Monthly Archives: September 2012
September 24, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
One theme of my live-blogging of the Democratic Convention was the bid for the votes of veterans. On all three nights, the Democrats used vets and/or their family members to vouch for President Obama’s efforts on behalf of veterans. As I noted at the time, the Dems seemed to view veterans as another “victim” group to take care of. Fortunately, Team Obama’s pitch to veterans has so far fallen flat.
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September 24, 2012 — Scott Johnson
Ishmael Jones is the pseudonymous former Central Intelligence Agency case officer who focused on human sources with access to intelligence on terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. His assignments included more than 15 years of continuous overseas service under deep cover. Mr. Jones is also the author of The Human Factor: Inside the CIA’s Dysfunctional Intelligence Culture, published by Encounter Books. When it was issued in paperback he contributed the
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September 24, 2012 — John Hinderaker
We wrote here about Barack Obama’s dishonest appearance on the David Letterman show, where Letterman expressed concern about the national debt and asked Obama how much it now amounts to. Letterman thought the debt was around $10 trillion; Obama pretended not to remember and didn’t correct the host. Actually, as Obama knows very well, the debt now exceeds $16 trillion (it was around $10 trillion when Obama took office). The
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September 24, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
In his interview on Sixty Minutes, President Obama was asked whether recent events in the Middle East have given him any pause about his support for the governments that came to power following the Arab Spring. Obama began his response by saying that the question “presumes that somehow we could have stopped this wave of change.” Actually, the question presumes no such thing. Even if the U.S. cannot prevent the
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September 24, 2012 — Steven Hayward
The overachieving Charles C. Johnson of the Breitbart domain and several other enterprises (and a recent product of the Claremont brain factory), writes in exclusively to Power Line with a topic that Obama ought to be asked about in one of the debates—will a second-term Obama press for gun control? Apparently his chief strategist likes the idea: David Axelrod called on citizens to “put pressure” on lawmakers and demagogued the recent
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September 24, 2012 — Scott Johnson
Kyle Smith is the developer of the Debt Bomb application for mobile devices. We posted an item on the app when it was released this past spring. Developer Kyle Smith now writes to let us know that he has just updated the app: Thank you so much to those who downloaded Debt Bomb when I released it last spring. For those who are unfamiliar with Debt Bomb, it is an
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September 24, 2012 — Steven Hayward
Over at BeliefNet.com Donna Calvin offer some photographic evidence that at least the Germans, the one nation in the Eurozone that seems to be trying to hold the line against fiscal madness, have gotten over their infatuation with Obama, as seen in these parade photos: Looks like those “sophisticated” Europeans also have Bill Clinton’s number, even if we have largely forgotten: Finally, given Scott’s post here yesterday about our favorite
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September 23, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
In his interview on Sixty Minutes tonight, President Obama called Israel “one of our closest allies in the region.” Who, it is fair to ask, are the other countries in the Middle East that Obama considers U.S. allies on a par with Israel? Obama also referred to Israeli expressions of alarm about Iran developing nuclear weapons as “noise”: QUESTION: You don’t feel any pressure from Prime Minister Netanyahu in the
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September 23, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
On Sixty Minutes tonight, President Obama was asked: “Have the events that took place in the Middle East, the recent events in the Middle East given you any pause about your support for the governments that have come to power following the Arab Spring?” Obama responded: Well, I’d said even at the time that this is going to be a rocky path. . . .I was pretty certain and continue
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September 23, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
The other night, Sean Hannity suggested to Sen. Jim DeMint that the U.S. should cut off funding to Egypt. DeMint politely brushed the suggestion aside. If not even Jim DeMint is prepared to support cutting Egypt off, then clearly a cut-off isn’t going to happen. But should it? Before answering, read the New York Times’ account of its interview with Egyptian President Morsi. Morsi told the Times that it is
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September 23, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
A new poll of the Senate race in Montana shows Denny Rehberg leading incumbent Democrat Jon Tester by a margin of 48 to 45. The poll was conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research for Lee Newspapers in Montana. Rehberg’s lead falls within the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 4 points. Nonetheless, an incumbent Senator who polls at below 50 percent a month and a half before the
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September 23, 2012 — John Hinderaker
The presidential campaign is a dead heat as it moves into the home stretch, with all of the competent national polls within the margin of error. So what can we expect for the campaign’s final stage? More of the same, I am afraid. I expected Mitt Romney to win relatively easily, but that evidently won’t happen for the reasons I stated here. Rather, the race most likely will remain neck
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September 23, 2012 — John Hinderaker
The Obama campaign produced a poster of an American flag, with Obama’s “O” symbol replacing the field of stars, as an item of campaign merchandise, selling for $35. The image was tasteless at best. It is hard to imagine any other politician arrogant enough to remake the flag in his own image: Barack Obama, however, has never been one to be deterred by bad taste. The larger problem was that,
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September 23, 2012 — Scott Johnson
Today’s New York Times features an astounding interview with Egypt’s Islamist President Mohamed Morsi. Morsi is the man from the Muslim Brotherhood. Don’t tell President Obama, but these people are dedicated enemies of the United States. Morsi gave the interview to the Times in anticipation of his appearance in New York at the United Nations this week. You really have to read the interview to believe it. It could hardly
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September 23, 2012 — Scott Johnson
The old Latin experession, frequently cited by Bill Buckley, has it that “Quod licet Jovi, non licet bovi.” Translated literally, it means: “What is permitted to Jupiter is not permitted to bulls.” More loosely, it can be translated: “What is allowed a god is not allowed a dog.” The saying represents a recognition of the reality principle or a testament to the permanence of double standards. The saying comes to
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September 23, 2012 — Scott Johnson
In its early days the Obama administration avidly promoted financial incentives for the adoption of electronic health records by medical providers. According to Obama, the adoption of electronic health records would save $80 billion in health care costs. The use of electronic health records has been touted by the government (state and federal) for years. Financial incentives for the adoption of electronic health records by Medicare and Medicaid providers, however,
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September 22, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
Mitt Romney isn’t the only Republican candidate in an important race who faces smears based on business dealings of a company that occurred when he had no role in its operation. In the North Dakota Senate race, Democrat Heidi Heitkamp has run an ad that attempts to hold Republican Rick Berg responsible for alleged misconduct by a residential property rental company called Goldmark Property Management, Inc. Goldmark Property Management has
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