Monthly Archives: June 2009

June 21, 2009 — Paul Mirengoff

Why Netanyahu should part company with Obama on Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu may be at odds with President Obama on several key issues, but the two leaders have approached the Iranian uprising in very similar ways. Like Obama, Netanyahu has so far declined to provide any real support to the anti-regime protesters. Why? Caroline Glick suggests three reasons: Israel’s primary concern is Iran’s foreign policy and specifically its nuclear weapons program and its support for anti-Israel terror groups. »
June 21, 2009 — Scott Johnson

A secret kept by the Times

Today the New York Times reports that its David Rohde had been kidnapped and held by the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan over the past seven months. Why did the Times sit on this story? The Times states: “Until now, the kidnapping has been kept quiet by The Times and other media organizations out of concern for the men’s safety.” The Times explains: “From the early days of this ordeal, »
June 21, 2009 — John Hinderaker

Neda

Yesterday I posted (as did many others) this graphic video of the death of a young woman in Tehran who was shot by a member of the Basij. Warning, once again; the video is short but graphic. The victim has now been identified. Her name was Neda, and she was 16 years old. A man who said he was a witness posted this account: At 19:05 June 20th Place: Karegar »
June 21, 2009 — John Hinderaker

Mousavi Speaks

Those who defend President Obama’s evenhandedness in the early days of the Iranian revolution should read this statement from the office of Mir Hossein Mousavi: From the Office of Mr. Mir Hossein Mousavi To the President of the USA, Mr. Barack Hussein Obama: Dear Mr. President, In the name of the Iranian people, we want you to know that when you recently made the statement “Achmadinejad or Mousavi? Two of »
June 21, 2009 — John Hinderaker

Special Emissary to Hamas?

Aaron Klein of World Net Daily reports that the Obama administration is using Jimmy Carter as a special liaison with Hamas: Former President Jimmy Carter presented Hamas with a written initiative intended to open talks between the Islamist group and the U.S. without Hamas having to accept all conditions previously laid out for dialogue by the American government, top Hamas officials told WND. Those conditions, expressed twice by Secretary of »
June 21, 2009 — Scott Johnson

Let it be said

We make a few simple points about the events transpiring over the past week in Iran. The Iranian regime is an evil tyranny. It supports terrorists and terrorism. The United States has a debt of honor to settle with it for the kidnapping and mistreatment of American hostages thirty years ago. That disgrace is not simply a matter of history. It is a disgrace in which Iran’s execrable president personally »
June 21, 2009 — Scott Johnson

Their hearts were full of spring

Yesterday was the birthday of the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson. Given the seriousness of events transpiring in Iran, I thought it made sense to forego a tribute to Wilson this year. Looking around for a video to use for a tribute, however, I came across the Beach Boys’ a capella rendition of Bobby Troup’s “Their Hearts Were Full of Spring” at President Reagan’s 1985 inauguration. In the video below, Bruce »
June 21, 2009 — John Hinderaker

Dueling Polls on Health Care

The New York Times trumpets its own CBS/NYT poll which, it says, shows “Wide Support for Government-Run Health.” Americans overwhelmingly support substantial changes to the health care system and are strongly behind one of the most contentious proposals Congress is considering, a government-run insurance plan to compete with private insurers, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. The poll found that most Americans would be willing to pay »
June 21, 2009 — Scott Johnson

The Israelis understand Obama, part 2

In “The Israelis understand Obama,” Paul noted the poll conducted for the Jerusalem Post reflecting that six percent of Israeli Jews believe that President Obama is pro-Israel. By contrast, 88 percent consider President Bush to have been pro-Israel. A month ago, just before Obama met with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, only 14 percent of Israeli Jews considered Obama pro-Palestinian. At that time 31 percent labeled him pro-Israel and 40 percent »
June 21, 2009 — John Hinderaker

Obama Goes Negative

For the first time in his administration, those who strongly disapprove of President Obama’s performance exceed those who strongly approve in the Rasmussen survey. Rasmussen calls this the “approval index.” As with any poll the numbers bounce around a bit from day to day, but the overall trend is obvious: I think the steady growth in the number who strongly disapprove of Obama is the natural consequence of his consistent »
June 21, 2009 — John Hinderaker

George Harrison, Guitar Hero

I defer to Scott on all matters musical, but this essay in the London Times makes sense to me: “George Harrison: the ultimate guitar hero.” The one thing that never gets said about Harrison, however, is this: he was the greatest rock guitarist of all time. It’s a contentious view, I know. I don’t suppose Harrison has topped a poll of guitarists in the past 40 years. When Rolling Stone »
June 20, 2009 — John Hinderaker

Funniest Blog Post of the Day

I checked out Patterico’s site tonight, partly because he sent me an email about a post he did contrasting what is happening in Iran with today’s big news story about President Obama: his trip to a local ice cream shop to buy his daughters frozen custard. But that isn’t really a fair comparison; it’s not like Obama should have been holed up in a war room somewhere. This was the »
June 20, 2009 — John Hinderaker

More Iran Video

This cell phone video shows policemen charging a group of demonstrators. The comments on YouTube indicate that the crowd is chanting “It’s people like these who will change the world.” It was uploaded today, so I assume it was shot today, but that’s usually hard to tell. »
June 20, 2009 — John Hinderaker

Obama Speaks, Sort Of

Under “political pressures on all sides,” President Obama issued another statement on Iran today: The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching. We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost. We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people. The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who »
June 20, 2009 — Paul Mirengoff

The Israelis understand Obama

According to a poll conducted for the Jerusalem Post, only 6 percent of Israeli Jews believe that President Obama is pro-Israel. Fifty percent consider Obama more pro-Palestinian than pro-Israel; 36 percent consider him neutral; and the remainder have no opinion. A month ago, just before Obama met with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, only 14 percent of Israeli Jews considered Obama pro-Palestinian. At that time 31 percent labeled him pro-Israel and »
June 20, 2009 — Paul Mirengoff

Without a Belizean Grove

Judge Sotomayor has resigned from her all-female club, the Belizean Grove. Sotomayor said: “I believe that the Belizean Grove does not practice invidious discrimination and my membership did not violate the Judicial Code of Ethics, but I do not want questions about this to distract anyone from my qualifications and record.” In my view, Sotomayor’s membership in the all-female outfit probably violated the Judicial Code of Ethics. To that extent, »
June 20, 2009 — John Hinderaker

Following Events in Iran

We’re witnessing something unprecedented in Iran: a revolution that you can watch, sort of, in real time. News reports indicate that violent clashes are going on between police or militia and protesters: Police beat protesters and fired tear gas and water cannons at thousands who rallied Saturday in open defiance of Iran’s clerical government, sharply escalating the most serious internal conflict since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Eyewitnesses described fierce clashes »