Monthly Archives: August 2008

August 24, 2008 — Paul Mirengoff

A strange singling out explained

Barack Obama’s recent comment about Justice Thomas — that he would not have nominated Thomas for the Supreme Court due to Thomas’ “inexperience” — coupled with Obama’s selection of Joe Biden as his running mate, provide a painful reminder of the judicial confirmation wars of the past 20 plus years. I wrote about Biden’s central (and disgraceful) role in these wars here. I wondered why Thomas is singled out for »
August 24, 2008 — Scott Johnson

And a page or two to go before I sleep

In “Read, weep, and vote,” Andrew Ferguson considered several books that appeared under the names of this season’s presidential candidates. Ferguson’s article inspired me to reflect on John McCain’s and Mark Salter’s Faith of My Fathers here and here. Joe Biden’s Promises to Keep is the first in the line of books that come under Ferguson’s gaze. Ferguson finds it “a nearly flawless specimen of the traditional campaign book–as perfect »
August 24, 2008 — John Hinderaker

Images of War

This is a post that I meant to do several weeks ago, when the Public Editor of the New York Times, Clark Hoyt, wrote a column titled “The Painful Images of War”. The column addressed the issue of whether news outlets like the Times should publish pictures of dead or wounded American soldiers, even over the objections of the military and the soldiers’ families. Hoyt quoted a Times photographer whose »
August 24, 2008 — Paul Mirengoff

Spirit in the Dark

Jerry Wexler was the legendary Atlantic Records executive who worked with artists including Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin (Wexler produced 14 albums for Franklin on Atlantic). I paid tribute to Wexler when he died earlier this month in “A record man for the ages, RIP.” Last week the Wall Street Journal’s Jim Fusilli called on Franklin to help him pay tribute to Wexler. At the end of his remembrance, Fusilli »
August 24, 2008 — Scott Johnson

So set ’em up, Joe

While Paul Mirengoff reflects on the merits of Joe Biden’s record, I thought it might be appropriate to reflect on Biden’s merits as a vice presidential candidate (as John Hinderaker did in advance). From Hillary Clinton to Evan Bayh and Bill Richardson, Obama had a formidable field from which to choose. I was afraid that Obama would tap Bayh, a serious man with executive experience and political appeal in a »
August 23, 2008 — Paul Mirengoff

Talkin’ Joe Biden, the Judiciary Committee years

Few would argue that Joe Biden is among our brightest Senators, but that hasn’t prevented him from obtaining a prominent role on two of the most high-profile Senate Committees – the Judiciary Committee and the Foreign Relations Committee. Now that that the front-runner in the presidential campaign has tapped Biden to be his running mate, it’s worth taking a few moments to reflect on Biden’s performance on these two committees. »
August 23, 2008 — John Hinderaker

Halcyon Days…

…here in Minnesota. The State Fair is underway, which is a bigger deal than most people around the country can appreciate. We went today, because our radio show broadcasts from the fairgrounds during the two weeks the Fair is on. It was a beautiful day and throngs of Minnesotans turned out: The Patriot’s booth moved this year because they expanded the International Bazaar and took over the space where our »
August 23, 2008 — John Hinderaker

Party Identification Gap Narrowing

In the modern political era, Democrats have nearly always outnumbered Republicans, a fact that hasn’t prevented Republicans from winning lots of elections. But over the last few years, party identification, which changes slowly, has been shifting in the Democrats’ direction. In November 2006, self-identified Democrats outnumbered Republicans by 6%. The Democrats’ edge has continued to grow since then; in May of this year, it was up to 10.1%. Since then, »
August 23, 2008 — Scott Johnson

Three holes in Blackburn, Lancashire

The Times (London) and the Telegraph report the arrest of two native British Muslims at the Manchester airport last week as they prepared to leave the country, and the detention of a third, the brother of one of the other men, in Accrington, Lancashire. The third works as a security guard; it’s not clear from the reports what the other two do. Aged 21, 22 and 23, the three men »
August 23, 2008 — Paul Mirengoff

Dem ticket 0-2 on Iraq

By early 2007, it was clear to almost everyone that a change of course was required in Iraq. John McCain proposed the same change he’d been advocating for several years — a surge in forces coupled with the use of certain counter-insurgency tactics. Both members of the Democratic ticket called for change as well, though their prescriptions differed. Barack Obama called, in essence, for giving up — a withdrawal of »
August 23, 2008 — Scott Johnson

Happiness is a thing called Joe

Barack Obama’s selection of Joe Biden as his running mate is underwhelming for many reasons, but it affords an opportunity to review a few of the moments that might have provided all the embarrassment a normal man would have needed to escape from public life. Michael Crowley profiled Senator Biden for the New Republic in October 2001, opening with a memorable scene: It’s a bright early October morning on Capitol »
August 22, 2008 — John Hinderaker

Annenberg Challenge Records To See Light Of Day

According to the Associated Press, the University of Illinois Chicago has now agreed to make public its records relating to the Annenberg Challenge, an organization founded by former terrorist Bill Ayers and headed by his friend Barack Obama. The records will be made available to the public on Tuesday. The donor of the records is still unknown, and there is no way to know whether they have been “scrubbed” of »
August 22, 2008 — Scott Johnson

The Normblog profile: John Hinderaker

Our old friend Norman Geras of Normblog presents the 257th installment of his Normblog profile series: John Hinderaker. John and I have been friends for more than 20 years, but I learned a few things I didn’t know about him in this profile. Here are a few representative questions and answers: What philosophical thesis do you think it most important to combat? > All you need is love. Can you »
August 22, 2008 — Scott Johnson

Obama’s “lost” law review note revealed

While serving as vice president in 1978, Walter Mondale contributed an autographed copy of his unsigned 1956 law review note criticizing Minnesota’s campaign finance law for auction by the student council at the University of Minnesota Law School. In his law review note, Mondale made the kind of argument that conservatives make against campaign finance law today. Mondale’s contribution of an autographed copy of his law review note was an »
August 21, 2008 — John Hinderaker

Has the Gaffe Machine Gone Too Far?

Barack Obama without a teleprompter is an accident waiting to happen. Sometimes he reveals his ignorance of history, sometimes he stumbles incoherently, and sometimes he blurts out what he really believes. That’s what happened today when Obama tried to talk about Georgia, a topic that has embarrassed him more than once already, beginning when, in the first hours after the invasion, he parroted the Russian line. Today Obama equated Russia’s »
August 21, 2008 — John Hinderaker

It Ain’t Easy Being Green

Even in California. A survey of Californians released today suggests that support for anti-global warming measures is shallow at best. Sixty-three percent of the 1,000 Californians surveyed said that they support the goal of reducing carbon emissions. But when they were asked to assume that cutting carbon would mean higher energy prices–which it obviously will–that support fell to 47 percent. This is not surprising. Reducing carbon emissions will be popular »
August 21, 2008 — John Hinderaker

No More Mister Nice Guy

The latest campaign kerfuffle is Obama’s effort to make hay out of John McCain’s inability to tell a reporter how many houses he owns. McCain mumbled something about condos and said the reporter should talk to his wife. Predictably, Obama is trying to spin this exchange as showing that McCain is “out of touch.” I can relate, though. For example, if a reporter asked me how many ties I own, »