Monthly Archives: March 2009

March 23, 2009 — John Hinderaker

How Iran Views Obama

Barack Obama sent Iran’s mullahs a video valentine on the occasion of the Iranian new year. What did the mullahs make of it? Stratfor evaluates Obama’s overture from Iran’s perspective: From the Iranian point of view, the United States has made two fundamental demands of Iran. The first is that Iran halt its military nuclear program. The second, a much broader demand, is that Iran stop engaging in what the »
March 23, 2009 — John Hinderaker

Terrorist Strike Averted

On Saturday, a major terrorist attack was foiled in Haifa, when a stolen Subaru in a mall parking lot was found to contain 100 kilograms of explosives: The explosives were packed into a number of bombs and mixed with ball bearings to make the blast even more deadly. … A chilling scenario was sketched out by a police source on Sunday, who said the attackers could have been aiming to »
March 23, 2009 — John Hinderaker

Second Time’s A Charm

As far as the market is concerned, anyway, Tim Geithner’s second shot at laying out a plan to rescue the nation’s banking system is being received a lot better than his first. At this moment, the Dow is up over four percent. You can read the Treasury Department’s description of the plan here. In essence, the federal government will partner with private industry (by taking most of the risk) so »
March 22, 2009 — John Hinderaker

Dispelling the Global Warming Myth

Earlier this month, the Heartland Institute sponsored the 2009 International Conference on Climate Change in New York. The Conference differed from most such events in that it was devoted to science, not politics or propaganda. Heartland has now made the materials presented at the conference available online, here. You can review the agenda, watch videos of the keynote presentations, read transcripts of some of the speeches, and see the Power »
March 22, 2009 — John Hinderaker

Are We Going Bankrupt?

Senator Judd Gregg says that Barack Obama’s budget will drive the United States into bankruptcy. That’s a plausible claim. So, what public needs are so urgent that they are worth risking financial collapse for? The London Times itemizes some of the earmarks in the Democrats’ recent omnibus appropriation bill: – Removing tattoos from gang members (California): $200,000 – Polynesian Voyaging Society (Hawaii): $238,000 – Swine odour and manure management (Iowa): »
March 22, 2009 — Scott Johnson

Sondheim Tonight

If you are a fan of Broadway or American popular music, chances are you are familiar with the work of Stephen Sondheim and have one of his songs or musicals that you can easily call to mind. Taken as a whole, Mark Steyn observes in a largely unadmiring chapter on Sondheim in Broadway Babies Say Goodnight that, taken as a whole, Sondheim’s catalogue is a one-man history of American pop »
March 22, 2009 — John Hinderaker

Cheer Up, Scott!

As Scott writes below–brilliantly–he is depressed. Naturally, I’ve been trying to think of ways to cheer him up. Humor often helps. So here is a joke that one of my brothers told yesterday: A Republican walked into a bar and asked the bartender, “Isn’t that Jesus over there?” When the bartender said “Yes,” the Republican sent over a drink. “Put it on my tab,” he said. A little later a »
March 22, 2009 — Scott Johnson

Why I am depressed

Victor Davis Hanson asks why so many Americans are depressed. Suggesting five themes that might provide an answer, he thinks that more than the economy explains our state of mind. I agree, but none of Dr. Hanson’s themes accounts for my despair. I feel utterly powerless to do anything about the fellow in the Oval Office who combines infantile leftism and adolescent grandiosity in roughly equal measures. It seems to »
March 21, 2009 — Paul Mirengoff

It could happen here, Part Two

A few days ago, in expressing my doubts about David Brooks’ claim that America’s cultural DNA ensures we will never operate our economy along European lines, I pointed to the transformation of England’s economic system that occurred in the last century. After putting up the post, I recalled a comparison I read years ago between the funerals of Princess Diana (1997) and WInston Churchill (1965). The author, I believe, was »
March 21, 2009 — Paul Mirengoff

Hare defeats tortoise

The Maryland men’s basketball season came to an abrupt halt today, as Memphis downed the Terrapins 89-70 in a game that wasn’t nearly that close. Maryland was never likely to be much of a match for Memphis, and the fact the Tigers were hot from 3-point range (10-19) meant that the Terps had basically no chance. Watching Memphis play made me think of something former Rutgers basketball coach Tom Young »
March 21, 2009 — John Hinderaker

Another Weekend, More Tea Parties

The tea party movement continues to gain steam, as anti-tax increase, anti-bailout, anti-ballooning deficit citizens turned out around the country today. Glenn Reynolds, as always, has a roundup with links and photos. I especially liked this reference to Chris Dodd at a rally in Connecticut: One emerging theme is the absence of press coverage, especially at the national level. For some reason, reporters and editors believe it is not news »
March 21, 2009 — Scott Johnson

How to become a banana republic

Last night John Hinderaker asked “Are we becoming a banana republic?” In “Commandante Obama,” Peter Robinson traces the path to becoming a banana republic in three easy steps. It starts with a cult of the leader. It is followed by nationalization and the suppression of free speech. Robinson concludes that Obama has made impressive strides down the path in his first 60 days in office. »
March 21, 2009 — Scott Johnson

Banquo’s ghost

One of the superb essays in the Claremont Review of Books Lincoln bicentennial issue is Professor John Briggs’s discussion of Lincoln’s interest in Shakespeare. Professor Briggs makes the point that Shakespeare’s plays were ubiquitous in antebellum America. He recalls that Macbeth turned up at a critical point in the Webster-Hayne debate in 1830, when Hayne and Webster differed on the meaning of Banquo’s ghost: Senator Hayne said the ghost was »
March 21, 2009 — Scott Johnson

The Cheever Chronicle

In the summer of 1970 I saw John Updike read his story “Bech Takes Pot Luck” in an auditorium at Harvard. Updike threw himself into the reading. The story was funny and Updike seemed to enjoy the story’s humor as much as those of us in the largely student audience. Updike stayed around after the reading to answer questions, in response to one of which he spoke about John Cheever. »
March 20, 2009 — Paul Mirengoff

Strange bedfellows

The Washington Post reports that in Iraq, alliances are being forged across sectarian lines. Prime Minister Maliki, a Shiite, has allied himself with Saleh al-Mutlak, a secular Sunni politician and strong opponent of the U.S. presence. The basis of the coalition, apart presumably from opportunism, is said to be nationalism and belief in a strong central government. In defiance (once again) of the conventional wisdom, the Iraqis seem to have »
March 20, 2009 — Paul Mirengoff

Walking in a Williams wonderland

The University of Maryland moved into the second round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament yesterday, defeating California 84-71 in a mild upset. The first half was a tight, scrappy affair. However, the Terps took control in the second half behind the strong-willed play of unheralded sophomore guard Adrian Bowie (a former ballboy for Maryland), a 3-2 zone defense, and uncharacteristically good shooting. The real key to the game, though, »
March 20, 2009 — John Hinderaker

Sticking With the Narrative, Dammit!

We generally write our own stuff and don’t just quote others, but sometimes you have to make an exception for Mark Steyn: In turbulent times, it’s good to know some things never change. After a week in which President Obama thanked himself for inviting him to the White House, compared AIG executives to suicide bombers, and did the first Presidential retard joke on national TV, I was impressed to find »