Monthly Archives: February 2010

February 24, 2010 — Paul Mirengoff

Does the Mitt fit this time? Part Two

There’s been plenty of speculation about whether Mitt Romney’s endorsement of John McCain in his primary battle with J.D. Hayworth will hurt Romney’s prospects for the presidential nomination in 2012. Romney needs credibility with the party’s dominant conservative wing — something he lacked in 2008 — and McCain is a bete noir to many in that wing. My sense is that Romney’s endorsement of McCain won’t be a problem unless »
February 24, 2010 — Scott Johnson

Speaking of reconciliation…

Watching this video assembling the vehement pronouncements of prominent Democrats inveighing against circumvention of the filibuster, It would be easy for a citizen to become cynical about politics. It would be easy, but it would be right. Naked Emperor News has compiled the wise words of Democratic worthies including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, Joe Biden, Dianne Feinstein, Christopher Dodd (who is in especially good form) and »
February 24, 2010 — Paul Mirengoff

Did the bleat of the lamb excite the lion?

Hillary Clinton isn’t a fool, but you wouldn’t know it from this statement: People say to me all the time, what happened to Iran? … When President Obama came in, he was very clear that he wanted to engage, and that’s what he’s been trying to do — reaching out to the Iranian people, reaching out to the Iranian leadership. And you have to ask yourself, why, when so many »
February 24, 2010 — Scott Johnson

The case of Rashad Hussain, part 3

Sami al-Arian was the tenured professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa who held himself out as a pro-Palestinian activist. In the name of civil liberties, he was a celebrated opponent of Clinton-era anti-terrorist legislation. Among the organizations supporting al-Arian’s “civil liberties” crusade against the anti-terrorist legislation, David Horowitz notes, were the National Lawyers Guild, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the ACLU, the American Muslim Council and CAIR. »
February 24, 2010 — Scott Johnson

Vote for him or the wife gets it!

Yesterday Politico reported that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pushed for a $15 billion jobs bill Monday by suggesting that unemployed men are more likely to abuse their wives: “Men when they’re out of work tend to become abusive,” Reid said as he argued in favor of a cloture vote on the jobs bill. “I met with some people while I was home dealing with domestic abuse. It has gotten »
February 23, 2010 — John Hinderaker

The Green Prince

This is a very nice story that I hadn’t heard before: the son of one of the founders of Hamas converted to Christianity and for a decade, worked closely with Israel’s security agencies to frustrate terrorist attacks. He now lives in California and is about to publish his memoirs: The son of a leading Hamas figure, who famously converted to Christianity, served for over a decade as the Shin Bet »
February 23, 2010 — John Hinderaker

He Might Not Have the Votes…

…but he certainly has the chutzpah. What does one make of President Obama’s unwillingness to compromise on health care, even though the issue threatens to wreck his Presidency? I’m not sure the explanation is monomania, as Michael Ramirez suggests, but it’s on the list of possibilities. Click to enlarge: »
February 23, 2010 — Paul Mirengoff

An offer he couldn’t refuse

The Obama administration is touting the guilty plea of terrorist Najibullah Zazi as validation of its use of the criminal justice system in these matters. Zazi (no relation to Joey Zaza) was an airport shuttle bus driver who plotted to detonate explosives in the New York subway system. He has pleaded guillty for his role in the plot and reportedly is cooperating with authorities. Attorney General Holder spoke about the »
February 23, 2010 — John Hinderaker

Do They Have the Votes?

Normally, one would assume that President Obama and Congressional Democratic leaders wouldn’t press forward toward Armageddon on health care unless they knew they had the votes. This time, however, I don’t think anyone knows whether they have the votes or not. Byron York is skeptical. In today’s column, he deals with the House: The original House health care bill passed last November by a 220 to 215 margin. But supporters »
February 23, 2010 — Paul Mirengoff

Obamacare facing uphill battle in House

President Obama’s new (sort of) plan for reforming health care received a blow today when Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich) termed it “unacceptable.” Stupak was a key vote in favor of the House version of Obamacare last year. However, he cast that vote only because the legislation banned federal funding for abortions. Stupak finds the latest incarnation of Obamacare unacceptable because it “encompasses the Senate language allowing public funding of abortion.” »
February 23, 2010 — Paul Mirengoff

He’s the chairman; how do we deal with it?

Republicans are poised to do well in November 2010 and, quite possibly, beyond. But doubts persist about the party’s fitness to become relevant to the governance of this country again. These doubts are well-founded. Throughout the last decade, Republicans spent irresponsibility. And at the congressional level, they too often behaved corruptly. This, of course, is the main reason why a strong power base for fiscal prudence and non-imperial governance has »
February 23, 2010 — John Hinderaker

Go Mobile With Power Line

We’ve designed mobile applications that allow you to access Power Line directly on your iPhone or Blackberry, specially formatted for the small screen. Now you can read PL posts wherever you go. Our mobile app includes, along with our own posts, a breaking news feed from Breitbart.com, so, wherever you might be, you can always stay up to date on the latest news. Go here to learn more about Power »
February 23, 2010 — Scott Johnson

Jim Leach’s tension

While the National Endowment for the Arts has attracted attention as a propaganda arm of the Obama administration, the National Endowment for the Humanities has so far escaped such attention. The new chairman of the NEH is Republican former Rep. Jim Leach. Leach supported Obama during the campaign and must have had dreams of office higher than the chairmanship of the NEH. The NEH itself is of course supposed to »
February 22, 2010 — John Hinderaker

Who Cares About Race?

One of the differences between liberals and conservatives is that many liberals are obsessed by race, while conservatives, in general, rarely think about it. This subject is not often plumbed by public opinion surveys for obvious reasons, but on the few occasions when I’ve seen such data reported, Democrats are far more likely than Republicans to express racial animosity. That doesn’t stop them from trying to hang the “racist” label »
February 22, 2010 — Paul Mirengoff

A word to our Dartmouth readers

Dartmouth is holding elections for two trustee positions. Voting begins on March 10. The Dartmouth power structure has selected Morton Kondracke and John Replogle to seek these positions. Kondracke, the well-known journalist, will be unopposed. Replogle will face our friend Joe Asch, who gathered the petitions necessary to run against the establishment’s hand-picked candidate. For me the Asch-Replogle race is a no-brainer, and I hope our readers will see it »
February 22, 2010 — John Hinderaker

How A Republican Can Make News

By criticizing a fellow Republican, of course. We see this all the time, and I experienced it this week. I commented on Governor Tim Pawlenty’s CPAC speech here, and said that his nine-iron joke was “a weirdly inappropriate analogy on several levels.” I’ve said many good things about Pawlenty, whom I like and admire, but this is the first time other media outlets have taken an interest in my view »
February 22, 2010 — Paul Mirengoff

Does the Mitt fit this time

Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post thinks the Republican presidential field is starting to take shape (or else he just needed something to write about). Cillizza sees Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, and Tim Pawlenty as probably in the field, with Haley Barbour another possibility. Barbour’s quip that “if you see me lose 40 pounds, I’m either running or have cancer” makes me think he’d be an entertaining entry. In 2007-08, »