Overview for obama

Why the GOP Couldn't Win in 2008

Today, Laura Ingraham posed an important question to Donald Rumsfeld on her show: Would Obama be president today if the Iraq war hadn't happened? Laura Ingraham just posed an important question to Donald Rumsfeld on her radio program. Would Barack Obama be president today if the Iraq war had …

Read more

Written by David Frum on Tuesday February 22, 2011

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 …

Read more

Written by David Frum on Tuesday December 1, 2009

Punishing the SEALs

Earlier this week, news broke that three Navy SEALs may be court-martialed for allegedly punching a prisoner. According to a source of mine - a retired SEAL - this development may be payback from the Navy's brass for the SEALs breaking the rules of engagement during an earlier mission. Earlier …

Read more

Written by Sean Linnane on Monday November 30, 2009

Grovel Grovel

University of Connecticut College Republicans produce this damning video satirizing President Obama's bow to the Japanese emperor - funny and maddening all at once. University of Connecticut College Republicans produce this damning video satirizing President Obama's bow to the Japanese emperor …

Read more

Written by David Frum on Tuesday November 17, 2009

Why are Veep Nominees so Lame?

Andrew Gelman directs us to two blogposts at the Monkeycage blog on a neglected area of political science, here and here . Andrew Gelman directs us to two blogposts at the Monkeycage blog on a neglected area of political science, here and here .

Read more

Written by David Frum on Thursday September 24, 2009

Honduran "Coup": Blame Zelaya, Not Congress

Currently, deposed Honduran president Manuel Zelaya is holed up in Tegucigalpa after a harrowing overland escape into his own country. He is attempting to stir up anti-democratic populism to overthrow the current government. Yet, the United States still won’t budge from it's stance that his …

Read more

Written by Tyler Montgomery on Thursday September 24, 2009

Me, Me, Me, Me, Me

Increasingly, Barack Obama's speaking style inspires a reaction borrowed from the narrator of the Raymond Chandler novel, The Long Goodbye : "You talk too damn much, and too damn much of it is about you." Of the first seven sentences Obama delivered to the United Nations General Assembly on …

Read more

Written by David Frum on Thursday September 24, 2009

Obama Heads for Foreign Policy Disaster

Despite the domestic focus of these early months of his presidency, Barack Obama thinks of himself as a foreign policy thinker above all, according to those who know him best. His confidence is undiminished by his lack of experience and credentials, and that confidence continues to flourish despite …

Read more

Written by David Frum on Thursday September 17, 2009

The White House's Clumsy Timing

Sept. 17, 2009, is the day that the Obama administration yielded to Russian pressure and canceled the proposed missile defense system based in Poland and the Czech Republic. Today also happens to be the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939, when Russia gulped down its share of …

Read more

Written by David Frum on Thursday September 17, 2009

New Obama Appointee Targets the SEC

As President Obama gears up to increase regulation of the financial markets, he may face opposition from an unlikely source: his own appointee to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Cass Sunstein. As President Obama gears up to increase regulation of the financial markets, he …

Read more

Written by Tim Mak on Thursday September 17, 2009

Giving Moderation a Bad Name

The so-called moderate Baucus plan announced yesterday offers no answers to the problem of rising health costs. It imposes an individual mandate, extends federal subsidies, and imposes a tax on employers to generate some expansion of coverage. But as to cost control, it proposes virtually nothing. …

Read more

Written by David Frum on Thursday September 17, 2009

The Hidden Healthcare Problem: Immigration

Steve Sailer points out that Obama has promised to block illegal aliens for benefiting from his 2009 health plan, while also promising to legalize illegal aliens in his proposed 2010 immigration plan. Steve Sailer makes a good point here : If Obama promises both: A) to block illegal …

Read more

Written by David Frum on Thursday September 17, 2009

The Lockerbie Bomber Story Continues to Unravel

The release of the Lockerbie bomber looks increasingly like a deceitful connivance between the British, the Scots and the Libyans. Meanwhile on this side of the Atlantic, an uncurious American press has accepted the Obama administration's account at face value. But given the level of lying in …

Read more

Written by David Frum on Sunday September 6, 2009

Van Jones and 9/11 Denialism

The White House is apparently excusing its green jobs adviser of signing at least one (and maybe two) statements endorsing the denialist point of view on the grounds that he did not appreciate the significance of the documents. On CNN's Situation Room last night, I was asked about the White …

Read more

Written by David Frum on Saturday September 5, 2009

Still Waiting for Obama's Afghan Strategy

Afghanistan is now Obama’s war. In the past six months, what Obama once called a “good war” has gotten worse. Even Bush cannot be blamed anymore, because it wasn’t this bad when he was immersed in Iraq. The “war” in Afghanistan is getting more lethal. An increasing number are saying it can’t be …

Read more

Written by Peter Worthington on Wednesday September 2, 2009

Will's Exit from Afghanistan

Anybody who does not share George Will’s frustrations with the Afghan mission has not been paying attention. But that does not mean George Will is right in his call for an American evacuation and a new approach. Anybody who does not share George Will’s frustrations with the Afghan mission has …

Read more

Written by David Frum on Tuesday September 1, 2009

Why is the Club for Growth Attacking Senator Bennett?

The Club for Growth has released a new ad attacking Utah Sen. Robert Bennett’s sponsorship of the Healthy Americans Act. But many of the ad's criticisms of the Bennett bill also apply to the Republican alternative to the president’s health plans: the Coburn-Ryan bill. Why then is one bill …

Read more

Written by David Frum on Monday August 31, 2009

A Kennedy Lesson for Obama Critics

Peggy Noonan's Wall Street Journal column today reminds readers of a graceful tribute to John F. Kennedy delivered by President Reagan in 1985. As the nation pays tribute to Jack Kennedy's last brother, we should remember: There are boys and girls who will feel into the 2080s about President …

Read more

Written by David Frum on Friday August 28, 2009