Overview for News

The Long Road Back

British Conservatives may be reaching the end of their term in the wilderness. American Republicans look to be just beginning theirs I have an article in the British Spectator on the grim condition of the Republican party at present. Key paragraph: Obama has been in office nearly three …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday April 15, 2009

Readers Respond On Morris

Here's the gist of the reader comment: Dick Morris was referring to the Federal Reserve Adjusted Monetary Base which did, in fact, grow by a multiple between 2.5x-3x in the five months spanning October, 2008 through March, 2009. A simple Google search will confirm this. And the core …

Written by Andrew Gelman on Wednesday April 15, 2009

Better Euphemisms Please

I am appalled by the new term " man-made disasters ". While I understand the laudable desire to avoid offending members of the terrorist community, this sexist term actually fails to accomplish this task! The misogynistic language in this new description implies that women are inherently …

Written by Andrew Pavelyev on Wednesday April 15, 2009

Meghan Mccain's Intolerant Tolerance

Reading Meghan McCain’s latest bit of advice to the GOP, I was reminded of something a Catholic friend once said to me about The Vagina Monologues . It offends me less as a Catholic than as a rational person. Meghan’s recommendation to the GOP to “Go Gay,” …

Written by Henry Clay on Tuesday April 14, 2009

Must We Make It So Easy For Obama?

If I didn't know better, I'd begin to suspect that Glenn Beck was basing his show on daily talking points from Rahm Emanuel. The great scoop-collector Eli Lake reports today in the Washington Times that the Obama administration intends to follow the Clinton administration in focusing its law …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday April 14, 2009

How Courts Took Over The War On Terror

Exclusive excerpts from the afterword to the paperback edition of The Terror Presidency . Conventional wisdom holds that the Bush administration expanded the legal war powers of the presidency in unprecedented ways. In fact, because of the unusual nature of the enemy, changes in the legal …

Written by Jack Goldsmith on Tuesday April 14, 2009

Obama's Fantasy Energy Plan

Energy Secretary Steven Chu published an article in em> Newsweek

Written by Gusher on Monday April 13, 2009

Sorry Kids: No Opportunity For You

The D.C. voucher program is all but dead, according to this Washington Postspan> editorial

Written by Thomas Gibbon on Monday April 13, 2009

"On Good Friday"

One interesting aspect of learning French is the set of faux amis (“false friends”), words that either look like their English equivalents but have sharply different meanings or words for which the direct English translation doesn’t capture the sense of the French. For instance, the verb …

Written by John S. Gardner on Saturday April 11, 2009

Somalia: Our Ask Nicely Policy

The only thing odd about those Somali pirates that plunder the Indian Ocean, Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea is how come they are still doing it? One would have thought they’d have been exterminated by now. But no, they’re still at it. Not only that, they are alarmingly successful. …

Written by Peter Worthington on Saturday April 11, 2009

Show Business Potomac Style

As has been widely reported, actor Kal Penn has left Hollywood for the White House. Mr. Penn’s credits include “Harold and Kumar go to White Castle.” The vote blog at the Christian Science Monitor had the best headline for this news: “ Harold and Kumar go to the White …

Written by David Gratzer on Friday April 10, 2009

Obama: Pirates? What Pirates?

Huffington Post /a> has a headline: “Obama on Pirates: Declines to Answer Question.” According to the story, The president was asked about the incident as he met with U.S. homeowners about refinancing mortgages. At the close of a Roosevelt Room event, the president was asked …

Written by John S. Gardner on Thursday April 9, 2009

Environmentalists For Genetic Engineering?

President Obama's science adviser has told the Associated Press that the climate situation is so dire that the administration will consider geoengineering to arrest and reverse the planet's warming. John Holdren told The Associated Press in his first interview since being confirmed last month …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday April 8, 2009

A New Talent

... new to me anyway. A friend just introduced me to the YouTube videos of Steven Crowder. ( Here's one for example .) He's funny! I think we'll be hearing more about him soon. We look forward to linking to his vlogs here as they are released on Thursdays.

Written by David Frum on Tuesday April 7, 2009

Never So Divided?

In a famous poll a few years ago, half the Americans surveyed said George W. Bush was a "uniter" while the other half called him a "divider." A recent Pew survey finds that the stark divide among partisans has continued and increased, with an amazing 60-point gap between Democrats' and Republicans…

Written by Andrew Gelman on Tuesday April 7, 2009

You Know Your Economic Policy is Too Interventionist When...

... Saturday Night Live does a sketch based on the joke that President Obama is personally determining that companies be shut down because he dislikes the CEO's suits. You can watch here .

Written by David Frum on Monday April 6, 2009

Britain In Basra

Former British Secretary of State for Defense Michael Portillo writes about the British role in Iraq in the current Spectator . In the wake of the Iraqi army’s freeing of Basra, today the markets and cafés are crowded. At the funfair families enjoy the spring evening under the …

Written by David Frum on Monday April 6, 2009

Is My Track Captain A Drug Dealer?

“He’s not one of your captains, is he?” My athletic director asked me this quite disdainfully as my tracksters warmed up before our workout on a recent weekday. Kicking aside a shattered glass bottle and the cigarette butts littered on my track, I looked up at her and said, …

Written by Thomas Gibbon on Monday April 6, 2009

My Administration Is All That Is Standing Between You And The Pitchforks

If the Politico report is to be believed, some of the bank CEOs who met with President Obama last week actually used some of their scarce time to defend -- yes, defend rather than apologize for -- the compensation practices of the banks since they all received TARP funds. After all this time, …

Written by FF Street Scene on Sunday April 5, 2009

The Young Conservative Coalition: Its Our Turn

No person passes through his or her youth without adults constantly reminding him or her that, along with the others in his or her age group, they are the “future of society” or “the leaders of tomorrow”. Initially inspiring, such clichés quickly become patronizing …

Written by Will Haun on Sunday April 5, 2009