Overview for David Frum in Print

The Un's Tsunami Power Play

Disasters bring out both the best and worst in human nature. The tsunami that struck South Asia last week has inspired generosity and compassion in millions of people around the world. It has also created opportunities for profiteering and advantage-seeking -- and some of the very worst offenders …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday January 4, 2005

Gop, You Are Warned

No issue, not one, threatens to do more damage to the Republican coalition than immigration. There's no issue where the beliefs and interests of the party rank-and-file diverge more radically from the beliefs and interests of the party's leaders. Immigration for Republicans in 2005 is what crime …

Written by David Frum on Friday December 31, 2004

Ottawa Isn't Making It Easy To Have Children

Last week, I described the dangers posed by Canada's low fertility rate: 1.5, less than three-quarters the number necessary to replace the existing population. (That column can be found in the 2004 archive of my Web site, www.davidfrum.com.) This week, it's time to talk about answers. Children …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday December 28, 2004

Unto Canada, Too Few Children Are Born

Christians this week celebrate the most important birthday in the history of the world. Christmas is a glad event even for those of us not of Christian faith. And yet there is a hint of sadness in all these nativity scenes: For in our day-to-day secular context, nativity is becoming a rarer and …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday December 21, 2004

A Blow To Canada's Families

'We've had gay and lesbian marriages in six provinces for almost a year and society hasn't collapsed." So said NDP MP Bill Siksay in the House of Commons last week. You have to wonder: Isn't that setting the policy bar a little low? Normally, we expect a new government idea to pass a higher …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday December 14, 2004

Returning To The Fold

Is Canada rejoining the Western alliance? For a decade, the Chretien government seemed to take pride and pleasure in tweaking and teasing the United States and Britain. On issues ranging from border security to Iraq, Jean Chretien and foreign minister Bill Graham seemed to be auditioning for roles …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday December 7, 2004

Straight Talk From Harper's Tories

It's hard to figure out which bias is stronger in the Canadian press: its hatred of Stockwell Day or its enthusiasm for the late Yasser Arafat. Combine the two and you get quite an explosion -- as The Canadian Press proved with an almost heroically biased hit piece on Mr. Day last week. There …

Written by David Frum on Thursday December 2, 2004

Why Bush Is All Charm Now

WASHINGTON--George Bush's event planners have learned something from history. When Ronald Reagan spoke to Parliament in 1987, he was interrupted by heckling from the NDP benches led by Svend Robinson. That was almost two decades ago, but the lesson has been absorbed: A presidential visit offers …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday November 30, 2004

Powell's Loyalty The Real Issue

WASHINGTON - Colin Powell's resignation as Secretary of State was one of those surprises that should have come as no surprise at all. Foreign-policy Washington has been gossiping for a week now about the new consulting firm Powell and his top aide and best friend Richard Armitage will soon be …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday November 16, 2004

The Perils Of A Rising Loonie

News reports say that President Bush has accepted an invitation to visit Canada. This is good news -- a sign that the childish anti-Americanism of the Chretien years has been laid aside. It is news that comes just in time, for Canada now faces a stark new challenge from the United States: not war …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday November 9, 2004

Astonishing Night When America Chose The Strong Man

Election day began badly for the Republicans. At 1pm, the first exit polls began to circulate on the internet. They showed startling leads for John Kerry. Another round of polls circulated at 2, then a third a little past 4. True, there were peculiarities in these early exit poll numbers. One …

Written by David Frum on Thursday November 4, 2004

The Final Push

"Whatever it takes." - From George W.Bush's acceptance speech at the Republican Convention, September 2, 2004 "Not necessarily." - John Kerry's reply to Mr Bush's charge that Mr Kerry would have left Saddam Hussein in power, October 8, 2004 In case anybody needed reminding of what this US …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday November 2, 2004

The Case For George W. Bush

LetÕs start with the bad news. George Bush is not the most eloquent president in the history of the United States. HeÕs not the best-read either. Like most of us, heÕs riddled with flaws and imperfections. And heÕs made some mistakes as president. ThatÕs not unique either. The case for George …

Written by David Frum on Thursday October 28, 2004

The Wrong Man At The Wrong Time

I'm not going to waste time and space on an endorsement column. I am sure you already know who I am supporting in the 2004 U.S. presidential election and why. Instead, let me offer something more useful: a sober assessment of what a Kerry victory would mean and what consequences it might have. …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday October 26, 2004

The Marriage Buffet

A week ago, the writer Andrew Sullivan issued on this very page a challenge to political conservatives: Now that the Supreme Court has declared that homosexuality can no longer be considered a crime, what do you think it is? If homosexuality is not a crime, on what grounds can conservatives justify …

Written by David Frum on Saturday October 16, 2004

The Presidential Debates

Rule Number One of politics is that there are no rules. For years, political scientists have been writing books about Americans dwindling interest in politics and the declining importance of the two major parties. The election of 2004 has up-ended all those observations. Suddenly Americans …

Written by David Frum on Thursday October 14, 2004

Empire

In a famous passage from his great polemic "Economic Consequences of the Peace," John Maynard Keynes offered this vignette of affluent life in the summer of 1914: "The inhabitant of London could order by telephone, sipping his morning tea in bed, the various products of the whole earth, in such …

Written by David Frum on Friday October 1, 2004

Uncertain Trumpet

Imperial Hubris is an alarming book. Imperial Hubris: Why the West Is Losing the War on Terror, by Anonymous (Brassey's, 352 pp., $27.50) This is an alarming book, but not in the way its author intended. It delivers an urgent danger signal - not about al-Qaeda, but about intelligence …

Written by David Frum on Monday September 27, 2004

No Fair!

A few weeks ago, the Washington Post Style section profiled a new book with the couldn't-be-clearer title He's Just Not That Into You. The book offered its female target market a revolutionary new insight: If a man does not pursue a woman, it's because . . . he doesn't like her very much. When the …

Written by David Frum on Monday September 27, 2004

In Search Of Escape - Not Victory

On Iraq, John Kerry is a one-man think tank, producing more ideas more rapidly than any of the experts at Brookings or the American Enterprise Institute. At various points over the past year, the Senator has called for sending more troops and withdrawing troops within six months. He has …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday September 21, 2004