Monthly Archives: January 2008

January 19, 2008 — Paul Mirengoff

Clinton looks like the winner in Nevada

CNN is projecting Hillary Clinton as the winner in the Nevada Democratic caucuses. She currently leads Barack Obama by 8 percentage points with about half of the precincts reporting. There’s little surprise associated with a victory by the Clinton machine in a Democratic race in Nevada. The result seems altogether fitting, if not entirely proper. SCOTT adds: Bill Bennett adds a funny personal note to his commentary for CNN on »
January 19, 2008 — Paul Mirengoff

Romney wins in Nevada

Mitt Romney has won the Nevada caucuses. The early estimate is that he has 43 percent of the vote. John McCain and Ron Paul are second and third with 16 and 14 percent respectively. Romney’s victory, aided by the attention he paid to the state and by strong support from its Mormon community, doesn’t have much significance, but it will extend his early lead in the delegate count. JOHN adds: »
January 19, 2008 — Scott Johnson

Separated at birth?

The photo above depicts rock phenom Matthew Sweet with the lovely Susannah Hoffs (formerly of the Bangles). In 2006 Sweet teamed with Hoffs in a sort of beauty and the beast pairing for their tribute to sixties rock, “Under the Covers, Vol. 1.” I love the disc and can’t wait for volume 2, but that’s not the reason for this post. It occurred to me today that the outrageously biased »
January 19, 2008 — Scott Johnson

Fiddling while Burns roams

When Nicholas Burns steps down as the third-ranking officer in the Department of State, he will be replaced by another Burns: William Burns. William Burns is a career foreign service officer. He appears to be in the tradition of State Department Arabists, with additional experience and expertise in Russian matters. Will State continue to sleepwalk toward the apocalypse with Iran? Meet the new Burns, same as the old Burns? We’d »
January 19, 2008 — Paul Mirengoff

One last South Carolina poll,

for what it’s worth. An American Research Group poll has John McCain and Mike Huckabee trading places in the last few days. Polling conducted on January 15-16 had McCain at 33 percent and Huckabee at 23 percent. Polling conducted on January 17-18 has Huckabee at 33 percent and McCain at 26 percent. During this very short period, Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney also traded places. According to ARG, Fred went »
January 19, 2008 — Scott Johnson

She was for Reagan before she was against him?

Michelle Malkin recalls the esteem in which Hillary Clinton (and John Edwards) professed to hold Ronald Reagan, until Barack Obama had a good word to say for him and the GOP. I was unaware of Ms. Hillary’s professed admiration for Reagan. Thanks to Michelle for reminding me that Dupont really should take a patent out on Ms. Hillary’s incredibly synthetic persona. To comment on this post, go here. »
January 19, 2008 — Scott Johnson

Nicholas Burns steps down

Nicholas Burns resigned his position as undersecretary of state for political affairs this week. The resignation is effective in March. Upon his promotion to the third-ranking position in the Department of State, the New York Sun ran a prescient editorial describing Burns as a putative member of “John Kerry’s State Department.” The Los Angeles Times reports on Burns’s resignation here. While Condoleezza Rice has devoted her efforts to becoming Birmingham’s »
January 19, 2008 — Scott Johnson

Situation normal

Bill Kristol’s editorial in the new issue of the Weekly Standard provides some historical perspective to conservative Republicans uncomfortable with the field of candidates, each one of whom falls short of Ronald Reagan in our eyes. But Reagan, Kristol points out, was an aberrational figure: “He was the only president of the last century who came to the office as the leader of an ideological movement.” By contrast with Reagan, »
January 18, 2008 — John Hinderaker

Bobby Fischer, RIP

Chess champion Bobby Fischer died today in Iceland, where he recently went to live, presumably because it was the scene of his greatest triumph. Fischer was hard to like, even in his younger years when he was at his best. Even before he went more or less crazy, he was a jerk. But Fischer was probably the best chess player in history, up to that time, and he played a »
January 18, 2008 — Paul Mirengoff

Is the race in South Carolina tightening?

South Carolina will hold its Republican primary tomorrow, and the polls suggest that the race is tightening. The RCP average shows the gap between John McCain and Mike Huckabee at 4 percentage points, compared to 8 points only a day ago. And two recent surveys (Rasmussen and Insider Advantage) have the McCain and Huckabee in a flat-footed tie. Huckabee’s support fell after his performance, under fire from Fred Thompson, in »
January 18, 2008 — John Hinderaker

Global Warming Alert

Here in Minnesota, we are beginning one of the cold snaps that we have at least once a winter. When I got home from work a little while ago, the temperature was nine degrees below zero. It will get down to at least 15 below tonight. At that temperature, especially combined with even a modest breeze, exposed flesh freezes in a matter of minutes. Or less. It may be a »
January 18, 2008 — Paul Mirengoff

The Gang of 14 deal revisited

Adam White and Kevin White argue in the Weekly Standard that John McCain »
January 18, 2008 — Scott Johnson

A second opinion for Glen Johnson

Glen Johnson is the shockingly biased and dishonest AP reporter who covers the Romney campaign. Yesterday we drew attention to Johnson’s exchange with Mitt Romney in South Carolina on the status of lobbyists in the Romney campaign. Romeny said that lobbyists aren’t running his campaign; Johnson argued that they are. Following the exchange, as Paul noted, a woman in attendance called out Johnson for being “rude and ugly.” Johnson has »
January 18, 2008 — Paul Mirengoff

Norman Podhoretz in his own words

In a post below, Scott points out how Andrew Sullivan has attacked Norman Podhoretz, author of World War IV: The Long Struggle Against Islamofascim, over comments Podhoretz didn’t make about Iran. You can listen to Podhoretz discuss Iran with our friend Peter Robinson here. Podhoretz and Robinson discuss President Bush’s handling of the Iraq war here. »
January 18, 2008 — John Hinderaker

What Does Success In Iraq Look Like?

General Raymond Odierno gave a graphic picture of what success in Iraq looks like in a Pentagon briefing yesterday. Here are some of the slides he used. This one shows the areas where al Qaeda was active in December 2006; the lighter areas are transit routes. Click to enlarge: This one shows the same thing, but one year later, in December 2007: This one shows the decline in coalition members »
January 18, 2008 — Scott Johnson

Norman Podhoretz crosses the Daily Ditch: Andrew Sullivan strikes again

Andrew Sullivan has become such a crude polemicist that he long ago ceased to be worth reading. This past November in “Norman Podhoretz crosses the Daily Ditch,” we noted that Sullivan challenged the authenticity of an Ayatollah Khomeni quotation cited by Norman Podhoretz in “The case for bombing Iran” and in World War IV. Sullivan congratulated himself on his willingness to concede an error when he makes one, “however innocently.” »
January 17, 2008 — Paul Mirengoff

The Congress we pay for

One of the recent scandals involving the District of Columbia government arose at a branch of the city’s motor vehicle department. A female employee at the branch was accepting money in exchange for providing phony licenses for use by illegal aliens. The branch was located in a fancy mall in the heart of Washington »