November 2009

"Why has the president's publicly expressed vision of a kinder, gentler Washington failed to materialize?" Answer here. The IRGC continues to consolidate its control and is now responsible for all Iranian naval operations in the Persian Gulf. Remember when we used to argue about who was really in…

Today, the White House released a video of Joe Biden making the case for Obamacare: The vice president said that Americans should trust those doctors and nurses' take on the need for reform above other groups' opinions. "These are the people I trust, and I know you do, too," Biden said. "These are…

Obama doesn't accept that there are tensions between the security of the American people and the ideals of our democracy, so it's not surprising that he would put the men behind the 9/11 attacks on trial in civilian courts and then guarantee the death penalty for the accused. But as the Los Angeles…

From the Times magazine profile of the least powerful vice president in history: The president and the vice president are very different men both temperamentally and generationally, and they move in different social circles. "Everyone wants this to be some kind of buddy movie - ‘Butch Cassidy and…

Jeffrey Goldberg on the administration's Middle East diplomacy: In fact, if the Obama Administration hadn't made such a hash of the peace process, the Palestinians would now be returning to the negotiating table, acknowledging that the Netanyahu settlement moratorium is, as Hillary Clinton said,…

Nancy Pelosi: In a recent press release, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., argues that constitutional objections to the individual mandate are "nonsensical," because "the power of Congress to regulate health care is essentially unlimited." Here's the fact check release, in full, from September.

President Obama seems set on issuing a series of conflicting messages concerning the new strategy in Afghanistan. He has said that the U.S. will be out of Afghanistan by the time his term is over (and hopefully he's assuming he'll be reelected) and apparently he will emphasize this again during his…

Dubai's royal family has spent billions of dollars trying to develop an economic model for the emirate that will survive after the oil runs out -- or after the industrialized world finds an alternative to the fossil fuels that by some unfortunate coincidence aren't concentrated in that part of the…

Sen. Evan Bayh, the Indiana Democrat, asked the Congressional Budget Office to look at how the Senate bill may affect the cost of health insurance premiums. You can read the CBO / Joint Committee on Taxation report here. Both critics and supporters of the Senate health bill have found data to their…

Switzerland's ban on the building of minarets, the tall towers attached to mosques, is sure to spark outrage among Muslim groups worldwide. Interestingly enough, AFP decided to skip the various U.S. Muslim-grievance groups that act as fronts and apologists for Islamist terrorist groups and went…

The Tiger Woods story reveals the occasional trouble with Google ads, in my Google News search for "golf:" tigerwoods.jpg In case you've been in a turkey-coma since Thursday, you know by now that Woods was involved in a single-car accident in his own driveway at 2:25 a.m., which left him lying in…

Say it ain't so, Joe: Not invited to the climactic Afghanistan meeting? Not even a phone call? Speaking Monday to reporters at the White House, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama met Sunday evening in the Oval Office with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates; Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the…

Edward Natapei, the prime minister of Vanuatu, lost his job last week. The reason? "Natapei was fired for attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) currently taking place at the Hyatt regency hotel in Port of Spain. According to the standing orders, Natapei forfeited his seat…

Schedule some time today to read Niall Ferguson's Newsweek essay on the coming fiscal crisis. Here's a sample: [T]here is no end in sight to the borrowing binge. Unless entitlements are cut or taxes are raised, there will never be another balanced budget. Let's assume I live another 30 years and…

You can't fight a successful war unless the commander-in-chief is fully committed to it. So President Obama's chief task in his speech Tuesday night on Afghanistan is to make it absolutely clear that he is. This won't be easy. Obama comes from the antiwar wing of the Democratic party that opposes…

Joy Behar, let us remember, has her own news show on HLN. This is the exchange between Whoopi Goldberg and Behar on "The View" about Black Friday: GOLDBERG: Oh, hello and welcome to ‘The View.' Today is Black Friday, all day long," Goldberg said. "And I'm going to stay black all day because of…

This week's editorial is about the fantastic notion that spending more money to subsidize health insurance for millions of Americans will somehow save the government money in the long run. We neglected to mention this fascinating analysis of the House health bill by Richard Foster, the chief…

The White House Chanukah Party will be lower on cheer this year. The Obama administration has decided to cut the guest list in half for the annual soiree, setting up a political minefield for staffers faced with a deep roster of Jewish staffers and donors, which must be winnowed: During the Bush…

As the rest of us finish the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers, the Senate begins its health care debate this week. The AP sets the table with a surprisingly pessimistic take on the coming weeks: While majority Democrats will need 60 votes again to finish, some in the party say they'll jump ship…

The Washington Post reports: Reid's bill would shave less than 2 percent from deficits projected to top $9 trillion over the next decade. And it would make only "small reductions" after that, the CBO said -- about 0.25 percent of GDP -- to deficits projected to balloon to roughly 14 percent of the…

A tussle over same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia reveals how high the stakes of the debate have risen. Proponents of redefining marriage frequently assert that this would be only a minor adjustment, expanding the institution slightly to accommodate the two to three percent of the…

"Opaqueness and secrecy are the enemies of science," wrote George Monbriot, a leading British environmentalist. "There is a word for the apparent repeated attempts to prevent disclosure revealed in these emails: unscientific." Who doesn't love a new Marine? (link corrected) Tuesday: Obama's Speech…

With word that the Swiss had unexpectedly voted to ban the construction of new minarets the predictable outcry against such "racism" has begun. The Wall Street Journal, however, editorialized that the real problem is that the ban, which does not ban the building of new mosques, has no substantive…

Geraldine Davie has already seen one 9/11 co-conspirator tried in the United States, and that was enough for her. "I went to the Moussaoui trial every day," says Davie, of the years-long prosecution of the "20th hijacker" Zacarias Moussaoui in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. "That was a…

1848

On November 3, six days before the 20th anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall, freshly reelected German chancellor Angela Merkel delivered what many German commentators deemed to be the speech of her political career before a joint session of Congress. Merkel championed the unwavering…

Beirut

Attorney General Eric Holder spoke with confidence and authority before the Senate Judiciary Committee last Wednesday when asked how he would prevent another attack like the one committed by Nidal Malik Hasan at Fort Hood.

Pops

The media response to Sarah Palin's Going Rogue has been nothing short of bizarre. You read the stories and watch the broadcasts, and it's like War of the Worlds: The Martians have landed, and there's a full-on panic. The AP assigned 11 reporters to "fact check" Palin's book and discovered…

Can the United States win the war in Afghanistan? The antiwar left has long held the war is unwinnable. Now some conservatives are arguing that President Obama's weakness and indecision forecast American failure--and that, if we're going to fail, we should just get out now.

Much dire rhetoric has been unleashed in liberal quarters about the damage done by George W. Bush's foreign policy. The alleged damage, however, is not evident in Asia. When Ken Lieberthal, a respected China specialist and Democratic loyalist, spoke at Harvard early this year, I asked him to name a…

Back in February, President Obama met with a group of CEOs in the White House, seeking their support for his economic stimulus package. One of his chief targets was Jim Owens, the head of Caterpillar in Peoria, Illinois. The day after the session in Washington, the president flew to Peoria to speak…

Precious

The Cartoons That Shook the World

Whenever conversation turns to dog stories, especially tales of dogs' misdeeds, my husband bides his time, hanging back while others spin their various yarns.

Where else would Sarah Palin, or for that matter any other politician, entertainer, or criminal copping a plea in public go for the ultimate publicity fix?

Odd, that. There is Hu Jintao, the world's leading protectionist, the man who manipulates his nation's currency so as to keep goods and services made in other countries out while Chinese-made goods capture more and more market share, lecturing the American president on the dangers of protectionism.…

In a couple of editorials, "A Loyal Opposition" and "No Substitute for Victory," this magazine has urged conservatives and Republicans to support President Obama if he does the right thing in Afghanistan--and, where it's appropriate to be critical, to offer constructive criticism. In case you…

Yesterday, an estimated 134 million Americans descended on the malls and shops in search of bargains on the second biggest shopping day of the year (the Saturday before Christmas ranks first). Given the number of stores that for the first time opened for business on Thanksgiving day (including…

While Swiss and U.S. authorities are still working out the extradition of Roman Polanski, the director and convicted rapist is being placed under house arrest. His "house," however, is actually a chalet worth $1.6 million according to the Associated Press, which also provides a photo supposedly of…

It occurs to me that WEEKLY STANDARD readers, sitting at home and avoiding the malls this weekend, may be wondering: What presents should I be giving to my discerning friends, discriminating acquaintances, and benighted relatives for the holidays? Answer: Gift subscriptions to THE WEEKLY STANDARD,…

It occurs to me that WEEKLY STANDARD readers, sitting at home and avoiding the malls this weekend, may be wondering: What presents should I be giving to my discerning friends, discriminating acquaintances, and benighted relatives for the holidays? Answer: Gift subscriptions to THE WEEKLY STANDARD,…

Mitch Daniels is probably the only governor with his workout schedule posted on the Internet. Indiana's chief executive has always exercised, but when Mitch (as almost everyone in the Hoosier state calls him) started to address the state's health care problems he discovered that it was the 16th…

Democrats in Congress may need redemption with voters next year. But can President Obama save them?

Today we consume some 50 million turkeys who kindly dedicated themselves to sating our appetites as we try to decide whether we have very much to be thankful for. It turns out we do. And not only for the traditional blessings of freedom and the rule of law. Or the mixed blessing of families…

Jay Cost: Let's give thanks for the Union. Michael Barone: Damn the deficit, full speed ahead on health care. Chris Matthews yells at a Catholic bishop over abortion. Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.): Americans who don't want KSM tried in civilian court should "go somewhere else." Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gets…

Nancy Pelosi insists: "We have to look at that war with a green eyeshade on." She is talking about the war in Afghanistan--with anticipation that President Obama will increase resources for the war effort. Increased troops to fight our enemies in Afghanistan will require more money for this effort,…

Senate Republicans have just released an outstanding chart highlighting the accounting games that Democrats are playing with the costs of their proposed health-care overhaul. The Democrats assert that their Senate bill would cost $848 billion over ten years. But Congressional Budget Office…

So, what's the verdict? A long-awaited moment of uncharacteristic self-deprecation? Or, politically tin-eared joke about fake jobs numbers in a time of high unemployment? Either way, it's an admission that everyone knows the numbers are, indeed, nonsense: "All told, I believe it's fair to say that…

Announced by ABC: The network has announced "Christmas at the White House: An Oprah Primetime Special," which includes an interview with the president, a conversation with the First Couple and tour of the White House. The special marks the first time Winfrey has interviewed Obama since he took…

AP: A rare Siberian tiger fitted by Vladimir Putin with a radio-tracking collar has vanished, a Russian environmentalist said Wednesday, dramatizing the plight of a species some conservationists fear may be approaching extinction. Russia's prime minister drew worldwide publicity in 2008 when he…

The Politico reports on the first administration in history: The Obama White House is addicted to the "unprecedented." Perhaps it was a sign when President Barack Obama sat down in January to record his first weekly address and announced: "We begin this year and this administration in the midst of…

Watch the latest business video at FOXBusiness.com If Ed Begley's peers -- Hollywood liberals -- were to review his performance on Fox, they would probably give it a thumbs-up. I see a zealot who is having his faith tested and unable to keep his composure in the process. The emails in question…

As a Rasmussen poll shows Republicans opening up a 7-point lead on the generic congressional ballot, a new Gallup poll shows some very bad numbers for the Obama agenda: • By more than 2-1, Americans say the United States shouldn't close the terrorist prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, as Obama has…

It's a day for comeback rumors in the political news world. The Washington Post reports that Terry McAuliffe is not letting go of his quest to terrorize serve the good people of Virginia. Terry McAuliffe, the millionaire businessman who ran unsuccessfully for Virginia governor this year, is…

Run, Rudy, run! Democratic incumbent Kirsten Gillibrand may have a serious problem on her hands if Rudy Giuliani gets in next year's race for the U.S. Senate in New York State. A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of voters in the state finds Giuliani, the former Republican mayor of New York…

A new survey by Frank N. Magid Associates reports a stunning and terrible problem with many Americans' understanding of hi-definition television. The Magid group claims that 43 percent of HDTV owners don't subscribe for hi-def service -- in many cases, the study suggests, because they don't know…

After the initial round of poor reviews for President Obama's recent trip to Asia -- particularly but not exclusively the China portion -- the Empire has been striking back.  Obama administration officials, echoed by a number of "China-hands" in academia, think tanks and the media, have been…

"We need the ability to legalize illegal immigrants under certain conditions," said...Lou Dobbs? A tax on plastic surgery isn't a tax on the rich. 13 smart links on the global-warming uproar, all in one post. A Black Friday gadget-sale list, for your shopping pleasure. The economy needs you to buy…

Two contradictory narratives explaining Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's money transfers to Pakistan have emerged in the press. At this point, we know that in the months leading up to the Fort Hood shooting, Major Hasan wired a significant amount of money to Pakistan (it is not clear precisely how much).…

Jason Linkins at the Huffington Post thinks Mark Halperin's "Something About Mary"-style Photoshop of Mary Landrieu is inappropriate. I agree. I'm a sucker for pop-culture references, but there's a sexual connotation (even if it is more juvenile than degrading), and it shouldn't be used to diminish…

Jeffrey H. Anderson on what the health care debate is really all about. Bill McGurn on Joe Lieberman: The other Senate maverick. White House source says Obama's likely to announce surge of 34,000 troops to Afghanistan next week. Obama says today he'll "finish the job" in Afghanistan. Angelina Jolie…

A Gallup/USA Today poll shows that 69 percent of women disagree with a death panel U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendation to delay mammograms until the age of 50. Democrats have been trying their best to do damage control, but as The Washington Independent reported: The Democrats…

Iain Murray offers a useful primer on e-mails from the Climate Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia in the UK (mentioned by Goldfarb, here), hacked and publicized, which revealed systematic, less-than-scientific treatment of data in order to bolster global-warming claims. Read the…

They could've executed him in the desert and left him in a shallow grave for all I care, but the SEALs are professionals, and so they brought the man behind the 2004 murder of four American contractors in Fallujah to the Green Zone, where one SEAL told investigators that he "had showered after the…

Another episode of right-wing violence that wasn't, kind of like the entire month of August's town halls: A U.S. Census worker found dead in a secluded Clay County cemetery killed himself but tried to make the death look like a homicide, authorities have concluded. Bill Sparkman, 51, of London,…

There'll be joyous dancing in the streets of Israel when-if-Gilad Shalit is freed by his Hamas kidnappers in the coming weeks, most especially in the vicinity of the tent set up in March across from the prime minister's official Jerusalem residence and occupied since then by Noam and Aviva Shalit…

Jonathan Martin reported yesterday on an interview with Univision anchor Jorge Ramos in which Ana Navarro, a McCain campaign veteran, trashed Sarah Palin, saying Palin "does not understand issues concerning Hispanics and Latin America" and that the McCain campaign was forced to cancel an interview…

Via Jennifer Rubin, Rasmussen reports: Overall, 45% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance. That matches the lowest level of total approval yet measured for this president. Eighty-one percent (81%) of Democrats approve as do 33% of unaffiliated voters.…

...I bring you the State Dinner menu. First item: Potato and Eggplant Salad White House Arugula with onion seed vinaigrette 2008 sauvignon blanc, Modus Oprendi, Napa Valley, California Perhaps the price at Whole Foods is no longer an issue because they're growing it in the garden? "Anybody gone…

On October 29, the White House claimed that the Cash for Clunkers program contributed to a surge in economic growth: "We found out that motor vehicle output added 1.7% to economic growth in the third quarter - the largest contribution to quarterly growth in over a decade." But Jim Geraghty notes…

Richard Holbrooke was the man who would be king, with jurisdiction from India to Afghanistan, overseeing American diplomacy and foreign policy in a region that will make or break the Obama presidency. But almost from the beginning things didn't go as planned. The Indians sent a clear message to…

FP's Cable blog reports on NSC deputy spokesman Ben Chang, aka Hong Kong Hefner, fashion photographer and disc jockey extraordinaire. By day Chang controls foreign press access in the White House. By night, "dancefloor jazz, funky breaks, old school & classic hip hop, indie pop/rock, new wave,…

Eugene Robinson goes there: "The honest solution," he writes in a column on government health care spending, "is a word that cannot be spoken: rationing." The reason that the word "cannot be spoken," of course, is that fiat rationing scares the daylights out of people. In a way, Robinson's piece…

No, not that one. I mean former Bush pollster Matthew Dowd, who writes in today's Washington Post that, despite everything, Sarah Palin could make a serious attempt at the White House in 2012. Check it out: Looking ahead to the political landscape of the 2012 presidential election, there are…

Scott Fenstermaker is an attorney who has performed various legal services for one of the five 9/11 conspirators who will be put on trial in New York, as well as other al Qaeda terrorists. Fenstermaker says he is concerned with protecting the "rule of law" and defending the constitutional…

With U.S. policymakers distracted by the situation in Honduras, Nicaragua continues to move toward authoritarianism. On October 19, a Nicaraguan Supreme Court panel overturned a constitutional provision limiting presidents to two non-consecutive terms in office. The ruling will allow incumbent…

Under the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA), the EPA is required to make a determination by November 30 of each year about the projected volume of cellulosic ethanol that will be available in the next calendar year. If the projected volume is less than volume mandated by the 2007…

ghailani.jpg Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani

Reuel Marc Gerecht: Major Hasan and Holy War. Robert J. Samuelson: Obamacare is the latest assault on the young. Rich Lowry: Democrats have "talked themselves into the ludicrously self-delusional notion that what ails them and the president is that they haven't yet passed the hundreds of billions…

Eric Holder's decision to bring KSM and his fellow 9/11 plotters to New York City for the "trial of the century" became an issue today in the primary race between Rob Simmons and Linda McMahon who are battling for the chance to take Chris Dodd's senate seat from him in 2010. Simmons blasted out a…

Any of these pictures of Katie Couric would make a great Newsweek cover, don't you think? CouricDancing2.jpg CouricDancing1.jpg CouricDancing.jpg

The wires are starting to take an interest in the "landmark" deal that would see the French sell as many as three amphibious assault ships to the peace-loving regime in Moscow. As the AP reports, the Russians aren't being shy about what these ships would be used for: The head of the Russian navy…

I haven't been to Miami in a while, but it used to be that you could launch World War Three by stopping at a coffee stand in Little Havana and asking patrons sipping their cafecitos in peaceful harmony there, "Who's worse: Fidel or Raul?" Whether they'd been comrades-in-arms or fellow travelers of…

Nice to see CNN giving Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty its due--and timed just right to mark the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution. Besides interviewing the always impressive head of RFE/RL, Jeffrey Gedmin, the CNN reporter also spends time talking with Pavel Pechacek, a journalist who was…

In case you missed it, former Democratic staffer and Asia note-taker Chris Nelson, author of the eponymous Nelson Report, last week issued yet another missive that might as well have been written by the DNC press shop or an unhinged commenter at the Daily Kos. Blaming Washington "insiders" -- read…

... is a speedy global recovery. Recently the Wall Street Journal asked the CEOs of Amex, Westpac, and Marriott, and Sen. John McCain, what the global economy needs to rebound. Here's what they said. The panel had five top recommendations, including, in the Journal's words: (1) "[P]olicies that…

What's the best way to win in a Republican primary? Well, Charlie Crist is charting the path to victory by reducing the Republican base to a stereotype favored by the likes of Daily Kos, the New York Times, and Chris Matthews: "It's hard to be more conservative than I am on issues - though there…

I really enjoyed last week's WWII in HD mini-series on the History Channel. Ten hours of color footage from World War II, all of it digitally restored, and the series was narrated through the voices of soldiers, Marines, and journalists, all of whom had written books about their time in combat --…

Mary Landrieu was awfully upfront about her $100 million vote in Senate debate Saturday: "I will correct something. It's not $100 million, it's $300 million, and I'm proud of it and will keep fighting for it," Landrieu told reporters after her floor speech. "But that is not why I started this…

Former Vice President Dick Cheney unloaded on President Barack Obama and his administration in a radio interview Monday morning, saying that Obama's recent bow before the Japanese Emperor was "fundamentally harmful" to the United States and indicates that Obama "doesn't fully understand or have the…

Goldfarb mentions Andrew Revkin's decision not to publish "private" -- though publicly available -- emails which cast the purveyors of climate change in a bad light. Just in case you were inclined to give Revkin the benefit of the doubt, here's another small data-point on him. Revkin's blog is…

Say you're David Broder, and you want to sit down and make the entirely reasonable and factual observation that the Democrats' health care bills will are "budget-busters." "Will future Congresses actually impose the assumed $420 billion in cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health…

Mmm, Mmm, Mmm. No breast exams for mama. "Not that it matters politically because obviously she's a female Republican dunce and he's a male Democrat genius. But Sarah Palin's poll numbers are strengthening. And President Obama's are sliding. Guess what? They're about to meet in the 40s." "The five…

The Foreign Policy Initiative has produced a very helpful fact sheet that makes the case for a fully resourced counterinsurgency strategy for Afghanistan. Read it here.

Among the many taxes and fees that the Senate's health care bill raises is the Medicare payroll tax. CBS: "The Senate measure also raises the Medicare payroll tax on income above $200,000 annually for individuals and $250,000 for couples." At the same time, the bill creates the unelected IMAB panel…

Michael Barone devotes his latest column to immigration in the world of the Great Recession: [T]he flow of immigrants into the United States is slowing dramatically and may be reversing. The Pew Hispanic Center notes that the number of immigrants from Mexico in 2008-09 is down three-quarters from…

Via Hot Air, Saturday Night Live had a remarkable opening sketch this weekend that took aim at Obama's policies from the right and was actually funny. In a press conference between Obama and Hu Jintao, the Chinese leader inquires about whether the U.S. will pay back its debt and asks, "How exactly…

Peter Beinart: [I]n voting to allow debate, Landrieu and Lincoln hammered some nails in the coffin of a robust "public option" that would allow the government to compete with private insurers. Both senators stressed that if the Senate bill includes a public option, they will ultimately oppose the…

I still haven't seen the new disaster flick 2012, but NPR's Ken Rudin did and discovered the movie's fatal flaw: It wasn't the fact that the movie was about an hour too long. Or that the plot and dialogue were inane. Or that John Cusack managed to make every traffic light as his car was improbably…

The QotD(SF!) comes from Mark Shields. I was happy to discover that he and I share a favorite holiday: Thanksgiving. Here's Shields: Do you know why Thanksgiving is my very favorite holiday? Because since 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln first declared it a national holiday, no robber baron or…

Lost in the media focus on health care and Asia over the past week is the growing scandal surrounding the shootings at Fort Hood. Within four hours of the shootings, the FBI told Fox News that the terrorism angle was "not being discussed." They continued to downplay terrorism as a motive throughout…

Early this month, I traveled to Washington with Vets for Freedom to advocate for General Stanley McChrystal's request for 40,000 to 60,000 more troops in Afghanistan. I returned from Afghanistan last summer and, along with other veterans of that theater, wanted to share my experience with…

Officials of John McCain's losing presidential campaign are trashing Sarah Palin again. And no wonder. The media let them say anything they wish about Palin while remaining anonymous, and thus not accountable. In effect, they get a free shot at her. The Washington Post, for example, identified them…

President Obama chose not to travel to Germany for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Instead, he graced the occasion with a video address. He didn't have time in his two-and-a-half minutes to mention Ronald Reagan or Margaret Thatcher or Pope John Paul II. But somehow he did find…

As President Barack Obama takes his first trip to China, Beijing officials are in a triumphal mood, anticipating a "Chinese century" and looking forward to making the oblivious American leader the most important prop in their campaign to legitimize their central role in the world.

The Chosen

Democratic health care reform--Obamacare, that is--in either its House or Senate form is unpopular both in general and in most of its particulars. Not only that, it's become ever more unpopular as Obama has drawn more public attention to it. Yet the operating assumption of the president and…

Cambridge, Mass.

The Heart of Power

It sounds harmless enough, the news that the 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change will meet in Copenhagen early next month. Another U.N. talking shop, surely, designed mainly to provide a nice expenses-paid junket for the U.N. bureaucrats,…

We are being told these days that the wave of the future in moviemaking is the seamless merger of live action and animation. We've been seeing it in bits and pieces for a decade-the character of Gollum in the Lord of the Rings films was the actor Andy Serkis turned into an animated figure. The key…

Wars Within a War

After the Fall

The poet Delmore Schwartz famously joked that existentialism means "no one else can take a bath for you." Let me propose a corollary: No one else can drink a glass of wine for you.

Is there another crucifix in urine lurking just around the corner? Something even worse? The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is at a tipping point, one that has arrived far earlier in the Obama administration than even close observers of the NEA's fortunes might have suspected. And because of…

A friend once prophesied that on my tombstone will be written the rueful words: "I really wish I hadn't agreed to do this." He had a point. Standing at a deserted railway station at dusk in the Scottish Highlands tired, hungry, and late, I wondered what on earth had induced me to volunteer for a…

Not the event itself, but the official reaction to the shootings at Fort Hood last week, invites troublesome parallels with the assassination 46 years ago this month of John F. Kennedy.

Update: Jeffrey Anderson points out in this post that the $1.8 trillion figure underestimates the real cost of the bill--which is in fact $2.5 trillion. Harry Reid and his fellow Democrats claim that the cost of the Senate's health care bill is $849 billion over the first ten years. But, as Jeffrey…

With the release of hundreds of emails by scientists advocates of global warming showing obvious and entirely inappropriate collusion by the authors -- including attempts to suppress dissent, to punish journals that publish peer-reviewed studies casting doubt on global warming, and to manipulate…

It's a fair question from a man who lost his son on 9/11: Mr. Holder said that he and his boss had not spoken in person about this decision. This matter only involves upholding the constitutional rights of Americans, establishing a precedent with battlefield impact, and the safety and security of…

The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee has taken another shot at the administration's war on terror policies with a letter yesterday to AG Eric Holder and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates questioning the decision to put the terrorists behind the 9/11 attacks on trial in federal…

Mark Hemingway: Won't somebody think of the trustafarians? Worse than waterboarding: Iraqi detainees use Favre to taunt Wisconsin soldiers. Jay Cost: Of course 60 Democratic senators will vote yes on Saturday night's motion to proceed to debate on the health care bill. Wesley Smith: Senate health…

Andrew Malcolm wrote this up yesterday, news from the last stop of Obama's Asia trip: Even President Obama himself during his just-concluded trip to Asia admitted that he was surprised to receive the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this year without actually producing any peace. In fact, the rookie…

John Noonan is correct in stating that NORAD will be sorely stretched by the requirement to stand alerts against incursions by Russian bombers and reconnaissance aircraft (even if these pose only a minimal objective threat, air sovereignty must be maintained). He overlooked, I think, the…

eric-holder-barack-obama.jpg Sen. Chuck Grassley asked Attorney General Eric Holder in a hearing Wednesday for a list of the employees at Dept. of Justice who might have to recuse themselves due to conflicts of interest over detainees. Some DOJ employees and their former firms represented and…

John Noonan is correct in stating that NORAD will be sorely stretched by the requirement to stand alerts against incursions by Russian bombers and reconnaissance aircraft (even if these pose only a minimal objective threat, air sovereignty must be maintained). He overlooked, I think, the…

Politico reporters will give right-wingers the kind of fair treatment that they can get almost nowhere else, but in this piece on McCain's shift on cap and trade includes a line that just drips with bias. Reporter Lisa Lerer, wrongly in my opinion, attributes McCain's shift on cap and trade to a…

What's become of Captain Silvertongue Goldenvisage, bewitcher of men, mascot of children, icon of fools, fetish of knaves? His ship's afloat, but barely. His sextant's faulty. His rudder's sluggish. His port side's taking on water. His officers await his orders, flirt with mutiny. His crew is…

TEXT

The New York Times has an interesting article up on the role of US and Canadian air defense in the post-9/11 world. Between 2001 and 2007, NORAD provided for regular combat air patrols over major US cities. Due to the spiraling costs of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, military planners swapped out…

Another fun email from the NIAC treasure trove...Given that J Street blasted Sarah Palin for her support for the official policy of the government in Jerusalem, and given that even ADL chief Abe Foxman is questioning J Street's "pro-Israel" bona fides as a result, it's worth taking a look behind…

It was reported this morning that Obama would not be letting us enjoy our Thanksgivings without a cameo from him, and now THE WEEKLY STANDARD has acquired this copy of the upcoming ad: All right, I kid. The real ad is here, but almost equally weird.

Senator Ben Nelson announced today that he will vote yes on the motion to proceed Saturday night. Politico reports two Democrats remain undeclared: "A few moments ago, Sen. Dick Durbin walked back a statement he made earlier today that Sen. Blanche Lincoln told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid how…

The National Iranian American Council denies it engages in lobbying, yet the organization's internal emails tell a different story. The group calls itself the National Iranian American Council, but it's run by Trita Parsi, an Iranian national who didn't even have a green card when he started the…

Old and busted storyline: Tea Parties are aggressively, throughly corporate-organized Astrotuf. New hotness: Tea Parties not organized enough. Tea Parties: Illegitimate if you do. Illegitimate if you don't.

Here are four key facts about the costs of the Democrats' 2,074-page Senate health bill: 1. According to the CBO, only 1 percent of the bill's costs would kick in prior to the fifth year of its alleged "first ten years" (2010 to 2019). Starting in 2014, 99 percent of the bill's costs would hit --…

It is things like this that make me love the Internet. This week, MSNBC's intrepid Norah O'Donnell, with the help of a team of producers and researchers, bravely confronted a 17-year-old girl in line for a Palin book signing about the ideological consistency of her t-shirt. The young woman is,…

slideshow_695060_gafoot.0831_CC31.jpg The University of Georgia is mourning its mascot, Uga VII, who unexpectedly died of a heart attack yesterday at four years old. He had served fewer than two seasons as the football team's mascot, the shortest tenure of any in the long line of English Bulldogs…

When Sarah Palin offered her unqualified support for the Israeli government's policy of settlement expansion in Jerusalem and the West Bank, the self-described "pro-Israel, pro-peace" J Street blasted her for "pandering to her right-wing base . . . at the expense of the security of the State of…

Last week, the West Virginia Supreme Court issued a well-deserved slap in the face to a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court, which all too often makes up the law out of whole cloth to meet its latest view of what is socially and politically correct.

Congress as an institution will never win any popularity sweepstakes. More than any other branch of government, it's a forum for open, raucous, and partisan debate. And as a result, it also exposes the lack of consensus on many public policy questions. Yet as this recent Gallup poll finds, public…

The new Rasmussen poll for the 2010 Arizona GOP Primary-John McCain 45%, J. D. Hayworth 43%-will generate a fair amount of buzz. But August is a long way away, and I assume that when McCain gets back to Arizona and campaigns, he'll pull it out. Still, who could help McCain beat back a populist…

Evangelicals organized by Southern Baptist leaders are pushing for more U.S. pressure against Iran's nuclear program while also offering solidarity to Iran's suppressed domestic opposition.

Senate Republican aides say that Harry Reid has scheduled the first vote on his health-care bill for Saturday night for 8:00 p.m. after 10 hours of floor debate. Ed Morrissey notes that registered voters oppose the House health care bill 51 percent to 35 percent; a poll done by the Democratic firm…

A series of internal emails and documents from the National Iranian American Council, headed by Iranian national Trita Parsi, released as part of the discovery process in a lawsuit initiated by NIAC, reveal a major effort by the group to "clean house" at VOA's Persian-language service of Voice of…

A doctor who's been following the health care debate closely writes in an email: The Senate bill has a demonstration project, section 2074, that seeks to control costs in Medicaid by trying to create a fixed payment for doctors and hospitals for a given patient's stay in the hospital. The goal is…

Everyone seems to know Rudy Giuliani's political future -- except Giuliani. First the New York Times reported that Giuliani "has decided not to run for governor of New York next year after months of mulling a candidacy, according to people who have been told of the decision." Then the Daily News…

In my piece yesterday, I noted that the ACLU released a video earlier this month that features former Gitmo detainee Moazzam Begg. Begg made news earlier this year when he became the front man for a video game in which players could pretend to be Gitmo detainees capable of shooting their way out of…

worst kind of ally.jpg Sayeth the British Spectator: 'The Afghan issue has made clear the astonishing disregard with which Mr Obama treats Britain . As he decides how many more troops to send to Afghanistan - a decision which will fundamentally affect the scope of the mission - Britain is reduced…

The numbers in California: A new Rasmussen Reports survey in California finds next year's race for governor now a dead heat with Jerry Brown (D) and Meg Whitman (R) tied at 41%. In other match ups, Brown leads Steve Poizner (R), 43% to 32%, and tops Tom Campbell (R), 42% to 33%. And in Florida:…

As you may have noticed during the health-care debate, on almost every iteration of the bill, we get a CBO score and then a real cost revealed later, which Democrats reluctantly own up to once confronted with it. For the House bill passed last week, the true cost was $1.2 trillion. This is because,…

This is the latest video from Keep America Safe and I think the best one yet. Justin Germany put this together after a trip up to Standish, Michigan, with KAS board member Debra Burlingame, who was all over the Holder hearings yesterday. It now seems unlikely that the detainees will end up in…

At a joint press appearance with South Korean President Lee Yong-Ho earlier today, President Barack Obama used what the New York Times called a "stern tone" with North Korea. Obama's main objective is to bring an end to the Sisyphean quality of the negotiations. "The thing I want to emphasise is…

Here's a nifty write-up of counterinsurgency sensei David Kilcullen's speech at Johns Hopkins, delivered last night. Kilcullen's been in the news recently, warning of a "Suez-like disaster" should the White House lowball USFOR-A boss Gen McChrystal's request for 40k additional combat troops. DoD…

Nothing to fear. Though the President will likely shortchange General McChrystal's troop request, his charm, charisma, and supernatural diplomacy powers will soon make war obsolete anyway. Standing on a riser wearing a blue suit and red tie, with a cluster of troops and a large American flag behind…

If bin Laden is captured, the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee doesn't see any need at all to interrogate the al Qaeda founder and mastermind -- because we already have enough on him for a "conviction." If the U.S. captures Osama bin Laden, there's no need to interrogate him, the chairman…

According to a lot of media coverage, the only difference between Florida governor Charlie Crist and former Florida House speaker Marco Rubio is that the governor supported the Obama stimulus package. Therefore, conservatives are waging an ideological crusade against Crist for straying from…

When Paul Krugman and Niall Ferguson agree on something, it's worth paying attention. In recent weeks, both the liberal New York Times columnist and the free-market Harvard University historian have penned op-eds calling on China to allow the renminbi to appreciate against the dollar. Here's…

Among the health-care proposals advanced so far, here is the clear order of merit: 1. the House Republican bill (the only proposal the CBO says would lower insurance premiums); 2. the status quo; 3. the massive Democratic attempts to overhaul our nation's health-care system and dramatically…

Via Hot Air, the Washington Times unearths a quote from New York Senator Chuck Schumer in which, just a few weeks after the 9/11 attacks, Schumer mocks the idea that anyone would give the 9/11 plotters the same rights afforded to American citizens charged with pick-pocketing. There are also those…

No surprise here, Tehran doesn't believe sanctions will materialize and have buried the lion's share of their HEU stockpiles -- and accompanying centrifuge cascades -- in a massive underground complex near the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center. Isfahan, Tehran's version of Cheyenne Mountain, is…

The mammogram message: "Democrats cannot afford to lose the support of women on this issue, but the announcement plays into a narrative already advanced by the pro-choice movement that ObamaCare will ration healthcare for women. The Obama administration is clearly worried about this." And, this…

In yesterday's Wall Street Journal, Michael Boskin made the case for a payroll tax cut: My Stanford colleague Pete Klenow and Rochester economist Mark Bils estimated that cutting the payroll tax by six percentage points (of the 12.4% Social Security component) would, under standard assumptions,…

One of several e-mails I've received on the KSM trial: "I'm an attorney and a former civilian and military prosecutor. Congress can indeed remove jurisdiction for Article III courts to try this case or any other terrorism case. I think Republicans should get a bill going fast on this and make the…

The political collars continue to tighten around Blue Dogs and other Democrats representing Republican-leaning congressional districts. Recent election results in Virginia and New Jersey, as well as a bevy of new polls, all suggest these vulnerable lawmakers face an increasingly hostile environment…

I am no great fan of the Army's M1126 Stryker infantry combat vehicle (ICV), the eight-wheeled battle taxi hastily adopted by the Army in 2001 to provide an air-transportable vehicle offering more protection and carrying capacity than a HMMWV. It's too big (at 23 feet long and 9 feet wide, it's the…

Here we are half way to an overhaul of health insurance and nowhere on a path to actually controlling health care costs. A question rarely asked is whether such costs really should be controlled--for such controls could result in very serious unintended consequences.

Has a president ever been less successful on a trip overseas than President Obama has on his eight-day excursion to Asia? I've been covering presidents since Gerald Ford and I can't think of one.

Harry Reid unveiled his $849 billion health-care bill tonight. It weighs in at 2,074 pages. Keith Hennessey runs through the tax hikes in the bill: The following is from the Joint Tax Committee estimate of the revenue effects of the Reid bill. I have listed provisions with major revenue effects…

Andy McCarthy on the Holder hearing. Obama not planning to screw up Iraq until April or May. Ace goes supernova on Sullivan. NIAC shockingly uses the same PR firm as Qaddafi. Christian Whiton and Greg Jenkins: Hope for conservatives in California? When Jeffrey Toobin isn't busy ripping off Matt…

House Republicans have introduced a discharge petition to try to force a vote on a bill to keep the Obama administration from transferring Guantanamo detainees to the United States. From a press release: U.S. House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (R-CA) today joined…

I cannot compete with Allahpundit's write-up of this exchange, from the Holder hearing today, so go forth and read his take. Holder says Miranda wouldn't be an issue in KSM trial or Osama bin Laden's because the evidence is so overwhelming against the two that prosecutors wouldn't need "custodial…

Way back in March 2008, widespread protests erupted across the Tibetan plateau and were brutally crushed by a massive Chinese security response. On March 28, then-Senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama, who had previously shown little interest in Tibet, sent a letter to President Bush…

Earlier this month, when Rep. Mark Kirk accused Trita Parsi, the Iranian national who heads the oddly named National Iranian American Council, of being a "regime sympathizer," NIAC accused Kirk of making a "slanderous allegation." Yet internal emails reveal that Parsi certainly did not see himself…

Attorney General Eric Holder seemed to take an unorthodox view of the guarantees of the American justice system today during a committee hearing about his decision to try 9/11 co-conspirators in federal courts in New York City. Asked by Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) if the justice department had…

President Obama responds to a question from CBS about the Afghan policy leaks: "I think I am angrier than Bob Gates about it, partly because we have these deliberations in the Situation Room for a reason - because we are making decisions that are life-and-death, that affect how our troops will be…

Earlier today, Dick Durbin argued no one complained about Zacarias Moussaoui's trial in civilian court. In fact, as a friend on the Hill points out, "several Democrats" said the 20th hijacker should have been tried in a military tribunal: During the Attorney General's appearance before the Senate…

At the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing this morning, Sen. John Cornyn asked Attorney General Eric Holder about the decision he announced Friday to try some detainees, including the 9/11 plotters, in Article III courts: "Does the president agree with you?" Holder's response: "I believe he does. I…

Mary Katharine Ham is on Capitol Hill reporting on Attorney General Eric Holder's testimony to Congress and capturing lots of very interesting exchanges on Twitter: Holder says: "Failure is not an option. These are cases that have to be won. I don't expect that we'll have a contrary result." To…

Andy McCarthy writes at NRO: AG Holder's testimony has resumed, and Senator Durbin claims that no one complained about the Moussaoui trial being in a civilian court. In fact, many of us complained - I pointed out several times that Moussaoui was the "poster child" for commissions. More importantly,…

Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed to the Senate Judiciary Committee this morning that Gitmo will not be closed by the initial January 2010 deadline. Holder's comments follow President Obama's earlier announcement that the deadline will be missed. There are, according to published accounts,…

Sarah Palin weighs in on settlements: Barbara Walters: Governor, let's talk about some issues. The Middle East. The Obama administration does not want Israel to build any more settlements on what they consider "Palestinian territory." What is your view on this? Sarah Palin: I disagree with the…

In my interview with Governor Palin yesterday evening, we touched briefly on some current events, including President Obama's trip to Asia and the place of the tea-party movement in the Republican party. Some highlights: 1) I asked Palin about the anti-tax-and-spending tea parties. "I love the tea…

I tweeted this a few days ago, but deliberately kept it vague. Capt. Shannon Meehan, an old college associate and former patient at Fort Hood's medical facility, said that Hasan had a reputation for telling his patients to report themselves to the legal office for war crimes, an unbelievably sick…

The president of the United States has expressed his displeasure with Israeli government plans to build 900 new housing units in Jerusalem's Jewish neighborhood of Gilo. Glad to know Mr. Obama, with all he has to occupy him, is able to maintain so deep an interest in city planning. But just how…

A new CNN poll "indicates that 61 percent of the public opposes the use of public money for abortions for women who can not afford the procedure, with 37 percent in favor of allowing the use of federal funds." How much stronger must opposition to public funding of abortion be in states like Byron…

In his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee today, Eric Holder will say, according to the Associated Press, that "I have every confidence the nation and the world will see him for the coward he is....I'm not scared of what (Mohammed) will have to say at trial and no one else needs to be…

Not content with trying to stack election rules in their favor, or take away from workers the right to vote by secret ballot and vote on employment contracts, union bosses are now trying to track employees' votes electronically in an attempt to strong-arm workers into unions.

"I'll talk to you guys after I get to New York and see my lawyer."

The White House realizes there are no settlements in Jerusalem -- and yet their position remains unclear. David Frum says it isn't enough to take Trita Parsi at his word. Russia gives Georgia the 411: We're annexing your sovereign territory. Ace examines the "diplomacy of deference." "He ought to…

"I'll talk to you guys after I get to New York and see my lawyer." That, according to former Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet, is what September 11 planner Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) said when he was captured in March 2003. But of course the Bush administration did not grant KSM his…

I spoke to Governor Palin by phone this afternoon. Lots of interesting material, but to me the most interesting takeaways were the following: 1) I asked about Palin's upcoming visit to Ft. Hood. "We had planned on that before the tragedy struck," she said. She commented on the trail of evidence…

As NIAC prepared its duplicitous campaign to scuttle the appointment of Dennis Ross as the Obama administration's envoy to Iran, Trita Parsi and his policy director, Patrick Disney, conferred with their allies on two separate listservs to devise a strategy. The date was January 7, 2009, and as the…

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is in trouble again, and this time he may not be able to save his job. You'll recall that his confirmation was threatened by revelations of cheating on his income taxes. Now he's accused of paying billions too much for the bailout of AIG and allowing the insurance…

douglas-elmendorf.jpg For anyone who's been in Washington for the past year, it's become increasingly obvious that the only moments of true bipartisanship come when everyone in the city is waiting for Douglas Elmendorf to deliver a CBO report. No matter which persuasion, political junkies…

There are thoughtful arguments to be made against Sarah Palin's future as a national politician, her persona as a conservative folk hero, her political ideology. Relatively few liberals or critics in the media bother to make them. It's a testament to how thoroughly they caricatured her the first…

Israel has approved the construction of some 900 housing units in their own capital city, Jerusalem: ... Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said he refused to be part of a halt to Jewish and Arab construction in west or east Jerusalem. "Israeli law does not discriminate between Arabs and Jews, or between…

Where lie the sympathies of the UN nuclear watchdog agency's chief dog has been no secret: Mohammed El Baradei earned his 2005 Nobel Peace Prize not for shepherding rogue states to denuclearization-on the contrary, North Korea and Iran spent his (soon-to-be-over) watch as head of the IAEA in a…

Americans disapprove of the way Obama is handling health care by a 49-47 percent margin, according to the latest Washington Post poll. Americans disapprove of Obama's handling of Afghanistan by a 48-45 margin. In April of this year 63 percent of Americans approved of Obama's handling of that…

The doc-fix's decline: The conflicting maneuvers suggest that, rather than a permanent solution, the best the doctors might get is yet another one- or two-year fix, which could threaten their support for health care reform. Stop the presses: Obama "braved" freezing temperatures in China. What's the…

The petitioners in McDonald v. Chicago, the Supreme Court case challenging Chicago's handgun ban, filed their merits brief yesterday, and it's a doozy. Rather than just citing the well-established Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the brief invokes the long-dead Privileges and…

When President Obama took the stage in Shanghai on Monday for his faux town-hall with 400 carefully selected Communist Youth Leaguers future Chinese leaders, he had already lost the crowd. Amid reports that the town-hall participants had been held in splendid isolation in the days prior to the…

On the homepage, James W. Ceaser asks: will President Obama show as much respect for the Dalai Lama as he did for the emperor of Japan?

How low can you go? This is the question confronting the nation in the aftermath of President Obama's deep bow to the Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko last Saturday.

Revolutions are serious business. They require zeal, energy and fervor--all of which need to be maintained. For the past thirty years, the Islamic regime has struggled to keep its revolution alive, and not without success. The latest round of the nuclear deal is no different. It is already…

Keep America Safe is joining forces with The Bravest and 9/11 Families for a Safe & Strong America to encourage people to attend AG Eric Holder's appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday morning. The hearing promises to be a major event, with Holder answering questions about…

President Obama has responded to critics of the administration's weak human rights policies by getting tough on Asian abusers during his trip.  Sort of.   While sitting across the table from the Burmese junta's prime minister, General Thein Sein, at the US-ASEAN Summit in Singapore, President…

Joementum, in Israel, says Iran "has failed the test." While Obama dithers on Afghanistan, Lang Sias asks what happened to the "fierce urgency of now." Steve Clemons says "the dark side has taken hold at the White House." Fact: It took 11 AP reporters to fact-check Palin's book. Jamie Kirchick asks…

Andrew Sullivan is digging in to defend Trita Parsi -- and to attack Parsi's critics: But it does reveal a classic neoconservative move. They are essentially trying to accuse Iranian-Americans who disagree with them of dual loyalty. Even as they rightly scream blue murder if that is ever applied to…

According to a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services report: CMS took a close look at the health care bill that was passed by House Democrats and endorsed by the White House, and it found that not only would the bill not reduce health care costs -- it would increase them. Time and again, we…

In light of ABC's reporting on the Obama adminstration's reporting do-over on stimulus jobs, which slashed 60,000 jobs from the count due to funky reports, please click over to this new interactive map of bogus stimulus job reports. Hey, Recovery.gov has its map. And, now recovery doubters have a…

Ross Douthat writes in the New York Times: If there's any comfort for Democratic legislators in this landscape, it's the possibility that the angst-ridden health care debate may matter less to their re-election prospects than anyone expects. Amid the town-hall tumult in August, Obamacare looked…

Normally I tend not to get as worked up about our national eating habits like, say, the Center for Science in the Public Interest or Mayor Bloomberg. Is there an obesity problem in America? Sure. Childhood obesity even moreso. Do we need to ban trans-fats from cities like New York or sue fast-food…

Jen Rubin corrects the L.A. Times: "And to prevent (Ft. Hood) from happening again, we need to get over the diversity fetish (which imagines that Americans are too dumb to distinguish between nonviolent Muslims and those who've adopted a murderous ideology) and get on with the business of fighting…

NIAC and J Street might seem at first an odd alliance. J Street is "pro-peace, pro-Israel" and NIAC is pro-engagement, pro-Iran. But J Street isn't all that pro-Israel, and NIAC will take any allies it can find in the fight against sanctions, so few and far between are such organizations in…

Anwar al Awlaki, the radical cleric contacted by Major Nidal Malik Hasan, gave an interview to a "terrorism expert" who spoke on behalf of the Washington Post. (See the story for WaPo disclaimers/cautions.) Awlaki , who issued a statement praising Hasan for his killing spree, says he neither…

Baghdad

Toward the end of George W. Bush's second term, no one wanted to be seen with him on the campaign trail. That hasn't happened yet to Barack Obama, but just nine months into his first term, in bluest Massachusetts which he carried by 26 points, he couldn't fill a room with Democratic…

A Pint of Plain

On November 4, protesters gathered outside the gates of the U.S. embassy in Tehran to mark the 30th anniversary of the hostage-taking. There were the usual government-backed "Death to America" protests--celebrating the then-young revolutionaries and their enduring fanaticism.

In what may be best remembered as the "shrug of the shoulders" election, New Yorkers in a low-turnout stunner last Tuesday expressed their strong preference for none of the above. With three-quarters of the electorate staying home despite balmy weather, incumbent mayor Michael Bloomberg garnered…

War Stories

Whenever I offer career advice to students, I tell them that journalism is a great profession because, given enough time to read up on the subject, we can write on almost anything we like. Of course in the midst of a recession, such advice may be deemed useless--after all, is anyone even hiring? A…

Can anything else possibly go wrong for the Obama administration's Middle East policy? In the past ten days, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has twice reversed herself publicly on her attitude toward the Israeli settlements. Palestinians have refused her direct request to rejoin peace talks with…

"We used to see games like that in Denver." The speaker was a petite, intense-looking Hispanic woman accompanied by her son. I could be wrong, but she did not seem like a regular museumgoer. The setting was the exhibition currently on display at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM): "1934: A…

Richmond

Pelosi's Victory, and Other Election News

Goddess of the Market

Republican conservatives and moderates are at each other's throats. Tea party populists are furious at President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and aren't crazy about Republicans either. Democrats haven't got a clue. There's talk of a third party. The economy is stagnant as unemployment, now…

Improbable though it may sound, the sheriff of Cook County, Illinois, is taking a page from the Swedish welfare state in revising his approach to the problem of prostitution. Loudly applauding his eight-month-old experiment is End Demand Illinois (EDI), a coalition of nonprofits that aims to extend…

This Is It

In the online-only "Panel Plus" segment of Fox News Sunday, the boss and Liz Cheney continued their assault on the Obama administration's decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammad and his associates in a federal court in New York City. You can watch it here: Watch the latest business video at…

Politico reports that "A senior administration official said President Barack Obama was simply observing protocol when he bowed to Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko upon arriving at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Saturday." Why won't that "senior administration official" come out from…

The Hill reports that a Republican member of Congress is claiming that he was denied access to General Stanley McChrystal during a recent trip to Afghanistan: "Miller, who sits on both the Armed Services panel and the Intelligence Committee, told The Hill that the Pentagon denied his request for a…

About six weeks ago, as Obama was dithering over Afghanistan, I reported that he worried, at a meeting with congressional leaders, about the cost of sending reinforcements. And I wrote that "this particularly pathetic excuse for ducking his responsibility for doing the right thing in Afghanistan…

Though it is a piece of superficiality worthy of People magazine, the Washington Post's account of the process by which Eric Holder came to make his decision to try war criminals in federal court is a remarkable--if inadvertent--revelation of just how much, despite their vastly disparate…

"Buy gold," we are told by no less an authority than G. Gordon Liddy. "It's value has never gone to zero," says an official once in charge of America's gold hoard, including the bars stored in Fort Knox. Why investors should find that reassuring is not obvious, but never mind. They have bid the…

Attorney General Eric Holder said yesterday that the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in federal court in New York will be "truly the trial of the century." It's unbelievable that the attorney general would use that phrase in the course of justifying his decision. As Wikipedia helpfully explains:…

In his speech Saturday at Tokyo's Suntory Hall, Barack Obama called himself "America's first Pacific President." His basis for that claim seems to be that he was born in Hawaii, lived in Indonesia as a boy, and, "when I was a young boy, my mother brought me to Kamakura, where I looked up at that…

The gaffe-prone Democratic congressman Jim Moran calls those opposed to federal trials for the 9/11 terrorists "un-American": Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) has strong words for the Republicans opposing Attorney General Eric Holder's plan to bring five 9/11 suspects to New York City to face trial. "They see…

No one really knows what's inside Sarah Palin's Going Rogue, which hits stores Tuesday. The AP has obtained a copy, and published this story, which suggests that the book is a gauzy, campaign-heavy memoir that "follows Palin from childhood to her departure last summer as Alaska governor" -- and not…

This AP story explains how a federal civilian trial for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his four associates poses legal and political risks for Barack Obama: "Hauling the professed 9/11 mastermind and four alleged henchmen to a New York courthouse is a risky proposition for President Barack Obama. The…

A friend emails: CAIR is trying to score some cash off of Fort Hood. Classy. Urgent Action: Help CAIR Defend Your Community in Times of Crisis Dear XXX, As-salaamu alaykum(Peace be with you), When a crisis such as the Fort Hood attack and now the government's move to seize four American mosques…

Just two weeks after taking office, the new German defense minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg began a surprise visit to Afghanistan yesterday to meet with the country's top leadership -- including President Karzai -- in an effort to gauge the situation on the ground and to express Berlin's growing…

Via Philip Klein: Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, who as a judge presided over a trial stemming from the first attack on the World Trade Center, on Friday warned that the Obama administration's decision to bring Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to New York, along with three other…

From Aussie Lt. Col. David Kilcullen, an alumnus of the vaunted Petraeus 'brain-trust' that beat the Iraqi insurgency, comes a biting commentary on dithering. David Kilcullen, one of the world's leading authorities on counter-insurgency and an adviser to the British government as well as the U.S.…

This coming from the Commander, United States Strategic Command, who knows a thing or two about nuclear deterrence. A U.S. missile defense system that is too robust could actually backfire and become destabilizing, prompting countries like China to expand their nuclear arsenals, a U.S. general said…

My, if I didn't know better, I'd think it's 2008 all over again. This morning, Dylan Ratigan of MSNBC brought us this great moment in journalism, using a well-known Photoshopped picture of Sarah Palin (used repeatedly in the original '08 systematic smear of Palin) in a bikini in his raunchy segment…

Earlier this week, John Limbert, who was held hostage at the American Embassy in Tehran 30 years ago, began his job at the State Department as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Iran. Limbert also served on the advisory board of the National Iranian American Council, which the Washington Times…

FS_Mistral_02.jpg As we noted here a week ago, the French are planning a major arms deal with Kremlin. Gary Schmitt delves deeper today with a piece for THE WEEKLY STANDARD website. Schmitt writes: In little over a week, a modern French warship is scheduled to visit St. Petersburg. If the Russians…

Aaron Sorkin--who brought us the reliably Democratic The American President, The West Wing, and Charlie Wilson's War -- has spent the last couple years working on adapting odd-ball non-fiction to the silver screen: He wrote the Facebook movie and the screenplay for a film based on Moneyball. But…

This week, the New York Times ran an in-depth story critical of popular charity Kiva.org. The organization, lauded in a 2007 column by Nicholas Kristof, claimed until recently to let "you lend to a specific entrepreneur, empowering them to lift themselves out of poverty." Kiva connects Westerners…

An email from Joe Bookbinder, the director of public affairs for the U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong, to reporters in Asia ahead of Obama's big speech tomorrow. Check out point number 3 below... When speaking about U.S. foreign relations, President Obama has said that "there must be a sustained…

Matthew Continetti writes in the Wall Street Journal today Sarah Palin's political career could make a comeback. How would she do it? She'd need to return to her 2006 playbook. In Alaska, Ms. Palin didn't run as a culture warrior. She focused on issues with overwhelming public support: ethics…

From the office of Senator Joe Lieberman: WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) today strongly differed with Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to prosecute the individuals charged with committing the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in civilian courts in the United States.…

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) recently returned from a three day trip to Honduras where, according to her, human rights abuses are running rampant under the "coup regime" of interim president Michelletti.

"The result is a Rube Goldberg scheme of penalties and inducements, creating a system that is ripe for gaming...As the system gets gamed, the costs will be much, much higher than CBO is estimating." "Obamacare is predicated on the assumption that the federal government has the knowledge, capacity,…

According to former Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet, when 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was apprehended in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, in March 2003, his first response to his captors was to sneer "I'll talk to you guys after I get to New York and see my lawyer." No doubt he…

Debra Burlingame--the sister of Charles F. "Chic" Burlingame, III, pilot of American Airlines flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, and my fellow board member of Keep America Safe--emails: Today Attorney General Eric Holder will announce that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and…

Today the Washington Times prints a blockbuster expose on NIAC, the National Iranian American Council run by Trita Parsi that has long been suspected of acting as an unofficial, and unregistered, lobby for the Iranian regime. These suspicions seem to have been well founded. Here are the facts as…

In little over a week, a modern French warship is scheduled to visit St. Petersburg. If the Russians like what they see, and a deal can be reached, the French government has signaled that it is willing to sell Moscow a ship of its own. Should the sale go through, it will be the first ever arms sale…

With his new film Tetro billed to open Beirut's recent International Film Festival, Francis Ford Coppola was diverted from landing in the Lebanese capital when it was learned that his private plane used parts manufactured in Israel. Fortunately, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, whose Lebanese ally…

Laura Rozen reported yesterday that the Obama administration was set to announce the appointment of a special envoy to monitor and combat global anti-Semitism. Per Rozen, rumor has it that the administration has settled on Hannah Rosenthal -- a Chicago lawyer who has precisely the kind of views…

In the Los Angeles Times, Judith Miller and David Samuels grossly distort what Jennifer Rubin wrote about the Fort Hood shooter. An interview with Bart Stupak: "Why would I compromise now? I won the issue." Feds move to seizes 4 mosques, NYC skyscraper for funneling money to the Iranian regime.…

A couple clips from her upcoming appearance on Oprah. After you've watched these, you can tune in to see Matt Continetti on Sean Hannity's show tonight, talking about his new Palin book. In the first, she talks about how she knew the Couric interview was not a good performance:

As President Obama goes wheels up to Asia, it seems a good time to do a pulse check on his China policy.  Today's Washington Post article on the art of labeling the US-China relationship raised questions about whether "strategic reassurance" has really become the authoritative articulation of…

Maj. Hasan Nidal: Psychiatrist and Soldier of Allah: United States Army Major Nidal Hasan proclaimed himself a "soldier of Allah" on private business cards he obtained over the Internet and kept in a box at his apartment near Fort Hood, Texas. The cards make no mention of his military affiliation,…

Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post threw a fit in print yesterday over the "lies" Republicans unleashed on those watching C-SPAN Saturday night as the House worked to pass Pelosi's health-care bill. In the column, she muses with impressive intellectual nuance, "Are Republicans against figuring out…

Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post threw a fit in print yesterday over the "lies" Republicans unleashed on those watching C-SPAN Saturday night as the House worked to pass Pelosi's health-care bill. In the column, she muses with impressive intellectual nuance, "Are Republicans against figuring out…

ABC reports that Ft. Hood terrorist Nidal Hassan had his own business cards made: United States Army Major Nidal Hasan proclaimed himself a "soldier of Allah" on private business cards he obtained over the Internet and kept in a box at his apartment near Fort Hood, Texas.

A couple of interesting nuggets in the latest Quinnipiac poll out of Connecticut. First off, the numbers show little sign of improving for friend of Angelo and netleft hero Chris Dodd. He loses a hypothetical matchup against both Republicans in the race -- he trails Rob Simmons by 11 and WWE boss…

The USS New York was met with appropriate fanfare last week when she was commissioned in New York. Now there's word that her sister ship, the USS Somerset has scheduled her keel-authentication ceremony for December 11 at the Northrop Grumman Avondale yard in Louisiana. Like the New York, the…

On the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, a group called KulturProjekte Berlin set up a virtual wall on which Twitter users could post their thoughts. The project seems to have been overwhelmed by Chinese Twitter users who took the opportunity to protest their lack of freedom. One…

Must reading: A powerful cri de coeur by an Army officer, Major Shawn Keller, about Ft. Hood. Major Keller is angry, and he's right to be: "But as angry as I am at what happened, I'm even angrier that it was allowed to happen. Apparently, there was no shortage of warning signs that this guy…

Via Drudge, Syracuse.com reports that Democrat Bill Owens, who was sworn in as a congressman last week, has had his lead reduced from 5,300 to 3,000 votes after recanvassing took place: Conservative Doug Hoffman conceded the race in the 23rd Congressional District last week after receiving two…

Things that might have been helpful in January: A jobs summit. 12 reasons unemployment is going to (at least) 12 percent "California law used to say property was unclaimed if the rightful owner had had no contact with the business for 15 years. But during various state budget crises, the waiting…

No, not Canton, Ohio--quite the opposite actually. But the president is all the rage in China: The Barack Obama love fest may have waned in the United States since he took office in January, but when the US president arrives in China next week, he will find his popularity is as strong as ever.…

That would be the pro-abortion extremists: From the outraged comments of the abortion-rights movement, you'd think that Rep. Bart Stupak's amendment to the House version of the health-care bill would all but overturn Roe v. Wade. No, it wouldn't. The Michigan Democrat's measure -- passed 240 to…

Pundits and analysts are scratching their heads to explain Democratic defeats in Virginia and New Jersey last week, particularly examining what caused massive shifts toward the GOP among independent voters in those two states.

At the end of last month, the New York City teachers' contract expired, opening the door to a series of negotiations between the teachers' union and the city's department of education, led by chancellor Joel Klein. But more than a week into negotiations over the new contract, the talks are…

First, Anwar al Awlaki's web site was taken offline. (Some press accounts suggest that the al Qaeda cleric took it down; others raise the possibility that it was hacked.) Now, Awlaki's Facebook page has been taken down too. Earlier today, we noted that there was a post dated December 14, 2008 from…

From the AP: WASHINGTON-President Barack Obama does not plan to accept any of the Afghanistan war options presented by his national security team, pushing instead for revisions to clarify how and when U.S. troops would turn over responsibility to the Afghan government, a senior administration…

Allahpundit: Bombshell: Walter Reed shrinks thought Hasan might be nuts since last year. David Ignatius on Iraq and Afghan war veterans: "Standing tall in harm's way." Stephen F. Hayes from the archives: "The Long Road Back." Newsflash: Joe Klein is unhinged. Gallup finds that Republicans have…

Of course, you can bypass the long lines of Palinistas by ordering a copy of Matthew Continetti's book online today! To whet your appetite for The Persecution of Sarah Palin, check out Shawn Macomber's Q&A with Continetti at The American Spectator and Continetti's cover story, "The Palin…

The Center for American Progress has released a white paper calling on the administration to establish a new deadline for closing the detention facility at Gitmo now that it's clear the administration has no hope of meeting the original January deadline. The report recommends: Push back the closure…

Via Michelle Malkin, a reminder that, in addition to killing 13 people and wounding 30 at Fort Hood last week, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan also murdered soldier Francheska Velez's baby. Velez's cousin told the Washington Post that Private Velez "was supposed to be coming very, very soon. Everyone's…

When I attended Michele Bachmann's impromptu rally against Pelosi's health-care bill last week, I met a lot of just-plain-good folks. Media accounts ignored them in favor of a sprinkling of offensive signs, although the Huffington Post wasn't able to muster even 12 offensive signs from the rally of…

The former New York governor will be giving a lecture tomorrow at Harvard's Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics. The talk is titled "From Ayn Rand to Ken Feinberg - How Quickly the Paradigm Shifts. What Should be the Rationale for Government Participation in the Market?" It's unclear…

It is always interesting to see how these two respond to the same event. In the case of the fall of the Berlin Wall, both Obama and McCain delivered remarks -- Obama, via video, to the assembled masses in Berlin, and McCain to the students at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International…

The NEFA Foundation has uncovered another message from Anwar al Awlaki's now defunct web site in which he calls upon Muslims to fight any army that serves the "interests of the enemies." This includes America's military, and any army of any state (Muslim or otherwise) that does not serve Awlaki's…

Tarek Fatah writes in the Ottawa Citizen: No one seemed to notice the significance of the attire that Maj. Nidal Hasan was wearing the morning of the killings. It was captured on a store surveillance video where he bought a coffee.... Hasan was wearing the "shalwar-kameez," the traditional attire…

Elaine Donnelly at NRO goes overboard in castigating the Army for allowing a Sikh doctor (and potentially a Sikh dentist) to retain the beards and turbans their faith requires of them. Donnelly (whose work I usually admire) compares this dispensation to the Army's deliberately turning a blind eye…

84-year-old WWII veteran seeks Purple Heart and Silver Star for his 87-year-old lieutenant. The following is transcribed from my grandfather's letter home from the front to my grandmother. Veterans Day photo of the day "But what's striking to me this Veterans Day is how healthy the military is,…

The latest award for the most absurd headline dealing with the Fort Hood attack has to go to the Financial Times for: "Anti-Muslim bias eyed in Fort Hood Attack." The byline is attributed to Harvey Morris, who writes: As America agonises over what motivated Major Nidal Malik Hasan, who is accused…

Make sure to check out this moving video by Reason.TV's Dan Hayes of World War II veterans from Wisconsin who visited the World War II memorial in Washington, D.C. this weekend: The veterans came to D.C. as part of the Stars and Stripes Honor Flight program, which pays the way for World War II vets…

Anwar al Awlaki's official web site is still down this morning. Awlaki was the spiritual advisor for at least two of the 9/11 hijackers and probably a third before Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the Fort Hood Shooter, contacted Awlaki between "10 to 20 times" beginning in December of 2008. Intriguingly,…

Fred and Kim Kagan write on the homepage: General Stanley McChrystal's assessment and force-requirement studies were largely complete by the beginning of August. The White House has stated that the president will not be announcing a decision until the end of November at the earliest. White House…

General Stanley McChrystal's assessment and force-requirement studies were largely complete by the beginning of August. The White House has stated that the president will not be announcing a decision until the end of November at the earliest. White House officials claim that the delay does not…

According to Morris P. Fiorina, a political science professor at Stanford University, Americans are not as far apart on the issues as you might think-or, more to the point, as the media portray them to be. Speaking at a lunch this afternoon hosted by the Hoover Institution, Fiorina laid out his…

TEXT Stupak's abortion language is an extremely controversial one for pro-choice Democrats, as it prevents private health insurers participating in an exchange--a forum for individuals to shop for health insurance--from covering abortion, as well as preventing abortion from being covered under…

The FBI and other federal authorities are reportedly still trying to figure out Maj. Nidal M. Hasan's motive for opening fire at Fort Hood. Let's take a look at Hasan's June 2007 50-slide presentation to senior Army doctors to see if we can unravel this mystery. According to the Washington Post,…

No serious student of the UN's three decades of post­­-Zionism-is-Racism Israel-hatred could have been surprised last week to see the General Assembly endorse the Goldstone Report via Resolution A/64/L.11 and refer it to the Security Council by a vote of 114 to 18, with 44 abstentions (including…

lieberman1.jpg As Stephanie Tanner would say, "How rude!" At the meeting's conclusion, the two leaders walked out to the adjoining room where the Israeli and American delegations were talking. "So," Obama announced, according to the source in the room, "we've decided that we are going to trade our…

ABC tries to figure out how the Ft. Hood shooter slipped through the cracks even as authorities were aware that he was communicating with known radicals and attempting to communicate with al Qaeda: "The general tenor of the communications were fairly benign and did comport with a research project…

Senate Republicans are stepping up their calls for President Barack Obama to decide -- and decide soon -- on the way forward in Afghanistan. In a letter dated, November 11, 2009 -- Veteran's Day -- ten Republican members of the Armed Services Committee are urging Obama to win the war there. "It has…

You have to admire the Obama administration's message discipline, no matter how silly the talking point. He's got General Casey making diversity the Army's prime directive after the Ft. Hood shootings, his National Security Advisor emphasizing that troop levels in Afghanistan aren't important…

In a classic post, Matt Welch outlines the rules for what is sure to be the next gaming sensation. My favorites: In addition to the obligatory Hofstadter reference, tip your glass whenever you read that... 2) Not only are things just like Hofstadter wrote back when interracial marriage was widely…

Look at which web site is down this morning: Anwar al Awlaki's. The post praising the Fort Hood Shooter's killing spree is down too. Was it the unwanted spike in traffic that forced the al Qaeda cleric to take down his site? Or, is it just a technical glitch? Or, is there "interference" from…

As President Barack Obama prepares to make a final decision on Afghanistan, National Security Adviser Jim Jones dismissed and even seemed to mock a request for more troops from General Stanley McChrystal. "You could have 200,000 troops there and the country will swallow them up as it has done in…

From President Obama's interview with ABC's Jake Tapper: "I laid out a very simple principle, which is this is a health care bill, not an abortion bill," Obama said. "And we're not looking to change what is the principle that has been in place for a very long time, which is federal dollars are not…

Pssssssssst, Gov. Crist. Before you decided to tack to the right and claim you "didn't endorse" the stimulus package, you might have wanted to remove this video from February 11 on your official website in which you say: "Tuesday, I joined President Barack Obama for a town hall meeting in Ft. Myers…

On Monday, ABC News first reported that Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan had reached out to al Qaeda associates prior to his attack. There were good reasons to speculate that one of these al Qaeda figures is Anwar al Awlaki -- an al Qaeda recruiter who acted as a "spiritual advisor" to two…

Earlier today, ABC News reported that Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan had reached out to al Qaeda associates prior to his attack. There were good reasons to speculate that one of these al Qaeda figures is Anwar al Awlaki -- an al Qaeda recruiter who acted as a "spiritual advisor" to two of…

From Jake Tapper's TAPPER: Are you willing to pledge that whatever cuts in Medicare are being made to fund health insurance, one third of it, that you will veto anything that tries to undo that? OBAMA: Yes.

He's going through the motions at least. It's doubtful that Chavez initiates a conflict with his better-armed neighbor while he's still waiting for those big Russian arms shipments. Chalk this up next to the dictator's long list of prior attention whoring: hosting of Russian supersonic bombers, his…

It was too much to hope, I suppose, that Army Chief of Staff George Casey, appearing on the Sunday talk shows, would signal a re-thinking of the regime of political correctness that seems to have penetrated the Army. It was disappointing that he reinforced that regime with his silly-and…

It was too much to hope, I suppose, that Army Chief of Staff George Casey, appearing on the Sunday talk shows, would signal a re-thinking of the regime of political correctness that seems to have penetrated the Army. It was disappointing that he reinforced that regime with his silly-and…

Just as Rep. Alan Grayson, who called the health-crisis an American "Holocaust" on the House Floor gets far less criticism for his remarks than stray private citizens carrying rude signs at Tea Party rallies, this ought to slide by left bloggers and the media without notice, too: Sir Ian McKellen…

On the issue of abortion-funding in the health care bill, here is the rock; here is the hard place. Meanwhile, today's profile in courage at the White House today is brought to you by Robert Gibbs, who won't say if President Obama, who vowed that "under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to…

It wasn't PTSD. It was a Muslim fanatic with ties to a radical cleric who tried to contact al Qaeda via the internet according to the report from ABC. The CIA was aware of these efforts and, it seems, failed to act on the intelligence. In May of 2008, Sen. Lieberman's Homeland Security Committee…

SusetteKelo.jpg Susette Kelo, above, fought to keep her little, pink house in New London, Conn. for years, as the local government teamed up with a big business to muscle local homeowners off their property through eminent domain. The local government promised her property to Pfizer, so the company…

Substantive red flags have surfaced in the ongoing investigation of Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan. This includes details that go well beyond his radical Islamist and anti-American beliefs. The most disturbing threads of evidence link Hasan to a prominent al Qaeda recruiter named Anwar al…

In a rare instance of political good news from my hometown,a Duke University professor is publishing a book about the Danish Mohammed cartoons controversy, which will include-wait for it-the actual cartoons in question: The book includes all the images that were omitted by the Yale University Press…

The QOTD(SF!) is from Mark Shields's weekend column on Democratic attempts to diminish the GOP victories in Virginia and New Jersey: All of these rationalizations and excuses are baloney, bunk and bushwa. Off-year elections do matter, especially psychologically. Victories help fundraising, help…

Super-wonk Keith Hennessy has released a new outlook for health care reform. Read it! Here's a sample: It is highly likely the legislative process will continue at least into January. I am still projecting a 60% chance that a comprehensive bill becomes law this year, but I have shifted some of that…

Pete Hoekstra, ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, released a statement this morning calling for the heads of all relevant US intelligence agencies to preserve all intelligence related to the case of Nidal Malik Hasan, the Fort Hood shooter. Hoekstra made the request after talking…

Sports Illustrated's Peter King, probably the best working NFL writer, blames Ft. Hood and Orlando shootings on "murderous handguns." I will not go quietly into the night on this one. America needs to do something about idiots with handguns. How many more Fort Hoods and Orlandos do there have to be…

On Saturday night the Democrats narrowly passed a monstrosity of a health-care bill. Some conservatives blamed the National Right to Life Committee. How is that possible? In order to get enough votes to secure final passage, Nancy Pelosi allowed an up-or-down vote on the Stupak amendment to bar…

Andrea Saul, until last week press secretary for Senator Orrin Hatch, is heading to Tallahassee to serve as communications director for Charlie Crist's Senate campaign, as the Florida governor and early favorite for Florida's open Senate seat faces an increasingly serious primary challenge from…

"Twenty years ago, on November 9, 1989, the most visible symbol of totalitarian evil, the Berlin Wall, tumbled down. Two years later, the Soviet Union officially dissolved on Christmas Day 1991. The fall of the Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union transpired in relative calm, but they…

Good times in Sean Penn's favorite country. U.S. intelligence agencies were aware months ago that Army Major Nidal Hasan was attempting to make contact with people associated with al Qaeda, two American officials briefed on classified material in the case told ABC News. Mark Steyn: Degrees of…

Homer & Langley

Best American Mystery Stories 2009

Tears in the Darkness

Enlightening

The Oxford Guide to United States Supreme Court Decisions Edited

The Birth (and Death) of the Cool

Calvin

He is one of the great artists of the century. --Andrew Motion, England's poet laureate, 2000

In its continuing search for an alternative to General Stanley McChrystal's comprehensive counterinsurgency approach to the war in Afghanistan, and with President Obama having eliminated the minimalist counterterrorism plan of Vice President Joe Biden, the White House has lately been floating a…

The easy life is about to end for President Obama. For the first time, he can't defer or delegate or depend on the media to bail him out. He has to stand and fight for the policy that defines his presidency--liberal health care reform. And the fight won't be pleasant.

A Country of Vast Designs

Sycophancy in Our Time

Until THE WEEKLY STANDARD offered me a parking space and I began driving to work, I was a lifelong consumer of public transportation. Trains, in particular, are a favorite of mine, including subway trains and underground shuttles. I am less enthusiastic about buses. This may be because of the…

Samuel Johnson

In 1993, a newly elected Democratic president and a Democratic Congress pushed through a tax increase on a party-line vote. The next year Democrats lost control of Congress, with House Speaker Tom Foley defeated in his reelection bid and the Senate seat of retiring majority leader George Mitchell…

  A network of militant Islamist groups stretches from India to the Iranian border, from the Hindu Kush to the Indian Ocean. These groups include Pashtuns and Punjabis, Arabs and Uzbeks and more. They have no common leader, vision, hierarchy, or goal. But they do agree on a few key points: Any…

Riga, Latvia

What would you call a group that opposes sanctions on Iran, questions Israel's right to defend itself from terrorist groups firing rockets from Gaza, seeks to pressure Israel into making major concessions without regard to the views of the elected government in Jerusalem, and supports a…

It's an eventful autumn in Germany. Besides Oktoberfest, there has been a general election and events commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the Berlin Wall's demise. The Germans celebrate their national unity today, but do so amid a tenuous economic picture and societal unease.

As I mentioned in earlier columns, there are times when the economic data point in one direction, and businessmen in the privacy of their board rooms point in another. A case in point is the recent report that the recession is over: the housing and manufacturing sectors are recovering; once…

Twenty years ago, on November 9, 1989, the most visible symbol of totalitarian evil, the Berlin Wall, tumbled down. Two years later, the Soviet Union officially dissolved on Christmas Day 1991. The fall of the Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union transpired in relative calm, but they…

While traveling last week, I didn't get a chance to read Eric Alterman's review of The Persecution of Sarah Palin in The Nation (Michael Goldfarb wrote about the review here). is disappointed in my colleague Matthew Continetti. You see, when Matt wrote a book about corruption within the Republican…

The House passed Obamacare on a 220 to 215 vote around 11:15 p.m. Saturday night. Only one Republican, Joseph Cao of Louisiana, voted in favor. Thirty-nine Democrats voted against it: 1. Rep. John Adler (NJ) 2. Rep. Jason Altmire (PA) 3. Rep. Brian Baird (WA) 4. Rep. John Barrow (GA) 5. Rep. John…

Pro-life John Shadegg tells Politico that he plans to vote present on the Stupak amendment to ban federal funding of abortions in the health-care bill: "(Nancy) Pelosi is speaker and she's pro abortion every minute of every hour of every day as speaker," Shadegg said in an interview with POLITICO…

Last night the Rules Committee agreed to allow an up-or-down vote on Bart Stupak's amendment to bar federal funding of elective abortions through the health-care bill. A number of the already-declared "no" votes had based their opposition on grounds other than abortion, so the Democrats simply…

During his address to the joint session of Congress, President Obama declared: "Under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions." Does the current House bill's language conflict with Obama's pledge? At today's White House press briefing, Robert Gibbs wouldn't say. Obama is…

"Unpleasant as it may be for the president to hear, his policy is objectively aiding the Tehran regime and harming the opposition in their ongoing struggle." Strategic Reassurance, we hardly knew ye. Vulnerable freshman Democrats abandoning ship on health care. Apparently they learned the wrong…

The Jerusalem Post reports that Netanyahu will be in Washington all next week. Guess who he won't be meeting with: As of press time, the Prime Minister's Office said no formal meeting had been scheduled with US President Barack Obama during the visit, which could last through the week. No departure…

27.jpg Today, Robert Gibbs lamented some of the offensive signs at Bachmann's anti-health bill rally (of which there were some, but not enough to even fill out HuffPo's 12 Most Offensive slideshow): "I will continue to say what I've said before. You hear in this debate, you hear analogies, you hear…

What's the honorable thing for a father to do after he's murdered his daughter in an "honor killing?" Faleh Hassan Almaleki, an Iraqi immigrant to the U.S., ran his 20-year-old daughter down with his car a couple of weeks ago because she'd become "too westernized," and then tried unsuccessfully to…

Republicans send around these numbers from the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll released today: From everything you have heard or read so far, do you favor or oppose Barack Obama's plan to reform health care? Oppose 53 Support 45 The numbers were the other way around in August: 50 percent…

The suspect is at large: Eight people have been shot, two of them fatally at an office building at 1000 Legion Place in dowtown Orlando. Police are looking for a suspect wearing a blue shirt and blue jeans. A witness tells FOX 35 the shooter is a former worker who was employed in the building. He…

It looks like the man who killed 13 soldiers and police at Ft. Hood was a Muslim radical who hated America, resented our occupation of Muslim lands, would not be photographed with women, and chanted "Allahu Akbar" before he launched a one-man terrorist attack, but according to CBS White House…

Ben Smith comes up with some pretty good stuff this morning comparing General Jones's prepared remarks for the J Street conference last week with the remarks as delivered. Jones pledged then that the administration would send a representative to all future conferences held by J Street. It was the…

IAEA seeks explanation from Iran on nuclear weapon implosion device: The Guardian newspaper reported on Thursday that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has requested a response from Iran in regard to evidence that the country has experimented with the creation of advanced implosion…

pelosiesnuggie.jpg It's a flash from MSNBC, with no details yet: Dem leader says House health vote may be delayed due to lack of support Update: A House leader says Democrats haven't yet lined up enough votes to pass their health care overhaul bill. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland says the…

Let's take a look at Obama's near-term grand aspirations for his "Overseas Contingency Operations." He wants to remove 90k troops from Iraq while at the same time increasing Army and Marine end strength by 22k troops. Presumably the president also plans to increase troop strength in Afghanistan,…

And stop talking about what a lousy hand you were dealt by your predecessor. You're the president of the greatest nation on earth, now, not he. "One year ago Americans all across this country went to the polls and cast ballots for the future they wanted to see." You don't happen to be the future I…

alg_kimberly_munley.jpg Her name is Kimberly Munley: Army officials say the suspect, "the lone shooter" for this tragic incident, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, is currently on a ventilator at a nearby civilian hospital and the police officer who gunned him down, Kimberly Munley, a civilian Fort Hood…

The Evansville Courier & Press reports on the "furious backlash" against Democrat Brad Ellsworth--who up until now has had a solidly pro-life record--for sponsoring a phony abortion compromise amendment that would require the HHS secretary to hire private contractors to handle the money to pay for…

Shot: Unemployment rate tops 10 percent for first time since 1983; 190,000 jobs lost in October Chaser: Some Democrats from more conservative districts, like Representative Ike Skelton of Missouri, Representative Dan Boren of Oklahoma, Representative Jim Marshall of Georgia and Representative Bobby…

On September 25, Speaker Nancy Pelosi's spokesman accused Rep. Joe Wilson of using "misleading rhetoric" for suggesting that Pelosi wouldn't put the final health care bill online for at least 72 hours before the House votes on it. Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly took issue with Wilson's claim. Asked…

The four-month Honduran political crisis appears to be over. Last week, Honduran officials signed an agreement to establish a provisional "unity" government and allow the Honduran Congress to determine the fate of Manuel Zelaya, who was removed as president in late June for constitutional…

At a thoroughly surprising evening press conference, Lt. Gen. Robert Cone at Fort Hood told media gathered that the shooter in today's attack, Malik Nidal Hasan, is not dead but in stable condition at the hospital. Cone said there was a "confusion at the hospital" and an officer had been with Hasan…

Remember the 2004 GOP convention? When delegates from the floor roared "flip-flop" at every mention of John Kerry's name? It's hard to imagine a politician in recent days who had such a well-deserved reputation for waffling. Recall his position on the war supplemental in October 2003: "I actually…

Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office tells THE WEEKLY STANDARD that the speaker will not allow the final language of the health care to be posted online for 72 hours before bringing the bill to a vote on the House floor, despite her September 24 statement that she was "absolutely" committed to doing so.…

How weak? Carteresque weak. Hey, you know what turned out to be a really bad idea? Calling for a settlement freeze. Chris Dodd, progressive hero and friend of Angelo, goes after the administration over Swine flu incompetence. Z Street cuts right through J Street. Politico finds at least two…

Former Vice President Al Gore is on the cover of November's The Costco Connection, the "lifestyle magazine for Costco members." It's hard to figure who looks worse in this odd coupling--the global-warming guru or the supersize warehouse store, which would not be a retail powerhouse were it not for…

Horrible news out of Ft. Hood today where 12 11 soldiers and the gunman were killed and 31 wounded in an attack. ABC News has identified the suspected gunman as Major Malik Nadal Hasan, and reports: "The shooter was killed and two other suspects, who are also soldiers, have been apprehended, Lt.…

The media just doesn't seem as troubled by the Obama administration buying favorable coverage in foreign newspapers as it was when the Bush administration propagandized. Still, I'm surprised this story isn't getting more attention. There's something for everyone here -- an administration buying…

Only one year after Barack Obama captured the hearts, minds, and votes of an entire generation of young Americans, those same voters proved that they are not a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Democratic Party. Looking at election data from this week's statewide elections in New Jersey and Virginia,…

The New York Times reports on comments by the French foreign minister: On Iran, Mr. Kouchner said that the violence of demonstrations on Wednesday was very important, another sign that the Iranians "are losing time, not gaining time" by their refusal to deal seriously with the Security Council and…

The cargo, en route to Syria: · 566,220 7.62 calibre rifle bullets · 20,100 F1 fragment grenades · 5,680 60 mm mortar shells · 2,316 81 mm mortar shells · 774 120 mm mortar shells · 690 122 mm rockets · 106 artillery shells · 2,125 107 mm rockets · 685 rocket fuses

From David Corn, in response to John Boehner tweeting a story from the AP titled "Thousands rally to protest Pelosi healthcare": And hundreds of millions don't. Good point, Corn. Just like the hundreds of millions who didn't march on Washington for civil rights or to end the war in Vietnam. Or the…

Just two weeks ago we had a little fun with Nation columnist and Columbia journalism professor Eric Alterman, who had, over the course of a year, recycled the same attack, practically word for word, into three separate columns for three different publications. For example, on January 15, writing in…

A new poll from Capitol Weekly/Probolsky Research takes the temperature of California Republicans: Former eBay executive Meg Whitman has opened up a wide lead in the Republican race for governor, according to the latest Capitol Weekly/Probolsky Research poll. About a third of Republicans and…

The Senate approved Tara O'Toole's nomination as Under Secretary for the Science and Technology Directorate at the Department of Homeland Security via voice vote last night. As we pointed out the day before, this should be of concern to anyone interested in making sure that billions in taxpayer…

As my piece with Ben Sasse in today's New York Post shows, the real 10-years costs of the Democratic health bills are not $800-900 billion, but roughly double that. In their real first decades, the House bill would cost $1.8 trillion, the Senate bill $1.7 trillion. And the House bill would raise…

The borders have been pushed east, countries have switched sides, but the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization's raison d'etre isn't that much different than its Cold War predecessor. That is, to provide a strong military counterweight to NATO and ultimately return the European…

Bing West provides footage from combat engagements with the Taliban in Helmand province. "Video shows why coalition and Afghan battalions inflict few Taliban casualties. Causes include terrain, Taliban maneuver, heavy coalition armor and risk aversion to minimize casualties, while doing a…

The New Republic has kept up a steady drum beat against President Obama's disgrace of an envoy to Sudan, General Scott Gration. Gration has embarrassed himself and the United States repeatedly with statements on the situation in Darfur that range from the delusional to the merely naive. Now the…

A major national ad campaign is set to launch tomorrow tying the Obama administration's failure to provide the flu vaccine on time and in quantity to fears of a government takeover of healthcare. The American Future Fund has produced and plans to put significant money behind the ad that is set to…

The amendment was introduced a month ago and is expected to come to the floor today. The text of the amendment reads, Purpose: To prohibit the use of funds for the prosecution in Article III courts of the United States of individuals involved in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. As a…

Speaker Nancy Pelosi has denied Rep. Bart Stupak (D, Mich.) an up-or-down vote on an amendment to prevent federal funding of elective abortions through the health care bill. Stupak's amendment reads: No funds authorized or appropriated by this Act (or an amendment made by this Act) may be used to…

You know, if Israel insists on boarding innocent Iranian ships headed for Hezbollah like common pirates, it just puts us further from peace. Some Dem incumbent governors are looking....Corziney for 2010. Tea Partiers come to the Hill again for Bachmann's "House Call." Rove: The GOP is back in the…

Are any of the Obama administration's numbers about so-called "saved or created" jobs accurate? Yesterday, the Chicago Tribune reported: More than $4.7 million in federal stimulus aid so far has been funneled to schools in North Chicago, and state and federal officials say that money has saved the…

A friend e-mails that he came across this Obama quote from the 2004 convention, which seems pertinent in light of his pending Afghanistan decision: "When we send our young men and women into harm's way, we have a solemn obligation not to fudge the numbers or shade the truth about whey they are…

A friend e-mails that he came across this Obama quote from the 2004 convention, which seems pertinent in light of his pending Afghanistan decision: "When we send our young men and women into harm's way, we have a solemn obligation not to fudge the numbers or shade the truth about whey they are…

During a CNN appearance on Wednesday, Charlie Crist said of Obama's stimulus package: "I didn't endorse it. I didn't even have a vote on the darn thing. ... But I understood that it was gonna pass and I wanted to be able to utilize it for the benefit of my fellow Floridians." Charlie Crist during a…

Press reports say President Obama didn't watch election returns on Tuesday. And while he didn't get any "3 a.m. phone calls" about the results, I am sure at some point he heard the results and was not too happy when he did.

Europe rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that they provide and then questions the manner in which they provide it. "Iran's decision to expand mining and milling at Bandar Abbas seems to validate the suspicions of those who think it was the main uranium site for a covert…

A source tells THE WEEKLY STANDARD that the hold has been lifted on Tara O'Toole's nomination to serve as Under Secretary for the Science and Technology Directorate at the Department of Homeland Security. The nomination could move on the floor as early as tonight, I'm told. Background on O'Toole,…

Hillary Clinton has arcked pendulously between Israel and the Arabs, the Arabs and Israel in her various incarnations -- as far back as 1998, with the blood-soaked Arafat at the helm of the PLO, the then-First Lady's call for a Palestinian state was quickly walked back by the White House, and she…

At least when it comes to Iran, German chancellor Angela Merkel seems to be taking a rather tough stand. Addressing a joint session of Congress yesterday, Merkel said: Tolerance does not mean "anything goes." There must be zero tolerance towards all those who show no respect for the inalienable…

Unsurprisingly, Michael Barone has an interesting and incisive roundup of numbers from last night that go deeper than the top-line results. Some nuggets: Bergen County, New Jersey, a 56%-42% Corzine constituency in 2005, came within a point or two of voting for Christie. Westchester County, New…

It's like Battered Wives Syndrome, except President Obama is the bride with the black eye and Ayatollah Khameini is the abusive husband. And Obama keeps coming back for more. Yesterday the Supreme Leader publicly ridiculed Obama's repeated diplomatic overtures, saying that talks with the United…

Via John McCormack, who's still on the road back from NY-23, comes this quote from pro-life Bart Stupak (D-Mich.): "I am disappointed the manager's amendment introduced Tuesday night does nothing to change, let alone improve, the inadequate language on federal funding for abortion currently in the…

After advocating massive influxes of taxpayer money into blackholes like stimulus, bailouts for failed corporations, and universal health care, the New York Times editorial board is suddenly on a big fiscal responsibility kick: Presidents, and those aspiring to be presidents, routinely promise to…

Even if you're not generally a fan of the winning-by-losing theory, Republicans and conservatives really should be glad that conservative Doug Hoffman chased liberal Republican Dede Scozzafava from the field in New York's 23rd congressional district. Why's that? First, Scozzafava couldn't have won…

The White House followed CNN's cue today:

If you're a foreign aid worker with twenty bucks to blow in Gaza City -- something, by the way, few Gazans can do on account of their being totally immiserated by Hamas -- you can buy this commemorative Richard Goldstone keffiyeh at the President Arafat souvenir shop. But you better act fast --…

672px-SMPTE_Color_Bars.jpg "The Place for Poltics" Remember that time in '08 when Brit Hume signed off in a huff and went home because Obama and Dems were destroying Republicans at the polls? Yeah, me neither. But then, Fox isn't a "real" news organization, so no wonder MSNBC does things…

From the Los Angeles Times: Democrats score congressional victories in California, New York The GOP fares better in Virginia and New Jersey as both states elect Republican governors.

Almost everybody. Only three Republicans voted against the resolution, introduced by Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Howard Berman (D-CA). One of them, of course, was Ron Paul. But there were 33 members of the Democratic caucus who voted against the resolution condemning the anti-Israel, UN…

Feel free to have the New Jersey one made into a poster for your office door, a wallpaper for your computer, or a giant applique for your golf bag (the shape lends itself). I will not judge you. The Virginia one is more suitable for toaster cozies and rear-window graphics for your truck.…

CNN is helpful for the White House this morning, offering this banner on its Politics page: CNNObama.jpg One CNN prominent analysis is, "This time, all politics was local" by left-leaning pollster Nate Silver. He leads with the Conservative Party loss in NY-23 (the fault of conservative activists…

New Jersey and Virginia Follow Historical Trend, Democrat Captures NY 23 for First Time in More Than 100 Years after GOP Civil War Erupts Between Moderates and Conservatives That's the headline on the statement from current Virginia governor and DNC chief Tim Kaine. It will also be the narrative…

CNN is helpful for the White House this morning, offering this banner on its Politics page: CNNObama.jpg The lead analysis is, "This time, all politics was local" by left-leaning pollster Nate Silver. He leads with the Conservative Party loss in NY-23 (the fault of conservative activists for not…

Saranac Lake, N.Y. With 92 percent of precincts reporting, Democrat Bill Owens claimed victory over conservative Doug Hoffman by a 49 percent to 45 percent margin. Republican Dede Scozzafava got six percent of the vote. Her name remained on the ballot though she dropped out of the race and endorsed…

With 87 percent of precincts reporting, Maine voters are rejecting the legislature's enactment of gay marriage by a 53 percent to 47 percent margin.

On Election Day, veteran conservative leader David Keene was regaling friends with the story of how the Nixon White House manipulated a split in liberal opinion to help elect James Buckley to the U.S. Senate from New York.

According to 60 Minutes, cocaine trafficking has now given way to Medicare fraud as the number-one illicit enterprise in South Florida. Both 60 Minutes and the Washington Post report that nationwide Medicare fraud now costs American taxpayers $60 billion a year.

By electing governors of Virginia and New Jersey, Republicans have demonstrated that two trends suggested in recent opinion polls are for real. The first is that Republicans have pulled off a remarkable comeback after disastrous election defeats in 2006 and 2008. The second is that they now have a…

Bob McDonnell won big tonight in the Virginia gubernatorial race, as did the entire Virginia Republican party. The implications of the race will be sorted out soon enough. But one big loser is the Washington Post which may unwittingly have helped the Republican, despite their best efforts to put…

Saranac Lake, N.Y. With 19 percent of precincts reporting, Democrat Bill Owens is leading conservative Doug Hoffman 51 percent to 44 percent. NewzJunky.com has links to county by county election returns. It's way too early to call, and we don't know what particular wards in each county are…

Politico and AP are calling it for Christie, 49-43.

The final tally on the House resolution condemning the report by Judge Richard Goldstone alleging war crimes by Israeli forces in Gaza is a lopsided 344 to 36 -- as it should be. Normally nothing much would be made of these numbers, but this vote, coming so quickly on the heels of J Street's…

Nothing on the big picture, but the internals are fair game. In Virginia and New Jersey, the No. 1 issue is unsurprisingly economy and jobs: The economy and jobs are the number on issue on the minds of voters in Virginia, according to data from CNN exit polls Tuesday. Forty-six percent of Virginian…

Gibbs says no vaccine for detainees. Pentagon to Gibbs: You lie! Bear kills two militants in Kashmir. DC cabbies are backing McChrystal. Obama administration now actively appeasing the Burmese junta. J Street poet: "I am not a Zionist" Harvard boasts the largest number of MoH recipients outside of…

Fred Barnes, in the Wall Street Journal today, laments the Obamacare push for sweeping change of the health-care industry, which is happening despite wide and vociferous public opposition and in spite of Washington tradition. Passing it won't stop the opposition, he said: Opposition to ObamaCare is…

Watertown, N.Y. At a local municipal building in downtown Watertown, a steady stream of voters trickles in throughout the lunch hour. An election worker tells me that voter turnout is "excellent" for a non-presidential year. Outside the building, retired nurse Bette Hartzel is bundled up in a…

Harry Reid says he's "not going to be bound by any time-lines," when asked if health care reform can be completed by Christmas. Depending on the results tonight, Blue Dogs may get a frightful glimpse of what their own races will look like in 2010, and the polling on health care reform -- the…

Because I'm a cynic (at least about New Jersey), I tend to think New Jersey will either go to Democrats today, or be close enough to steal (especially considering they're already amassing emergency ballots). Nonetheless, let's look at the bright side for a moment. It's that kind of day. Jim…

The Eurasia Daily Monitor reports: The French government and, apparently, the Élysée Palace are moving fast to sell at least one Mistral-class helicopter carrier to Russia, possibly for deployment in the Black Sea. Such a sale would endow Russia with a modern naval and amphibious warfare…

Tara O'Toole is a name most Americans have never heard before, but on Capitol Hill, she's causing a lot of problems for Jack Murtha and Harry Reid. O'Toole has been nominated for a senior post at the Department of Homeland Security, specifically the Under Secretary for the Science and Technology…

The Virginia governor's race has a history of going to the candidate of the party out of power, so a McDonnell win there is not as big a win as a Christie win in New Jersey would be, but the sheer dominance of McDonnell in this race- in almost all demographic groups, on almost all issues, and on…

According to a release this morning from Judicial Watch, the most recent CIA docu-dump regarding its detainee interrogation program turns up a couple of new nuggets showing just how vital this program was to national security. JW highlights the CIA's official confirmation of what many have known…

One of two women pleads out in an altercation they started with a 69-year-old pro-life activist: The case began when the two women approached anti-abortion advocate Johnny Wallace, 69. Wallace had been standing in front of City Hall with a billboard sign espousing his views on abortion. Witnesses…

The timing here is beautiful. The exercises reportedly transpired during the 70th anniversary of the Russian invasion of Poland... also the same day that President Obama killed plans for Polish based missile defense. The [Russian] armed forces are said to have carried out "war games" in which…

Today the National (UAE) published a story entitled, "Obama betrays hope created by Cairo speech." As the Arab press turns against Obama, can it safely be concluded that the administration's first foray into the arena of Israel-Palestine peace-making has failed? Two of the major prongs were the…

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) previews the spin on Fox, when asked about Obama's participation in the Deeds campaign in Virginia: "Obama wasn't in Virginia this weekend, or even recently." Except for that time five days ago.

Oops, did we say it was an $800 billion bill? It's $1.2 trillion. If complaining makes you smarter, no wonder Obama won a Nobel! Scandal watch at the NYT. Meet your new health-care disincentives. Iowa, a year later: "All my Republican friends - and independents - are sitting back saying, ‘Oh,…

There's a very interesting Rasmussen poll out today: 49 percent of Americans now blame George W. Bush for our economic troubles, 45 percent blame President Obama. For the last several months, that number has hovered roughly at 55 percent blaming Bush, 35 percent Obama. This could be a big moment.…

John Noonan commented that President Obama campaigned on a promise not to "militarize" space, but that was always a specious objective. Space has been militarized almost from the moment man was able to place objects into space. Ballistic missiles traverse space on their way to their targets.…

Watertown, N.Y. On Monday night at the agricultural society exhibition hall in town, former Senator Fred Thompson and conservative congressional candidate Doug Hoffman held a rally that appeared to be at least 50 percent larger than Joe Biden's and Democratic candidate Bill Owens's rally this…

Rio de Janeiro

So, the Democrats seem to have decided the best use of at least some of their resources, in a tight race, is to throw some cash into the third-party Daggett campaign. When you're running a dirty-trick robocall, the tagline with the address of the Democratic HQ is a giveaway. Audio: A New Jersey…

Goldfarb notes that the Chinese are eyeing space supremacy in the same manner that the US and Soviet Union eyed air supremacy post-WWII. China's determination to militarize space has been evident since they shot down an aging satellite in 2007, or at least evident to everyone except President…

"I understand we had a little visit from the vice president here today. He was rallying Doug's opponent but he was just doing his job. You know, the vice president's job is to attend funerals. Maybe he was here a day early, I don't know."

Not so hot, according to today's Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Mahmoud Abbas's official newspaper (translation by Palestinian Media Watch), which asks, among other things, "Why, Mrs. Hillary? How much did the Zionists pay you as a bribe?" and, just in case anybody has any illusions about the beliefs of our…

Which is more uncivil and damaging to the very fabric of the Republic? Michelle Malkin's politely worded e-mail of inquiry to a pro-Obama activist, which warranted A-1 hand-wringing from the Washington Post? Or, a newsroom environment where reporters call their editors [expletives that are too…

Watertown, N.Y. At rally for Democratic congressional candidate Bill Owens this morning, Vice President Joe Biden attacked conservative Doug Hoffman as the lackey of national conservatives, whom Biden blamed for causing this "God awful recession." It's hard to imagine Hoffman being able "to take…

Dr. Eric Novak, a spokesman for "Patients First," a grassroots group opposed to Obamacare, rips the Obama administration on H1N1 and Gitmo. "Vaccinating Guantanamo Detainees ahead of millions of at-risk Americans should serve as a serious warning about the federal government's ability to follow…

Either that, or Hillary's going rogue, but I'm betting on the former, since this administration traffics in appeasement. The Secretary of State will be appearing on "not a legitimate news network" at 10 pm tonight for an interview with Greta. Maybe Hillary is just playing to her base...

Remember when the Bush administration announced that "space supremacy" was the official goal of the United States military? The Obama administration came into office promising to cool the rhetoric and work through multilateral institutions to oppose various agreements that would prevent the…

Is there a growing revolt of senior military leadership over Afghanistan? Experts say no but Rolling Stone says yes. In early October, as President Obama huddled with top administration officials in the White House situation room to rethink America's failing strategy in Afghanistan, the Pentagon…

I'm wont to think of New Jersey as an electoral tease for Republicans, and am apt to think the same of it this year, despite Corzine's noted terribleness and the polls showing Christie slightly ahead. But I must say I'm encouraged by the picture above, put on John Corzine's Twitter account with the…

Britain's Crown Prosecution Service has hired Azad Ali, a known Islamist who has praised Osama bin Laden's mentor and sympathized with insurgents who have killed U.S. and British troops in Iraq. The kicker is Ali has been fired by the Treasury because of his past statements but was hired by the…

Here's the list, per a release from Rep. Mike Pence's office. My personal favorite -- #108, the "Program for treatment of child sexual abuse victims and perpetrators." Personally, I kind of like Gov. Jindal's program for the treatment of child sexual abuse perpetrators. I am curious, though, as to…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-icPEzjrJ8g The race for New York's 23rd Congressional district has fast become a political pundit's dream. Sarah and Rush, Glenn Beck and the rest of the Republican right "have basically hung out a moderates need not apply sign" says former Obama campaign manager…

Answer: the people. First of all, the new Rasmussen survey finds 42 percent favoring the health care plan proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats -- down a bit from a week ago. 54 percent of the public is opposed. 23 percent of all voters strongly support the plan, with 44 percent…

"Palestinian" "leaders" are afloat in a sea of anti-Zionism and self-pity so deep and so wide, so intractable and so paralyzing, they have made bedfellows -- odd as they may be --- of Bibi Netanyahu and the U.S. secretary of state. Only a few months ago Mrs. Clinton was pursing her prissy…

The boss writes at the Washington Post: The moderate-conservative divide in the GOP was never more evident than in 1976-1980. Ronald Reagan challenged President Gerald Ford for the nomination in 1976, conservatives knocked of Republicans in Senate primaries in 1978 in New Jersey and in 1980 in New…

Ben Smith writes on Clinton's latest meddling: To keep this straight: Clinton leaned harder on Israel than the administration intended, infuriating the Israelis while putting the Palestinians far out on a limb. Then she sawed off the limb. The early questions about her role in Middle East politics…

The latest Siena poll shows Hoffman opening up a lead in a very tight race, with the majority of Scozzafava voters breaking neither for Owens nor Hoffman: Republican Assembly member Dede Scozzafava still gets six percent support, but since her decision to suspend her campaign and support Owens, the…

A twofer from Joementum this morning. First, a source who was present at the scene reports: In the stakeout after Face the Nation, Joe Lieberman excoriated the decision to give the vaccine to GITMO terrorists and not to pregnant women. And second, from the Hartford Courant, a Lieberman op-ed…

Watertown, N.Y. At the Northside Improvement League here in town a rally for Democratic congressional candidate Bill Owens has just gotten underway with remarks by local Democratic politicians. June O'Neill, executive chair of the New York Democratic party, just finished delivering a stemwinder…

How's the draining of the swamp going? "Two and a half years into Pelosi's reign, more than 25 Democrats have been targeted for ethics reviews by the two ethics bodies, while just seven Republicans appeared to be under scrutiny, according to the document." Reminder: Virginia is about Obama. Another…

Watertown, N.Y. What does Dede Scozzafava's endorsement of Bill Owens mean? Not much, according to Republicans in the 23rd congressional district. They argue that it will be difficult for Scozzafava to deliver her diminishing share of the vote to the Democrat in the race. In the state assembly,…

The Moment of Psycho

During his presidential campaign, Barack Obama adopted the two-step strategy on abortion that has become standard among liberal politicians: oppose abortion as a matter of personal conviction but deny that that conviction is relevant to public policy. This rhetorical sleight of hand is meant to…

Americans are overreacting to events: to the "Great Depression" of 2009, to the increasing numbers of young people with Attention Deficit Disorder, to the histrionic fantasy that climate change will become global boiling. None of these issues is without substance, and none of them should be…

Where the Wild Things Are

East Brunswick, New Jersey

Lowville, N.Y.

In a lifetime of reading, I ve seldom encountered a stranger book than Herbert Read s The Green Child. It overturns every expectation and keeps the reader constantly off-kilter, with one surprising twist after another, starting with its brilliant opening paragraph: The assassination of President…

I see where my old friend Archie Andrews has got his rear-end in a sling. Seems he married the wrong girl, the sleek and wealthy, raven-haired Veronica Lodge, when most people were hoping that he would eventually wind up with the very blonde though less than bombshell Betty Cooper, the girl--or at…

Empire of Liberty

Kabul

Ohio voters have defeated four gambling proposals in two decades and recently saw their governor jam a slot machine provision into the state budget. Now, facing a casino issue on November's ballot, they feel as though they're being pressed into a game of three-card monte.

On October 18, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel appeared on the Sunday morning talk shows and, in the process of answering questions about Barack Obama's strategy on Afghanistan, accused the Bush administration of failing to ask the most basic questions about that country and our war there.

Jenny Holzer

A Windfall of Musicians

Did the Democrats become Calvinists when we weren't looking? Lately they've been talking an awful lot about predestination. They want to claim that Obamacare's victory is foreordained, that the health care debate is over and--surprise, surprise--the liberals won.

The Muhammad Cartoons & Yale

One of the standard accoutrements of the decision making process in the West Wing is the three-option "decision memorandum." The memo itself is drafted by the national security adviser, the National Economic Council director, or the assistant to the president for domestic policy, depending on the…

Germany's top military officer confirmed in Berlin on Thursday that an official NATO investigation has backed the Bundeswehr decision to call in the September 4 U.S. air strikes on two Taliban-hijacked tankers in northern Afghanistan's Kunduz region. After reviewing the still-classified report,…

The Watertown Daily Times posts Scozzafava's endorsement of Democrat Bill Owens--a big development in the NY-23 race: I want to thank you for your support and friendship. Over the past 24 hours, I have had encouraging words sent to my family and me. Many of you have asked me whom you should support…