Entries

Un Should Change - Or Us Should Quit

The United Nations is the tooth fairy of American politics: Few adults believe in it, but it's generally regarded as a harmless story to amuse the children. Since 9/11, however, the U.N. has ceased to be harmless, and the Democratic presidential candidates' enthusiasm for it has ceased to be …

Written by David Frum on Friday January 23, 2004

The Big Test For The Democratic Contenders

The results of the Iowa caucuses are being hailed as a victory for the tough-minded wing of the Democratic Party. But how tough really are the Iowa winners? Senators John Kerry and John Edwards, the top two finishers, may have shunned the wild rhetoric of Howard Dean. But they share their party's …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday January 21, 2004

Beware The Soft-line Ideololgues

Under the leadership of President Bush, two approaches to American foreign and security policy have emerged. One approach is founded on vigorous, decisive action, including a readiness to use military power, against the terrorist enemy. Its exponents are the hard-liners. You know the names: Cheney, …

Written by David Frum on Sunday January 11, 2004

I Know Bush. He's Your Best Chance For Peace

For a visiting North American, there was something terribly sad about London last week. Everything had been prepared for a glorious celebration of Anglo-American friendship. The flags had been massed, the backdrop was beautiful - but the stage was empty. I felt that I had wandered into Miss Havisha…

Written by David Frum on Sunday November 23, 2003

Protests Are All About Britain, Not Bush

DATELINE: LONDON So what did President Bush make of it all? A presidential visit is a whirl of scattered impressions seen from the back of a limousine -- and intense hours of conversation in formal rooms: a snatch of bunting on the Mall and planning sessions with Prime Minister Tony Blair; an …

Written by David Frum on Saturday November 22, 2003

Why Won't You Listen When We Say What You Want To Hear?

Yesterday, at the Banqueting Hall -- the same building in which the Religious Right of the 17th century struck history's first blow against the divine right of kings by cutting off the head of Charles I - President George W Bush delivered a grim warning to the tyrants of the Middle East. …

Written by David Frum on Thursday November 20, 2003

Inside Joke

Review of "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them" by Al Franken "Telling the truth is something I take seriously, and I try to hold myself to an impossibly high standard." - Al Franken This time, however, Al Franken may have set the bar too high. By his own account, the self-appointed …

Written by David Frum on Saturday November 1, 2003

Against Panic

Here's an understatement: President Bush provokes strong emotions. On the left: hatred. On the right: anxiety. Before he won the presidency, Bush caused conservatives anxiety because they did not yet know him and were not sure of what he would do. Would he take risks for conservative principle…

Written by David Frum on Monday October 27, 2003

A Great Leap Forward

Baysville is a crossroads village in the Ontario lake country, about three hours northeast of the city of Toronto. It's a pretty place, with a few shops, an ice-cream store, a rustic restaurant, a row of quaint old houses, and a bridge. The bridge is actually busier than any of the town's roads. It …

Written by David Frum on Monday September 1, 2003

Scandalous

Everybody seems to agree that the suicide of Dr. David Kelly, the British defense analyst, is a prelude to a scandal -- but nobody can quite seem to decide whose scandal it is. The Blair government's? The BBC's? That of Kelly himself? For an American audience, the scandal is especially hard to …

Written by David Frum on Monday August 11, 2003

What's In A (company) Name

A little while ago, I received an e-mail from a man whose grandfather had owned a company called (let me scramble the name slightly to protect privacy) "American Plier and Wrench." The company made (again scrambling slightly) -- guess what? -- pliers and wrenches. How old-fashioned such a …

Written by David Frum on Monday June 30, 2003

Capers, Tapers, &c.

"Well, I'm just a simple country lawyer . . ." For Americans above a certain age, that one phrase can conjure up a season of political memories. Thirty years ago this summer, Sen. Sam Ervin took the gavel of a congressional committee to investigate the growing Watergate scandal. …

Written by David Frum on Monday June 16, 2003

True To Our Schools

THUMP! THUMP! The backpacks hit the floor with the whomph of a 500-pound bomb detonating inside a Baathist bunker. My children are still in elementary school, but when loaded up with textbooks and notepads, the bags they haul weigh at least 20 pounds. The backpacks are too heavy to be easily …

Written by David Frum on Monday May 19, 2003

Earthy, Highly Sexed, And Not The Britain I Expected

British bookstores are daunting places for a North American writer. In the prime spots near the cash register stand great piles of books with titles such as Why Do People Hate America?, Stupid White Men, and Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower. When the British public want to read …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday May 6, 2003

Britons Are So Wrong About Bush The Brave

After my book on President Bush was published in the United States, I was interviewed by a British journalist about the relationship between Bush and Blair. He asked me what these two very different men could possibly find to talk about, and I suggested religion. He visibly winced. "You don't …

Written by David Frum on Thursday March 27, 2003

Bush Puts France In A Corner

At his press conference Thursday night, President Bush offered his much-anticipated ultimatum ... to France. The news from the question-and-answer session was Bush's announcement that the United States and Britain would proceed with another Security Council resolution authorizing force despite …

Written by David Frum on Saturday March 8, 2003

The 'rush' To War, And The Day After Never

How often do we hear it said that America is "rushing toward war"? Presidential candidate John F. Kerry warned against the "rush to war" in a major speech at Georgetown University on January 23. The day before, the leaders of France and Germany delivered a similar warning. So …

Written by David Frum on Monday February 24, 2003

Iraq Will Test Bush's Spiritual Bond With Americans

President Bush soon may give one of the most awesome orders of his presidency: the command that sends U.S. troops into battle against Saddam Hussein. How does a president contemplate such a decision? Where does he look for guidance and inspiration? Different presidents have different answers. …

Written by David Frum on Monday February 24, 2003

Beyond Duct Tape: The Best Defense Is A Strong Offense

WASHINGTON -- It's been just a week since Homeland Security officials advised Americans to prepare their home emergency kits, and already "duct tape" is the punch line to a thousand jokes. David Letterman even suggested that 3M adopt a new corporate motto: "Defending America Since 1903." Now …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday February 19, 2003

Not What They Say, But What They Do

Do my ears deceive me or do I hear a certain grumbling among conservatives about President Bush's intervention in the University of Michigan affirmative-action case? Conservatives were surely pleased by the decision to intervene itself. Bush condemned the University of Michigan's racial …

Written by David Frum on Monday February 10, 2003