May 21, 2012 — Scott Johnson

A word from Tom Lipscomb on “Pow Wow Chow”

Featured image Over at Breitbart, Michael Patrick Leahy asks “Will Harvard Law School condemn Elizabeth Warren for Pow Wow Chow plagiarism?” Well, I can answer that question. More importantly, drawing on his background as publisher of Times Books, an optimistic Tom Lipscomb writes to comment on Leahy’s post: A fine piece. Pierre Franey was my author and did the best-selling cookbook THE 60 MINUTE GOURMET…he was Craig Claiborne’s partner. We published it »
May 21, 2012 — Steven Hayward

Punitive Liberalism Updated

Featured imageLast week in a post about “punitive liberalism” I offered the view that “it is possible that [Eduardo] Severin [the Facebook co-founder who renounced his citizenship] will actually pay more in taxes to the U.S. by leaving the country than if he’d stayed for a simple reason.  If he’d stayed, he’d only owe taxes on his Facebook wealth if he sold his Facebook stock.  If he never sold much of »
May 20, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff

Taming international law, three proposals

Featured imageNo aspect of the modern leftist project poses more danger than the left’s approach to international law. By definition, international law is in tension with national sovereignty, but the “transnationalist” approach to international law advanced by leftists threatens to run roughshod over sovereignty. And, in the case of the United States, a threat to sovereignty means a threat to democracy — to the ability of Americans to govern themselves. In »
May 21, 2012 — Steven Hayward

The Smug Beach Diet

Featured imageThe biggest problem with vegetarians, and their most Puritan variation—Vegans—is not so much their holier-than-thou attitude (after all, most enthusiasts, from fitness freaks to fundamentalists, have the same attitude), but the barely concealed will to power to impose veganism on the rest of us.  It is another form of the totalitarian temptation. Social science is catching up with this perception.  A new study in the journal Social Psychology and Personality »
May 20, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff

The long shadow of Barack Obama’s identity crisis

Featured imageThe Washington Post has obsessed over an incident in which Mitt Romney allegedly cut the hair of a fellow high school student. The mainstream media paid plenty of attention to George W. Bush’s “irresponsible youth,” and speculated about whether he had used cocaine. Yet, the MSM has essentially ignored Barack Obama’s admission in his autobiography of cocaine use, of attending Socialist seminars while in college, and of being drawn as »
May 20, 2012 — John Hinderaker

“Is GOP trying to sabotage economy to hurt Obama?”

Featured imageThat’s the headline on yesterday’s Associated Press story by Charles Babington. The headline appeared on the main Yahoo page, which is far more heavily trafficked than any newspaper, and was picked up, based on a Google News search, by several hundred newspapers. The article doesn’t conclude that Republicans are deliberately hurting the economy, of course. That wasn’t the idea: the idea was to attribute plausibility to what is in fact »
May 20, 2012 — Scott Johnson

Outside the box

Featured imageByron York takes off from Edward Klein’s new book to report that Rev. Jeremiah Wright has been advised to exercise his right to remain silent until 2013, when his long-time congregant in the White House will have a little more — as Lucianne puts it — “ah, flexibility”: Rev. Jeremiah Wright, whose “God damn America” sermon set off a firestorm during the 2008 campaign, agreed not to publish an account »
May 20, 2012 — Steven Hayward

World to Germany: Drop Dead

Featured imageWe haven’t had a lot to say about the European financial Gotterdammerung for a while because it’s like watching a super-slow motion car wreck in a Michael Bay movie: the technical wizardry of the spectacle doesn’t change the prosaic and predictable result at the end of the scene.  But there might be a surprise ending on the way—a nasty surprise in which the supposedly sturdy central bankers of Europe turn »
May 19, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel endorses Gov. Walker

Featured imageMore bad news for the beleaguered anti-Scott Walker forces: the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has endorsed the Wisconsin governor. The paper explains: Walker’s rematch with Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett was prompted by one issue: Walker’s tough stance with the state’s public-employee unions. It’s inconceivable that the recall election would be occurring absent that. And a disagreement over a single policy is simply not enough to justify a vote against the governor. »
May 19, 2012 — John Hinderaker

Bain or Bane?

Featured imageOne of my law partners asked me yesterday whether I thought the Democrats’ attacks on Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital days can be effective. I said I don’t think so. Voters understand that Romney was very successful in business, and if you are successful, that means companies are growing and employees are, in all likelihood, being hired. I think most people believe it is high time that we had someone in »
May 20, 2012 — Steven Hayward

Enviros to Humanity: Drop Dead (Again)

Featured imageIt’s only Sunday, but this week’s hands-down, slam-dunk winner of the coveted Power Line Green Loser of the Week Award has already been determined: the Finnish writer Pentti Linkola (doesn’t that sound close to the name of the villain in Thor and The Avengers?), whose unhinged rantings about exterminating humanity in the interest of saving the planet have gotten wide distribution on the Interwebs the last few days, especially the »
May 20, 2012 — John Hinderaker

“Great Moments In Presidential History”

Featured imageThat is the title of the latest video from American Crossroads, which ridicules President Obama’s inserting himself into 13 presidential biographies on his web site. The video compares Obama’s grandiose self-regard with his actual record of accomplishment. Mockery: we can never have too much of it! UPDATE: Link fixed! »
May 20, 2012 — Scott Johnson

Obamacare against the Church, cont’d

Featured imageThis past Friday we had another Obamacare against the Church moment, this one facilitated by Georgetown University. Georgetown invited HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to give the commencement address to graduating public policy students. Sebelius’s commencement speech faithfully followed the traditional form. It was just boring and humorless enough to sound like she may have had a hand in writing it herself. Politico easily extracted the theme from the complete text »
May 19, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff

NAACP offers Obama political cover on gay marriage

Featured imageWhat a coincidence. Less than two weeks after President Obama “evolved” into openly supporting same-sex marriage, the NAACP has passed a resolution supporting it too. “Civil marriage is a civil right and a matter of civil law,” NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Jealous explained. He added that “the NAACP’s support for marriage equality is deeply rooted in the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and equal protection of all »
May 19, 2012 — Steven Hayward

The Big Green Bigfoot Sighted Again

Featured imageI can’t believe I have to pass out Power Line’s coveted Green Loser of the Week Award twice in one week, but the new World Wildlife Fund Living Planet 2012 report deserves a special bonus award this week.  This is the ninth edition of this report, produced every year by the WWF International (curious and telling that the U.S. WWF always keeps a discreet distance from this report) in conjunction »