Overview for News

Wanted: Dead Or Alive

Let's start with this one: Earl Warren, the 14th Chief Justice of the United States, who, despite his whiteness, rather famously ended racial segregation in the schools. As for the richness of his life experiences, it may be that this father of six and children of immigrants didn't have time for …

Written by Frum Forum Editors on Friday May 29, 2009

Sexy Is The New Pretty

A friend of mine, the mother of a son, confronted me with some photographs of my daughter and some of her girl friends, at a church camp. All the girls were posing, pouty looks on their faces, in their underwear, like Victoria’s Secret models. Evidently, the pictures had been inadvertently …

Written by Cari Clark on Friday May 29, 2009

Obama's Best Health Strategy: Steal The Republican Plan

In the next few weeks, Senate Democrats are expected to release health-reform legislation, sparking a summer of heated debates. Even with large majorities in the House and Senate, and a President who is “ absolutely committed ” to health reform, Democrats are in for a fight. …

Written by David Gratzer on Wednesday May 27, 2009

What's Good for GM is Good for America- and What's Good for GM is Bankruptcy

What's good for GM is good for America and right now bankruptcy is good for GM. As this article in the New York Times demonstrates, bond holders have decided not to be rolled and are willing, or a significant subset are willing, to send GM into bankruptcy. Other reports have the U.S. …

Written by John Vecchione on Wednesday May 27, 2009

Bill Ayers

I guess he was admissible after all.

Written by FF Washington Insider on Wednesday May 27, 2009

Burris: Not Honest, Just Broke

News reports : Illinois Senator Roland Burris acknowledged on recordings that he wanted to raise money for corrupt governor Rod Blagojevich. He just lacked the resources. In Chicago's Democratic party, I suppose that passes for honesty ....

Written by David Frum on Wednesday May 27, 2009

Ted Olson On Gay Marriage

The former solicitor general and famed Supreme Court litigator signs up to represent California same-sex litigants in federal court, reports Byron York in the Examiner : "I thought their cause was just."

Written by David Frum on Wednesday May 27, 2009

Look Who Wants A Bailout Now!

Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2Fbd7faf1a-4a24-11de-8e7e-00144feabdc0.html&_i_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fhome%2Fus"> From the FT (subscription link) : Hizbollah tries to secure IMF funds By Roula Khalaf and Anna Fifield in Beirut Lebanon̵…

Written by David Frum on Wednesday May 27, 2009

How Not To Fight Sonia Sotomayor

It was as if she'd come straight out of casting call. Approximately two seconds after President Obama's announcement of Judge Sonia Sotomayor's appointment, her past statements torrented out, immediately reflecting upon her as a down-the-line judicial activist. The most bombastic statement is being …

Written by Alex Knepper on Tuesday May 26, 2009

Paterson Family Values?

James Fanelli and Isabel Vincent report in the New York Post on the remarkable synergy of the Paterson family combination: father Basil a super-lawyer-lobbyist, son David governor of the state of New York: The elder Paterson is a senior partner at Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein, a …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday May 26, 2009

Miranda Warning

Manuel Miranda, the strategic mastermind of uncountable struggles for conservative principle in the courts, issued this statement today on Sonia Sotomayor: "The President has nominated a highly-credentialed judge with an inspiring life story. Regrettably he also tainted the nomination from its …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday May 26, 2009

The French Governments Attempt To Mandate "neighborliness"

Today is Neighbor's Day in France. If I don't get home late -- I usually try not to -- I won’t be able to cross the courtyard and reach my apartment for a quiet evening with my family. That’s because there will be a neighbors' party taking place, and I know that I will be in for an hour …

Written by Jean Granville on Tuesday May 26, 2009

Obnoxious... But In A Good Way?

On the other hand, here's the possible good news in the Sotomayor nomination. A conservative legalist friend notes that the all-important 5th vote on the Supreme Court is Justice Anthony Kennedy's. The Reagan-appointed Kennedy has drifted to the left in recent years - in part (it's gossiped) …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday May 26, 2009

Sotomayor: A Deeply Political Pick

What Obama did not do: pick the most learned or intelligent or wisest lawyer available to him. What he did do: pick the justice he deemed most likely to secure him a demographic constituency in 2008. This is pure Chicagoland politics, using one of the president's most important powers for …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday May 26, 2009

Frum On Galbraith's "the Great Crash"

Just added a post on John Kenneth Galbraith's The Great Crash to the Bookshelf feature. It opens: In the quarter century from 1983 though 2008, Americans witnessed three stock market crashes: 1987, 1990 and 2000. The first of those crashes represented the sharpest one-day drop in the …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday May 26, 2009

Obama, Bibi, and the Souk: How Not to Negotiate

In his dealings with House Republicans over the stimulus bill, President Obama showed that he knows how to play hardball. With the Iranians, however, its been more like T-ball. To advance their nuclear program, the Iranians have been playing for time. Mr. Obama opened his presidency by …

Written by Sean Linnane on Monday May 25, 2009

Murphy & Me

My mother, who died in 1992 at age 91, used to remark that “love and grief” went with having a dog in the family. The “love” part is obvious. “Grief” is more complicated, and inevitable because usually the dog dies first in a family. To avoid the grief of loss is partly why my mother wouldn’t …

Written by Peter Worthington on Monday May 25, 2009

Or Else What?

One of the famous slogans of the Sixties (originally taken from a Berthold Brecht poem) was, “What if they gave a war and nobody came?” Well, what if a nation conducts a nuclear test and no one really notices? With South Korea distracted by the suicide of former President Roh and the …

Written by John S. Gardner on Monday May 25, 2009

Breakdown Of The UK Party System - Update

The British polling company Populus has amalgamated recent polls to present an arresting picture of the collapse in support for the major British parties in the wake of the Parliamentary expenses scandal. The major beneficiaries? The Euroskeptic UK Independence Party, the white supremacist …

Written by David Frum on Monday May 25, 2009

The Obama-netanyahu Summit

is the topic of my column this weekend in the National Post : Well that was a productive meeting! In the Oval Office alongside Prime Minister Netanyahu, President Obama promised that he will spend the next year trying to reach a deal with Iran about nuclear weapons. If (surprise, …

Written by David Frum on Sunday May 24, 2009