March 14, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff

How to get Putin’s attention while doing the right thing

Featured image Charles Krauthammer presents his plan for how to “stop — or slow — Putin.” I agree with all of the items on Krauthammer’s list. However, I’m pretty sure they won’t stop Putin and they may not slow him much. My idea is to punish Putin by doing what we should have done long ago — attacking his Middle East client state, Syria. It’s the only non-outlandish action we can take »
March 14, 2014 — John Hinderaker

Nixon vs. Obama: Who Deserves Impeachment More?

Featured imageImpeachment is a political remedy, not a legal one, and Republicans in Washington should never even hint at impeaching Barack Obama. Still, you would have to be an unusually obtuse observer not to notice that the grounds for removing Obama from office are stronger than the grounds that were deemed sufficient to impeach Richard Nixon. The president’s most fundamental constitutional duty is to “take care that the laws be faithfully »
March 14, 2014 — John Hinderaker

What Happened to Flight 370?

Featured imageEveryone seems now in agreement (with the possible exception of some Malaysian officials) that Flight 370 continued flying in a generally westward direction for four or five hours, at a minimum, after it was lost by civilian radar shortly after takeoff. Substantially all observers also agree that measures were taken to hide the plane’s whereabouts, e.g. by disabling the transponder. So it seems clear that the plane was hijacked, either »
March 14, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff

Helicopter parenting and the selling of Obamacare

Featured imageTeam Obama has famously resorted to an “angry mom” ad in the hope of inducing young adults to sign up for Obamacare. In the image that accompanies this post on the main page, a mother stands with her arms folded, looking none-too-amused. The caption reads, “Don’t worry about me, I’ll just wait here until you get #GetCovered.” Is this ad likely to be effective? It depends on the nature of »
March 14, 2014 — John Hinderaker

Democratic Party Smears Paul Ryan and Bill Bennett to Raise Money

Featured imageYesterday the Democratic Party sent out this fundraising appeal: Subject: John, sign your name: Reply-To: You won’t believe what Paul Ryan is saying to justify his radical agenda. I should note that Ryan is one of the people, along with the Koch brothers and John Boehner, whose name is constantly invoked, and whose policy positions are consistently misrepresented, in order to scare Democrats into contributing money. So Ryan’s “radical agenda” »
March 14, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff

How vulnerable is Mitch McConnell?

Featured imageThis winter, polls have shown Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell running even against Democrat Alison Grimes. This has caused me to view the race as a toss-up. (I assume for purposes of discussion that McConnell will defeat his Tea Party opponent in the primary). However, the New York Times, in its preview of a new political analysis site called Upshot (if this is the successor to Nate Silver’s operation it »
March 14, 2014 — Scott Johnson

Mystery of the disappearing mandate

Featured imageThe Wall Street Journal’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Obamacare editorialist broke a big story earlier this week in “Obamacare’s secret mandate exemption.” Taking a close look at some technical bulletins including this one, the editorial reports that the Obamacare mandate is pulling a magical disappearing act: Now all you need to do is fill out a form attesting that your plan was cancelled and that you “believe that the plan options available »
March 13, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff

Common Core and the new SAT

Featured imageLindsey Burke of the Heritage Foundation connects the revamp of the SAT with the controversy over the “Common Core” initiative. And with justification. As we have noted, one of the major changes to the SAT will be to align the test more closely with what high schools teach. According to Burke, the high school curriculum the folks at College Board are referring to is the Common Core. Indeed, the president »
March 13, 2014 — Steven Hayward

Maybe Flight 370 Was Brought Down by Chinese Solar Power?

Featured imageWell not seriously, but just about every other theory, including aliens and the Koch brothers, have been floated.  Well, okay, I’m the only one (I think) to say the Koch brothers did it, and that was simply to bait MSNBC; is there any doubt that someone in the fever swamps of the Left—Dan Rather perhaps?—might believe it? The Chinese solar power idea is almost as loopy, except that pilots are »
March 13, 2014 — John Hinderaker

Ban Bossy? Good Idea!

Featured imageYou have probably heard that Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg has launched a campaign to ban the word “bossy,” which she thinks is discriminatory toward girls. Or something like that. It turns out that Ms. Sandberg is a Hillary Clinton supporter and donor, which has prompted speculation that her “ban bossy” campaign is battlespace preparation for the 2016 campaign. Because “bossy” is one of the words beginning with a B that »
March 13, 2014 — Scott Johnson

Mr. Times regrets again

Featured imageThe House Oversight Committee released its report on Lois Lerner’s Involvment in the IRS Targeting of Tax-Exempt Organizations on Tuesday. For reporters working on deadline, the committee released a handy summary of the report’s highlights. The report was widely covered by mainstream media outlets including the Washington Post and CBS News. We found yesterday, somewhat to our surprise, that the New York Times had not deemed news of the report »
March 14, 2014 — Scott Johnson

Soft Power on parade

Featured imageSamantha Power is a preening phony, but I never thought she was stupid. As the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, she has emitted the lame statement below condemning the regime of Syrian president for life Bashar al-Assad as out of step with the “whole world.” Among the many true statements one could make to condemn Assad, Power can’t pull an arrow from the quiver. If Assad has her »
March 13, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff

Harry Reid blocks “clean” legislation to aid Ukraine

Featured imageA fascinating debate over aid to Ukraine erupted on the Senate floor tonight. It featured Harry Reid, Dick Durbin, Robert Menendez, John McCain, and Bob Corker on one side and Jeff Sessions, John Barrasso, and Ted Cruz on the other. The debate concerned two bills — a House bill that would provide a billion dollar loan package to Ukraine and a Senate bill that would provide loans and also impose »
March 13, 2014 — John Hinderaker

How Expensive Is Obamacare? Wait ‘Til Next Year

Featured imageAcross America, millions of people have been forced out of health insurance which they chose and with which they were satisfied, and have been forced onto the government-sponsored Obamacare exchanges. That process is barely beginning; the second and third waves of lost insurance will occur when administratively-imposed delays in the application of Obamacare to small group and employer-sponsored policies finally expire. But already, many have spoken out about the higher »
March 13, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff

The Battle of Scottish Secession

Featured imageIn four months, Scots will vote on the following question: “Should Scotland be an independent country?” Although it seems more likely than not that the electorate will vote “No,” the outcome apparently is not a foregone conclusion. Thus, an arrangement that has endured for more than three centuries may come to an end, and one of the world’s most important democracies may lose nearly 10 percent of its people and »
March 13, 2014 — Steven Hayward

Best. Obituary. Ever.

Featured imageThere was quite a lot of notice given to this obituary last November of Leonard Smith, who asked that in lieu of flowers, “the family asks that you cancel your subscription to The New York Times.”  A rather sensible suggestion. But I think I’ve found one that is even better from earlier this week, for Walter George Bruhl, a retired chemical company executive.  Highlights: Walter George Bruhl Jr. of Newark »
March 13, 2014 — John Hinderaker

Bombshell Revelation Deepens Mystery of Flight 370 [ With Multiple Updates]

Featured imageThe Boeing 777 that disappeared after taking off from Kuala Lumpur had two Rolls Royce engines. When in operation, the engines automatically transmitted data to Rolls Royce, on the ground, at 30 minute intervals. This fact has been known for a while, but Rolls has been quiet about what the transmissions showed–or, more important, when they ended. It has now been revealed by American investigators that, according to Rolls Royce, »