Monthly Archives: February 2009

Tennis: The Up-Side

This morning Scott wrote about the Davis Cup tennis match between Sweden and Israel, which Swedish authorities scheduled for Malmo, a largely Muslim city, and then barred the public from attending for “security reasons.” In fact, it seems obvious that the point was to make an anti-Israel political statement. It’s only fair to note the more positive outcome of another tennis story: the United Arab Emirates’ refusal to grant a »

Twittering

Or is it tweeting? I’m not sure. I set up a Twitter account a few weeks ago but hadn’t done anything with it until tonight, when–strangely enough–I was able to take a break from the mad social whirl that usually consumes our weekends and fool around on the web for a while. Anyway, if you want to follow me, you can–although why anyone should, I haven’t quite figured out yet. »

Sign of the Times

One more sign of an industry in free-fall: the annual convention of the American Society of Newspaper Editors has been canceled. To comment on this post, go here. »

A word from somewhere near Camp Lejeune

A reader writes in response to the post below: I am a Marine Corps spouse living in [town deleted], North Carolina. We are between MCAS Cherry Point and Camp Lejeune…[Identifying information regarding her husband’s command responsibility has been deleted.] In [month deleted] 2008, I attended the spouse portion of a commander’s course in Quantico, Virginia. At that time we (spouses) were informed that, yes, the situation in Iraq was winding »

On the surge, for the record

Yesterday President Obama announced his plan to terminate combat operations in Iraq late next year. In his speech yesterday before a military audience at Camp Lejeune, Obama conceded: Thanks in great measure to your service, the situation in Iraq has improved. Violence has been reduced substantially from the horrific sectarian killing of 2006 and 2007. Al Qaeda in Iraq has been dealt a serious blow by our troops and Iraq’s »

Anyone for tennis in Malmo? part 2

In “Anyone for tennis in Malmo?” we noted the prospective Davis Cup match between Sweden and Israel that was at risk of being moved indoors because of security concerns. Now Peter Bodo blows the whistle at ESPN Blogs: The decision by Sweden to hold the Davis Cup tie with Israel (next weekend) in Malmo, a city with a supercharged political atmosphere, was unfortunate, if understandable. What is not comprehensible is »

That Was Then, This Is Now

It’s no secret that there is no intellectual integrity on the Left, but it’s still hard not to be a bit shocked by liberals’ reaction to the budget proposal that Barack Obama unleashed yesterday. Let’s take the example of the New York Times, probably the most prominent voice of the Far Left in the U.S. Throughout the George W. Bush administration, the Times’ editorial board waxed eloquent about the terrible »

Obama’s Legacy

There’s nothing new about federal debt, of course; but until now no one has dreamed of (let alone advocated) the mountain of debt that Barack Obama intends to run up. Michael Ramirez comments; click to enlarge: To comment on this post, go here. »

Freeman: Beyond the Pale

We wrote here and here about President Obama’s appointment of Saudi shill Charles Freeman to chair the National Intelligence Council. Freeman’s loyalty to Saudi Arabia and his outside-the-mainstream views on the Middle East make him a strange choice for the post, to say the least. But now even more explosive information about Freeman has emerged. Check out this April 2002 program in which Freeman participated, sponsored by the Washington Institute »

The Hamas stimulus plan

The Obama administration is committing enormities on a daily basis, making it hard to keep up. One that shouldn’t get lost in the blizzard is what Jules Crittenden aptly calls “The Hamas stimulus plan.” Steve Schippert adds: “Yes, it’s Hamas aid, and it’s $900M of cognitive dissonance.” Schippert writes: “Hamas terrorists? Help is on the way. Pronto. This — espcially within the given context — is simply unconscionable, no matter »

Christopher Hitchens and the Battle of Beirut

Michael Totten has posted a riveting account of “Christopher Hitchens and the battle of Beirut.” Hitchens comes across a bit like an American innocent abroad, an idealistic fool among murderous thugs, while Totten is the gimlet-eyed sophisticate. But the story Totten tells is of interest beyond Hitchens’s roughing-up and the group’s narrow escape. Via Instapundit. To comment on this post, go here. »

Ring of Fire

Today is the anniversary of the birth of the incomparable Johnny Cash. Originally signed to the Sun Records label by Sam Phillips in the ’50s, he had an incredibly long and productive career as one of the beloved giants of American popular music. He was a wonderful songwriter and performer. Among the fine songs he wrote and memorably performed are “Big River,” “Give My Love to Rose,” “Don’t Take Your »

Dustbowl Days?

The Democrats are delirious at the idea that we’ve gone back to the future–a return to the 1930s. I’m not sure their joy is shared by many of those who actually lived through that era, but from the Dems’ perspective the unprecedented transfer of wealth and power from the American people to their government that is now in prospect is all that matters. Are we, though, about to recreate the »

Quantifying Risk Under the Watchful Eye of Government

The meltdown of America’s (and the world’s) financial sector has caused attention to be focused on the role of the credit rating agencies. It seems pretty clear that the system we are all familiar with is archaic and, to put it politely, less than reliable. As it happens, quantitative risk analysis is a science that has made great strides in recent years, but that progress was not reflected in the »

Dawn Johnsen, radically disingenuous

Early on, we were alarmed by President Obama’s selection of the radical Dawn Johnsen to head the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel. We have also wondered (based on the reporting of the Wasington Post’s Barton Gellman) about Johnsen’s candor. Today Johnsen’s radicalism and her lack of candor were both on display before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The issue was Johnsen’s position on the relevance of the Thirteenth Amendment »

It’s official

Charles Freeman, the “Saudi-Manchurian candidate,” will chair the National Intelligence Council which is responsible for producing National Intelligence Estimates (NIEs). The selection of Freeman is shocking — as much as I distrust Obama on issues pertaining to Israel, I would never have predicted this. How much impact Freeman will have remains to be seen. It’s clear now that Obama does not consider the Mearsheimer-Walt thesis — that American Jews have »

A Bumper Sticker For the Age of Obama

Available from the Republican Party of Tennessee. To comment on this post, go here. »