Entries

Its Not About Sykes

Chris Cillizza writes: "Too much?" Sykes asked, when the lines drew a mixture of laughter and boos. That was the question debated throughout Washington on Sunday -- whether Sykes had crossed an imaginary line with her attacks on Limbaugh, turning a fun night into a harder-edged partisan …

Written by David Frum on Monday May 11, 2009

Venezuela Worse And Worse And Worse

The FT reports on the latest milestone on Venezuela's road to collapse: Hugo Chavez has run the state oil company as his personal property, using its income to fund payola programs for his supporters. As oil prices have declined, the state company has found it harder and harder to pay bills …

Written by David Frum on Monday May 11, 2009

Obama Nominee Wants To Strip Employers

Very revealing article written by Craig Becker, President Obama's announced "intention to nominate" Democrat candidate for the National Labor Relations Board. On page 500, at the end of the paragraph continuing over from the preceding page is a telling comment: "[I conclude] that employers …

Written by FF Washington Insider on Sunday May 10, 2009

Gop Should Seize Space

Space policy has seen its share of political realignments and role reversals over the decades. From the fifties into the seventies, the Democrats were the party of space enthusiasm, while the Republicans tended to fret about the cost and purpose of it all. John F. Kennedy decided to send a man to …

Written by Kenneth Silber on Sunday May 10, 2009

Frum On Thomas Hardys The Woodlanders

I have a new bookshelf entry on Thomas Hardy's The Woodlanders up below.

Written by David Frum on Sunday May 10, 2009

The Woodlanders

“Nothing ever had brought home to her with such force as this death how little acquirements and culture weigh beside sterling personal character.” So thinks young Grace Melbury, as she stands by the grave of her rejected suitor, Giles Winterborne, near the end of Thomas Hardy’…

Written by David Frum on Sunday May 10, 2009

Our Fearless Media

Was that the most sycophantic White House correspondents dinner ever? Certainly the most so I've ever seen. It's pretty bad when the president's speech about the press is not only much funnier but also more daring than the comedian's speech about the president. ("Many of you cover me; all of you …

Written by David Frum on Sunday May 10, 2009

Populist Mustard

I'm in California at my parents' house this week. They're both lifelong Orange County Republicans, McCain voters, and predisposed to dislike Obama, and when I played the "what kind of a man eats ketchup" audio for them, they couldn't understand it. When I told them that the same criticism is making …

Written by Conor Friedersdorf on Saturday May 9, 2009

America - Maybe Not So Different From Europe After All?

So argues UCLA historian Peter Baldwin in a highly interesting article in the British magazine, Prospect . Two key excerpts: Americans are also thought of as diehard individualists who live in a society of sharp elbows and an ethos of live and let live. They are imagined to be unusually …

Written by David Frum on Saturday May 9, 2009

Perils Of Print

My National Post column for the weekend updates the Chrysler story - but not fast enough! The creditor group succumbed to government pressure on Friday as I was filing the story. Winning through intimidation does sometimes work, at least in the short run. In barely four months, Barack …

Written by David Frum on Saturday May 9, 2009

Traditionalists Against Ketchup

Another instance of anti-ketchup traditionalism: Thrasher's French Fries (est. 1929) in Ocean City, Maryland. They have a big sign saying something like NO, YOU MAY NOT HAVE ANY KETCHUP. They stick with the old English, now Maryland salt-and-malt-vinegar tradition. Photo courtesy of …

Written by J. Moses Browning on Friday May 8, 2009

Somebody Likes Him!

George W. Bush Library raises $100 million in 100 days, CNN reports.

Written by David Frum on Friday May 8, 2009

White House Correspondents Dinner: The Reality Show

Over the past month or so, producers of two different reality show projects contacted me about series they planned to set in Washington, D.C. (where I live). In fact, there seems to be a multitude of reality show producers prowling the city, scouting all kinds of Capital "types"--young, attractive …

Written by Danielle Crittenden on Friday May 8, 2009

"the Congressional Effect"

From 1965 through 2008, there were approximately 11,000 trading days. Market analyst Eric Singer calculates that the S&P rose 50 times higher on days when Congress was not in session than on days when it was. And this political risk is intensifying. From 2000 through 2008, in-session …

Written by David Frum on Friday May 8, 2009

Mustard-gate

What kind of a man eats his hamburger without ketchup? That was the big question yesterday on talk radio , after President Obama visited an Arlington, Virginia, hamburger place on Tuesday and ordered his burger with spicy mustard. First answer: Texans . Texans traditionally eat hamburgers …

Written by David Frum on Friday May 8, 2009

Advice For Gop - Blur The Difference

Gary Andres wrote an article at the Weekly Standard discussing some political implications of the fact that Americans tend to call themselves "conservative" rather than "liberal". According to Andres, on the NES 7-point scale from 1 = extremely liberal to 7 = extremely conservative, the …

Written by Andrew Gelman on Friday May 8, 2009

Will Obama Try Chicago Techniques On Netanyahu?

Here's a link to my latest column for Moment magazine, on the troubled future of US-Israel relations. Obama may be tempted to frame the coming debate as a personal contest between himself and Netanyahu, just as Clinton did, in the hope that his popularity within the American Jewish …

Written by David Frum on Thursday May 7, 2009

Enough With Freedom And Socialism Already

With just 21% of Americans willing to identify themselves as Republicans, GOP leaders have launched the National Council for a New America and embarked on a listening tour . By establishing a dialogue with ordinary Americans, they hope to generate and successfully market conservative …

Written by Henry Clay on Thursday May 7, 2009

Chicago Enforcement Techniques Defended

If I understand it correctly, the case for the Chrysler cram-down goes something like this: "Hey bondholders – the US government saved the entire credit system when it bailed out AIG. Therefore it is now entitled to bend or break a few tedious legal rules. You may get less than the law …

Written by David Frum on Thursday May 7, 2009

More Oil, More Imports - The Genius of the Obama Energy Plan

I knew Bob Samuelson slightly back in the 1980s, and he always struck me as a reasonable liberal, one for whom facts matter. His most recent piece in em> Newsweek

Written by Gusher on Thursday May 7, 2009