Overview for News

The Fact Is: I Can't Get Kids In This City To Come To School

Third quarter marking period just ended. I teach 100 seniors, and when I look at the grade book, I could legitimately give F’s to 60 of them. This is the number of kids who have missed ten or more days out of 44 this quarter. It used to astound me how many days of kids missed when I …

Written by Thomas Gibbon on Wednesday April 1, 2009

The Americans Are To Blame: Berlin, Two Days After 9/11

During the last year, we have heard much about the need to “restore America’s image in the world.” In the next days, we will undoubtedly hear more, as Barack Obama embarks on his first European tour as president (followed by a stop in Ankara). The theme is, of course, just an …

Written by Henryk Broder on Wednesday April 1, 2009

A Nomination ...

... for Jim Webb's blue-ribbon commission on prison reform: Conrad Black. Who knows more - or could reflect more intelligently on what he knows? Pardon him - and put his talents to work.

Written by David Frum on Wednesday April 1, 2009

Ny-20: Can We Start Worrying Yet?

Too close to call? NY-20 is one of the most conservative districts in the northeast. Maybe the most conservative. The Republican candidate, Jim Tedisco, had experience and name ID. The GOP organization strongly backed him in a race recognized as one of the most important in the country this …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday April 1, 2009

An Industry Worth Fighting For

I’ve read a lot of libertarian drivel over the years (legalize all drugs, withdraw from NATO), but this piece from the Ludwig von Mises Institute (discussed in a Washington Times column on March 30) really takes the cake. Jeffrey Tucker of the Institute suggests that we really …

Written by John S. Gardner on Wednesday April 1, 2009

Voting Day In Ny-20

Today’s the big day in upstate New York . Jim Tedisco vs. Scott Murphy . I’m naturally nervous but not at all in despair over Jim’s chances. As Matt Dill, Jim’s political director in the State Assembly, told me on Sunday night, “I think we’re gonna win …

Written by Tom Qualtere on Tuesday March 31, 2009

Mccain's Farewell

Public financing of presidential campaigns is “dead” John McCain told the Washington Times on Sunday. The rest of McCain’s campaign finance reform agenda is not looking too healthy either. Any funeral oration however needs to note something. John McCain and the campaign …

Written by David Frum on Monday March 30, 2009

Pork 'n Fly

O’Hare International Airport has long been a source of politicking, patronage and lucrative contracts for the City of Chicago and its dynastic mayor, Richard M. Daley . For the mayor, the airport represents appointments he can distribute, contracts he can hustle, and votes to win. It …

Written by Tim Mak on Monday March 30, 2009

The Afghan Dead End

The media have paid a lot of attention to the factors that play a role in retarding progress in Afghanistan...Pakistan, corruption, lack of a rule of law, disenfranchisement, decentralized societies, etc. Those factors, while all true, are outside our immediate span of control. The main issue …

Written by Benjamin Collins on Sunday March 29, 2009

Story Of My Life

My column in this morning's National Post is a little more personal than usual… These days, the question I hear most from political comrades is: “What the hell happened to you?” Okay, okay, my old friend Andrew Coyne put it a little more politely than that in a recent …

Written by David Frum on Saturday March 28, 2009

Say It Out Loud: The Taliban Are Terrorists

A U.S. drone attack on Wednesday on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border killed at least seven Taliban members, including a number of foreign fighters, Reuters reported . U.S. drones have carried out more than 30 strikes over the last year, including 7 under the watch of U.S. President Barack …

Written by Jonathan Schanzer on Thursday March 26, 2009

Trade: Another Democrat Strikeout

Korea may have lost the finals of the World Baseball Classic at Dodger Stadium on Monday night, but according to the Wall Street Journal , South Korea is about to get a big win for its economy with the forthcoming and possibly imminent conclusion of a European Union-Republic of Korea Free …

Written by John S. Gardner on Thursday March 26, 2009

Enviromental Jeopardy

My latest column for The Week opens You must know the TV game show, “Jeopardy.” In this game, the host provides an answer. Contestants compete to guess the question. Let’s play the public policy version. ANSWER: “A great national undertaking to replace …

Written by David Frum on Thursday March 26, 2009

Detainees On The Potomac

The citizens of Alexandria, Virginia voted for Barack Obama over John McCain by a margin of 71% to 25% . Apparently in their enthusiasm for change, Alexandria’s Democrats did not fully consider the local impact of the President’s repeated promise to close the terrorist detention …

Written by Henry Clay on Thursday March 26, 2009

The iCar - "I" for India That Is

Jamsetji Tata was 43 when, in 1882, he applied to the government in Great Britain for a licence to prospect in his own country, India . Tata had come across a report which claimed that Ritter von Schwartz had discovered a “hill of iron” in Lohara. To Tata this was an enormous opportunity; to …

Written by Kapil Komireddi on Wednesday March 25, 2009

Chicken Soup For The Teachers Soul

While being formally observed by an administrator the other day, one of my students who likes to show up completely stoned to class (he only attends about once or twice a week) kept blurting out, “Man, this is bullshit, man.” I wanted to jump out the window. While guiding kids …

Written by Thomas Gibbon on Wednesday March 25, 2009

Necessary Evil

This plan may be a necessary evil for a number of reasons. Leave aside the reservations a private investor doing business with Washington might have after observing the spectacle of the past few days. The plan finally addresses directly the central impediment to recovery, namely, the inability of …

Written by FF Street Scene on Monday March 23, 2009

Michael Moore: Still Crazy After All These Years

Six years after the launch of Operation: Iraqi Freedom, one of the war’s most extreme critics, film-maker Michael Moore, claims that most Americans now stand with him. Is he right? Two weeks ago, Moore wrote a column titled ‘ Why I'm Not Now and Have Never Been the Democrats' Rush …

Written by Tom Qualtere on Monday March 23, 2009

Unpatriotic Conservatives Six Years Later

As last Thursday marked the sixth anniversary of the war in Iraq, it was also six years ago last Thursday that David Frum published his paleocon-expelling “ Unpatriotic Conservatives ” on National Review Online. Six years later, in another time of dramatic action and change (albeit …

Written by Tom Qualtere on Monday March 23, 2009

Conservatives Of Tomorrow: Grant Starrett

Grant Starrett is the founder and president of the Stanford Conservative Society. He served as Chairman of Students for Mitt in the 2008 Republican primaries, which he grew to over 4, 500 members. As part of this effort, he raised over $200,000. He has gained quite a following through his …

Written by Karin Agness on Monday March 23, 2009