Entries

Reforming Our Prisons Will Reduce Crime

David Cameron’s British Conservative Party has placed radical prison reform at the heart of its compassionate agenda, and is enjoying double-digit opinion poll leads. The Bush Administration largely abandoned not only its popular early rhetoric to improve prison conditions, but also its …

Written by Jamie Boulding on Monday January 26, 2009

The Military Could Learn From "real Education" As Well

While our primary mission is to defend the nation, the U.S. military is also one of the country’s leading educators. The U.S. military operates three service academies, alongside the several state military academies. Countless students attend college on military scholarships. After serving, …

Written by Michael Toth on Monday January 26, 2009

A Skinny White Kid Walks The Walk

A major part of new teacher training and “professional development” is not instruction on how to effectively teach and lead, it is mandatory diversity training. One of the more memorable forced diversity training sessions I participated in was a “game” called Privilege …

Written by Thomas Gibbon on Monday January 26, 2009

Bailed Out Bankers Behaving Like Welfare Queens

There is an urgent warning for Republicans in the weekend’s two big financial stories. On Sunday, the New York Times reported that the Obama administration is considering much tighter regulation of hedge funds and rating agencies. Such a story jangles Republican nerves – and calls …

Written by David Frum on Monday January 26, 2009

Dems Punish Green Consumers To Give To Pet Utilities

Hidden in an obscure congressional amendment is a big gift to pet Democratic interest groups - and a big betrayal of the Democrats' supposed green principles. In recent years, as energy prices skyrocketed, consumers reacted by conserving. They switched to high-efficiency light bulbs, lowered …

Written by Moira Bagley on Monday January 26, 2009

Don't Just Shrink Government--run It Right

President Obama's new Cabinet appointees are shaping up to be a too-late lesson for Republicans. Take for example, Shaun Donovan, President Obama’s Secretary of Housing and Development. Donovan would win just about any best resume contest. An architect by training, Donovan served as New York …

Written by Eli Lehrer on Monday January 26, 2009

My Response To Readers About The Gop And Gay Rights

After posting our article on public opinion and gay rights, we got a bunch of interesting comments. Beyond the back-and-forth over whether gay marriage is a good idea, and whether it is a good thing for conservatives to focus on, there was also some debate about the role of public opinion in …

Written by Andrew Gelman on Monday January 26, 2009

Testing

testing

Written by J. Moses Browning on Monday January 26, 2009

Terrorism, Facebook-style

A recent New York Times Magazine features an article written by Samantha M. Shapiro entitled " Revolution, Facebook-Style ". The article touts the potential for Facebook and similar social networking sites to serve as a "powerful pro-democracy tool" in the Middle East. Shapiro bases her thesis …

Written by Joshua Glatter on Sunday January 25, 2009

Lessons For Americans From France's Ugliest War

Probably few Americans have heard of the case of General Paul Aussaresses, but it has troubled the peace of France for a decade. As Barack Obama rewrites the rules for America's struggle against terrorism, the Aussaresses case reminds us that successful counter-insurgency is never easy and rarely …

Written by Jean Granville on Sunday January 25, 2009

Teach For America Can Teach Conservatives Unexpected Lessons

After teaching my high school journalism students about the great investigative journalist, Nellie Bly, one boy raised his hand and asked if I was just trying to be like her by teaching at this school. This was an insightful question, though I quickly reminded the student that Nellie Bly …

Written by Thomas Gibbon on Sunday January 25, 2009

The Party Of Small Minds, Not Small Government

Youth support for Republicans first cratered in the Northeast, and has led to the virtual extinction of elected GOP officials there. In 1999, there were 12 House Republicans from New York. Today there are 3. These losses aren’t very surprising given that New York’s youth voted …

Written by Jonas Stankovich on Sunday January 25, 2009

Did Gop Lose Because Of Bush? Or Because Conservatism Is No Longer Relevant?

The key question for worried conservatives is whether the last two years of elections represents a repudiation of conservatism, particularly of the Reaganite brand, or is merely a rejection of George W. Bush and his perceived failures? In the 1950s, Sam Lubell argued that, at any time in history, …

Written by John Vecchione on Sunday January 25, 2009

Four Comments About Newmajority Comments

We've had a lot of very interesting comments here at NewMajority over the past 48 hours, and I'd like to say a word or two in reply. First: Many commenters have urged that authors of the original blogpost join the comment thread and respond to particularly trenchant points. I note that some of …

Written by David Frum on Sunday January 25, 2009

A First Big Week For FrumForum.com

We have just wrapped up an exhilarating first week here at FrumForum.com Between our launch Tuesday morning and the end of the day Friday, we have accumulated a total of nearly 60,000 unique visitors. We are hoping all of them – you! – will return regularly. We have been honored …

Written by David Frum on Saturday January 24, 2009

Where Are Palin's Clothes? The Rnc Won't Say

An enraged Republican donor called Republican National Committee officials "clueless" for their failure to donate or account for Gov. Sarah Palin's campaign wardrobe. Instead, as NewMajority revealed yesterday , the former GOP vice presidential candidate's expensive duds -- totalling $180,000 -- …

Written by Moira Bagley on Saturday January 24, 2009

The Speech Obama Should Have Given

President Barack Obama's inaugural address was a sad, flat effort that cruelly wasted one of the grandest moments in American history: the swearing in of the first black president. President Barack Obama's inaugural address was a sad, flat effort that cruelly wasted one of the grandest moments in …

Written by David Frum on Saturday January 24, 2009

Rnc Denials Don't Deny The Facts

When I hear Republican spinners call our NewMajority story on Governor Palin’s clothes “inaccurate, ” I am reminded of John Edwards’ denials in October 2007 of his then rumored extra-marital affair: “The story is false.” It’s an old press secretary’…

Written by David Frum on Friday January 23, 2009

The Right Time For The Right Books

From the spring of 2003 until the spring of 2007, I ran American Compass, a commercial book club that was part of the same company that operates Book-of-the-Month Club, Literary Guild, the History Book Club, andÑat the timeÑmore than 30 others. I’d been a senior editor at Bantam Books and …

Written by Brad Miner on Friday January 23, 2009

Mr. Steele Goes To Washington?

On January 30, 2009, 168 members of the Republican National Committee will meet in Washington, DC to elect the next Chairman of the Republican Party. To be sure, the election comes at a critical time for the GOP’s future – on the heels of staggering defeats in the last two election …

Written by Bradley Wine on Friday January 23, 2009