Monthly Archives: April 2014
April 29, 2014 — Scott Johnson
President Obama held a news conference yesterday in Manila at the conclusion of his Asian trip. The White House has posted the text of the press conference here. Jay Carney called on Ed Henry of Fox News to ask a question at the end of the 43-minute press conference held jointly with Philippine President Aquino. Among other things, Henry asked Obama if he would respond to unflattering portraits of his
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April 29, 2014 — Scott Johnson
Rumpole of the Bailey had “She Who Must Be Obeyed” (his wife). Now Dems have the Word Which Must Not Be Spoken. At National Journal Charlie Cooke directs attention to the advice disseminated to Democrats by James Carville et al. in a memo summarizing poll results for Democracy Corps, the survey research and message development arm of the House Democratic leaders. Cooke explains that “[f]or tax reasons, all results have
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April 29, 2014 — John Hinderaker
Pretty much the only thing on Twitter this morning is a new ABC News/Washington Post poll that shows President Obama skidding to a dismal 41/52 approval/disapproval score. The poll contains other bad news for Democrats, e.g., by 53%-39%, respondents say it is more important to have Republicans in Congress to check Obama’s agenda than Democrats to support it. And the numbers on Obamacare are bad. Still, there are bright spots
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April 28, 2014 — John Hinderaker
On Friday, John Kerry suggested in a speech to the Trilateral Commission that Israel risks becoming an “apartheid state,” a comment that sparked an immediate backlash. The disgusting claim that Israel practices apartheid is a staple on the left and should be repudiated by everyone. But the more important point, I think, is that while Kerry’s statement was badly phrased–he has sort-of-apologized for using what Paul calls the “A” word–he
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April 28, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
First, John Kerry invoked the “B” word against Israel. He warned the Jewish State of dire economic consequences from a boycott if it didn’t reach an accord with the Palestinians. Now, Kerry has invoked the “A” word. He claims that Israel risks becoming “an apartheid state” in the absence of a peace deal, Both comments, of course, drew sharp criticism. And in both cases Secretary Foghorn’s response was the same:
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April 28, 2014 — John Hinderaker
To recap what by now is a familiar story: the Washington Post ran an article suggesting that Koch Industries would be the principal beneficiary of the Keystone Pipeline by virtue of its minor leasehold interest in Canadian tar sands–a complete fiction. I took the article apart here and here, pointing out, among many other things, that Keystone would actually be damaging to Koch’s economic interests. In the latter post, I
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April 28, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
Who knows? Who cares? I doubt that Hitler did, at least not to the point that stock prices affected his foreign and military policy. And if ordinary Germans cared, it didn’t matter. The Obama administration touts a recent drop in the Russian stock market (which, by the way, began before the U.S. imposed sanctions). For example, White House Deputy National Security Adviser Tony Blinken notes that Russia’s financial markets are
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April 28, 2014 — Steven Hayward
One of the great teachers of politics from the perspective of the great tradition, Werner Dannhauser, has died. A long time professor of political philosophy at Cornell University, Dannhauser was another of the long line of students of Leo Strauss, whom he called “the greatest teacher of politics I have ever known.” Bill Kristol and John Podhoretz have offered their recollections, both mentioning a single Commentary magazine essay of Dannhauser’s
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April 28, 2014 — Steven Hayward
John and I have written before here and here about the epic failure of Obamacare in Oregon, but we can’t hold a candle to John Oliver’s epic smackdown on his new HBO show last night (2:25 long—and a language warning): (If the sound is not working, try this direct link instead.) Did Oregon really run those cheesy ads? Seriously? Reminder: If you live in Oregon, or like to support candidates
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April 28, 2014 — Scott Johnson
Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke yesterday evening at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem. The occasion was Holocaust Remembrance Day. In his free weekly newsletter (sign up for it here), Bill Kristol puts it this way: “[B]y contrast with the delusional Kerry and the feckless Obama, here’s a world leader who understands the gravity of the moment…It’s well worth reading.” Netanyahu gave the speech in Hebrew, so I’m foregoing
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April 28, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
In a speech last week to the United Methodist Women Assembly in Louisville, Kentucky, Hillary Clinton cited “the great obligation of social gospel” as her guide. She quoted the following words attributed to John Wesley, which she absorbed as a young Methodist: Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people
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April 28, 2014 — Scott Johnson
It’s been a while since the leftover left took ownership of every nook and cranny of the city of Minneapolis. The city has therefore signed on to multifarious left-wing causes expressing hatred of the United States over the past many years. In the Cold War, for example, municipal authorities wanted to make it clear that they were on the other side. In 1988, just in time to catch the dissolution
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April 27, 2014 — John Hinderaker
Yesterday was Donald Sterling’s 80th birthday. It was not a happy one. Sterling, a California lawyer and real estate tycoon who owns the Los Angeles Clippers, has been caught in a maelstrom of controversy–not even controversy, really, just denunciation–over one or more tapes that his former girlfriend made secretly while they were arguing. The girlfriend, one of whose aliases is V. Stiviano, released the tape or tapes, perhaps seeking revenge
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April 27, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
Last week, as was widely reported, rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah announced that they had agreed to reconcile and will begin discussing the formation of a unity government. The announcement caused Israel to pull out “peace” negotiations, to the relief, no doubt, of all concerned except for John Kerry and a few stray Obama administration members. The Hamas-Fatah reconciliation has potential implications beyond the demise of “peace talks” that
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April 27, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
A UNC graduate (’08 undergrad and ’12 masters) responds to my post about the resignation of Mary Willingham. Ms. Willingham, an academic counselor at the University, blew the whistle on fake classes in the African and Afro-American Studies Department. She also alleges that many of the University’s football and basketball players cannot read at even close to a college level. Here is our reader’s response to my post: I have
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April 27, 2014 — Steven Hayward
The colorful Nigel Farage and his UKIP are getting most of the attention as the insurgent party of the populist right in the UK these days, but another fringe party, Liberty GB, is making some headlines. Apparently party leader Paul Weston was arrested recently for reading in public Winston Churchill’s infamous description of Islam from the unabridged edition of The River War. (This except has appeared here on Power Line
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April 27, 2014 — Scott Johnson
The Wall Street Journal’s editorial “Letter from a Tehran jail” reports news I haven’t seen anywhere else. I’d like to take the liberty of presenting it verbatim without further comment: Ward 350 of Tehran’s Evin prison houses some of Iran’s most prominent dissidents, including human-rights lawyers, labor leaders and opposition bloggers. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the intelligence ministry raided the ward last week and administered a mass beating
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