Monthly Archives: February 2008

Find the scandal, Part Two

My “Find the Scandal” post produced some enlightening feedback. From an EPA employee, I learned that EPA Administrator Steve Johnson, the one under criticism for not deferring to career bureaucrats, is himself the first career bureaucrat to become Administrator of that agency. I’m told, Johnson started his EPA career when Jimmy Carter was President, and was a political appointee under Bill Clinton. This helps explain, I think, why EPA staffers »

Change you can disavow

When Barack Obama speaks (incessantly) about change, he probably doesn »

The Bush administration declares neutrality

Below I took a look at the case of Leslye Knox v. The Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Liberation Organization and asked which side the Bush administration is on. Ms. Knox is the widow of Aharon Ellis, murdered by the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade. The PA and the PLO defaulted on the claim that they are responsible for the murder of Ms. Knox’s husband; they are now subject to a »

Another 60 Minutes Scandal?

We wrote here about one aspect of the recent 60 Minutes story alleging that Karl Rove had something to do with the fact that former Alabama governor Don Siegelman was convicted by a federal jury of bribery and mail fraud. The claim seemed so silly on its face that I wrote that I “assum[e] that it is another 60 Minutes hoax.” Now, Gateway Pundit has been doing some digging, and »

Soft Power — Max Boot responds

Max Boot has responded to my post (and one from Noah Pollak) in which I explained why, contrary to Boot’s view, I consider Samantha Power anti-Israel. I have great respect for Boot, and if he knows Power reasonably well and thinks she’s not anti-Israel that’s a point in her favor. Nonetheless, I found Boot’s response on the merits unpersuasive. Boot makes basically four arguments: (1) the charge of being anti-Israel »

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain

After one of the recent Democratic debates, I suggested that Barack Obama’s campaign appears well on its way to becoming one of the most intellectually dishonest in recent memory. That was after Obama pledged to combat illegal immigration by helping to fix the Mexican economy, while simultaneously pledging to pull out of NAFTA unless Mexico agrees to U.S. environmental and labor standards. Now we learn that, while Obama campaigns in »

Obama’s evasion

The Washington Post reports on the efforts of Barack Obama and his campaign to “rebuff[] challenges on his Israel stance.” Part of that “challenge” relates, of course, to his foreign policy advisers some of whom, the Post accurately observes, are regarded by some Jews as anti-Israel. The Post reports: Obama took on those issues in Cleveland when he told Jewish leaders that Brzezinski, a national security adviser to President Jimmy »

The Times Goes Looking for Media Bias

Not, as you might expect, in the mirror. Instead, the Times pointed its finger at a television station in the Republican South. This is a spin-off from the recent 60 Minutes story that apparently claimed it was Karl Rove’s fault that former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman was convicted of bribery and mail fraud. I haven’t followed that story closely, assuming that it is another 60 Minutes hoax. The Left blogosphere »

With friends like these

This column in the Gulf News, a newspaper in the United Arab Emirates, argues that “Obama is good for Israel.” According to Abe Greenwald, the author of the column, Patrick Seale, is a friend of the late Syrian dictator Hafiz Assad and has blamed the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on Israel. Seale thinks Obama would be good for Israel because he would “oversee[] Israel »

Brad Smith responds to Senator McCain

I was intrigued by Paul’s account of the blogger conference call with Senator McCain yesterday. Senator McCain justified his refusal to shake the hand of former FEC Commissioner Brad Smith on the ground that Professor Smith had engaged in attacks on Senator McCain’s character. Checking out Smith’s 2001 book on the problems with campaign finance regulation — Unfree Speech: The Folly of Campaign Finance Reform — Professor Smith’s comments on »

Leslye Knox v. the PLO: Which side are you on?

The Bush administraton is deliberating whether to intercede on behalf of the Palestinian Authority and the PLO to support relitigation of a judgment ordering them to pay $174 million in damages to the family of Aharon Ellis (photo below). Glenn Kessler’s Washington Post story notes that that the PA and the PLO did not appear in federal court to contest the lawsuit brought against them by Ellis’s widow, Leslye Knox. »

Americans Expect Success

This Pew poll on Americans’ attitudes toward Iraq, via Hot Air, is interesting. In my opinion, the most significant finding is this one: If Americans really expect us to win in Iraq by a 53% to 39% margin, the Democrats could be in trouble come November, since they are irrevocably committed to defeat. »

Find the Scandal

The left thinks it »

Return of the Nude Protest

The early days of this web site happened to coincide with a rash of nude protests of various sorts. These events took place around the world, usually on the flimsiest of excuses. This was before we became sort-of-famous, and we covered those gatherings with some enthusiasm. Most were misguided; a happy few were not. My favorites were the pro-fox hunting demonstrators. Anyway, nude protesting seemed to die down for a »

Not That It Matters, But…

…it’s entertaining to see the left heap abuse on Ralph Nader for jumping into the Presidential race. Here is how the San Francisco Chronicle reacted to Nader’s announcement of his running mate, San Francisco’s own Matt Gonzalez: Ralph Nader sure knows how to marginalize his candidacy for president: He picked a brooding, far-left running mate who couldn’t get elected mayor of San Francisco. Actually, I don’t believe Nader himself has »

No olive branch this time

John McCain held another blogger call this afternoon. Jim Geraghty has a good account of it. I asked McCain for his comments on George Will’s hard-hitting anti-McCain column of today. McCain viewed it as Will’s monthly or bi-monthly attack on campaign finance reform. He added that he respects Will as an important advocate of conservative causes, but that they will have to agree to disagree on this issue. As a »

Soft Power, Part Five

Max Boot says he has known Samantha Power (a key Barack Obama adviser) for six years and has “never heard her say anything that I would construe as anti-Israel.” Because I respect Boot so much, I reviewed my posts on Ms. Power to see whether I should re-evaluate my assessment that she is, in fact, anti-Israel. Here are the pieces of information on which I based my claim: In a »