would soon introduce legislation aimed at blocking the release on US soil of any detainees currently held at the Guantanamo Bay facility for suspected terrorists. "I intend to introduce legislation in the next few days to make sure that we establish a…

From the CQ blog: In an interview with the New York Times Magazine, Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) said he hopes Norm Coleman (R) prevails in his Senate recount court fight against Al Franken (D) in Minnesota. Said Specter: "There's still time for the Minnesota courts to do justice and declare Norm…

Perhaps it's a bit early to get one's hopes up for a 2010 backlash against the Democrats. Still, one can't help but notice that Republicans are seeing many of glimmers of hope for their 2010 Senate prospects in Colorado, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Connecticut, Delaware, and Kentucky.…

The New York Times, which discussed the Taliban's military strategy with a "logistics tactician" for the group "over six months of interviews," gets a quote describing U.S. drone strikes as extremely effective: The one thing that impressed him were the missile strikes by drones - virtually the only…

Don Suber notes that the administration will release photos that could be used by terrorists as propaganda against the United States but not photos that could be used in campaign commercials against Obama: The New York Post reported: "The $328,835 snapshots of an Air Force One backup plane buzzing…

Something about the idea of a Biden dynasty makes me shudder more than the Clintons, Kennedys, or Bushes. Apparently, the people of Delaware-who know the Bidens best!- are in agreement: A just-released poll shows Congressman [Mike] Castle with a sizable lead over Attorney General Beau Biden in a…

When reporters rose en masse Friday as their president entered the briefing room, it wasn't out of devotion to him or anything, explains CBS's Mark Knoller. If they never did the same for his predecessor, that was because they didn't want "to block the shot of TV cameramen and still photographers…

The Hill reports: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) is the most partisan Democrat in the House, while her deputy, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), is one of the most bipartisan lawmakers in the lower chamber, according to a survey conducted by The Hill.... Pelosi has developed a reputation for…

At the Wikipedia 2009 Conference in Tel Aviv Sunday, Israeli researchers delineated for Wikimedia director Sue Gardner the variety of ways in which the encyclopedia's treatment of Israel-related issues is objectionable. Among the problems - maybe chief among them - is Wikipedia's Hamas entry: Hamas…

It's early 1987. Jack Kemp is at our home near Detroit on one of his many Michigan visits from 1985 to 1988. We are recruiting precinct delegates, county and district chairs in a ground game for 1988 presidential delegates. My 5-year-old son runs into the room with a small silver cowboy gun and red…

I like to note these little incidents when they happen, not because I think it makes Obama an idiot because he occasionally stumbles over his words, but because his somewhat overblown reputation as the most cerebral, eloquent, utterly erudite president of all time could really use a pricking every…

Sonia Sotomayor is the very definition of a judicial activist: "All of the legal defense funds out there-- they're looking for people with court of appeals experience. Because court of appeals is where policy is made. And I know, I know this is on tape and I should never say that because we don't…

Jeffrey Bell has written a very nice tribute to Jack Kemp.

Statement from the Office of Senator Orrin Hatch: In a phone conversation today, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) urged President Obama against choosing a judicial activist for the Supreme Court vacancy. He advised the president to choose a nominee who is more in step with mainstream America and would…

Andrew Malcolm posts the video: Now, thanks to the ubiquitous cameras of C-SPAN, comes official videoed word from Kareem Dale, Special Assistant to the President for Arts and Culture and a key White House for Disability Policy. At the 1:51 mark of this video Dale candidly reveals the new GCA…

A friend suggests a series called: "Who said it: Weiner, Rahm, or Ari Gold?" "Hey, I got my name on my tie," Weiner said, pulling the deep-blue garment from inside his coat. Given to him by an Annapolis grad, the tie was embossed with large gold "N." See that N," said Weiner. "It stands for Not to…

In January 1981, at the dawn of the Reagan Revolution, I left my obscure college in upstate New York to spend a semester as an intern in Washington, D.C. working for the congressman from the neighboring district. At the time, I thought my days as a student would soon be over, but I learned quickly…

Barack Obama on April 29, 2009: We have rejected the false choice between our security and our ideals, by closing the detention center at Guantanamo Bay and banning torture without exception. The Washington Times five days later: House Democratic leaders Monday dropped President Obama's request for…

If you're wondering why Afghan policy is so muddled, look no further than the actions of Kai Eide, the chief of the UN mission in Afghanistan. First, Eide was "saddened" and "disturbed" by Karzai's choice of Mohammad Qasim Fahim, a former warlord who previously served as a defense minister and vice…

Just eleven days according to General Ataollah Salehi, general commander of the Iranian army: "The truth is that Israel does not have the courage to attack us. If we are subjected to any attack by Israel, I do not think we will need more than 11 days to wipe Israel out of existence."

Fox News reports: The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Monday he is "gravely concerned" about the "crisis" Pakistan is facing as Taliban militants fight their way past the army toward the capital of Islamabad. Adm. Mike Mullen, who visited Pakistan and Afghanistan last week, added that…

Detroit Free Press columnist Laura Varon Brown complains about the impossibility of free discourse when Obama's the subject and her comrades-in-liberalism are the discussants. Well guess what, Laura: you can pat yourself on the back ad infinitum for being open-minded enough to admit it, but you…

Read this beautiful account of his heroics, modestly undertaken. And remember while you're reading that this could easily be a story about any other ordinary Israeli-as the next Israeli ambassador to the U.S. would be the first to tell you himself.

Jeffrey Rosen gets some negative feedback: Over the past few weeks, I've been talking to a range of people who have worked with her, nearly all of them former law clerks for other judges on the Second Circuit or former federal prosecutors in New York. Most are Democrats and all of them want…

Also, Ben Smith has a story up examining expectations for the relationship between Netanyahu and Obama: Speaking to some 6,500 assembled for the conference, Robert Satloff, the executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, warned of "the potential for a deep disagreement…

Jen Rubin has a write up of the speech here and you can see video of the speech here. Some key quotes: The essence of his address was a refutation of the engagement approach to Iran. He bluntly stated, "We need to recognize that there are some regimes we will never be able to cut a deal with…

Noah Shachtman reports: Iranian aircraft attacked three villages inside Iraq over the weekend. The airstrikes - Iran's first on Iraqi soil since the U.S. invasion - could complicate the Obama administration's efforts to normalize relations with Tehran. "The bombardments appeared to have targeted…

The Economist published a good article on the state of play with the potential Taliban takeover in Pakistan. Give it a read. The article was close to perfect, but there is one point that is incorrect and needs to be clarified so the situation in Pakistan is understood. The Economist claimed that…

Welcome your new headline-maker, Democrats: "Specter hints Jack Kemp died of GOP agenda." Get in line to get your money back from Arlen Specter. The John Edwards 2012 campaign loses a tad more steam. Losing the rule of law. Deflation or inflation? About that flu pandemic... The candidate of…

Swiss President Hans-Rudolph Merz defended his get-together with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during last month's Durban II racism-fest in Geneva on the grounds that he raised Ahmadinejad's Holocaust-denial and threats against Israel during their meeting, and anyway, his is a neutral country maintaining…

AIG's Fables

Prices, Poverty, and Inequality

Last Wednesday, South Africans returned the African National Congress to power for the fourth consecutive time since the end of apartheid in 1994. This was not an unexpected outcome. For the past 15 years, the armed liberation movement turned governing party has dominated the country politics, and…

The Obama administration is confused.

Benjamin Franklin and

A Great Big Girl Like Me

As candidate and as president, Barack Obama has presented himself as a postpartisan pragmatist. He has generally refrained from speaking in explicitly ideological terms, and earned a reputation as a silver-tongued orator. Yet on important issues he has seemed anything but pragmatic, adopting…

The Real Making of the President

"We have been through a dark and painful chapter in our history," President Obama said when he ordered the release of the Justice Department interrogation memos. Actually, no. Not at all. We were attacked on 9/11. We responded to that attack with remarkable restraint in the use of force, respect…

If there is to be a reaction against Susan Boyle, let it begin here.

Strong job approval, higher personal ratings"--that's pollster Andrew Kohut's assessment of President Obama at roughly the 100-day point. "A bravura performance," wrote David Broder of the Washingon Post. The president's flacks take the Muhammad Ali approach: Obama is The Greatest. What comes to my…

In our forthcoming book, Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America, we identify several dozen Americans never before suspected of working for Soviet intelligence. These identifications are based on KGB archival records of its operations in the United States in the 1930s and 1940s.

Some Democrats, from the White House on down, are pushing the idea of a "truth commission," à la South Africa, to deal with the "harsh measures" used by the Bush administration in interrogating al Qaeda detainees. Good. Let's have lots of truthtelling. Please bring it on.

Graham Greene

Congressman Frank Wolf remembers the moment well. Long before the TARP, the stimulus, trillion-dollar deficits, President Obama's budget, and anti-big government tea parties, the 15-term Virginia Republican had an epiphany. It was the early summer of 2006. Wolf and his wife were visiting…

One Saturday morning this month, a quarter million kids or more will slump their way into the fluorescent tomb of a high school classroom, slide into the seat of a flimsy polypropylene combo chair-desk, and then, with clammy palms dampening the shafts of perfectly sharpened number two pencils, they…

The Bishop's Daughter

This is a delicate business involving some unpleasantness; it must be entrusted to the hands and tongues and pens of men who are completely above suspicion and without self-interest, for the weal or woe of the country depends on them." So wrote Nizam al-Mulk, the great 11th-century Persian vizier…

From this morning on Fox News Sunday: KRISTOL: You know, just thinking about -- Juan called him a football player, which reminds me of a story. Joanne Kemp, his wife, a wonderful woman, took one of the daughters, I think, to the Senate gallery, and Jack was giving a speech on economic policy.…

Jack Kemp was a speaker in search of an audience. But unlike most of Washington, including the city's journalists, Kemp had something important to say. He may have been embarrassed about his academic background--he was a physical education major at Occidental College in California--but the truth…

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I rarely read her column but since this one triggered my Weekly Standard Google alert... Has Dowd given up on doing her own research -- or even staying informed on current events -- in favor of listening "raptly when President Obama plays the constitutional law professor"? Dowd tells her readers…

Marie Antoinette Obama, shod in Lanvin, dishes out food to D.C.'s homeless. Editor's note: Remember the outrage at the Huffington Post about McCain's loafers?

Doesn't a single Dem member of congress remember this fascinating colleague? What about the president? Though a McCain supporter, Kemp publicly rose to Obama's defense during the campaign. Not a word has been heard from those precincts so far. That's some non-partisanship. Update: Obama offers his…

Michelle and Barack take a walk, thrill AP reporter: As the Obamas walked behind shrubbery and out of sight, the unscripted moment left reporters guessing where they were going. To the vegetable garden? The basketball court? No final word, but they eventually came back the same way from where they…

Jack Kemp--American patriot, fighter for freedom, apostle of opportunity, and a kind and generous man--has died at age 73. Our thoughts and prayers are with him, his wife Joanne, and his children and the rest of his family. "He was a man, take him for all in all, we shall not look upon his like…

The AP reports that Jack Kemp passed away Saturday after a battle with cancer. R.I.P. Kenneth Tomlinson had an appreciation of Kemp in the February 16 issue of TWS. You can read it here.

Complaining about media bias gets tiresome. But, come on. Republicans finally challenge Barack Obama on national security and the New York Times thinks it's all politics. "Seeking Cudgel, Republicans Return to National Security Issue." Memo to the Times: Some conservatives are genuinely concerned…

NY Times reporter describes "enchant[ing]" question for Obama. Behold our newfound post-racial society: "Women and Minorities Seen as a Focus of Court Search" Allahpundit: Major Garrett: I was told Obama might not call on me if Fox didn't carry his presser. AFP: "An eight-year-old Saudi girl who…

I like it: Republican John Kasich is expected to file papers today so that he can begin raising money for the 2010 race for governor. Sources told The Dispatch that the former congressman from Westerville will file papers this afternoon with the Ohio secretary of state designating a treasurer for…

Ben Smith asks the White House about a borderline legible and obviously classified document that appeared in the White House photo feed. The response he got from Obama spokesman Bill Burton: "Uh oh. Please don't tell me that the enemy is now going to know what our fax coversheets look like. (That…

Ali Saleh Khalah al Marri, an al Qaeda sleeper agent who returned to the U.S. on September 10, 2001, has agreed to a plea bargain with federal prosecutors. Al Marri was held as an enemy combatant by the Bush administration (the only one held in the continental U.S.) since 2003, and then the Obama…

To his credit, Jon Stewart acknowledges how "stupid" and "dumb" it was to accuse Harry Truman of war crimes his decision to use nuclear weapons against Japan. As we noted yesterday, the charge came in the middle of an interview with Cliff May, head of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies,…

His first priority for a Supreme Court nominee remains "empathy," which translates into someone who will help the court "stand up" for the murky and vaguely communist concept of "social and economic justice" as David Axelrod once put it. It's not enough to interpret the laws correctly, Obama's…

Obama's speaking style has always included a heavy reliance on an "it-is-because-I-say-it-is" philosophy. For instance, he started off his press conference by officially pronouncing a decidedly unclosed Gitmo, closed: We have rejected the false choice between our security and our ideals by closing…

Via Ben Smith: The White House has subtly shifted from supporting repealing 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' to backing "changing Don't Ask Don't Tell in a sensible way that strengthens our armed forces and our national security."

Our nation's most precious cargo will be in an enclosed space for a solid nine hours: The Vice President will travel to Southeastern Europe the week of May 18th and visit Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Kosovo. During the visit, the Vice President will meet with the political leadership in all…

Jules Crittenden has a prayer for Obama's replacement of Souter: O Dark Gods of Politics, Thou who Dwell under Rocks, please visit upon them that which Thou so cruelly visited upon Bush the Elder, when he who was called Sununu pronounced the appointment of a stay-at-home momma's boy sheep farmer a…

Yesterday we posted the text of the letter, which calls on Secretary Gates to maintain production of the F-22 and the C-17 "until the final publication of the next Mobility Capabilities Study and the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review can be reviewed and studied." The push-back is being organized by…

Andy McCarthy was invited to participate in the President's Task Force on Detention Policy, but as he explains in a letter to AG Holder, he will not be used as a prop, and he fears giving his unvarnished advice to the President only to be prosecuted later for suggesting a course of action the left…

Pakistan's latest excuse for its inability to put down the the Taliban insurgency is lack of "capacity," which means they don't have the proper military equipment. Every senior Paksitani politician has claimed that if only the United States would provide items like night vision goggles and…

An unusually long column today from Krauthammer that makes several important points. First off, it's all well and good to hold a deep and principled objection to torture, but "you don't entrust such a person with the military decisions upon which hinges the safety of the nation." Second,…

The State Department released its annual report on terrorism yesterday, its first under the Obama administration. As usual, Iran loomed large as "the most active state sponsor of terrorism." And, once again, the report presents some inconvenient truths for those who insist that the Shiites of Iran…

John Maynard Keynes once wrote that if you want to bet on which of several contestants would win a beauty contest, don't try to guess which girl is the prettiest. Instead, try to pick the girl that the judges will decide is the prettiest. So with the economy. We have to guess not only which green…

North Korea's actions over the past month, including its restarting of its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon and its threats this week to conduct nuclear and ballistic missile tests, serve as the latest reminder that American policy toward Pyongyang has failed. Unfortunately, the Obama administration is…