Entries

D.C.'s Newest Star

Months before the gate-crashed state dinner, White House social secretary Desiree Rogers showed she wasn’t going to like social secretaries of the past who retreated from the limelight. The day after the Obamas’ gate-crashed state dinner, the Washington Post ran a story featuring a large …

Written by Crystal Wright on Saturday December 5, 2009

Obama's Speech May Have Lost the War

The great American wartime leaders -- Lincoln, Roosevelt, Kennedy, and Reagan -- all understood the power of words in war. Sadly and ironically, although he fancies himself a great orator, President Obama does not. In his speech on Afghanistan, Obama never even used the word “victory”. David Frum …

Written by John Guardiano on Friday December 4, 2009

Medicare Cuts? Not Gonna Happen

It's that time of year again: Washington is talking about cuts to Medicare. As a psychiatrist, I'll break the bad news gently: Medicare cuts are like Santa Claus and his flying reindeer - often talked about, never actually seen. It's that time of year again: Washington is talking about cuts to …

Written by David Gratzer on Friday December 4, 2009

Why They Hate Us

In a recent blogpost, Harvard professor Stephen Walt tallied the number of Muslims killed by the U.S. and presented this as grounds for the Muslim world's anti-American bent. His approach though ignores the real forces driving Muslim disapproval of the U.S. Stephen M. Walt, the famously …

Written by John Vecchione on Friday December 4, 2009

An Uncertain Trumpet?

Charles Krauthammer in his column today enlarges on his complaints about President Obama's non-eloquence at West Point. Charles Krauthammer in his column today enlarges on his complaints about President Obama's non-eloquence at West Point. It was meant to be stirring. It fell flat. In …

Written by David Frum on Friday December 4, 2009

Making the Tea Parties G-Rated

Tea Party: The Documentary Film successfully captures the energy behind the Tea Party protests. But the film's biggest fault is its failure to denounce or even acknowledge the birthers, truthers, and conspiracy theorists within the movement. I attended the premiere of this film hoping that it …

Written by Tim Mak on Friday December 4, 2009

Newt's Job Summit Goes Outside the Beltway

While President Obama’s jobs summit has been a beltway affair, attended by Fortune 500 CEOs, Nobel Prize Winners in Economics and union leaders, Newt Gingrich has been holding a series of rival summits in the towns hit hardest by America's struggling economy. Timed to coincide with President …

Written by Tim Mak on Thursday December 3, 2009

Courage Under Fire

Kate Nesbitt, age 20, standing a tall five-foot-nothing, became the first woman in the Royal Navy awarded the Military Cross, for running through Taliban fire to save the life of a wounded soldier. This is an unusual story of bravery in Afghanistan that is both surprising and inspiring – Able …

Written by Peter Worthington on Thursday December 3, 2009

Why the GOP Will Thank Ted Olson

While some conservatives are celebrating the New York State Senate defeat of a gay marriage bill yesterday, Ted Olson has been working to overturn California’s ban on same-sex marriage. If he succeeds, Republicans will owe him a debt of gratitude. Yesterday, the New York State Senate crushed a …

Written by Jeb Golinkin on Thursday December 3, 2009

Kirk's Choice: Purity or Victory

By continuing to pander to the national conservative base, Rep. Mark Kirk is alienating the people who actually matter: the voters of Illinois. Three Republican candidates hoping to replace Rep. Kirk in the Illinois 10 th are distancing themselves from Kirk’s hard line position over the potential …

Written by Jeb Golinkin on Thursday December 3, 2009

Unchurchillian

My column for The Week argues that President Obama's West Point speech was not as bad as it sounded. My column for The Week argues that President Obama's West Point speech was not as bad as it sounded. President Obama’s challenge is to persuade the country that Afghanistan is worth …

Written by David Frum on Thursday December 3, 2009

We Don't Need Another Churchill to Win in Afghanistan

Pundits have dismissed Obama's West Point speech as pedestrian and uninspiring. Is there something wrong with that? If there’s one thing that everybody seems agreed on, it is that Barack Obama’s speech at West Point did not sound like Winston Churchill. "It's not exactly the kind of speech that …

Written by David Frum on Thursday December 3, 2009

Jenny Sanford's Media Blitz

Almost six months after her husband, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, admitted to an affair, Jenny Sanford has decided to capitalize on her family’s notoriety. Jenny Sanford is making lemons into lemonade. Almost six months after her husband South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford admitted to …

Written by Crystal Wright on Wednesday December 2, 2009

Flippancy v. Dishonesty

Left-wing columnist David Sirota takes me to task in a blogpost for being too flippant in a TV debate yesterday morning. He's right too. I should not have shrugged off his point in the dismissive manner he correctly condemns here. On the other hand Sirota is guilty too, and of something more …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday December 2, 2009

The Reid Bill's Hidden Pork

ClintonCare sat at 1,342 pages. The Reid bill is 2,070 pages, pre-amendments. Democratic leaders have put together increasingly long bills, packed with regulations and pork. Break time for nursing moms? Hundreds of millions in funding to help teenagers make the transition to adulthood (including …

Written by David Gratzer on Wednesday December 2, 2009

President Rocky

Rocky Balboa, you'll remember, didn't exactly win the fight. He just survived the 15 rounds - which amounted to the same thing. Equivalently, the president's message tonight to the Taliban: If you can last 18 months against the United States - you win. Rocky Balboa, you'll remember, didn't exactly …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday December 1, 2009

Senator Frum's Maiden Speech

My sister Linda today spoke her maiden speech in the Canadian Senate. No it was not about fish or grain handling, wise guys. It was a perfect masterpiece of parliamentary self-introduction, and with fraternal pride I reproduce it here. My sister Linda today spoke her maiden speech in the Canadian …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday December 1, 2009

Come Back Charles Johnson

Charles Johnson, editor of the Little Green Footballs site, has written a post declaring his personal breach with the American right. He offers 10 reasons, but they all boil down to the same one: His outrage at the bad characters found in right-wing media and in the blogosphere. Charles Johnson, …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday December 1, 2009

The Dems' Afghan War Hypocrisy

It is laughable for the Democrats to criticize President Bush for being cautious about supporting a massive commitment of men and material to Afghanistan in 2001, when so many in their party feel that same way today. Rep. Maurice Hinchey’s claim that President Bush intentionally let Osama Bin …

Written by Brad Schaeffer on Tuesday December 1, 2009

The Purges Will Continue Until the Membership Grows

Frum Forum has learned that supporters of the GOP purity test resolution have obtained the necessary co-sponsors to bypass the RNC’s resolutions committee and bring the resolution forward for a vote. FrumForum has learned that despite losing the sponsorship of a National Committeewoman from …

Written by Tim Mak on Tuesday December 1, 2009