February 2013

CNN reports that President Obama is "sullying" his "brand" by getting ready to appoint donors as ambassadors:

After meeting with Syrian opposition figures in Rome today, Secretary of State John Kerry announced that the United States was sending $60 million in non-lethal aid to the opposition. That assistance, according to Kerry, “will strengthen the organizational capacity of the Syrian Opposition…

When President Obama made his announcement in May of 2012 that he (once again) supported gay marriage, he also made it clear that he thought the issue should be left to the states. Obama said in an interview with ABC's Robin Roberts: 

THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast, hosted by Michael Graham, with Jay Cost on how the GOP can win in 2014.

First Lady Michelle Obama spoke today in Chicago about her new physical education initiative for kids. She called her new program "our patriotic obligation to this country" and "our moral obligation."

Bradley Manning pleaded guilty today to leaking classified material. "Army Pfc. Bradley Edward Manningpleaded guilty Thursday to 10 charges that he illegally acquired and transferred U.S. government secrets, agreeing to serve 20 years in prison for leaking classified material to WikiLeaks that…

Our debt woes may be getting worse.  Zero Hedge points out:

The New York Times reports: 

First Lady Michelle Obama is continuing her road trip celebrating the 3rd anniversary of her “Let's Move” initiative, appearing on Good Morning America with Robin Roberts on Tuesday and at an event with Rachael Ray on Wednesday. The initial press release last week gave “Let's Move” credit for…

Senator Mark Kirk released this statement in response to "reports that the United States and its partners offered sanctions relief to Iran in exchange for softened demands":

CNN notes that since winning reelection in November, we've begun to see a new Barack Obama. A man who is kinder, gentler, and softer--and even able to cry in public.

Kiev

What does a refined palate look for in a water tasting?  They know the answer at:

Many conservatives and Republicans are greeting the looming sequestration spending cuts with a collective yawn. "The much-ballyhooed 'sequester' is a cut of $85 billion in a nearly $4 trillion federal budget. Good, let’s do it," writes one contributor to National Review Online's symposium on…

THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast, hosted by Michael Graham, with Bill Kristol to discuss the Republicans' response on the sequester.

On Thursday, February 21, at 10 a.m. local time, Iranian members of the Gonabadi-Nimatullahi Muslim contemplative order celebrated “the day of the Sufi” by protesting outside the infamous Evin Prison in Tehran. The demonstration marked the fourth anniversary of a memorable challenge to the…

Secretary of State John Kerry showed off his French speaking skills at a joint press conference with his counterpart in Paris today:

Harry Reid brought up Django Unchained at a ceremony to unveil a statue for Rosa Parks in the Capitol today:

Yesterday, Chris Christie became the eighth Republican governor to capitulate on Obamacare’s massive Medicaid expansion, declaring his desire to implement it in his state.  Yet while Christie wasn’t the first GOP governor to fold, he was presumably the first to offer the novel defense that his…

North Korea, the most renegade and unpredictable of the world's nations, recently tested a nuclear bomb, which predictably raised tensions that are high under ordinary conditions and that, according to the North Korean regime, is the fault of the U.S.  As Reuters reports:

Lee Smith, writing in Tablet: 

Jim Messina, the campaign manager for President Obama's reelection campaign, will now be selling his own personal access. 

John Podhoretz, writing in the New York Post:

Thus begins the Republican reality check.

According to Sports Illustrated's Peter King, Tom Brady:

The Senate confirmed Chuck Hagel as the next secretary of defense early Tuesday evening, with 58 senators supporting his nomination and 41, all Republicans, opposing. The boss, in his capacity as the chairman of the Emergency Committee for Israel, responded in a statement:

David Plouffe, a former advisor to President Barack Obama, tells a student newspaper at the University of Chicago that one need not be college educated to do politics. Plouffe states, though, that he thinks "everybody should have a college degree."

THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast, hosted by Michael Graham, with Fred Barnes on the sequester and Chuck Hagel.

President Obama said that "you can't do things by yourself" at a speech today in Virginia:

President Barack Obama admitted today in a Virginia speech that he's "become more humble":

The Senate voted for cloture on the debate over the nomination of former Nebraska senator Chuck Hagel for defense secretary Tuesday afternoon. Seventy-one senators, including 18 Republicans, voted to end the debate and move to an up or down vote on Hagel. Carl Levin, the chairman of the armed…

This paid death notice appeared recently in the New York Times:

The New York Times reported Monday that congressional Republicans were split on the coming defense budget sequestration, with many in the GOP suggesting the cuts ought to go through because "fiscal questions trump defense" Now, more than 70 foreign policy experts, including prominent Republicans…

Although most of Washington is focused this week on the upcoming vote on Chuck Hagel's nomination for Secretary of Defense and the rapidly approaching sequester deadline, the latest press release from the White House concerns ... recipe sharing:

In Germany today, Secretary of State John Kerry talked up a "preppy" clothing line. The AP reports:

Adam Kredo reports that the Indian embassy in Washington says Chuck Hagel's views are not based in reality:

Quin Hillyer reports that Alabama Republicans are upset that Senator Richard Shelby is support Chuck Hagel for defense secretary:

Why the GOP should block the sequester.

National Review Online reports that Chuck Hagel has been endorsed by Louis Farrakhan. The Nation of Islam head likes Hagel because he sounds just like himself.

Much of Obamacare wasn’t passed as fixed law but rather as an open-ended invitation for the secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make law, our constitutional separation of powers notwithstanding.  That’s how the requirement came about that essentially all health plans must hereafter give…

THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast, hosted by Michael Graham, with Kelly Jane Torrance on the Oscars.

Over the weekend, the New York Times reported that donating $500,000 to the group Organizing for Action will get one quarterly meetings with President Barack Obama. "Giving or raising $500,000 or more puts donors on a national advisory board for Mr. Obama’s group and the privilege of attending…

According to a leading Spanish newspaper, Hugo Chávez’s doctors have told his family that the cancer-stricken autocrat will not recover from his illness and will not be able to resume the Venezuelan presidency. Perhaps that’s why his return to Venezuela was a relatively subdued affair. Chávez…

At the White House today, Obama ended his remarks by saying, "And with that, what I want to do is clear out the press so we can take some questions:"

In remarks today at the White House, Vice President Joe Biden said that Americans don't have the same economic worries they did when President Barack Obama came into office:

The Emergency Committee for Israel is running this ad on Chuck Hagel in the Hill and Wall Street Journal: 

In accepting the best movie award last night at the Oscars, Ben Affleck thanked Canada. 

In a little noticed mistake last week, John Kerry, the new secretary of state, seems to have made up the country of "Kyrzakhstan":

Mackubin Owens, writing in the Wall Street Journal: 

On Meet the Press, Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal said that President Obama should delay Obamacare to cancel sequestration:

President Obama and the Democrats have made clear that their “path to citizenship” for illegal immigrants should be as direct as possible. Many Republicans are not sure they want any such path. Those who do, like Senator John McCain, call for “a long and arduous process.” His fellow Arizona senator…

The Scrapbook suspects that somewhere in the Washington Post stylebook there must be a paragraph advising reporters how to make a dubious subject palatable. Answer: Label it a civil rights issue, and describe it in terms of social progress. 

You may remember the downfall last summer of Jonah Lehrer, a popular journalist and author of the bestselling books Proust Was a Neuro-scientist and Imagine: How Creativity Works. Despite Lehrer’s well-polished conclusions—crafted to make NPR listeners feel smarter than they actually are—we’re…

Learned Hand, whose last year of judicial service was 1961, may be poised on the edge of obscurity, but Ronald Dworkin’s foreword to this volume serves as a reminder that many of Hand’s clerks ended up occupying very distinguished positions in the legal profession. A review of Hand’s opinions on…

On the morning of January 21, just before President Obama’s second inauguration, Rep. Paul Ryan, the Wisconsin congressman and House budget chairman who had run unsuccessfully as the Republican candidate for vice president, was roundly booed by the gathered crowd as he left the Capitol to attend…

The death of Evan S. Connell last month prompts reflection on an American original who, over a lifetime of steady work—many volumes of novels, stories, biography, essayistic speculations—left as his permanent contribution to letters one brilliant, memorable book: the novel Mrs. Bridge, published in…

Fiscally conservative governors in Ohio, Wisconsin, and Florida have rejected billions of dollars in subsidies for the growth of high-speed rail and new public transportation projects in their states in recent years. Indiana’s new Republican governor, Mike Pence, may have the opportunity to make a…

Steven Soderbergh’s Side Effects is one of those rare movies that spends an hour seeming to be one thing until it pivots, about two-thirds of the way through, and becomes something entirely different.

In the states, Republicans are governing successfully. At the think tanks, conservatives are arguing intelligently. Around the country, activists are organizing energetically. All well and good. And important. But not enough.

Now that Gettysburg hotels sell out for the July battle anniversary by December, and the Virginia peninsula might as well be rezoned as a historical theme park, it’s worth looking back to a time when plenty of American history wasn’t the stuff of vacation plans. There was no permanent monument at…

President Obama’s decision to withdraw another 34,000 troops from Afghanistan over the course of the next year is unwise. It greatly increases the risk of mission failure in that important conflict, jeopardizing gains already made in the Taliban heartland in the south and compromising the ability…

The Scrapbook finds itself in a quandary. A pair of paintings by George W. Bush have emerged in cyberspace. But they got there because the Bush family’s email account was hacked, and images of Bush’s art, intimate family gatherings, even George H. W. Bush’s recent hospitalization were quickly…

Put vote-getting ahead of policy. Then conflate and aggregate. That’s all you have to do to make a mess of immigration reform. Which is what our political class seems determined to do. 

David Goldhill is a liberal Democratic business executive whose father was killed by a hospital-borne infection several years ago. The experience drove him to study the American health care system in search of an explanation. “How is it possible,” he writes, “that my father’s death was an avoidable…

Via the pool report:

In testimony on Capitol Hill, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton brought up the movie Argo last month to help explain the terror attack against Americans in Benghazi, Libya. And now, with the Oscars tonight, the new secretary of state, John Kerry, is again plugging the film. 

Earlier this week, Joe Biden advised Americans to break gun laws when said he told his wife to fire warning shots if she heard noise off the back porch.

Former press secretary Robert Gibbs said this morning on MSNBC that he was told, when he became a White House official, "not even to acknowledge the drone program":

For us at THE WEEKLY STANDARD, where he worked for over a half-dozen years, Mike Goldfarb was a terrific colleague. He's still a valued contributing editor, a good friend, and a great guy. But who knew that the man who started out by answering the phones and guarding the front-door at TWS would…

“The tectonic plates are shifting” is a much over-used expression. But when it comes to the international energy industry, the expression is apt.

Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has written a letter to Chuck Hagel to ask that he open his Senate archive at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. Graham, who also asks Hagel to authorize the release of past speeches organized by the Washington Speakers Bureau, believes interested parties…

THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast, hosted by Michael Graham, with Bill Kristol on why President Obama's sequester isn't the answer -- reform is.

For years, Iran has marketed itself as a frontline state in the war against the drug lords. Recently the New York Times even described the regime in Tehran as the “West’s stalwart ally in the War on Drugs.” The problem is that while the Iranian regime is fighting drug lords on its eastern borders,…

Barack Obama met with Al Sharpton and other "African American leaders" to discuss the president's "plan to strengthen the economy for the middle class and continue to build ladders of opportunity for those striving to get there," according to the White House. 

Eric Schmidt and Bill Richardson’s Pyongyang adventure continues to pay dividends.

CNN's Mike Mount covers the closed-off Chuck Hagel archive at the University of Nebraska-Omaha:

With the next round of international talks on Iran’s nuclear program scheduled for February 26, the United States needs to understand Iran’s negotiating strategy. Recent Iranian tactics suggest a seemingly contradictory approach: simultaneously slowing down and speeding up their nuclear program.…

In his first piece as a columnist for the Washington Post, Vance Serchuk writes:

The first part of the Top Chef season finale involved the finalists creating a three-course menu and serving it up at head judge Tom Colicchio's flagship Craft in Los Angeles. This in itself was daunting. The contestants were awed by the sparkling kitchen and array of fresh ingredients at their…

The other day, Vice President Joe Biden revealed that he told his wife to fire warning shots off their balcony if an intruder were near. "If there's ever a problem," Biden said he told his wife, Jill, "just walk out on the balcony here--walk out, put that double barrel shot gun and fire two blasts…

Adam Kredo reports that Senator Jim Inhofe is urging his colleagues to vote against cloture for Chuck Hagel:

Author Steve Brill claims that the New Republic magazine hired Democratic lobbyist "media specialist" Anita Dunn to help secure an Oval Office interview with President Barack Obama. The magazine ran the interview, which was in part conducted by former Obama campaign aide Chris Hughes, who now owns…

Quin Hillyer, writing at the Center for Individual Freedom, explains why Senate Republicans should continue filibustering Chuck Hagel's nomination for defense secretary:

Retired senator Byron Dorgan, a Democrat who left office in 2011, has his home newly renovated profiled and praised by Home & Design. The North Dakota senator's "stately" home was purchased 20 years ago, according to the magazine. 

A group of 15 Republican senators have sent the following letter to President Obama asking for Chuck Hagel's nomination as secretary of defense to be withdrawn:

Having profoundly failed to enforce federal immigration law for the past several decades, the federal government is now angling to use the immigration debate as a means to accentuate its own power.  The Wall Street Journal reports that Senator Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.), among others, supports a…

John Kerry, the secretary of state, will meet with his Russian counterpart in Berlin later this month.

There is a lot about Obamacare that can stimulate awe. Not least the fact that it turns the concept of "insurance" on its head. Imagine if you could buy automobile insurance after you had totaled your car. Or life insurance after the doctor tells you that it is time to get your affairs in order.

Politico's Maggie Haberman reports:

Last week, Alana Goodman of the Washington Free Beacon discovered a contemporaneous account of a 2007 speech Chuck Hagel gave at Rutgers University. The account, from Hagel supporter George Ajjan, was posted on Ajjan’s website the day after the speech. During the Q&A segment of his appearance,…

THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast, hosted by Michael Graham, with contributing editor Irwin Stelzer, on how to discuss the sequester at (presumably boring) cocktail parties. 

Today the White House credited Michelle Obama's three-year-old “Let's Move” initiative with halting and even reversing a thirty year trend of increasing childhood obesity, a trend that has led to what the Centers for Disease Control has called an epidemic. A press release from the Office of the…

South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham has just sent a letter to Barack Obama's defense secretary nominee, Chuck Hagel. Graham asks if, at a 2010 appearance at Rutgers University, Hagel said Israel "was risking becoming an apartheid state."

Omaha, Nebraska

Secretary of State John Kerry gave his first major foreign policy speech today. In his address, delivered at the University of Virginia, he discussed tackling climate change.

The son of a mass shooting victim is advocating that government do "something about gun violence"--and he's emailing Americans on behalf of Barack Obama's spinoff noprofit, Organizing for Action. Here's the email from Sami Rahamim, sent from the address info@barackobama.com and with the subject…

Chuck Hagel, Barack Obama's defense secretary nominee and a former Nebraska senator, said in a 2008 interview that he agreed that the United States has not been a "fair or credible peace broker" in the Middle East, specifically with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Republican Ken Cuccinelli and Democrat Terry McAuliffe are tied at 38 percent in the latest Quinnipiac poll of the 2013 Virginia gubernatorial race. According to the poll, if Republican lieutenant governor Bill Bolling runs as an independent (as he has suggested he might), McAuliffe would have a…

Federal Times has an alarming report on the state of the federal pension system. Though it's gone largely unnoticed, like nearly every other government-funded pension plan in the country, the unfunded liabilities of federal pensions have increased dramatically over the last couple of years:

For three years, a private citizen named Steve LeBard has led the effort to build a privately funded memorial in Orcutt, California—a tranquil small town located on the Golden State’s gorgeous Central Coast—to honor military veterans.  And for the better part of those three years, he has run into a…

Omaha, Nebraska

End agriculture subsidies already.

Vice President Joe Biden was asked today whether a "ban on guns" would be more effective than outlawing drugs. "Are you suggesting that we have no -- we just legalize all drugs?," the vice president asked.

THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with Bill Kristol, hosted by Michael Graham:

Vice President Joe Biden recommended today that "if you want to protect yourself, get a double barrel shotgun":

The president has returned from Florida and is back in form, warning against the imposition of the drastic spending cuts called for by what is known as the "sequester."  

At a 2010 appearance at Rutgers University, former Nebraska senator and current defense secretary nominee Chuck Hagel reportedly said that the state of Israel risks "becoming an apartheid state if it didn't allow the Palestinians to form a state." Hagel also referred to current Israeli prime…

Writing at the American Spectator, WEEKLY STANDARD editorial assistant Ethan Epstein covers the curious case of Lincoln Chafee, Rhode Island's independent governor, erstwhile Republican senator, and Democrat-in-denial:

Bret Stephens, writing in the Wall Street Journal:

Last week, the Australian press broke the story of “Prisoner X,” a Mossad officer named Ben Zygier, who reportedly took his life in an Israeli prison in 2010. Already Israel's media have started a campaign to impugn Zieger’s character with Haaretz, not surprisingly, leading the pack.

Bret Stephens writes in the Wall Street Journal: 

Josh Earnest, a White House deputy press secretary, answering a reporter's question aboard Air Force One on Friday, inadvertently painted with a broader brush than he intended. The reporter asked why Republican senators were linking Chuck Hagel's nomination for defense secretary with a bid to…

Last week, it was announced that Ray's Hell Burger just outside Washington, D.C. would be closing its doors. A fan of the burger joint was President Obama, who had visited the location with his Russian counterpart. 

President Obama has returned to Washington, from his solo vacation. He finally talked with the press on the ride back.

Are liberals the new silent majority?

The Associated Press reports on Michelle Obama's self-proclaimed "mid-life crisis."

Despite assurances to the contrary, the former website of Obama for America, now Organizing for Action (OFA), continues to be used to promote Democratic party causes and candidates. Two weeks ago, an event for the Terry McAuliffe campaign for governor in Virginia was listed for several days before…

After not seeing Barack Obama all weekend, the press are finally being let into the Floridian, the exclusive golf club that's hosted the president the last few days. Via the pool report: 

Nebraska senator Mike Johanns, a Republican elected in 2008, will not seek reelection in 2014. Kasie Hunt of NBC News has the scoop:

Obama for America (OFA) has transitioned into the apparently independent 501(c)(4) non-profit Organizing for Action. The group has retained Obama’s original website (BarackObama.com) and Twitter account (@BarackObama).  And although the president's role in this new organization is not clear, his…

“I have some discomfort with all Republican primaries because they’re all family squabbles,” said Tom Price, the 58-year-old Republican House member from north of Atlanta. “My brother and I used to fight almost daily,” Price, the middle child among five brothers and sisters, said. “My mom’s only…

When John Betjeman was charged with helping find a proper recipient for the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry in 1977, he contacted Philip Larkin and suggested Elizabeth Jennings (1926-2001), who had befriended Larkin and Kingsley Amis when they were undergraduates together at Oxford. Larkin considered…

President Obama will make his first presidential visit to Israel in March, and Secretary of State Kerry will make his own trip even sooner. The White House is trying to dampen the inevitable speculation about a possible breakthrough to peace negotiations, and its spokesman has said the president’s…

John Brennan is no Chuck Hagel. That much was clear from the confirmation hearings on Brennan’s nomination to head the CIA. Unlike Hagel, who stumbled and mumbled through his performance, Brennan demonstrated a deep knowledge of his brief and answered (or gamely parried) tough questions with great…

Caribbean-based company ICSSI had seen its lucrative contract to X-ray the cargo entering the Dominican Republic languish for years when, in 2011, it began searching for an investor with political pull. Perhaps someone with the right connections would be able to pressure the Dominicans into…

It’s understandable that Republicans are tempted by the prospect of allowing the “sequester”—the automatic cut to defense and domestic discretionary spending agreed to as an enforcement mechanism for the 2011 debt ceiling deal—to go into effect on March 1. It’s understandable because Republicans…

I knew Ed Koch, and Mayor Bloomberg is no Ed Koch. 

This week marks the second anniversary of the fall of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. Two years after the refrain “the people want to topple the regime” filled Tahrir Square, it is now Egypt itself that is toppling. Street violence has pitted various groups against each other—anarchists against…

The other weekend, a movie starring Sylvester Stallone called Bullet to the Head died at the box office. It made $4 million against a reported budget of $55 million. It was preceded in death by a picture starring Arnold Schwarzenegger called The Last Stand, which made about $6 million against a…

Many ancient societies knew important mathematical facts, but only one discovered mathematics—which is not a collection of accurate rules of thumb, but a body of knowledge organized deductively, by the radical notion of proof. And Euclid is its prophet. 

The Obama administration pulled another fast one last week, announcing its much-anticipated “compromise” on the free-birth-control rule as it affects religious employers opposed to contraception. There was hope in some quarters that the administration would back off its narrow religious exemption.…

John Brennan’s nomination to be the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency has sparked another debate about Langley’s priorities and deficiencies. Brennan, the king of drones at his counterterrorist perch in the White House, could accelerate, some critics fear, the agency’s transformation…

In the popular imagination, Japan is a tech-obsessed cyber utopia awash in neon lights, “bleeding-edge” electronics, and, of course, robots. While there is some accuracy in the clichés, it’s also true that Japan remains a nation of serious writers and readers, and not just of comic books: Its…

Athens and Jerusalem are not the sum of symbolic ancient cities. And in truth, they never have been. Even when Tertullian coined that distinction early in the third century—“What has Athens to do with Jerusalem? Or the Academy with the Church?”—he did so in the context of Rome: He was the son of a…

The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution gave its name to the protection against self-incrimination, and it also contains three other famous (and these days somewhat battered) guarantees​—​against double jeopardy; against deprivation of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; and of…

Because of the prosecution of homosexual acts and imprisonment of Oscar Wilde in 1895, which ended a glittering trajectory through late Victorian English society, most people are unaware that Wilde was actually a family man, indeed initially and enthusiastically so.

President Barack Obama, who is on a weekend getaway in Florida this weekend, hit the links with Tiger Woods today, the White House reveals. 

A Boston-area friend with a good track record writes in about the Massachusetts Senate race to fill the remainder of John Kerry's term. A highlight of my friend's track record? In late 2009, before a single poll had shown Scott Brown to be within 30 points of Martha Coakley, he sent an email…

Journalist Bob Woodward reported on Fox News this morning that Democratic senators are calling the White House to see whether Chuck Hagel will withdraw his nomination as secretary of defense:

Cardinals will not allowed to access their Twitter accounts during conclave, according to Catholic News Service. This restriction is applicable to the 9 cardinals who have Twitter accounts. In all, there are "117 red-vested princes of the church who are eligible to vote for a new pope."

The American Jewish Committee released a statement yesterday urging the Senate to continue to examine the nomination of Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense. 

In a statement posted to his website, Florida senator Marco Rubio announced that he's leaving today for Israel and Jordan. "Today, I am departing to the Middle East on an official trip in my capacities as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee and Foreign Relations Committee. I will be…

The president, down in Florida for vacation without his family, will spend the day golfing. The press, meanwhile, is on a "party bus," according to the pool report:

All of the fuss by the G-7 and the G-20 at their meeting this week about whether Japan should be condemned for attempting to end decades of stagnation by easing monetary policy, with the effect of driving down the yen, makes for good copy. Especially since the various G-7 spokesmen put on a…

In a speech near his Chicago home today, President Barack Obama got personal. He talked of the importance of family, using himself and his own experience as an example.

Newsflash: We already have an effective $9/hr minimum wage.

THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with Fred Barnes, hosted by Michael Graham:

Two U.S. senators have written a letter to Chuck Hagel to ask the defense secretary nominee to explain his assertion that "the State Department was becoming an adjunct of the Israeli Foreign Ministry." Hagel, the Washington Free Beacon reported yesterday, made the comment in 2007.

The White House confirms today that President Barack Obama will be vacationing in Florida this weekend. His wife, First Lady Michelle Obama, will be in Colorado. The two daughters will be with Michelle. 

On Thursday, Dylan Byers, who reports on the media for Politico, published this story on the release of a speech that Chuck Hagel failed to disclose during his confirmation hearings:

In a Google hangout last evening, President Barack Obama explained that his problem is that he's "not the emperor of the United States":

John Kerry is traveling to the Middle East and Europe later this month to unveil his new plan to get Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to step down. "I believe there are additional things that can be done to change his current perception," the new secretary of state said this week. "My goal is to…

In an article titled, "Refusal to Lead," Republican senator Marco Rubio writes, "The biggest foreign policy problem facing the United States right now is not too much U.S. engagement, but the danger of a world in which we increasingly refuse to lead. There are few global challenges that can be…

Former Defense Secretary William Cohen says that Hagel is now "in a difficult position." Politico reports:

David Axelrod has hired a spokesman for Eric Holder, Mike Allen notes. "TRACY SCHMALER, director of the Justice Department Office of Public Affairs, departs March 8 to join ASGK Public Strategies, co-founded by David Axelrod, as managing director and head of a new practice group focusing on crisis…

John Podhoretz, writing in the New York Post:

From the AP, not such good news on the recovery:

Lee Smith writing in Tablet: 

The State Department this week announced more than $18 million in awards to provincial governments in Afghanistan in the fight against the illicit opium industry in that country.  The award comes after news this past November that countrywide there was an "alarming" 18 percent increase in 2012 in…

Adam Kredo of the Washington Free Beacon reports:

Is there an anti-establishment establishment?

Things are not getting any better in Europe as “Gross domestic product in the euro area shrank a more-than- forecast 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter, the worst performance in almost four years as its three biggest economies -- Germany, France and Italy -- suffered slumping output.”

The Emergency Committee for Israel releases this statement from Bill Kristol on the Senate's decision to delay the nomination of Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense:

Eight years ago today, February 14, 2005, former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri was assassinated, along with 22 others, when a massive explosive detonated as his motorcade drove past Beirut’s St. George Hotel. European leaders were aghast, especially the French president, Jacques Chirac, who…

Israel has been captivated by the story of Ben Zygier, who hanged himself in 2010 in an Israeli prison after several months of solitary confinement. For the two years since his death, Zygier’s case has been kept under wraps, a silence enforced by Israel’s military censor. Finally, thanks to a…

THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with Jonathan V. Last, hosted by Michael Graham:

It's Valentine's Day, and today the Republicans heard President Obama say those three little words they never thought they'd hear: "out of money." While speaking on early childhood education in Decatur, Georgia, the president said, according to the White House transcript:

And then there were three. (SPOILER ALERT) But at the moment we only know two of this season's Top Chef finalists, Brooke Williamson and Sheldon Simeon. The third is the winner of Last Chance Kitchen, which will either be Kristen Kish or Lizzie Binder. But it won't be Oklahoma chef Josh Valentine,…

John Brennan, President Obama’s nominee to run the Central Intelligence Agency, is getting renewed scrutiny for a highly questionable claim he made during his confirmation hearings last week. On Tuesday, two Republicans on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Marco Rubio and James Risch,…

About two years ago, a senior Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) official said that a certain Latin American country was becoming a veritable “United Nations” of organized criminal activity, attracting gangsters from such diverse and faraway places as Albania, China, Italy, and Ukraine. He was…

At a speech Thursday in Decatur, Georgia, President Obama told the crowd that getting flowers for his wife Michelle was "easier" because "I've got this rose garden," in reference to the White House Rose Garden.

Via the pool report:

On the Senate floor this morning, Harry Reid said it's "outlandish" to say that the Obama "administration hasn't been forthcoming" in the Benghazi terror attack:

With the detonation of a North Korean nuclear device on Monday, Secretary of State John Kerry has been grappling with his first crisis.

Senate majority leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, said on the floor this morning that it's "tragic" Republicans are refusing immediately to accept Chuck Hagel as the next secretary of defense. Some Republicans contend that they need more information on Hagel before voting on his nomination.

What is Harry Reid talking about?

Democratic senator Tom Harkin insisted this morning that America does not have a spending problem and that we're not broke:

Longtime congressman Ed Markey is running for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in this year's special election in Massachusetts, but a new report from the Boston Globe shows Markey hardly lives in his Massachusetts home. The Globe investigated Markey's house in Malden as well as what…

To hear various commentators speak about politicians today, the overwhelming impression one gets is that politicians fall into one of two camps—ideologues or modern day Machiavellians. Either they are hidebound in what they believe and, hence, unwilling to take seriously the other side (or even…

With the quiet announcement that the United States is earmarking $50 million from the defense budget immediately for France and Niger, two countries in the forefront of the battle for Mali against Islamist hordes and Tuareg secessionists, the Obama administration appears to be indicating that it…

The Washington Free Beacon reports that a controversial group said it called the "authorities" after being called upon to release information related to the group itself and Chuck Hagel, who has been nominated to be the next secretary of defense:

CNN reports that the outcome of the Chuck Hagel vote is "uncertain":

In response to the outrage over Marco Rubio's decision to drink water during his response to the State of the Union Address, his PAC, Reclaim America, has begun selling water bottles.

In an email to supporters, President Barack Obama is asking for cash donations to the Democratic party. 

President Barack Obama will vacation this weekend in Palm Beach. 

Obama's economic growth record is pretty terrible.

As we reported yesterday, a speech that Chuck Hagel failed to include in his Senate disclosure was in fact video taped--and the tape still exists! But the group, the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), that hosted the Hagel speech said it could take until Friday for the video to be…

Jack Lew, who has been nominated as the next treasury secretary, oversaw up as many as a hundred Cayman Island investments when he worked at Citi Bank as chief operating officer of the alternative investment services unit, SEC disclosures reveal. It has previously been reported that Lew himself had…

President Barack Obama is meeting with the embattled senator from New Jersey, Bob Menendez, this afternoon at the White House. The meeting, which the White House says is for an immigration discussion, will be attended by three other Democratic senators.

Senator Rand Paul is pledging to "hold" John Brennan's nomination for CIA director, a statement from his Senate office reports.

Senator John Cornyn, as well as all other 44 Republicans in the Senate, introduced the balanced budget consitutional amendment today in the Senate.

Asked about the Benghazi terror attack at a hearing today on Capitol Hill, former White House chief of staff Jack Lew dodged the questions:

Kosovo, the Albanian-majority Balkan republic, is probably best known for its fervent pro-Americanism, understandable given the role of U.S.-led NATO forces in assisting its 1.8 million inhabitants against Serbian oppression in 1999. American troops in Kosovo are drawn from National Guard units and…

THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with Bill Kristol, hosted by Michael Graham:

Senate minority leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, asks for another tax hike this morning:

Remember the IBM computer, called "Watson," that played Jeopardy and won?  That was a delightful stunt. Now, Watson is getting real.

Politico reports:

This morning, the State Department announced, "Hip Hop Group Audiopharmacy to Tour Southeast Asia and the Pacific with American Music Abroad."

There weren't many memorable lines in President Obama's State of the Union speech. Indeed, only one leapt out at me: "As long as I’m commander in chief, we will do whatever we must to protect those who serve their country abroad." 

There wasn’t much in the way of substance to distinguish Marco Rubio’s official Republican response to the State of the Union Address from the Tea Party response by Rubio’s Senate colleague, Rand Paul. Both were delivered by potential 2016 presidential nominees who entered the Senate on a wave of…

Did I miss something? Or was the State of the Union Address delivered by President Obama last night unusually pedestrian, packed to the gills with clichés, promises, gimmicks, and endless talk of partnerships, goals, challenges, and commissions for which Washington is famous?

The Republican response to the State of the Union Address, which will be delivered by Marco Rubio, as prepared for delivery:

The AP put out this photo on the wire:

During his State of the Union address, President Obama suggested that "climate change" caused Hurricane Sandy: 

In tonight's State of the Union Address, President Barack Obama calls for minimum wage to be raised to $9 per hour.

In his State of the Union Address this evening, President Barack Obama will encourage Congress to adapt a cap and trade plan to deal with climate change. Energy, climate, and taxes are a sizable portion of Obama's speech.

At tonight's State of the Union Address, President Obama will announce that he has signed a cyber security executive order.

President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address, as prepared for delivery:

Senator John Cornyn released this video, titled "Unfulfilled Promises: Four Years of President Obama's State of the Union Rhetoric," ahead of President Obama's State of the Union Address:

Everything you need to know about North Korea.

President Barack Obama will use tonight's State of the Union Address to announce a group that will explore ways to improve "the Election Day experience." The Huffington Post, which broke the news, calls the group "a bipartisan presidential voting commission." 

The following are excerpts of the Republican response to the State of the Union Address, which will be delivered by Marco Rubio:

The White House has released limited excerpts of President Obama's State of the Union Address: 

President Barack Obama had lunch today with members of the press. But we likely won't find out what was discussed: The entire luncheon was off the record.

On Monday, Jonathan Last delivered a Bradley Lecture at the American Enterprise Institute. Last spoke about America's coming demographic disaster, the subject of his new book, What to Expect When No One's Expecting. Watch the entire lecture below:

When former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson returned from his bizarre, unauthorized vacation to North Korea last month, he took to the pages of the Washington Post to tell us that North Korean officials had assured him that “now that [the regime]’s security has been guaranteed by a successful…

On the floor of the Senate today, Harry Reid, a Democrat, praised President Obama's auto bailout:

The White House today released Michelle Obama's guest list for tonight's State of the Union Address. On that list is Bradley Henning, a machinist at Atlas Machine and Supply, in Louisville, Kentucky, whose boss, Rich Gimmel, recently testified in front of Congress that Obama's policies are hurting…

Senator majority leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, praised Senator Carl Levin effusively for casting his 12,000 vote:

Tonight, the President will deliver the usual boring laundry list of promises about jobs, prosperity, affordable education, wide roads, and a blissful future.  And in the morning, millions of Americans will take a harder hit when they buy gasoline, which is, for most of them, not a discretionary…

Fox News reported yesterday that Chuck Hagel, who has been nominated as the next secretary of defense, failed to “disclose at least two recent speeches on the subject of the Arab-Israeli conflict” in paperwork filed with the Senate.

In this morning's Washington Post, columnist and former New Republic editor Charles Lane writes that the Obama administration has not only fallen short in its quest for electric car domination—the quest has actually ended in decisive failure.

With President Obama's State of the Union Address coming up to night, the Washington Post's David Ignatus is wondering:

In a memo sent to fellow Republicans, Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama outlines how he plans to change the terms of the budget debate with Democrats. The memo outlines how the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee plans to bring the fight directly to Democrats. 

An unnamed "senior American official" suggests that North Korea is not just testing nukes for itself, but also for (and possibly with) the Iranians. The New York Times reports:

Retired U.S. Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez, a Republican, announced Tuesday he would be entering the U.S. Senate special election to fill the seat of Massachusetts Democrat John Kerry. In a video posted on his campaign website, Gomez begins by announcing in Spanish before continuing in English. "I spent…

In a premature celebration of Chuck Hagel's nomination being voted out of committee, North Korea tested a nuclear weapon last night. At 1:48 a.m., the White House put out a "Statement by the President" denouncing the test. One understands such statements are staff-written. But presumably President…

On CBS this morning, Valerie Jarrett, a close advisor to President Obama, reacted to the news that North Korea had conducted a nuclear test last night by saying, "We're heartened to see the U.N. Security Council will be meeting" this morning to discuss the issue.

In a short web ad released today, ahead of Barack Obama's State of the Union Address, the Republican party mocks the president for always wanting to raise taxes:

From the earliest days of Marco Rubio’s plucky campaign for the U.S. Senate, his diehard supporters spoke of the day that their man would have an opportunity to challenge Barack Obama – his policies, his vision, his rhetoric. They were certain that Rubio was so gifted an orator and possessed such a…

In response to reports last night that North Korea had conducted a nuclear test, President Obama released the following statement:

Max Boot on drone courts.

John Brennan, President Obama’s nominee to head to the CIA, is scheduled to appear before a closed-door hearing held by the Senate Intelligence Committee tomorrow. Interested senators should take the opportunity to ask Brennan about an Egyptian who is connected to both al Qaeda and the September…

In the 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama called Cayman Island investments "the biggest tax scam on record." Now, in 2013, President Obama has nominated Jack Lew, who had $56,000 in Cayman Island investments, to be the next secretary of Treasury. 

THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with Fred Barnes hosted by Michael Graham:

Responding to a question about the retirement of the pope, U.N. secretary general Ban Ki-moon thanked the pope for his "profound commitment ... to interfaith dialogue."

As the world discusses Pope Benedict XVI's abdication, you might enjoy two pieces on the pontiff from the archives of THE WEEKLY STANDARD: Lee Harris's "Socrates or Mohammad?" and Joseph Bottum's "Benedict Meets Bartholomew."

After dodging the question just a week ago, White House spokesman Jay Carney's hand was forced today by a statement Nancy Pelosi made yesterday on Fox News Sunday:

Vice President Joe Biden took himself out of consideration to be the next pope. Tara Murtha reports on Twitter:

In a statement marking the pope's retirement, President Barack Obama said, "I have appreciate our work together over these last four years."

The headline on Ron Fournier's National Journal story warns us to be alert for a "pivot" by the president in his State of the Union address.  It seems that regarding the president's Inaugural Address “the perception remains that Obama lost focus on the economy -- the top issue in the minds of most…

Senior writer Jonathan Last appeared with Pat Robertson on the 700 Club to talk about his new book, What to Expect When No One's Expecting. From CBN.com:

Michael O'Hanlon, writing in the Washington Post:

In the latest issue of the New Criterion, WEEKLY STANDARD contributing editor Robert Messenger reviews a new collection of letters from British author and humorist P.G. Wodehouse. Here's an excerpt:

In a letter to congressional leaders organized by the Foreign Policy Initiative, national security leaders says, "stop sequestration now." The letter is signed by former senators Norm Coleman and Joe Lieberman, former defense secretary Bob Gates, Bill Kristol, and many others.

The Vatican released this statement from Pope Benedict XVI announcing his plan to resign on February 28:

The boss and Peter Wehner, writing in the Wall Street Journal: 

Politicians are not known for originality. In their public speech, most cling to the security of clichéd stock phrases the way toddlers hold fast to threadbare blankets. Thus Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney posed before an enormous national debt clock and intoned that the nation’s…

New York

David Cameron leaves things late. Leadership by essay crisis, it has been called, a nod to procrastination by generations of students. But his belated response to the mounting political turmoil over Britain’s membership in the EU​—​a speech proposing an in/out referendum​—​won’t save him from…

What is it about “compromise” that President Obama doesn’t understand? Is it that he and Democrats would have to give up something—perhaps numerous things—to reach an agreement with Republicans? Or is a bipartisan deal unappealing simply because Obama and Democrats would have to share the credit…

In the six presidential elections between 1992 and 2012, the Democratic party has regained the solid popular vote majority it enjoyed during the New Deal/Great Society era (1932-64) but relinquished in the six elections between 1968 and 1988.

The recent inaugural festivities would have seemed more than a little strange to the Framers of the Constitution, had they been on hand to see the show. After all, here was their “republic” unified in celebration of vast executive powers being vested in a single human being. Did they not wage a…

In 1962, Donald E. Westlake created his pulpiest character, the sociopathic criminal-of-all-trades named Parker, who became the protagonist of two dozen novels (written under the pseudonym “Richard Stark”) before Westlake’s death in 2008. In doing so, Westlake became part of an innovative movement…

The Scrapbook is delighted to announce that our colleague Jonathan V. Last’s brilliant essay, “America’s One-Child Policy,” which appeared in these pages two-and-a-half years ago, has grown into an even more brilliant new book, What to Expect When No One’s Expecting: America’s Coming Demographic…

Stan Musial, the St. Louis Cardinal who died a few weeks ago, seems to have been one of those great athletes of good character—player-hero, civic monument, example to youth—that sportswriters forever seek but seldom find.

In 1935, Ernst Gombrich, scion of a bourgeois Viennese Jewish family, and newly minted Ph.D. in art history, found himself out of work. Walter Neurath, a friend and publisher, asked him to look over an English history book for children and, if it was any good, to translate it into German. Neurath…

If anyone doubts that fame can be fleeting, The Scrapbook recommends the January 31 edition of the New York Times where, on page A17, may be found an obituary for Patty Andrews, the last surviving Andrews Sister of musical fame, who died in Los Angeles, two weeks shy of her 95th birthday. 

Finally John Warner let Chuck Hagel speak. Warner, having declared that he was discarding his prepared remarks in the interest of sincerity and brevity and then spoken for 15 minutes, turned to Hagel with a friendly warning: “You’re on your own.”

As the Republican party searches its soul and its ranks for policies, strategies, and leaders that can restore it to fighting strength at the national level, few expect education reform to loom large among the issues needing close attention. Yet it’s hard to get very far on such central challenges…

It was December 2006. Al Qaeda was near the peak of its influence in Iraq. The United States was widely considered to have been defeated in a humiliating war of choice in a country of extraordinary importance. 

Argentina hasn’t always been a basket case: In the early 1990s the country embarked on a radical privatization of government assets, with the result being a decade of strong growth and foreign investment. Much of the successes of that time have been reversed, but the story of how the statist…

The newly discovered 2008 video of Chuck Hagel has drawn attention, as it should, for his comments dismissing the U.S. even “thinking” about acting militarily against Iran, and for his seeming to be more concerned about Israel's nuclear weapons than Iran's.

This morning on CBS's Face the Nation, Senator Lindsey Graham said he'd place holds on President Obama's national security nominees, Chuck Hagel for secretary of defense and John Brennan for CIA director, until the White House answered questions on the Benghazi terror attack:

At a 2008 event to promote his then-recently published book, Chuck Hagel expresses more concern over Israel's nuclear weapons than Iran's and advocates the U.S. engage with Iran and Syria:

House minority leader Nancy Pelosi defended violent video games today on Fox News Sunday:

In an interview this morning, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi made the case that we don't have a spending problem. Indeed, Pelosi says, it is wrong to say we have a "spending problem":

The White House forwards along a message from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that calls for collective action in response to the winter storm that hit the Northeast last night.

Stuart Rothenberg warns that the Republicans may be in for a long stretch of desert wandering as a result of its losing the "youth vote." Mr. Rothenberg works the numbers and they pretty much confirm what we all know.  Young people favored Obama by a wide margin in 2008 and one that was a little…

As I mentioned elsewhere, it was rather fitting that during the week I was away on THE WEEKLY STANDARD cruise, the Top Chef episode I missed happened to take place on a cruise ship. The kitchen quarters are cramped and the contestants had to figure out how to use the various serving vessels and…

The relationship between lobbyists and legislators is a delicate subject and cloaked in language that is meant to obscure and confuse. But the lobbyist is always looking to get something for his client and sweet reason is not necessarily sufficient to make the case.  There are legislators who…

Growth is the summum bonum of economic policy. Tough to arrange at home: stimulus packages don’t work very well, and monetary policy produces lots of fiat money but not very many jobs. The solution: export-led growth—the other guy will buy so much of your goods and services that your economy will…

The Paul Harvey ad was great, the Steve Kroft interview was not.

What you see below is a copy of a May 26, 2005 letter from Senators Christopher Dodd and Joe Biden encouraging a no vote on cloture for the nomination of John Bolton. Senate Democrats (including Senators Obama, Biden, Clinton, and Kerry) twice voted en bloc against cloture on the Bolton nomination,…

The payroll tax cut has been rolled back so, of course, consumers have less money to spend and that seems to be what they are spending ... less.

The Justice Department announced that 16 folks would be sent to prison for hate crimes against Amish folks. The defendants, who range in age from 23 to 67 and all lived in Ohio, were found guilty of "forcibly remov[ing] beard and head hair from practitioners of the Amish faith with whom they had…

THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with Bill Kristol hosted by Michael Graham:

The illegal hacking of email addresses of George W. Bush's family members has revealed paintings that appear to be the work of the former president himself. The Washington Free Beacon says the "The paintings demonstrate a command of line and color that is rarely seen in the modern-day 'art' world."

It can be tempting, if you are not a Washington insider or intimate, to put the Chuck Hagel business out of mind.  Or try, anyway. He did so badly in the confirmation hearings that, as Stephen Hayes writes, “any senator who takes the advise-and-consent role seriously had to have real concerns about…

Two contributing editors to THE WEEKLY STANDARD analyzed Kentucky senator Ron Paul's foreign policy address earlier this week. First, Robert Kagan writes in the Washington Post:

The planned cuts to the defense budget as a result of the sequestration could mean reductions in benefits fo active members of the military and their families. Adam Kredo reports:

Senate majority leader Harry Reid helped set the precedent for looking into foreign backers when, in 2002, he demanded that Henry Kissinger reveal the source of his funders before serving on the 9/11 Commission. Kissinger refused to release his own documents, and therefore did not serve on the…

Thomas E. Ricks, who is well-sourced in Democratic national security policy circles, says there's a "50-50" chance Chuck Hagel withdraws from consideration for the secretary of defense job.

Matthew Continetti, writing at the Washington Free Beacon:

This week Russian president Vladimir Putin brought Boyz II Men to Moscow to "hopefully [give] Russian men some inspiration ahead of St. Valentine's Day," according to the Moscow Times. That is, Putin brought the music group to town to encourage love-making, and, he hopes, baby-making to offset…

Obama for America continued its metamorphosis this week into Organizing for Action (OFA), an independent organization that will advocate for various "progressive" causes, including immigration reform and gun control. The BarackObama.com website, home of the presidential campaign of Barack Obama,…

America’s military presence in the Persian Gulf serves as deterrence to Iran, reassures our increasingly nervous Arab partners, maintains peace, offers stability to our ally Israel, and has many other benefits. But nevertheless, the Pentagon earlier this week quietly announced the reduction in the…

There have been requests from U.S. senators that Chuck Hagel, who has been nominated as secretary of defense, reveal what foreign money he's received for work since leaving the Senate four years ago.

Bob Menendez staffer circulates talking points to allies.

Last week’s suicide bombing outside the U.S. embassy in Ankara, carried out by a Marxist Leninist group known as DHKP-C, drew condemnation from across the Turkish political spectrum. But the timing of the attack and the subsequent comments could not have come at a more awkward moment for Turkey.…

Last week, the Obama administration rolled out what it calls an "accommodation" for religious institutions subjected to the Obamacare mandate that forces American employers to provide, and individuals to purchase, health insurance that covers contraception, sterilizations, and the abortion drug…

The Emergency Committee for Israel has a new ad focusing on the Senate testimony from Barack Obama's defense secretary nominee, Chuck Hagel. "Today the Emergency Committee for Israel released 'Endorsed,' a 30-second TV ad that will begin airing tomorrow in Washington DC and New York," said ECI…

The Washington Free Beacon announced "The Editor's Blog" today (which, by the way, happens to be the publication's one year anniversary). Early posts on the blog include Matthew Continetti's reaction to Rand Paul's major foreign policy speech yesterday, Sonny Bunch on Spike Lee's bitterness, and…

The White House left Ambassador Chris Stevens, Glen Doherty, Tyrone Woods, and Sean Smith on their own on September 11 in Benghazi. That is the upshot of today’s Capitol Hill hearing featuring Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey.

Iowa congressman Bruce Braley told supporters in an email that he was "ready to go" and is forming a committee to run for the U.S. Senate. Braley, a Democrat from Waterloo, is hoping to succeed retiring Democrat Tom Harkin and is the first major candidate to announce his intention to run for the…

Neither the secretary of defense nor the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff spoke to the secretary of state during the 8-hour attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012. At a Thursday hearing in the Senate, Republican Ted Cruz asked both Leon Panetta and Martin…

General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appeared to be unaware that then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testified that she did not see a cable from Ambassador Christopher Stevens in August of 2012 in which the late ambassador warned the consulate in Benghazi was not…

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, admitted in a Senate hearing Thursday that no military assets, individual soldiers or aircraft, sent in response to the September 11, 2012, attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Watch…

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta testified this morning on Capitol Hill that President Barack Obama was absent the night four Americans were murdered in Benghazi on September 11, 2012:

At a hearing today on Capitol Hill, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned that sequestration will lead to America becoming a "second-rate power":

General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the State Department never requested "support" in Benghazi:

President Barack Obama kicked off this morning's prayer breakfast by saying that his "goal is to improve [his] gene pool."

Secretary of State John Kerry yawned through the morning's prayer breakfast. Via the pool report:

At this morning's prayer breakfast in Washington, D.C., President Barack Obama expressed some concern:

Two officials from the Obama administration are on the hot seat today on Capitol Hill: John Brennan, who is the president'a chief counterterrorism advisor and who has been nominated to lead the CIA, and Leon Panetta, the retiring defense secretary. For Brennan, the issue is whether he should be…

Deb Fischer of Nebraska, the state Chuck Hagel represented for many years, explains her opposition to Hagel as defense secretary:

Contractor wants out of expansion work

The U.S. military announced today that instead of keeping mulitple aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf, only one would be kept there. The reason offered? Uncertainty surrounding budget cuts.

Chicago to Obama: Come home and see the gun violence.

Georgia congressman Paul Broun announced Wednesday he is running in 2014 for the open U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Saxby Chambliss. Broun, a Republican House member since 2007, is the first major candidate to officially enter the race. Here is an excerpt from his announcement in Atlanta:

Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, tells Politico reporter Manu Raju that the committee will not vote on the nomination of Chuck Hagel for secretary of defense on Thursday, as planned:

At the Washington Examiner, Tim Carney points to JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon's admission in an interview that the Dodd-Frank financial regulation law makes it "tougher for smaller players to enter the market." Dimon says the law widens the "moat" that surrounds big banks like JPMorgan and keep smaller…

Marco Rubio, the Florida Republican senator elected in 2010, will give the Republican response to Barack Obama's state of the union address next week. From a joint statement from House speaker John Boehner and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell:

THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with Jay Cost hosted by Michael Graham:

Former state senator and Republican Corey Stapleton of Montana is jumping into the race to challenge a long-serving Senate Democrat, Max Baucus. One Republican strategist says Stapleton, a former state senator and retired officer in the Navy, has a "good story to tell," calling the small business…

This afternoon, Secretary of State John Kerry issued a statement of good wishes for those celebrating the "Lunar New Year."

The State Department today announced a basketball exchange program with Brazil, according to a press release from the federal agency. The program is, at least in part, coordinated with the National Basketball Association (NBA).

The New York Post editorializes:

Yesterday the Bulgarian government announced the results of its investigation into the July 18, 2012 bus bombing that killed 5 Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian bus driver in the city of Burgas. At least two members of what appears to have been a three-man team belong to Hezbollah. More…

BuzzFeed reports that Chuck Hagel is refusing to detail foreign funders and disclose other necessary financial information to the Senate Armed Services Committee.

On January 23, news broke that outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta had issued a directive that the military's ban on women in combat would be lifted. The New York Times reported that his decision was in response to unanimous agreement among the Joint Chiefs of Staff as expressed in a letter to…

The U.S. Postal Service will soon end Saturday delivery in the United States, except for packages, which will be delivered six days a week. Congressman Blake Farenthold, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce, U.S. Postal Service, and Census, calls the…

It’s an old basketball adage that teams that apply a full-court press don’t like to be pressed themselves. They like to force the action, not have it forced on them.  In a similar vein, those who seek to centralized power by spearheading the passage of new federal laws generally don’t like to obey…

The editors of Barack Obama's hometown paper, the Chicago Tribune, urge the president to drop the nomination of Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense. The paper endorsed Obama in two presidential elections.

Chuck Hagel is Obama's Louis Johnson.

In his ongoing zeal to remake American society according to the playbook of those who reside in the faculty lounges of the nation's most liberal colleges, President Obama now wants to engage women in combat with no apparent thought of the wider societal effects of such a decision.  It therefore…

THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with Bill Kristol hosted by Michael Graham:

According to an annual report for 2012 just released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), DHS processed a total of 205,895 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests during the year. The report, presented by Acting Chief Freedom of Information Act Officer Jonathan R. Cantor, shows that DHS…

From this morning's Washington Post:

In these days of unprecedented monetary activism by the Federal Reserve, including massive purchases every month of federal government debt, it’s nice to see even a fledgling amount of resistance from attentive citizens. A bill now making its way through the Virginia legislature would establish a…

Local news reports reveal that last night the Charlottesville, Virginia, city council voted to ban drones:

Jonathan Last spoke with Norah O'Donnell and Gayle King on CBS This Morning about his new book, What to Expect When No One's Expecting. Watch the video below:

A New York appellate court has ruled that the New York Times's request for a list of gun owners in New York City, under the Freedom of Information Law, violates the state's statute. The ruling overturns in part a lower court's ruling.

Secretary of Energy Steven Chu is leaving and in parting, writes this about his time in office and the green energy investments his department made:

Not too long ago, Florida senator Marco Rubio seemed like a very unlikely candidate to spearhead an immigration reform effort alongside the likes of John McCain and Chuck Schumer. "The most important thing we need to do is enforce our existing laws," Rubio said in a 2009 interview with Javier…

In his first foreign trip in the second term of President Barack Obama's presidency, Vice President Joe Biden is gaffing his way across Europe. Biden's three country trip has taken him from Germany to France and, finally, to the UK, where he's just finishing meetings.

Chuck Hagel is "the mediocre man," writes Bret Stephens:

The woman who still could be the next defense secretary, Michele Flournoy, has an intelligent op-ed, well worth reading, in today’s Wall Street Journal, on "The Right Way to Cut Pentagon Spending." If we're to have a defense secretary who acquiesces in cutting defense (and we will while Barack…

First it was Jon Lovett, who left his White House job as speech writer to go to Hollywood to help create the "comedy" 1600 Penn. Now, it's lead speech writer Jon Favreau, who is considering "trying his hand at another form of drama — as a screenwriter, perhaps in Los Angeles," according to the Los…

Walter Williams writes:

Tomorrow at the White House, President Barack Obama will bring in "progressive and labor leaders" for an immigration discussion. He'll also be meeting with "business leaders" to discuss the same topic.

Walter Kirn on what gun owners really want.

On the first work day since stepping down as secretary of state on Friday, a website has been launched for Hillary Clinton. The website's address is www.hillaryclintonoffice.com.

Douglas Murray, writing in the Wall Street Journal:

THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with Meghan Clyne hosted by Michael Graham:

In a press release, CBS claims that 108.41 million Americans tuned in for last night's Super Bowl:

President Barack Obama admitted today in a speech in Minnesota that his gun control policies are not a "perfect solution:

According to Fox (and others) Mitt Romney's son, Tagg “is reportedly considering a run for the open U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts.”

The Emergency Committee for Israel has released a new ad called "confusion," which highlights Chuck Hagel's rocky performance in last week's Senate hearing:

According to Fox (and others) Mitt Romney's son, Tagg “is reportedly considering a run for the open U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts.”

After a meeting today in Paris with the French president, Francois Hollande, Vice President Joe Biden praised "the incredible competence and capability" of the French military. He was specifically referring to the recent military action taken by the French in Mali.

At the Presidential Palace in Paris, France this afternoon, Vice President Joe Biden complimented the French president, Francois Hollande, for sounding exactly like President Barack Obama on "climate change." The only difference, according to Biden? Hollande speaks French, and Obama speaks English.

Our own Jonathan V. Last, writing in this weekend's Wall Street Journal, on America's baby bust:

Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, blasts President Barack Obama in a statement for breaking the law by refusing to submit an annual budget. "President Obama is required by law to submit his budget request for Fiscal Year 2014. For the fourth time in five years, however, he will…

Former Republican governor William Weld of Massachusetts says he isn't seeking Secretary of State John Kerry's Senate seat. NBC reports:

Dorothy Rabinowitz writes: 

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will travel to California and Texas today and tomorrow "to inspect border security," the federal agency announced today.

The top Republican in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, said over the weekend that opposition to the nomination of Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense is "intensifying." The second highest ranking Republican in the Senate, John Cornyn of Texas, has been leading the charge against Hagel.

Kathleen Parker writes: 

Before reading it, I had already decided to dislike this book. I had assumed, incorrectly, that it must be another clever panegyric on something traditionally thought of as a vice. I’ve grown weary of volumes purporting to reveal the hidden virtues of (to recall a few works from the last decade or…

Many, many thoughts crossed my mind as Richard Blanco finished reading his inaugural poem at President Obama’s swearing-in last week. Well, I guess it could have been worse was not one of them. But now I know: It could have been worse.

Peterborough, N.H.

For over two decades, I have been arguing against the idea of placing American women in combat or in support positions associated with direct ground combat. I base my position on three factors. First, there are substantial physical differences between men and women that place the latter at a…

Hillary Clinton’s testimony last week on Benghazi was in many respects a fitting end to the multi-layered scandal that seems unlikely ever to grow beyond scandal childhood, at least in the minds of those responsible for determining what is and is not scandalous in Washington.

Tel Aviv

As good as President Obama is at blaming others, he’s just as egregious at failing to give people credit when he uses their thoughts in a speech. The prime example: his second Inaugural Address delivered last week.

On the strength of half-a-century’s work with newspaper people, I can confidently say that no cadre of that tribe is subject to greater superstition than Washington reporters. It seems a settled prejudice that all reporters, everywhere, are puffed-up Pulitzer-seekers and partisans in disguise,…

In this hugely informative and highly entertaining study, Camille Paglia argues that to survive in our frenetic visual environment, we need to refocus our eyes on the sculptures and paintings and other works that compose the sweeping artistic patrimony of the West. As she notes, “Looking at art…

Paul Ryan is chairman of the House Budget Committee, an unofficial but influential member of the House Republican leadership, and a loyal ally of Speaker John Boehner. As such, he is counseling “prudence” in dealing with President Obama, which he defines as “choosing your fights wisely and not…

Federal courts no longer check federal power. That’s been the disappointing truth of contemporary America, culminating in the Supreme Court’s timorous ruling upholding Obamacare last year. But 2013 could be very different. The first month of the year saw a number of cases that suggest the judicial…

After retaking Russia’s presidency last year, Vladimir Putin seemed to be headed for master-of-the-universe status. The political stage had been cleared of potential challengers to his power. The protest movement that had risen in December 2011 in response to his planned reelection had dwindled by…

When everything changes, what should be done?

Henry IX is one of the most interesting monarchs Britain never had.

President Obama has gone on the offensive at the beginning of his second term, and Republicans aren’t happy campers. Of course, every Republican camp is unhappy in its own way.

One thing Hillary Clinton got right in her testimony before Congress last week: “When America is absent,” she said, “there are consequences.” But the administration she served has chosen to be absent, and we are seeing the consequences play out, from North Africa to the Levant, where the unchecked…

Tony Tomelden never wanted to be a First Amendment crusader. A lifelong resident of Washington, D.C., he’s a working-class guy in a town that’s consumed by politics. He runs a bar called The Pug. And it’s not just any bar, it’s the best bar in the city. That may be my opinion, but Googling the…

Roe v. Wade turned 40 last week, and we were finally greeted with some bracing honesty from those arguing for abortion on demand. But if Salon’s Mary Elizabeth Williams is to be commended for her honesty, it must be said her forthright argument is chilling. How’s this for a headline: “So what if…

A senior Defense Department official said the ban on women in combat should be lifted because the military's goal is "to provide a level, gender-neutral playing field." I'd like to think the goal of the military should be to have the toughest, meanest fighting force possible. But let's look at…

If you lived in the decade following World War II in the American Southwest or a goodly portion of the South and were a baseball fan, there is a good chance you were a fan of the St. Louis Cardinals. And if you were a Cardinals fan during this period, you almost certainly thought that Stan “the…

Last week, in a blog post titled, "Super Bowl City Leads on Energy Efficient Forefront," the Energy Department touted the Superdome's lights. The Superdome, in New Orleans, is hosting tonight's Super Bowl, where a power outage stopped play for more than half an hour.

A power outage disrupted play at the Super Bowl in New Orleans tonight. Here's video:

President Barack Obama said today in a pre-Super Bowl interview that he has no hesitation about sending women to the frontlines of combat:

President Barack Obama said today in a pre-Super Bowl interview that Boy Scouts should lift its ban on gays:

In a pre-Super Bowl interview on CBS, President Barack Obama made clear that he intends to raise taxes again:

The Super Bowl is, as everyone knows, the biggest thing in sports.  And television.  Which are, increasingly, indistinguishable.  The game is routinely the highest rated program of the year.  Any year.  In fact, three of the four most highly rated shows of all time are Super Bowls.  And those would…

Chuck Hagel, who has been nominated by President Obama to be the secretary of defense, does not understand the defense budget. Gary Schmitt explains:

New York passed some new firearms legislation last month, and according to the Utica Observer-Dispatch:

Former White House senior adviser David Plouffe took to Twitter to preemptively mock those who might believe the photograph of President Obama shooting a firearm is fake:

This morning, the White House released a photo of President Obama shooting a gun:

In his weekly address, President Barack Obama blamed the economic problems on "bad decisions."

At the Munich Security Conference today, Vice President Joe Biden revealed that President Barack Obama "doesn't want to go" to Iraq and Afghanistan. The audience laughed. 

It took only a tiny drop of .01 percent in fourth quarter GDP to produce another battle in the ideological war that is going on in Washington. Republicans blame it on the president’s spending and deficits, the president and his team on the congressional Republicans they call a “major headwind” and…

The editors of National Review write:

Senator Dan Coats delivered these remarks on the floor of the Senate in opposition to Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense:

Former President George W. Bush released this statement, mourning the passing of his dog, Barney Bush:

In a statement to the press, Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois opposes the nomination of Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense:

THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with Fred Barnes hosted by Michael Graham:

Vietnam veteran and ex-Senator Chuck Hagel (R-Isolation) made a stunning impression in his audition for the role of secretary of defense yesterday, though it was not quite the one that he wished. "Though he was being asked about things he had said over the course of the past 15 years, it was what…

An advisor to President Obama describes Chuck Hagel's hearing as, "somewhere between baffling and incomprehensible." The advisor made the comment to the New York Times.

On October 3, 2005, President George W. Bush announced his intention to nominate his White House counsel, Harriet Miers, to succeed Sandra Day O’Connor as an associate justice of the Supreme Court. On October 27, after vigorous statements of opposition from conservatives and quiet expressions of…

Scott Brown, the Massachsuetts Republican who won a special election to the Senate in 2010 but was defeated last year, wil not run for the Senate seat being vacated by John Kerry. Here's part of a statement from Brown:

In a new book on demographics set to be published next week, Jonathan V. Last writes that pets now outnumber children 4 to 1 in America. The book is titled What to Expect When No One’s Expecting.

John Kerry says that President Obama offered him the secretary of state job a week before Susan Rice publicly pulled out of the running for the job.

In Germany for the Munich Security Conference, Vice President Joe Biden sounded relieved. "It’s a delight to be back in Germany," he said. "I -- the President, since I’m the Vice President, sends me mostly to Afghanistan and Iraq.  It’s a pleasure to be back in Germany.  And it’s a pleasure to see…

In a press release, USA Network announces that is has "[Launched] Characters Unite Month to Combat Hate, Intolerance & Discrimination."

CNN reports: 

Today's unemployment rate, which states the unemployment rate has ticked up to 7.9 percent, prompts the White House to say, "[T]oday’s employment report provides further evidence that the U.S. economy is continuing to heal from the wounds inflicted by the worst downturn since the Great Depression."

After yesterday's nomination hearing of Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense, CBS's Bob Schieffer says, "I think his nomination may be in trouble."

Texas senator Ted Cruz, writing in Politico:

The Associated Press reports:

In a farewell speech today at the Council on Foreign Relations, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made clear that we, the United States, "welcome China's rise." Clinton is expected to step down from her current perch tomorrow, and John Kerry will take her place.