Overview for FF Spotlight

Why We're Thankful

Col. Lewis Millett joined the U.S. Army at age 21 in the summer of 1941 – and then deserted, because the U.S. wasn’t yet in the war. He joined Canada's army to go overseas and fight the Nazis. His lifetime of service in both armies would earn him 26 medals - including a Medal of Honor. I first …

Written by Peter Worthington on Thursday November 26, 2009

Elephants Talk Turkey

What are you doing for Thanksgiving? Frum Forum polled some Republicans and conservatives - including Grover Norquist, Mark Kirk, Chuck DeVore, Arthur Brooks, Marco Rubio, and Charlie Crist - to see what their plans were this year, and whether they had any Thanksgiving traditions. What are you …

Written by Chris Brown on Wednesday November 25, 2009

Banned from the U.N.

Until a few weeks ago, Anne Bayefsky was an accredited observer at the U.N. She was expelled and her accreditation stripped after she criticized the controversial Goldstone Report which examined last January’s war between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas. Until a couple of weeks ago, my …

Written by Martin Krossel on Wednesday November 25, 2009

President Dobbs: The First Tell-All Memoir

Lou Dobbs is saying he might run for president in 2012. As one who worked for Dobbs a decade ago, I wish to point out that his management skills and style were unequal to running a company with some 100 employees. As president of the United States, he would be a disaster. Lou Dobbs is saying he …

Written by Kenneth Silber on Tuesday November 24, 2009

Generation Obama Gets Shafted

President Obama swept into office with the backing of 18 to 29 year-old voters. But since his election, Obama has paid little attention to the concerns of this demographic and instead has saddled them with the cost of his new programs. President Barack Obama swept into office with a Steve Nash …

Written by Zac Morgan on Tuesday November 24, 2009

Are YOU Pure Enough for the GOP?

Members of the RNC are considering a resolution that would outline ten principles for Republican candidates to adhere to and cut funding for candidates who do not agree with at least eight of the points. How many Republicans would actually pass the test? Yesterday, it emerged that James Bopp, …

Written by Tim Mak on Tuesday November 24, 2009

Save Palin from Her Friends

In today's Washington Post , Matthew Dowd, the Republican pollster, offers five suggestions to help Sarah Palin become an electable presidential candidate. But his recommendations also reveal the underlying weaknesses he thinks she needs to correct. Matthew Dowd, the Republican pollster, in …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday November 24, 2009

Sarah Palin's Woman Problem

Sarah Palin’s constituency is a relatively small group of conservative men. I offended a lot of these people last week by suggesting that there was some sexual dynamic at work. Whatever impulse it is that so excites Palin supporters though, it is not shared by their wives. Opinions differ about …

Written by David Frum on Monday November 23, 2009

Herbal Remedies Need Real Scrutiny

Federal regulators restrict advertising about drugs to the most bland and basic statements. Yet snake oil flim-flam can be huckstered in the most truth-defying way, thanks to a 1994 law coaxed through Congress by the people who make these drugs. Did you know that there exists an all-natural remedy …

Written by David Frum on Monday November 23, 2009

Iran’s Campaign of Judicial Murder

The Iranian regime has responded to this summer's election protests with show trials and now an increasing number of political executions. With this move, the mullahs have made it even harder for President Obama to continue his diplomatic outreach. The mullahs are closing the doors both on …

Written by David Frum on Monday November 23, 2009

Reagan Never Went Rogue

Many commentators have likened Sarah Palin to revered conservative icon Ronald Reagan. Both were governors of Western states, but the similarities end there. As Sarah Palin embarks on a publicity tour for her book, conservative commentators have again taken to likening the former Alaska …

Written by Rob Bernstein on Sunday November 22, 2009

Tehran's Last Chance

With their rejection of the latest offer from the IAEA, the Iranians could not make their message clearer if they had sent a crayoned letter: “We’re building a bomb — and you don’t dare stop us. Boom boom, suckers.” If Iran were a normal country, the offer would have been handsome. Iran …

Written by David Frum on Saturday November 21, 2009

GOP Missing in Action on Health Reform

Sen. Ron Wyden has sold to the Democratic leadership an amendment that would enable more employees to cash out their employer-provided benefits and buy their own insurance policy on a health exchange. This is an idea that conservative economists originally made the case for. Why then is the GOP …

Written by David Frum on Friday November 20, 2009

Palin's Heartland Appeal

Palin is a phenomenon of our times – arguably the only Republican at the moment with star power. With her book tour bus, complete with her portrait on the side, Palin is taking aim at heartland America – her constituency and a group immune to the appeals of the elite. Sarah Palin is back, using …

Written by Peter Worthington on Friday November 20, 2009

Fox News: Feminist Champion

On a recent broadcast, Sean Hannity blasted Newsweek 's Palin cover as sexist and argued that women's groups have a litmus test for determining which women they will defend. Question for Fox: Does Marisa Miller flunk the litmus test too? On the Fox News site today, I clicked a link to a Sean …

Written by David Frum on Friday November 20, 2009

Bartender Chalk Up Another $210 Billion on My Tab

With one Republican alongside, Democrats have voted to stop pretending that we're going to cut future Medicare payments to doctors. Well that's commendably honest I suppose. But now that we're admitting that the money will be spent, when do we state where the money will come from? House passes …

Written by David Frum on Friday November 20, 2009

Holder Will Be Held Accountable

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is not some Bond villain, an errant super-criminal finally put behind bars. He led an organized network of foreigners abroad who were at war with us long before KSM's actions pushed us into war with them. For those foreign terrorists, as opposed to their home-grown financier…

Written by Richard Klingler on Thursday November 19, 2009

Bowing (and Scraping) Across the World

In the East, there is a right way and a wrong way to bow. What Obama did has the Japanese (and the rest of East Asia) rolling in fits of laughter, because it is the bow an employee gives to his boss, or a child gives to parents. I spent more than half my life in the Orient. In Thailand, they bow …

Written by Sean Linnane on Thursday November 19, 2009

Pakistan: It Could Not Succeed Unless India Failed

From its foundation, the primary challenge to Pakistan’s sense of itself came from India. India’s success at forging a nationality out of its diversity stood as a towering repudiation of the very idea of Pakistan. This is the third installment in Kapil Komireddi’s series on Pakistan. Click here …

Written by Kapil Komireddi on Wednesday November 18, 2009

Real Money, Pretend Jobs

A press release has come our way from the office of Senator Foghorn Leghorn of Texas... This press release has come our way from the office of Senator Foghorn Leghorn of Texas ... SEN. LEGHORN ANNOUNCES $14.7 MILLION FOR TEXAS; ‘YEE, HAW!’ HE COMMENTS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE* …

Written by FF Washington Insider on Wednesday November 18, 2009