Monthly Archives: February 2012
February 20, 2012 — Steven Hayward
Since it’s still Presidents Days for a few more hours, it’s worth taking up a challenge from one of our good-natured liberal commenters, an old pal from high school (are you paying attention, Eric?), who posted a comment on an earlier PIG book post of mine raising the question of the constitutional issues raised in the Iran-Contra scandal. Glad you asked. In fact, the Politically Incorrect Guide to the Presidents
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February 20, 2012 — John Hinderaker
Unemployment is down, according to the official numbers, yet more people than ever are not working. What are they doing instead? The New York Post reports that an astonishing number of them are classifying themselves as disabled in order to continue receiving government benefits: Standing too many months on the unemployment line is driving Americans crazy — literally — and it’s costing taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars. With their
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February 20, 2012 — Scott Johnson
John’s support of Mitt Romney is implicit in his comments on Rick Santorum, as it was in his comments on Newt Gingrich. John thinks that Romney presents Republicans with the best chance of beating Obama in November. He is therefore frustrated that they haven’t lined up behind Mitt in service to the cause. Mitt is an inspirational candidate. The problem is that what he inspires is intense apathy among a
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February 19, 2012 — Scott Johnson
The New York Times Book Review carries a good review of the late Charlie Louvin’s memoir (written with Benjamin Whitmer), Satan Is Real: The Ballad of the Louvin Brothers. As the review notes, Charlie Louvin died last year just after the manuscript of his memoir was completed. (The book borrows the title of the Louvin Brothers gospel album with the memorable fire and brimstone cover.) Who the heck is Charlie
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February 19, 2012 — John Hinderaker
Rick Santorum is a bright, well-intentioned guy. But the idea that he is the strongest candidate the Republicans can nominate for the presidency strikes me, with all due respect, as ludicrous. Put aside the fact that Santorum lost his last race by 18 points in his home state of Pennsylvania: not exactly an auspicious way to kick off a presidential campaign. Rather, consider that Santorum has always been most passionate
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February 19, 2012 — Steven Hayward
Tomorrow (Monday) is Presidents Day, the mongrel holiday that mashed up Washington and Lincoln’s separate birthday observances into just another three-day weekend. Notice that all the Presidents’ Day mattress sales always feature portraits of Washington and Lincoln; no one ever seems to offer a John Tyler or Franklin Pierce mattress-sale theme. I’ll be out of communication most of Monday, making my way to Brazil to begin the Hillsdale College winter
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February 19, 2012 — John Hinderaker
I have been working especially hard lately and have had trouble keeping up with the news, so this might be one of those things that everyone has already seen except me. I saw it for the first time last night, on Hugh Hewitt’s site. It is a very fun video of Navy SEALS parachuting into a premiere of the movie Act of Valor. If you have ever wondered what it
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February 19, 2012 — Steven Hayward
Interesting and complementing lead stories in the Washington Post and New York Times this morning, and neither of them can be good for Obama. The Post’s lead story warns of “Taxmageddon” next year, when the payroll tax cut will expire, along with the Bush tax cuts; the Obamacare “surcharges” will also kick in on dividends and capital gains. In all, it will amount to about a $500 billion tax increase
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February 19, 2012 — Steven Hayward
Glenn Garvin of the Miami Herald brings to our attention a forthcoming book that ought to be a blockbuster but perhaps won’t for the simple reason that it’s being issued by an academic publisher—the University Press of Kansas—rather than a typical New York trade publisher that would get the author on the Today Show, etc. I should add quickly that the University Press of Kansas is an excellent academic press,
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February 19, 2012 — Scott Johnson
Professor Douglas Wilson is the author of Honor’s Voice: The Transformation of Abraham Lincoln, a biographical account of Lincoln’s young adulthood (1831-1842), his early career in politics and “his emergence as a man to be reckoned with.” It is to a substantial extent based on the testimony of “Herndon’s informants,” the first-hand accounts collected by Lincoln’s law partner in the immediate aftermath of Lincoln’s death. Together with Rodney Davis, Wilson
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February 18, 2012 — John Hinderaker
Regular readers know that Pete Hegseth is a friend of ours. Pete is a native of Forest Lake, Minnesota, and a Princeton graduate. He enlisted in the Army and has served multiple tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. Most recently, he has been in Afghanistan, training the troops who will in turn train the Afghans who ultimately take over responsibility for that conflict. We have posted a number of
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February 18, 2012 — John Hinderaker
Sometimes I miss the good old days–what was it, a year ago?–when liberals were in favor of civility. Remember when talking about “targeting” a Congressional district could get you accused of murder? Things were a lot more genteel back in 2011. On Thursday, Charles Koch authorized employees of Koch Industries to reveal the contents of “hundreds of e-mails that the Kochs and employees have received in the last year, some
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February 18, 2012 — John Hinderaker
Early this morning, I went to ESPN to read about the Timberwolves’ victory over the Houston Rockets last night. The lead headline on ESPN mobile was curious: Editor’s Note: Apology For Offensive Headline. But the story itself was less than illuminating: Last night, ESPN.com’s mobile web site posted an offensive headline referencing Jeremy Lin at 2:30 am. The headline was removed at 3:05 am. We are conducting a complete review
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February 18, 2012 — Scott Johnson
Our friends at Uncommon Knowledge recorded a special edition with Newt Gingrich this week. Because of the timely nature of the interview, they requested that we make it available as soon as possible. Just one problem: they forgot to include me in their message, so we’re a tad late getting to the video. They introduce this special edition of the show as follows: The 58th Speaker of the House and
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February 18, 2012 — Scott Johnson
Bradley Smith is the Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault Designated Professor of Law at Capital University Law School in Columbus and one of the country’s foremost experts on the evils of campaign finance laws. He is the author of Unfree Speech: The Folly of Campaign Finance Reform. It was his distinguished opposition to campaign finance laws that got him appointed to a six-year term on the Federal Election Commission
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February 18, 2012 — Steven Hayward
Leave it to Barron’s “Up & Down Wall Street” columnist Alan Abelson to point out the economic significance of the selection of Kate Upton as the cover model for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition. (Power Line is determined to keep on top of this important story, needless to say.) Abelson’s column requires a subscription to read online, but here’s the relevant part. It turns out that the stock market does significantly
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February 18, 2012 — Steven Hayward
That’s not actually the headline of the lead story in today’s New York Times, but it could be. The actual headline (in the print edition—online slightly different of course) is: “Unwed Mothers Now a Majority Before Age of 30.” But the subhed is where Charles’s thesis comes in: “Most Rapid Growth Has Been Among White Women in 20s.” And the lede sentence circles back to Charles’s main argument: “It used
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