Entries

Blood of the Liberals

I first met George Packer in the fall of 1978, when we were both college freshmen. Shortly before the term began, I had received a letter announcing that I had been accepted into an undergraduate program called "Directed Studies." The letter came as a surprise, since I had not applied for the …

Written by David Frum on Thursday January 22, 2009

Is The Research Triangle The Next Northern Virginia?

1996 was a big Democratic year. Bill Clinton won nationwide by a near-landslide 8.5% margin over Bob Dole. Yet Bob Dole won North Carolina by a comfortable 4.7% margin. Republican strength in North Carolina looks even more impressive when we consider the candidates. The Democratic ticket consisted …

Written by FF Political Report on Thursday January 22, 2009

Bush Could Learn From Carter

Call it a hunch, but I bet that George W. Bush doesn’t like my old boss, Jimmy Carter, very much. That doesn’t mean, however, that Bush can’t learn something important from Carter. Defeated for reelection in 1980, Jimmy Carter left office with an approval rating of only …

Written by Les Francis on Thursday January 22, 2009

The Village Smithy's Kalashnikov

You often read that a Pashtun village blacksmith can make his own AK-47. This is not quite right. Kalashnikov rifles are not high-technology devices. Invented in the 1940s in the Soviet Union, designed for durability rather than precision, as originally conceived they relied on technologies …

Written by J. Moses Browning on Thursday January 22, 2009

What Obama Should Have Said

I've been picking at Barack Obama's sad, flat inaugural address, and I will continue tomorrow. But maybe the thing that bugs me most about it is the squandered opportunity to say what he could have said - indeed what he was almost obliged to say. Imagine if instead of all that weary bumf about …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday January 21, 2009

Nm Events: Conservatives (and Others) Celebrate/commiserate At Counter-inaugural Party

Radio host Laura Ingraham, National Review's Byron York and his wife Marty, and NewMajority Editor David Frum and his wife Danielle invited friends to the Frums' Washington, D.C. home for cocktails on the evening of Inauguration Day. Blue and Red State drinks were served: "Blue …

Written by FF Events on Wednesday January 21, 2009

Grateful... And Joyous

John S. Gardner joined those gathered at Andrews AFB yesterday to bid former President Bush and Mrs. Bush farewell on their way to their new life in Dallas . On a normal day, you hear the helicopters first. The sound is unmistakable and provides the signal that the President is approaching.…

Written by John S. Gardner on Wednesday January 21, 2009

Thinking Ahead On Retirement Security

One of the principal fiscal and policy challenges facing the nation is the aging of the population. Social Security faces significant funding shortfalls – and Medicare even larger – while traditional defined benefit pensions are disappearing and 401(k) plans face many challenges in …

Written by Andrew Biggs on Wednesday January 21, 2009

Reading Obama 4

Listening to Obama, I often think of the nervous comment of Michael Banks when he meets Disney’s Mary Poppins for the first time. “We better keep an eye on this one. She’s tricky.” Here’s Obama at his trickiest: "Nor is the question before us whether the market …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday January 21, 2009

Reading Obama 3

Obama surely ranks as one of the more intelligent presidents. Reading his books though it becomes clear that his intelligence is more that of a poet than an intellectual. He recoils from the rigors of logical reasoning. Rather than choose between alternatives, he invents beautiful verbal formulas …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday January 21, 2009

Reading Obama 2

And indeed the address itself delivers an ominous early warning of how wasteful Obama’s spending will likely be: "We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories." Obama wants to move away from coal-fired electricity on environmental grounds. …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday January 21, 2009

Reading Obama 1

Obama’s speech may not have been stirring, but it contains much valuable information about what the new president aspires to do and the assumptions he brings to his job. Let’s go to the highlights. "For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday January 21, 2009

What Keeps Obama Up At Night?

Did President-elect Obama schedule his resignation from the Senate in order to shut down an embarrassing investigation of his personal finances by the Senate Ethics Committee? This is a question the new President has at least temporarily suppressed as he embarks on what he himself has pledged …

Written by Moira Bagley on Wednesday January 21, 2009

The Gop's Winning Streak

It’s always possible to win a battle and lose a campaign. Or to win the battle in such a way that the victor ends up so badly hurt, or so narrowly in charge, that in the long run it scarcely counts as a victory. Think of Bunker Hill. Think of the Alamo. But does the same thing hold …

Written by Allen Guelzo on Wednesday January 21, 2009

Healthcare - A Line In The Sand

For the better part of 2 years, the Bush White House, fighting along side a small army of conservative activists and free-market-minded think tanks, battled Democrats over the State Children’s Health Initiative Program (SCHIP). Republicans tried to reshape the program, which they considered …

Written by David Gratzer on Wednesday January 21, 2009

Writing History's Wrongs

Note to President Bush: Beware of finding comfort in hopes that history will look back on you favorably; if you don't take care for your historical narrative while in office, no one will bother to give you credit later. As the great-granddaughter of Herbert Hoover, I know. Hoover's stubborn …

Written by Margaret Hoover on Tuesday January 20, 2009

Lessons From The 2008 Election

Before the election season began, the Democrats were expected to get something like 53% of the presidential vote this year and 55% of the congressional vote, giving them unified control of the federal government with a party that is ideologically unified around a liberal core. And this is indeed …

Written by Andrew Gelman on Tuesday January 20, 2009

Will The French Declare The "big Mac" A Mystery Too?

When em> Le Monde

Written by Jean Granville on Tuesday January 20, 2009

A Short History Of Qassam Rockets

A casus belli of the Israeli air assault upon and subsequent invasion of Gaza, the Qassâm rocket is Hamas’s signature weapon, a low-cost, low-tech, in-house invention that has heretofore paid big strategic dividends (even as it‘s failed miserably as a tactical device). The …

Written by J. Moses Browning on Tuesday January 20, 2009

Live Blogging Obama's Inaugural Address

One thing to learn from that speech - Obama is adjusting to his new role. He has learned that he must delegate even his own writing, which cannot have been easy. I feel sure that speech was not the personal work of this highly eloquent man. It takes a team of highly trained professionals to produce …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday January 20, 2009