June 14, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff

Obama proceeds cautiously in Syria, for good reason

Featured image President Obama has drawn plenty of criticism for his position on aiding Syrian rebels in light of his acknowledgement that the Assad regime has crossed his “red line” by using chemical weapons. Here is the key part of the administration’s response to that development: [T]he President has augmented the provision of non-lethal assistance to the civilian opposition, and also authorized the expansion of our assistance to the Supreme Military Council »
June 14, 2013 — Steven Hayward

Green Weenie of the Week: Hors D’oeuvres Edition

Featured imageThis is one of those weeks where we have to pass out hors d’oeuvres-style mini-green weenies on toothpicks, like they surely serve at receptions at the French embassy.  (Quelle horreur!) Start with all the breaking wind of the windmill enthusiasts: a study from the University of North Carolina published recently in Environmental Research Letters finds that “the power capacity of large-scale wind farms may have been significantly overestimated.”  The green »
June 14, 2013 — Scott Johnson

CRB: Aristocracy in America

Featured imageThis morning we conclude our preview of the Spring issue of the Claremont Review of Books (subscribe here) with an essay on that most American of American novels, Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The essay is by Power Line 100 member Paul A. Cantor, the Clifton Waller Barrett Professor of English at the University of Virginia. Professor Cantor begins by noting the distance between the popular perception of Huck »
June 14, 2013 — Scott Johnson

On the IRS case

Featured imageFBI Director Robert Mueller appeared before the House Judiciary Committee yesterday. Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan had a few questions about the FBI’s investigation of the IRS scandal. With a few basic questions about the case, Jordan stumped Mueller. Language note: It’s always a bad sign — indeed, it echoes Watergate’s “at this point in time” — when the witness limits his answer to “this juncture.” »
June 13, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff

Did Eric Holder lie to Congress? One more look

Featured imageLast week, I argued that Eric Holder’s submission to a court suggested that Fox News’ James Rosen was a flight risk. This representation — coupled with the statement that Rosen was “an aider, abettor and/or co-conspirator” in illegal obtaining, national security materials from a government official also under investigation — led me to conclude that Holder lied to Congress when he testified that he has never been “involved in” “potential »
June 13, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff

Yes, they seem to miss him now

Featured imageMore Americans remember George W. Bush approvingly than negatively, according to a new Gallup survey. 49 percent of Americans view Bush favorably while 46 percent view him negatively, says Gallup. Bush’s showing is superior to President Obama’s. The current president’s numbers, according to Gallup, are 47 percent approval and 46 percent disapproval. I wouldn’t attribute too much meaning to these numbers. Frankly, I doubt that Bush could defeat Obama today »
June 13, 2013 — John Hinderaker

Liberals, Race and Immigration

Featured imagePaul noted last night that the Democrats “probably need fewer than two dozen House Republican votes” to pass the Gang of Eight’s bill, or some other amnesty proposal. The number depends, obviously, on how many Democrats defect. Which raises the question: how many members of the Congressional Black Caucus–if any–will be willing to stand up and oppose the immigration bill? The mass importation of unskilled Mexican labor contemplated by the »
June 13, 2013 — Steven Hayward

Liberals and Race

Featured imageJohn’s post last week on “What Did Lee Atwater Really Say” is a hugely important piece of revisionist journalism, and its theme deserves sustained attention, as the Left these days defaults immediately to calling conservatives and Republicans “racist” because their arguments are otherwise so weak.  Notice, in this regard, the new ABC News poll out yesterday finding that a whopping 76 percent of Americans oppose race-conscious college admissions.  Rather than »
June 12, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff

Ron Wyden’s reprehensible stunt

Featured imageMarc Thiessen makes a point I was preparing to write up, and wish I had written: The real culprit behind James Clapper’s false testimony to Congress regarding NSA data collection isn’t Clapper, but rather Sen. Ron Wyden who asked the question to which Clapper responded. Since Thiessen went first, I’ll let him explain: What is outrageous is not that Clapper tried to protect classified information in an open session, but »
June 12, 2013 — John Hinderaker

Could Our Immigration System Be Even More Irrational? Sadly, Yes

Featured imageThe U.S. has a terrible immigration system, which was designed largely by Ted Kennedy for the purpose of increasing “diversity,” without giving any thought to American interests. If we would simply adopt the Canadian system, it would be a vast improvement. Unfortunately, the Gang of Eight’s bill does not move in the right direction, i.e., an immigration policy that is designed to serve the best interests of the United States. »
June 12, 2013 — Steven Hayward

Closing Thoughts on Weaver

Featured imageWilliam F. Buckley remarked that he found it impossible to define conservatism in one sentence, but whenever someone insisted that he offer a one-sentence definition he would “punish” them with Richard Weaver’s: “Conservatism is the paradigm of essences towards which the phenomenology of the world is in continuing approximation.”  (“With a straight face,” Buckley added.) This suggests one of the reasons why Weaver has never acquired a wider audience, even »
June 13, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff

The Lindsey Graham of the Tea Party

Featured imageFor many years, I’ve referred to Lindsey Graham as the “Arlen Specter of the South.” The idea is that, although Graham isn’t as bad as Specter was, he’s the “moral equivalent” of Specter, considering how much more conservative South Carolina is compared to Pennsylvania. Now, the same friend who gave me the Graham-Specter analogy suggests that Marco Rubio is the Lindsey Graham of the Tea Party. I think I’ll adopt »
June 13, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff

David Brooks and the shape of things to come

Featured imageI respect the work of David Brooks even though I often disagree with it. But this Brooks column on immigration reform leaves me shaking my head. Brooks argues that “immigration opponents are effectively trying to restrict the flow of conservatives into this country.” What does he mean by this? First, I assume that Brooks isn’t talking about restricting the number of conservatives “flowing” into the U.S., but rather restricting the »
June 13, 2013 — Scott Johnson

CRB: The Road to Freedom

Featured imageThe Spring issue of the Claremont Review of Books (subscribe here) is out with the magazine’s usual ration of high-quality reviews and essays. Yesterday we previewed Colin Dueck’s review/essay on the folly of liberals, who mistook the end of the Cold War for the end of geopolitical competition. Today we turn to our very own, very prolific Steven F. Hayward’s review of two books on the postwar revival of free »
June 12, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff

In the House too, the fix may well be in

Featured imagePaul Ryan tells a Washington audience assembled by the National Association of Manufacturers that “earned legalization is an issue I think the House can and will deal with.” In other words, as CNBC’s John Harwood tweeted, “Paul Ryan tells me House will pass immigration ‘path to citizenship.’ Despite flak on right, ‘House can/will deal with earned legalization.’” Earlier this year, when comments by Ryan caused me to suggest that amnesty »
June 12, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff

Two Everton players among Europe’s top 20

Featured imageEvertonians Marouane Fellaini and Leighton Baines are listed among Europe’s top 50 players in a ranking by Bloomberg Sports that rates players based on new performance statistics. Fellaini comes in at 12th place; Baines at 16th. Liverpool star Luis Suarez slots in between the two at 15th place. Former Everton players Wayne Rooney and Mikel Arteta are listed at 26th and 46th, respectively. These rankings are only as good as »
June 12, 2013 — John Hinderaker

The Gang’s Bill Makes Immigration Law Enforcement Worse, Not Better

Featured imageI have written repeatedly about the fact that emphasis on border security, in the context of the Gang of Eight’s immigration overhaul, is misguided. The big problem with the bill is that it authorizes somewhere between 30 million and 57 million new legal immigrants, overwhelmingly low-skilled and marginally assimilable. Compared to that reality, the continuation of illegal immigration is relatively insignificant. Still, it is worth noting that the Gang’s bill »