Overview for News

David Souter - Partisan Democrat?

At the time of the Bush/Gore recount in 2000, there was a persistent rumor that Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor had angrily let slip that she would have to stay on the Court for four more years if Gore won, to give a Republican president a chance to appoint her successor. For the …

Written by FF Washington Insider on Friday May 1, 2009

Doj To Drop Aipac Espionage Case

... the Washington Post reports : The decision is a stunning vindication for the former lobbyists, who were accused of providing information about topics that included the activities of al-Qaeda and possible attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq. Rosen, of Silver Spring, was AIPAC's director of …

Written by David Frum on Friday May 1, 2009

Bring Back Patrick Fitzgerald!

US government officials leak to ABC the names of the two contractors who devised waterboard interrogations for the CIA. ABC has posted their photographs too. I remember that it was kind of a federal case when the name of a former but now inactive undercover agent was leaked. How about now?

Written by David Frum on Friday May 1, 2009

Sotomayor - Centrist?

The claim is advanced that Sotomayor must be a "centrist" because she was appointed to the appelate court by President George HW Bush. Just like David Souter! In fact, Sotomayor is by almost all accounts the very most liberal judge on the Second Circuit, with an ominous enthusiasm for racial …

Written by David Frum on Friday May 1, 2009

On The Other Hand ...

... George Stephanopoulos suggests that Sonia Sotomayor is the front-runner. My theory is that Kagan as SG has already been ultra-vetted by a White House whose vetting resources have been stretched thin. Stephanopoulos demurs and argues that Obama will want the affirmative action two-fer. …

Written by David Frum on Friday May 1, 2009

Souter - Take 2

I wonder if Justice Souter's impending retirement means that we will ever learn the truth of the rumor that circulated a few years back that Souter nearly persuaded Justice Kennedy to join the four more liberal justices in a Bush v. Gore opinion that would have referred the mess to the House of …

Written by David Frum on Friday May 1, 2009

Souter - Take 1

Well at least this should mark the end of those irritating stories about Barack Obama's bipartisanship. The new president has the opportunity and the votes to push the liberal wing of the court dramatically further to the left - and who doubts he will take it?

Written by David Frum on Friday May 1, 2009

Specter's First Defection

How they cursed Arlen Specter! By switching parties, they claimed, he had put his own political fortunes ahead of loyalty and principle. He was “Benedict Arlen,” “Specter the Defector.” It all sounds quite familiar, but the year was 1965 and the Specter-cursers were …

Written by Geoffrey Kabaservice on Thursday April 30, 2009

The New Shell Shock

A recent front page report in the Toronto Star wondered why 20% of soldiers who serve in Afghanistan come down with various forms of stress disorder. Theories range from repeated long term missions causing psychological problems, to the possibility that quick diagnoses give the impression …

Written by Peter Worthington on Thursday April 30, 2009

Conservatives Cant Ignore The Achievement Gap

The achievement gap between white and minority students persists, and glaringly so, as this article in the New York Times details. The lede of this article is unfair and shows the bias against President Bush’s signature education act – No Child Left Behind (NCLB): …

Written by Thomas Gibbon on Thursday April 30, 2009

Does Admin Know More Than It Is Saying About Swine Flu?

The World Health Organization has raised their swine flu alert to Level 5. The WHO’s formal definition of a Level 5 designation is sustained human-to-human transmission "in two countries in one WHO region" (there are six regions worldwide; the US is in the Americas region). So the "two …

Written by FF Washington Insider on Thursday April 30, 2009

Last Hired, First Fired

When you move, you find things. Having just completed a move, I came across a poster from a conference I attended at the US Military Academy a number of years ago. It featured the graduation portraits of illustrious West Point alumni. U.S. Grant, was there, of course, along with George S. …

Written by Gusher on Thursday April 30, 2009

Be Afraid

Anthony Cordesman in the National Interest on what increasingly looks like a Pakistani civil war: The Pakistani army and government have shown they cannot be trusted to provide honest reporting on any aspect of military operations. They have also never provided a meaningful assessment of …

Written by David Frum on Thursday April 30, 2009

How To Rebuild The Gop

My column in the current issue of The Week argues that you cannot rebuild a center-right coalition without the center. Conclusion: I’ve never heard anyone derided as a “Republican In Name Only” for opposing the closing of redundant military bases, or for supporting …

Written by David Frum on Thursday April 30, 2009

Would You Buy A Used Car Industry From This Man?

Let’s turn the clock back to the 2008 campaign and ask the question: If Barack Obama had run for office promising to deliver one-third of the Big Three automakers to the unions and drop another one-third on the backs of taxpayers, would people have approved? Yet, remarkably, that is what …

Written by Douglas Holtz-Eakin on Wednesday April 29, 2009

Obama Unleashes The Spanish Inquisition

It was revealed today that Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzón has opened an investigation into allegations of torture at Guantánamo Bay. What inspired Garzón to open his investigation less than two weeks after Spanish Attorney General Candido Conde-Pumpido announced his opposition to …

Written by John Rosenthal on Wednesday April 29, 2009

Dont Know Much About Science Books

The liberal British philosopher John Stuart Mill once famously dismissed conservatives as the stupid party. Intellectual arrogance is something we have come to expect from liberals, but great conservative minds like Russell Kirk, Richard Weaver, and William F. Buckley dispelled the notion that …

Written by David Jenkins on Wednesday April 29, 2009

Pakistan's Nukes: A Mystery Inside An Enigma...

If there is one thing about nuclear weapons, you don’t want to guess where they are, how many the bad guys have and where the guy with the black bag with the codes is. Pakistan is one of the undeclared nuclear powers in the world with an estimated 20-60 nuclear weapons. And with the …

Written by Peter Huessy on Wednesday April 29, 2009

Get Ready: The Coming Corporate Tax Battle

Marquee policy initiatives – health care reform, cap-and-trade policy – dominate the headlines. But a less-prominent battle may end up being among the fiercest and most important – the desire of Barack Obama to extract $210 billion from American business to pay for his spendthri…

Written by Douglas Holtz-Eakin on Wednesday April 29, 2009

Specter Aftershocks

I'm told Sean Hannity is on the air announcing that Specter's defection "makes no difference." Really? Jon Chait identifies one difference the defection surely will make. Two words: card check. Specter says he’ll still oppose EFCA [the formal name of the card check bill], but I have …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday April 28, 2009