Monthly Archives: January 2014
January 30, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, an uninspiring figure who presided over the disastrous Republican outing of 2012, tells us that there’s a “general consensus” in his party that something big needs to happen on overhauling the country’s immigration laws. By “something big” Preibus doesn’t mean enforcing our immigration laws, which would be big indeed but requires no “overhaul.” Instead, he means amnesty at a minimum and, very possibly, amnesty plus a
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January 30, 2014 — Steven Hayward
Telegraph columnist James Delingpole has a column up today covering the appearance of MIT’s Richard Lindzen before a special committee of the House of Commons—Holy Climate Inquisition would be a more accurate description—over in the UK recently, where Lindzen spoke candidly about the real scandal of the politicized world of climate scientists: it’s filled mostly with second-rate scientists: Lindzen was asked what he thought of the “consensus” – at which
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January 30, 2014 — Steven Hayward
During discussion of President Obama’s State of the Union address over at Power Line Live on Tuesday, John wondered which cabinet member had been sent to the “undisclosed location” in the event of some catastrophe that wiped out the House chamber. Turns out it was Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, whom the National Journal described as a “mad scientist.” Well, you decide: I don’t know if this is fair to
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January 30, 2014 — Scott Johnson
The assertion that women are the victims of discrimination in the workplace was one of the featured themes of President Obama’s State of the Union Address on Tuesday. To support the assertion he hauled out the old canard that women earn 77 cents on the dollar compared to men. Here is how he put it: The bottom line is, Michelle and I want every child to have the same chance
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January 29, 2014 — John Hinderaker
Brian Ward and I recorded Episode 64 of the Hinderaker-Ward Experience tonight, featuring an extended interview (pretty much the whole show) with Mark Steyn. Mark is embroiled in litigation with the detestable Michael Mann, inventor of the infamous hockey stick. We had a remarkably candid conversation about what is going on in that politically-motivated and mysteriously-funded lawsuit, as well as the broader phenomenon of liberals trying to shut conservatives up,
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January 29, 2014 — John Hinderaker
A few minutes ago one of my daughters texted me, “Michelle Malkin is single handedly exploding Twitter.” She explained: MSNBC tweeted a Cheerios commercial that will play during the Super Bowl and the tweet said something like “right wingers won’t like it, but the rest of us will say awww” the commercial apparently features a biracial family. So Michelle started the hashtag #myrightwingbiracialfamily. CHEERIOGATE! Sure enough, here is the original
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January 29, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
Dartmouth College has a new provost, Carolyn Dever. The provost is a key, perhaps the key, player at an academic institution. She creates and maintains academic standards and sets the academic direction of the college. She determines which departments and areas of studies will be winners and which will be losers. In my day at Dartmouth, the provost was Leonard Reiser, a physicist who participated in the Manhattan Project. He
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January 29, 2014 — Steven Hayward
I’m on the road the middle of this week, which means airplanes that still don’t have in-flight internet. Guess I have to switch to John’s carrier. Anyway, the least I can do is disgorge some of the good photos and memes piling up in my in-box, since I posted last week’s roundup a day early, also because of travel. Cheers! And finally. . .
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January 29, 2014 — John Hinderaker
Well, he doesn’t, actually. But Senator Mike Lee did a good job of trying to pin down Attorney General Eric Holder as to the constitutional basis of some of President Obama’s executive orders, particularly his deferral of the employer mandate under Obamacare. As he so often does, Holder bobbed and weaved without ever articulating a constitutional rationale. In my opinion, there is none. Regrettably, in my opinion, Lee couched some
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January 29, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
Flip-flopping has become (and maybe always has been) a common political practice. John Kerry was for the war in Iraq before he was against it. Mitt Romney changed his position on some important social issues and arguably on health care reform, though he never repudiated Romneycare, which is distinguishable from Obamacare. As for President Obama, he characterizes his flip-flops as evolved thinking, as befits a man of his sophistication. Few
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January 29, 2014 — Scott Johnson
The nuts and bolts of the Joint Plan of Action that we have entered into with Iran are spelled out in a mysterious “nonpaper” (I’m withholding judgment until I can see it, but spellcheck disapproves it). Incidentally, we only know about the nonpaper because Iranian officials have touted it. If you want to understand the JPOA and related matters, you have to attend to their sayings. On this subject, they
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January 29, 2014 — Scott Johnson
The New York Times has posted video and text of Obama’s State of the Union address last night here. The Times has also posted excerpts reflecting “Obama’s agenda.” I found the speech mind-numbing and soul-killing. The thought that Obama and a team of speechwriters devoted weeks to the speech…you’ve got to be kidding. The incoherence. The anecdotes. The thrice baked, still phony statistics. The pallid rhetoric. The false bravado. The
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January 28, 2014 — John Hinderaker
Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers delivered the Republican response to President Obama’s State of the Union speech. If, like most people, you didn’t see it, here it is. I didn’t see it either, and have only read it, but it strikes me as too soft-edged. I like the second response, Tom Cotton’s, better. But first, Congresswoman Rodgers: What an honor it is for me to be with you after the President’s
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January 28, 2014 — Steven Hayward
Some of us are over at Power Line Live shucking and jiving about the State of the Union speech. I can’t bear to watch; reading the text is bad enough. In any case, this pic can’t wait for Saturday’s photo roundup. Talk about speaking the “effectual truth,” as Machiavelli would say: Oh, but then this just appeared: By the way, come on down and join us at Power Line Live.
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January 28, 2014 — John Hinderaker
It has been a while since we cranked up Power Line Live. Tonight’s State of the Union, perhaps Obama’s last before he becomes a hopeless lame duck, seems like a good occasion to sweep out the cobwebs and reopen the tavern. The speech begins at 9 p.m. Eastern, but the gang will start to assemble well ahead of the kickoff. If you want to jeer the president’s proposals with a
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January 28, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
Sen. Tom Coburn has prostate cancer. Today, he revealed that Obamacare doesn’t include the doctor who has been treating the cancer. Coburn added that “even though my new coverage won’t cover my specialist — I’m going to have great care, and I have a great prognosis.” But to get that care, Coburn is paying out of his own pocket so he can retain the services of his oncologist. The average
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January 28, 2014 — John Hinderaker
Word is that President Obama’s State of the Union speech will focus on inequality. This is no surprise, as the Democrats have concluded that inequality is the issue that gives them the best chance to distract from Obamacare’s failures and fire up their base. It also offers an implicit rejoinder to the fact that Obama has presided over a lousy economy for the last five years: sure the economy is
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