Monthly Archives: October 2007

October 23, 2007 — Paul Mirengoff

The man who would be dean

Chris Cillizza describes how our friend Joe Trippi bonded with Elizabeth Edwards and how, as a result, Edwards is running a more stridently leftist campaign that’s tuned in “to the anger and passion of the Netroots.” John Edwards makes a cameo appearance in Cillizza’s piece when a former colleague of Trippi’s from Howard Dean’s campaign explains that “given a malleable candidate, [Trippi] will have an enormous impact.” »
October 23, 2007 — Paul Mirengoff

A five horse race?

Following last weekend’s Values Voters conference and the Florida debate, the buzz is that the Republican race is wide-open to the point that any of five candidates — Giuliani, Thompson, Romney, McCain, and Huckabee — might be party’s nominee. Byron York and Dan Balz have both made this case. Consider me skeptical. Mike Huckabee is an attractive candidate who may make a nice run. But it’s extremely difficult to see »
October 23, 2007 — Paul Mirengoff

Dream or nightmare?

On Wednesday, I understand, Harry Reid will seek to invoke cloture for the purpose of passing the latest version of the so-called Dream Act. This legislation, which has never been debated in committee, would authorize the Department of Homeland Security to cancel the removal of, or adjust to lawful permanent resident status, any alien who can demonstrate that he or she: (1) has maintained continuous presence in the United States »
October 23, 2007 — Scott Johnson

What happened in Syria?

Stanley Kurtz gives a close reading to the Wall Street Journal column by Reps. Pete Hoekstra and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen on Israel’s Syrian raid. Kurtz concludes: First, there is significant evidence of ongoing and recent North Korean involvement. Especially given the informed criticisms of Hoekstra and Ros-Lehtinen, apparent efforts by select administration sources to downplay North Korean involvement appear unconvincing. Second, especially in light of the informed concerns expressed by Hoekstra »
October 23, 2007 — Scott Johnson

The time of the human bomb

Andr »
October 23, 2007 — Scott Johnson

No “nightmare” now

Our friend Pete Hegseth — Minnesota native, Princeton alum, Iraq war vet, and executive director of Vets for Freedom — responds to General Sanchez in today’s New York Post: “No ‘nightmare.'” Pete writes: I was in Samarra on Feb. 22, 2005, the day al Qaeda-affiliated insurgents destroyed the dome of the Golden Mosque, and am very familiar with the violence that followed. That event was a catalyst for widespread violence »
October 23, 2007 — Scott Johnson

Mistrial in Dallas

Shuttered by the government in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, the Dallas-based Holy Land Foundation was the key fundraising arm for Hamas in the United States. Yesterday the subsequent criminal case brought by the government against the Holy Land Foundation defendants ended in a weird mistrial. As I understand the outcome, one defendant was acquitted on all charges but one, while that one charge and the other charges against the »
October 22, 2007 — Paul Mirengoff

So that’s how Arafat did it

Dennis Ross is perhaps the least successful diplomat in American history. And his lack of success isn’t down to bad luck. Ross concluded that Yasser Arafat was a legitimate peace partner for Israel, and embarked on the fool’s errand of trying to bring about peace between Israelis and Palestinians on that basis. Has any American diplomat ever misjudged an important matter so thoroughly? Ross now brings his analytical powers and »
October 22, 2007 — Paul Mirengoff

What me worry?

Fareed Zakaria accuses conservatives (“the right”) of “madness” for believing that Iran seeks to overturn the international order. Zakaria considers this view insane because Iran has a small economy by western standards, spends far less on defense than the U.S. does, and hasn’t invaded another country since the late 18th century. He also claims that no evidence supports the view that Iran represents the kind of threat to world order »
October 22, 2007 — Paul Mirengoff

Not just sour grapes

After Saturday’s Merseyside derby, I noted that referee Mark Clattenburg had handed the contest to Liverpool. Apparently, it wasn’t just Everton supporters who saw it this way, because Clattenberg has been removed from the list of referrees who will participate in Premier League matches this weekend. Saturday’s match had the makings of a classic derby until Clattenburg became Liverpool’s 12th man. I hope Everton has seen the last of him »
October 22, 2007 — Scott Johnson

It’s the coverup that kills you, part 3

It »
October 22, 2007 — Scott Johnson

Chinatown, part 3

I thought we needed an illustration for the Clinton “Chinatown” fundraising scandals. In response to our request, David Lunde offers Ms. Hillary as Noah Cross. »
October 22, 2007 — Scott Johnson

William Katz: Learning from The Tonight Show, part 3

Bill Katz’s most recent post was “The importance of 1960.” His first two contributions to Power Line were “Learning from The Tonight Show” and “Learning from The Tonight Show, part 2.” This morning he returns to the subject of The Tonight Show: I began this series by writing about The Tonight Show, where I was a talent coordinator during the Carson years. Two deaths in the last week bring me »
October 21, 2007 — Scott Johnson

Best line of the campaign so far

I thought all the candidates with the exception of Ron Paul were impressive tonight in the Republican presidential candidates’ debate in Orlando tonight, and Rudy Giuliani undeniably shone (although an exception for Giuliani must be made with respect to the segment that Paul notes below). However, Senator McCain seemed to me to get in the best line of the campaign so far: “In case you missed it, a few days »
October 21, 2007 — Paul Mirengoff

A sleeping giant wakes up

The Republican candidates had another debate tonight, this one in Florida on Fox. The Fox people came up with a novel approach to attacking the candidates. Instead of having their folks do it, after the fashion of Chris Matthews or (less sickeningly) Tim Russert, Fox “privatized” the job, attempting to induce the candidates to go after each other. It worked. Right out of the box, Fred Thompson and Rudy Giuliani »
October 21, 2007 — Paul Mirengoff

Reid it and weep

Harry Reid’s favorability rating in Nevada is down to 32 percent, which is lower than President Bush’s. 51 percent of Nevada voters rate Reid unfavorably, according to a poll by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Sherman Frederick of the Review-Journal explains these numbers as follows: No one can win a statewide race in Nevada on a platform that appears anti-military, anti-family, anti-marriage, anti-religion, anti-free speech, pro-illegal immigration, pro-abortion, and pro-taxation. While »
October 21, 2007 — Paul Mirengoff

An illusion becomes more difficult to subscribe to

From Gordon Chang at Contentions we learn that Ali Larijani, Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator since 2005, has “resigned” effective immediately. His replacement probably will be Saeed Jalili, deputy foreign minister for European and American affairs. Noting that Jalili is relatively inexperienced, Chang contnds that the removal of Larijani means President Ahmadinejad will have more control over negotiations regarding nukes. Since Ahmadinejad does not even favor negotiating with the West about »