Are you running for president?” For aspiring presidents who haven’t fully committed to running, the question is almost impossible to answer in a way that sounds genuine. “I haven’t given it much thought” means “I’ve been planning to run since I was a teenager but haven’t decided if this is the…
The dream lives on.
Adam J. White on what happens when the commander in chief takes the mound.
The Herbert Hoover of historical memory is a distant person, mostly recalled as the president who presided ineffectually over the early years of the Great Depression. Kenneth Whyte’s fine full-life biography reminds us that Hoover was himself a man of action and a remarkable American success story.…
The New York Times reported Monday morning that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and a business associate were ordered to surrender to federal authorities. News broke Friday that special counsel Robert Mueller had filed the first charges in his investigation into Russia’s meddling in…
Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. possessed the most sparkling intelligence of his generation of historians. He may not have had the most subtle or profound mind, but his was the most effervescent disposition, and no one could surpass him in sheer energy, knowledge, and skill as scholar and writer.…
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Wednesday denied an NBC report that claimed he angrily considered quitting the administration in July before being dissuaded by Vice President Mike Pence.
One day, when he was running for the Democratic nomination for president in 1976, Jimmy Carter was asked what he thought about Hubert Humphrey. In fairness to Carter, it should be remembered that Humphrey—the former vice president and 1968 Democratic candidate—was lurking in the background that…
Even before the Senate failed to pass a weak health care reform bill in mid-July, congressional Republicans were rationalizing their failure: Health care wasn’t their issue, they reasoned. But tax reform—now there was something they could win with.
Even before the Senate failed to pass a weak health care reform bill in mid-July, congressional Republicans were rationalizing their failure: Health care wasn’t their issue, they reasoned. But tax reform—now there was something they could win with.
Since the defeat of the Obamacare repeal effort in the Senate, President Donald Trump has seemed to be on the warpath against the upper chamber. He has made negative comments about a number of Republican senators, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Some reports suggest he may strike out on…
Vice President Henry Wallace once observed of his boss, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, “He doesn't know any man and no man knows him. Even his own family doesn't know anything about him." It's not surprising that Wallace would think ill of a man who dumped him from the ticket while seeking a fourth…
If there's a president of the United States who likes the press, he has not yet been elected. Of course, in modern times, there have been presidents who charmed certain columnists and correspondents (John F. Kennedy) or liked to banter with the White House press corps (Franklin D. Roosevelt). But…
If there’s a president of the United States who likes the press, he has not yet been elected. Of course, in modern times, there have been presidents who charmed certain columnists and correspondents (John F. Kennedy) or liked to banter with the White House press corps (Franklin D. Roosevelt). But…
Up to now, The Scrapbook has looked skeptically at rankings of presidents by historians. They tend to be biased, trendy, superficial, and based on no little myth. The only thing worse than getting historians—liberals, for the most part—to do the ordering would be to ask sociologists. Yet we…
Up to now, The Scrapbook has looked skeptically at rankings of presidents by historians. They tend to be biased, trendy, superficial, and based on no little myth. The only thing worse than getting historians—liberals, for the most part—to do the ordering would be to ask sociologists. Yet we…
Ronald Reagan loved Washington but disliked the government. George W. Bush hated Washington but liked the government. Donald Trump loathes both Washington and the government.
Ronald Reagan loved Washington but disliked the government. George W. Bush hated Washington but liked the government. Donald Trump loathes both Washington and the government.
Who has time for history, and a guide to managing disasters of the future, when such vast, self-inflicted damage—the legacy of Obamaism, the promise of Trumpism come to mind—must be dealt with at the moment? Here's a wager: Tevi Troy's new book will do well now. It's carefully researched, well…
Who has time for history, and a guide to managing disasters of the future, when such vast, self-inflicted damage—the legacy of Obamaism, the promise of Trumpism come to mind—must be dealt with at the moment? Here's a wager: Tevi Troy's new book will do well now. It's carefully researched, well…
It may well be, as Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter suggests, that Donald Trump represents "the final stage of a dumbed-down America"—a process that seems to have begun, by Carter's reckoning, with George W. Bush. Trump, writes the novelist Richard Ford in the Times Literary Supplement, is "a…
It may well be, as Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter suggests, that Donald Trump represents “the final stage of a dumbed-down America"—a process that seems to have begun, by Carter's reckoning, with George W. Bush. Trump, writes the novelist Richard Ford in the Times Literary Supplement, is "a…
The latest episode of Conversations with Bill Kristol features Elliott Abrams, former assistant secretary of state in the Reagan administration and deputy national security advisor in the George W. Bush White House.
Tevi Troy, a WEEKLY STANDARD contributor, historian, and veteran of the George W. Bush White House, has a new book out—Shall We Wake the President?: Two Centuries of Disaster Management from the Oval Office. The book is a fascinating look at a crucial, and sadly overlooked, aspect of policymaking.…
This week, the Washington Post fact-checked Donald Trump's charge that Hillary Clinton does not have "a presidential look."
Conservatives, temperamentally respectful of the past, uncertain about the present, and doubtful of the future, are often inclined to embrace the notion that their age is one of decadence. We at The Weekly Standard have tended to resist this temptation. While we might admire works like Jacques…
When Ronald Reagan ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 1980, the top issue was the sour economy. Reagan’s solution was a 30 percent, across-the-board cut in individual income tax rates. As nominee, he stuck with the big tax-cut as his main message. And he followed through as…
As I watched the last few Republican debates, I was distracted, not for the first time, by a most nonpolitical thought: Don't they feel silly all wearing blue suits, white shirts, and red ties?
The February 13 debate in South Carolina provided a clarifying moment for this year's GOP presidential race. Donald Trump claimed that the administration of George W. Bush had engaged in a massive conspiracy to mislead the world about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. "They lied," Trump…
"The presidency is not some Jet Ski that you ride over the waves of partisanship." (Linda Overby, Hillary Clinton supporter, to the Washington Post, February 15, 2016.)
Donald Trump got everything he wanted in New Hampshire primary—and a whole lot more. He's not only a stronger frontrunner in the Republican race than ever; he's now in the driver's seat on the road to the presidential nomination.
In few cases in its long history has the Supreme Court had occasion to interpret Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution, which provides that the president “shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed." This year it may have another. We'll know by the end of the Court's term in June,…
Des Moines, Iowa
A good-looking young senator, short on experience, is seeking the White House, after what critics say are too few years served in the job he is holding, too few accomplishments in it, and altogether too little of the experience, tempering, grooming, and seasoning they think that a president needs.…
The Scrapbook’s commute is probably no worse than that of many of our readers who live in urban areas, which is to say that it's almost never pleasant and is also highly unpredictable. President Obama's appearance at the National Prayer Breakfast on February 4, for example, added a good 30 minutes…
Do Republicans deserve to lose? Consider the state of play as we write this in late January, just days from the first GOP nominating contests.
Well, we’ve endured 2015, the next to last year of the Obama administration. It's not been without damage to the country—both to its constitutional fabric and its standing in the world. But endured we have. One more year to go.
With a little more than a year left in his presidency, Barack Obama has lately been in an elegiac mood, projecting a certain nervous confidence—"I've got 12 months left to squeeze every ounce of change I can while I'm still in office"—as well as reflecting on the lessons of experience. Most of his…
On January 15, 1787, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote proudly from Prague to his friend Baron Gottfried von Jacquin: "Here nothing is talked about except Figaro; nothing is played, blown, sung, and whistled except Figaro; no opera draws the crowds like Figaro. It's always Figaro. Certainly it's a…
You're worried. Okay, you're alarmed. Actually, you're panicked. Donald Trump will be the nominee and destroy the party. It's embarrassing for the GOP that Ben Carson has so much support. Marco Rubio will be judged by voters too young and inexperienced for the Oval Office. Ted Cruz would be a…
Coming up on his final year in office, the president’s mind is doubtless on his legacy. More, perhaps, than other presidents had been when they were running out the string. Obama is something of a literary man, after all, having published a best-selling memoir before his election. He is accustomed…
President Obama admitted in an interview with Bill Simmons that "a certain arrogance crept in" during the first two years of his presidency. The rare admission came in response to a question about what he'd tell himself if could go back to 2008 and tell himself one thing.
As we approach the third Republican presidential debate, conservatives should consider what they expect the next president to accomplish.
When you’ve been involved in presidential politics as long as Charlie Black, things get pretty simple. A good candidate is one who can communicate and isn’t mistake-prone. News coverage matters as much as ever. “The basic things don’t change,” he says.
Vice President Joe Biden announced today, standing alongside his wife Jill and President Obama, that he will not be seeking the presidency in 2016.
By most accounts, Joe Biden is very close to running for president. His entry would shake up the Democratic race. But could he possibly defeat Hillary Clinton?
President Barack Obama talked about Hillary Clinton's recent disagreements with his Syria policy by saying "there's a difference between running for president and being president."
In defending the Iran nuclear deal to Congress, President Obama and his staff argued repeatedly that rejection would leave America in dire isolation at the United Nations. Obama can now relax. Having used slash-and-burn executive tactics to roll right over a dissenting majority in Congress and a…
Hillary Clinton has attacked Donald Trump because he didn't rebuke an audience member who asserted President Obama is a Muslim, and not American.
Republicans debated on the eve of Constitution Day, and did our founding document more justice than usual. The Republican debate on CNN was full of impressive performances by nearly all the candidates—and most who addressed the Constitution did so in a less clichéd way than they typically do.
Mahomet made the people believe that he would call a hill to him, and from the top of it offer up his prayers, for the observers of his law. The people assembled; Mahomet called the hill to come to him, again and again; and when the hill stood still, he was never a whit abashed, but said, If the…
The American people believe the country is heading in the wrong direction. When pollsters ask whether the country is on the right or the wrong track, wrong track prevails by better than two to one. And the American people are right. We are going the wrong way: The economy isn’t strong, the…
Storm Lake, Iowa
Last week the White House puffed its feathers when Barbara Mikulski became the 34th Democratic senator to come out in favor of the nuclear deal with Iran. Mikulski’s support ensures enough votes in Obama’s pocket to sustain a presidential veto on a resolution of disapproval, but it’s still not…
In a speech today about the Iran deal at the Brookings Institution, Hillary Clinton mentioned Russia and Vladimir Putin. She defended her Russia Reset, and then said something strange:
It’s been a rough month for Scott Walker. From February through July, the Wisconsin governor topped virtually every poll of likely GOP voters in the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses. But after a lackluster performance in the opening Republican presidential debate on August 6, Walker dropped nearly…
More than a few Republican graybeards are panicking about how the rise of Donald Trump is pulling at the seams of the GOP’s big tent. However, the Republican establishment itself has played a big role in creating this particular Frankenstein’s monster.
‘The Muse of History must not be fastidious.” Thus Churchill the historian. But as Churchill the politician knew, the Muse of Politics must not be fastidious either.
The late great comedian Milton Berle, when introduced to an enthusiastically applauding audience, would hold up his left hand in a modest gesture as if to say thank you but that’s enough, and with his right hand held at waist level encouraged the audience to even wilder applause. President Obama…
If this was meant to be entertainment, all 10 Flying Wallendas refused to walk the high wire, none of the clowns got out of the tiny car, and the elephants just stood around relieving themselves.
The idea of writing a book about a presidential campaign that never happened had not occurred to Don Cogman. He had spent two years trying to get Mitch Daniels, then governor of Indiana, to run for president in 2012. His effort—and it was no small effort—had failed. Daniels had moved on, right out…
The Scrapbook can’t pretend to have had a misspent youth. But we did occasionally wallow in the spectacle of pro wrestling. And it’s pretty obviously the case, as a handful of astute observers have pointed out, that Donald Trump is a close student of, and has been deeply influenced by, the dramatic…
Needless to say, The Scrapbook is strictly neutral on the results of last week’s Republican presidential debate on Fox News. So neutral, in fact, that we won’t even mention any of the highlights—or lowlights, if you prefer—and certainly won’t weigh in on who swept the floor with whom, who…
In Africa today, President Obama said that he think he's a "pretty good president." So good, indeed, that if he ran for a third term, he "could win." But he cannot, he acknowledged, because it's against the law.
President Obama had a moment of impressive moral clarity at his Iran press conference Wednesday. It was when he was asked about Bill Cosby.
One might think that after the last Iraq war Democrats would be wary of allowing intelligence to dictate policy. Yet that is effectively what Barack Obama has done with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action signed in Vienna on July 14. The agreement with Iran is strategically premised on the…
In his first Inaugural Address, President Obama offered an open hand to the Iranian regime. On July 14, announcing the nuclear deal that is the culmination of that overture, he shook a closed fist at the American people. The president came out swinging—not at the regime in Tehran but at his…
‘Without this deal,” said President Obama on Tuesday, “there is no scenario where the world joins us in sanctioning Iran until it completely dismantles its nuclear program.” That was nothing new. Throughout the negotiations with Iran, “the world” has been one of the president’s favorite defenses…
Our attention was drawn last week to the presidential campaign of Lindsey Graham. The Scrapbook likes and admires Graham, the veteran Republican senator from South Carolina, but concedes that he is probably not the likely nominee. Graham’s specialty is foreign relations, which never plays a…
The media have no problem concocting scandals almost out of thin air when it comes to GOP candidates, so The Scrapbook continues to be agape at the journalistic treatment of this season’s Democratic field. When the media aren’t ignoring questions surrounding Hillary Clinton’s billion-dollar slush…
Fresh off its widely-mocked exclusive on the traffic citations given Marco and Jeannette Rubio – fewer than one per year, combined – the New York Times has an in-depth look at Scott Walker and the wealthy conservatives who backed him throughout his rise to national prominence. It’s a classic of the…
On May 14, I joined a tiny, highly exclusive group of Republicans, namely those who have decided not to seek our party’s presidential nomination. By contrast, the coach section of the party contains perhaps two dozen people who have announced (or soon will) their availability. Good luck to them all…
Martin O'Malley's team is teasing supporters in the lead up to an announcement about whether he will run for president of the Untied States. The opening line of an afternoon email to supporters reads, "Is he in or is he out? Will he run or won’t he?"
A year after news broke of the waiting list scandal at the Veterans Affairs medical facility in Phoenix, Arizona, President Obama finally visited the facility in March. And while they didn't quite roll out the red carpet for the president, they did clean the floors -- and spent $5,000 to do it.
Miami
In winning Nigeria’s presidency on his fourth try, Muhammadu Buhari, former military dictator and proponent of sharia, may have answered the Nigerian question: Is the big West African country more than a geographical entity—does it have a sense of nationhood transcending sectional and religious…
Look, this is happening. It's a thing. Remember the jokes that started in 1992 with "two Clintons for the price of one"? Remember the incredulity of people in 1999 when it was quietly suggested that the first lady of the United States might decamp to New York and place a Senate seat into her carpet…
Out on the Twitters, people have been generally down on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign logo. The New York Times’s Nate Cohn said it looked like a hospital sign. Others suggested it looked like the Cuban flag. Or the Fed-Ex brand. Box CEO Aaron Levie said it looked like it was drawn with MS Paint.…
Republican Carly Fiorina, a possible presidential candidate, reacts to Hillary Clinton's entry into the 2016 race.
Vice President Dick Cheney had harsh criticism for President Barack Obama in an interview last night with radio host Hugh Hewitt.
One of many startling statements in President's Obama interview with Tom Friedman is his assertion that he's seeking “to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see whether or not we can at least take the nuclear issue off the table.”
Today in Massachusetts, at a ceremony for the the Edward M. Kennedy Institute, Senator Elizabeth Warren borrowed President Obama's lectern for a bit. Behind the lectern, Warren looked almost presidential:
California governor Jerry Brown said, "Yes, I would" run for president if I were ten years younger. He made the remarks this morning to NBC:
President Obama insisted in an interview with the Huffington Post that "by hook or by crook" he'll be a successful president. He made the comments in answering a question about whether he'd become a "more progressive president over time."
Is Hillary toast?
Al Gore is "gaining steam" in the presidential race, stated a report last night from Fox News. Watch Peter Doocy's report on Bret Baier's Special Report:
Boy, that didn’t take long. Over the span of a few short days in late January and early February, three members of the top tier of Republican presidential candidates demonstrated why they’ll never be president. They didn’t do anything to disqualify themselves directly, just revealed the traits that…
John Kerry told NBC's Chuck Todd this morning that he won't say "never" to running for president again. But, Kerry said, he's been "pretty busy."
THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with staff writer Michael Warren on Jeb Bush's announcement.
Elizabeth Warren says she currently is not running for president. But in an NPR interview, the Democratic senator from Massachusetts refuses to go beyond the present tense.
Ohio senator Rob Portman has decided not to run for president in 2016. “It’s a great honor to represent the people of Ohio in the U.S. Senate, and I have decided to run for re-election in 2016. I am excited about continuing to serve, especially with the change in the Senate leadership," Portman…
Fred Barnes, writing in the Wall Street Journal:
President Obama does not want to be a Supreme Court justice. He calls it "too monastic" for his own personality. Besides, in an interview with the New Yorker, President Obama acknowledges that he needs to get out of the "bubble" after what will be eight years as president of the United States.
At a stop today in Santa Monica, President Obama was offered a job at a start-up. From the pool report:
President Obama was asked whether he'll be delaying executive action on immigration until after the mid-term election. He told reporters he was still reviewing options but that he's going to act "within the legal constraints of my office."
Google has not been kind to Rick Perry. Type in “Rick Perry gaffe” and you get 111,000 results. Google also offers “searches related to Rick Perry gaffe.” These include “Rick Perry drunk speech, Rick Perry oops, Rick Perry gaffe YouTube, Rick Perry gaffe debate . . . Rick Perry video, Rick Perry…
President Obama was asked whether he wanted to smoke marijuana by a fellow patron of a Denver bar last night. The offer came from Instagram user manton89, who posted video of the ask on his Instagram account. "Asked him if he wanted a hit of pot...he laughed!" writes manton89 .
Two and a half years ago, President Obama tired of the Senate's refusal to confirm several of his nominations. Dissatisfied with the Constitution's general requirement that the president make appointments only after receiving the Senate's "advice and consent," he chose a more direct route. He…
In late March of this year, President Obama stayed in Brussels, Belgium for about 24 hours on a weeklong trip through Europe. Lodging at The Hotel in Brussels cost $1.5 million, as we reported in April, including rooms for the president and his entourage, as well as for the advance team in the…
President Obama "quipped" today during a visit to Monticello with the French president, "That's the good thing about being president, I can do whatever I want."
Brian Schweitzer sounds content with being a “former” pol. As we chat on the phone, he is looking out the window of his home on Georgetown Lake in western Montana. By mid-November, the lake is frozen, and the Pintler Mountains to the south are covered with snow. Schweitzer’s home sits at the end of…
The WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with staff writer Michael Warren on his recent piece Schweitzer Takes Aim, and how the populist former Democratic governor of Montana might challenge Hillary Clinton in 2016.
In an impressive display of chutzpah, the Tampa Bay Times' fact-checking organization PolitiFact has designated President Obama's promise that "If you like your health care plan, you can keep it" as their "Lie of the Year" for 2013 while simultaneously distancing itself from its own years-long…
At the start of last month’s government shutdown, a mostly overlooked message emanated from the Twitter account of Michelle Obama, informing her followers: “Due to Congress’s failure to pass legislation to fund the government, updates to this account will be limited.” The conventions of American…
Now that President Obama’s oft-repeated claim that Obamacare lets people keep their current health insurance has been exposed as false, it’s a good time to examine Politifact’s track record on the matter. It isn’t good.
President Obama announced today that he talked on the phone with Iranian president Rouhani:
NBC's Ann Curry donned a head scarf to interview Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, according to a picture released by the Iranian leader:
War presidents don’t quibble. They don’t leak. They don’t go AWOL. They aren’t dispirited or downbeat. They aren’t ambivalent about the mission. And most important of all, war presidents are never irresolute.
In an interview with Parade magazine, First Lady Michelle Obama says "No" when asked whether she'll "ever run" for president of the United States.
On the cusp of the July 4 holiday weekend, President Obama quietly announced (via an underling’s blog post) that he had unilaterally chosen to delay Obamacare’s employer mandate—its requirement that businesses with 50 or more workers provide federally approved health insurance. Obama claims to…
Barack Obama knows how much time he has left as president of the United States. He said so last night at an Organizing For Action event in Washington, D.C.
President Obama is spending today, the day after the Fourth of July holiday, hitting the links. Via the pool reporter, he's with his buddies Martin Nesbitt and Dr. Eric Whitaker:
One might expect Keith Alexander to advocate on behalf of the two programs at the center of our national debate about terrorism and surveillance. He is, after all, the head of the National Security Agency, which runs them. “It’s dozens of terrorist events that these have helped prevent—both here…
President Obama was heckled during his national security speech today:
In a commencement ceremony address to Morehouse College yesterday in Atlanta, President Obama made a joke at his wife Michelle's expense.
There is a great tendency both here and abroad to concentrate on the entertaining features of American politics:
In a Google hangout last evening, President Barack Obama explained that his problem is that he's "not the emperor of the United States":
In a joint interview with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama, Clinton reveals that Obama knew all along that expectations were set too high for him when he first came into office:
Four years ago today, on January 22, 2009, President Barack Obama signed "EXECUTIVE ORDER -- REVIEW AND DISPOSITION OF INDIVIDUALS DETAINED AT THE GUANTÁNAMO BAY NAVAL BASE AND CLOSURE OF DETENTION FACILITIES." In particular, the executive order stated:
Barack Obama was sworn in today as president for the second time. The small ceremony took place in the White House's Blue Room:
Samuel L. Jackson has faith in First Lady Michelle Obama.
The Houston Chronicle reports:
In an interview with the Huffington Post, MSNBC president Phil Griffin tries to push back against the notion that his channel has become a mouth-piece for President Barack Obama.
Republicans never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. In 2010, they failed to win the Senate when it was theirs for the taking. Now they’ve lost the White House to President Obama, despite his poor record and the likelihood things won’t get any better in his second term. And they failed…
The good thing about the presidential debates is that they give us a clear idea of where each candidate wants to take the country. Not in great detail, with every twist and turn on the road to each man’s promised land marked off, but in terms of the general direction. Obama wants more government,…
A new ad from American Crossroads, with a James Bond theme:
The San Diego Union-Tribune, the 3rd-largest paper in California, offers a scathing, point-by-point indictment of President Obama's presidency—focusing particularly on Obamacare—and asks whether we've ever had a worse president. The Union-Tribune writes of Obama:
Peter Robinson interviews former President George W. Bush for this week's edition of Uncommon Knowledge:
The chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Darrell Issa, blasted President Obama for failing to run a transparent administration in a radio interview earlier today with Laura Ingraham.
The memorial to Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed by architect Frank Gehry fails miserably to capture the essence of our 34th president. Bruce Cole’s article “Doing Right by Ike” in a recent issue of THE WEEKLY STANDARD makes this point, coupled with this indisputable plea: Let’s give Ike the memorial…
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney released the following statement in response to President Obama's reelection campaign speech in Ohio: “Now when [President Obama] was recently elected he went on ‘The Today Show’ and he was asked about what he’d do, how he’d measure his success, and he…
Earlier today, President Obama assured Americans that "the private sector is doing fine." Now, Republican Mitt Romney has responded by saying that the president is "out of touch."
Roger Simon has an interesting and amusing piece at Politico about Bill Clinton's recent shenanigans undercutting Barack Obama. Its only problem is its premise, captured in its title: “Bill Clinton out of control on 2012.” But that's not the case. It's in fact perfectly evident that Bill Clinton is…
The men and women who go the hard yards to cover the White House belong to an organization that calls itself the White House Correspondent's Association. This outfit puts on a little soiree every year, where members can decompress after the tortures of being condescended to, hour after hour, by…
There's been a lot of speculation about whether Chris Christie will decide to run for president now that Rick Perry is slipping in the polls. This report from former New Jersey Governor Tom Kean might be the most concrete evidence yet that Christie may run:
Now more than halfway through his third year in office—with the economy flat-lining, American prestige evaporating, and public anxiety spiking—Barack Obama is the most vulnerable incumbent president since Jimmy Carter. The election is still 14 months away, but it’s not too early to see the broad…
I was struck by these sentences in President Obama’s speech:
President Obama, at a speech earlier today at the National Council of La Raza, indicated that he "need[s] a dance partner here -- and the floor is empty."
I knew pretty early on during tonight’s speech that President Obama had rejoined—or joined—the historical American foreign policy mainstream. It was when he mentioned Charlotte (the city, not the spider):
“Mr. Obama has told people that it would be so much easier to be the president of China. As one official put it, ‘No one is scrutinizing Hu Jintao’s words in Tahrir Square.’”
President Obama’s speech in Tucson was fine, as far as it went. The protocol in such circumstances seems to require presidents to call for healing, unity, civility, fellowship, and a determination to move forward, as well as a shout-out to heroes and victims. The president appears to have done all…
For me, the great political mystery of the last two years is not what makes Barack Obama tick, or where the Tea Party came from, but Hillary Clinton. Namely, why did she give up life tenure in a U.S. Senate seat from New York to join the Obama administration as secretary of state? I seem to be…
Last week House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio delivered a stinging critique of the Obama administration’s economic policies. But the White House’s swift and tart reaction to Boehner was both illuminating and sadly predictable.
The more the merrier, so bless me God! Our love can thrive in company great; our honour more and never less. —from “Pearl,” late 14th century The Republican presidential nominee is likely to win the White House in 2016. Since 1952, with the only exception being “Reagan’s third term” in 1988,…