Monthly Archives: September 2010

Obama’s pathetic offer to Israel, Part Two

Last night, I wrote about President Obama’s desperate attempt to induce Israel to extend by just two more months its building moratorium. Based on the information available to me then, I said that, in exchange for this short extension, Obama offered Israel the following assurances: (1) that Washington will not ask for a moratorium extension beyond 60 days, (2) that the United States will veto any U.N. Security Council initiative »

The inconvenient truth about Gary McDowell

In one of the year’s most closely watched congressional races, Republican Dan Benishek and Democrat Gary McDowell are batting to succeed Bart Stupak as the representative of Michigan’s First District. We wrote about that race here. It may be a close contest. A poll released by the McDowell campaign a week or so ago had Benishek leading McDowell 41-38, which is within the margin of error. Third party candidate Glenn »

An appeal to Yale alumni, Part Two

Scott wrote here about the insurgent campaign on behalf of Michael Horowitz (’64L) for the next election of an Alumni Fellow to the Yale Corporation. As Scott explained, Horowitz is an extraordinary American whose accomplishments include distinguished service in academia, where he was a powerful force for civil rights reform at the University of Mississippi, and in the Reagan adminsitration, where he was General Counsel of the Office of Management »

Futility

It is no secret that education in America has lagged, by international standards, for quite a few years. The liberals’ answer is always the same: spend more money. I would argue that we have carried out a laboratory experiment, and have conclusively proved that more money is not the cure for whatever ails the education system. This chart, just produced by the Cato Institute, makes the point with beautiful simplicity: »

The windmills of his mind

The electorate’s disillusion with President Obama has something to do with the state of the economy, but that’s not a great excuse for his lousy job approval ratings. Obama’s policies themselves have retarded economic growth. And the disillusion felt by the electorate also relates to Obama’s continuing revelation of himself as a man of the left. The tiger hasn’t changed his stripes; they have just become more visible to those »

Obama’s pathetic offer to israel

Laura Rozen at Politico reports that President Obama has written a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu offering various “assurances” to Israel if it will extend for two months its moratorium on construction in the West Bank. Her report comes via Middle East specialist David Makovsky, who co-authored a book about the Middle East with Dennis Ross, a top presidential adviser on the Middle East and a veteran “peace” negotiator. »

Kudos to Castle, For Now

Mike Castle issued a statement tonight to the effect that he will not mount a write-in Senate campaign in opposition to Christine O’Donnell, who beat him in the Republican primary. That distinguishes him from Lisa Murkowski in the “sore loser” category. We don’t know, of course, what Castle’s motives were. Some poll data suggest that his write-in candidacy would hurt the Democrat, Chris Coons, more than O’Donnell. It remains to »

The Anatomy of Evil

I think it is safe to say that the number one evil in the world today is Islamic extremism. Today we got a glimpse into that world, courtesy of Faisal Shahzad. Do you remember him? He is the home-grown terrorist who tried to blow up a Nissan Pathfinder in Times Square. He failed, fortunately, like several of his brethren over the last year or two, and therefore faded from memory. »

McDonald’s to go

The Wall Street Journal’s Janet Adamy reports that McDonald’s has sent a message to the lords of Obamacare. According to the Journal, McDonald’s has warned federal regulators that it could drop its health insurance plan for nearly 30,000 hourly restaurant workers unless regulators waive a new Obamacare requirement. Adamy comments: “The move is one of the clearest indications that new rules may disrupt workers’ health plans as the law ripples »

Some Things Never Change

It has been obvious for some years that antiwar icon Cindy Sheehan is a disgrace, but it took this performance to discredit her with some observers. “I am a 9/11 truther,” she says. “I do believe it was an inside job. … I’m sure Dick Cheney had something to do with it”: The charitable interpretation is that Sheehan is a nut. The less charitable interpretation is that she takes her »

The Murkowski files

Lisa Murkowski is waging a write-in campaign to maintain her Senate seat. In her quest to maintain the gift her father dutifully bestowed on her she now opposes the duly nominated Republican candidate as well as the Democratic candidate. The latest poll in the race suggests that here it could be close, though some appropriate adjustment has to be made to discount Murkowski’s number for the problem created by having »

The trouble with Minnesota

Yesterday in “The trouble with the Star Tribune poll, cont’d,” I questioned the accuracy of the current Minnesota Poll showing Democrat Mark Dayton leading Republican Tom Emmer 39-30 percent. Today Minnesota Public Radio reports on its joint MPR/Humphrey Institute Poll showing Dayton leading Emmer by 38-27 percent. The poll results reflect likely voters; MPR’s description of the poll sample and methodology is here. The MPR/Humphrey Institute poll sample reflects 48 »

Pulling out the stops in Washington state

I’ve been a bit disappointed by the polls I’ve seen of the Senate race in Washington State. Dino Rossi, an attractive Republican challenger who very nearly was elected Governor in 2004, has been consistently behind incumbent Patty Murray. Murray’s average lead, according to Real Clear Politics is 5.3 percentage points. But two very recent polls suggest a closer race. A Survey USA poll released on September 23 shows Murray leading »

Roger Simon and the E Street Band

Roger Simon digs into the case of “The J Street implosion: Soros, horse racing and…Connie Esdicul?” Soros is of course the sinister billionaire whose identity as a key contributor to the organization J Street has baldly lied about. Consolacion Esdicul has also now been revealed as a substantial contributor to J Street, but who is Consolacion Esdicul? Let’s just say that Simon brings his gifts as a mystery writer to »

Fidel Castro’s Goldberg variations

Fidel Castro recently summoned Atlantic correspondent Jeffrey Goldberg to Havana for an interview. Goldberg’s posts on his time with Castro can all be accessed here. Castro presented himself as a defender of Israel and the Jewish people. He announced the obsolescence of the Cuban model. He regretted his role in the Cuban missile crisis. He even took Goldberg out for an expedition to the aquarium. All in all, this paragon »

Uncommon Knowledge with Claire Berlinski

Claire Berlinkski is the author of the entertaining novels Loose Lips and Lion Eyes. She is also the author of serious nonfiction including Menace in Europe: Why the Continent’s Growing Crisis is America’s Too and, most recently, the inspirational and timely There is No Alternative: Why Margaret Thatcher Matters. The publication of her most recent book in paperback provided the occasion for her to sit down for an interview with »

Rogues’ Gallery

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cut quite a swath during his recent visit to the U.S. We wrote here about his appearance at Yale, but until tonight I hadn’t read about Mahmoud’s get-together with a motley crew of anti-Americans at the Warwick Hotel in New York. This report is from the Pan-African News Wire, an entity with which I am not familiar, but I take it at face value: Over 100 activists and »