Monthly Archives: March 2011

March 18, 2011 — John Hinderaker

What Noose?

At the Tatler, Richard Perle makes a good point: From the presidential theater of the absurd, Obama’s claim 10 days ago that he was “tightening the noose” around Qaddafi is right up there with Bush’s compliment to Michael Brown for doing “a heck of a job.” Indeed. Noose? What noose? As we noted yesterday, the administration’s talk about Libya was unmatched by any deeds. Obama proclaimed that Qaddafi “must” go; »
March 18, 2011 — Scott Johnson

A no-fly zone: Is it too late? Prof. X comments

An observant political science professor on the verge of tenure writes to comment on John’s post “A no-fly zone: Is it too late?” He writes: [I]t might be an opportune time to give heartfelt and genuine praise to the French. They have taken some very ill-considered positions since 9/11, and they have taken some serious criticism from friends in the United States, some of it warranted, some not, certainly all »
March 18, 2011 — Scott Johnson

Rawhide Down: A word with the author

In the second volume of The Age of Reagan, Steven Hayward writes that the shooting and near death of Ronald Reagan “provides another occasion for reflection on the radical contingency of human affairs and for counterfactual what-if speculation….The proximate counterfactual of March 30, 1981, is what if Secret Service Agent Jerry Parr had not ordered the driver to divert the presidential limousine to George Washington University Hospital instead of the »
March 17, 2011 — John Hinderaker

An Official Gun? Every State Should Have One!

I’ve never been a firearms guy. In fact, I may be the only person who ever grew up in South Dakota and lived there through high school without once firing a gun at a bird. Still, you gotta love Utah: Utah becomes first in U.S. to designate official state gun. Utah has become the first U.S. state to name an official firearm, placing an automatic pistol on a list of »
March 17, 2011 — John Hinderaker

A No-Fly Zone: Is It Too Late?

The United Nations Security Council has approved a no-fly zone over Libya, along with “all necessary measures” to protect civilians. Apparently the Obama administration held out until the last moment and only decided today to join Britain, France and other nations in sponsoring the U.N. resolution. It appears that any actual military action will be taken by NATO, but it is not clear how soon it can be commenced: Although »
March 17, 2011 — Scott Johnson

The car from Atlas Shrugged motors

Patrick Michaels is a senior fellow in environmental studies at the Cato Institute and the editor of the forthcoming Climate Coup: Global Warming’s Invasion of our Government and our Lives, as well as the author of several other books on the global warming scare. His Forbes column on the Chevy Volt is a case study in the nexus between big government corruption and big business rent-seeking. Michaels briefly recaps the »
March 17, 2011 — Scott Johnson

The peasants are revolting, Miami-Dade edition

On Tuesday Miami-Dade County voters recalled Mayor Carlos Alvarez. The margin of the vote in favor of recall sends an unmistakable message regarding the mood of voters. The vote in favor of recall amounted to 88 percent of the 200,000 votes cast, an unnaturally large majority. So it’s worth sorting out what might have provoked the Miami-Dade electorate. The Miami Herald reports: Voters swept Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez out of »
March 17, 2011 — Scott Johnson

Dems gone wild

I wonder if this story will get the attention it deserves. The story more or less speaks for itself, though one element left unexplained in the story is the offices involved in the scheme. It involves local leaders of the Democratic Party in Michigan and their creative efforts to split the anti-Democratic vote in the 2010 election: Two former leaders of the Oakland County Democratic Party are facing a total »
March 16, 2011 — John Hinderaker

The One Campaign Promise Obama Has Kept

That is, his promise to increase the price of gasoline. Sarah Palin explains: Through a process of what candidate Obama once called “gradual adjustment,” American consumers have seen prices at the pump rise 67 percent since he took office. Let’s not forget that in September 2008, candidate Obama’s Energy Secretary in-waiting said: “Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe.” »
March 16, 2011 — Scott Johnson

William J. Stuntz, RIP

We wrote with some frequency and admiration about Harvard Law Professor William Stuntz. On one occasion he even wrote back. Professor Stuntz died way before his time on Monday at the age of 52 after a long battle with cancer. Harvard Law School celebrated his career last year via a celebration in his honor and notes his death here. Timothy Dalrymple beautifully evokes the man in “Home to the longing »
March 16, 2011 — John Hinderaker

A Case Study In Liberal Hypocrisy

On Monday, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce began its consideration of the Upton-Imhofe bill, which would bar the EPA from regulating carbon dioxide emissions. Upton-Imhofe is critical to any effort to restore our economy, so the Democrats are against it. Ranking Democrat Henry Waxman went on a hysterical rant against the legislation: This is dangerous legislation. Climate change is real; it is caused by pollution; and it is »
March 16, 2011 — John Hinderaker

Scenes of a Disaster

If you are not familiar with the Daily Mail, you may want to check it out. It has the best photographic coverage of the disaster in Japan that I have seen. The scenes are truly shocking: The Daily Mail quotes an associate professor at Chiba University, who is in Ishinomaki with the Japan Emergency Team: “I think the death toll is going to be closer to 100,000 than 10,000.” … »
March 16, 2011 — John Hinderaker

Presidential Leadership? Don’t Hold Your Breath

Today Marco Rubio and 22 other Republican Senators called on President Obama to show leadership by joining with the House and Senate in finding constructive solutions to the nation’s entitlement spending crisis. Perhaps the letter’s most interesting observation is this one: Without action to begin addressing the deficit, it will be difficult, if not impossible, for us to support a further increase in the debt ceiling. Obama, of course, has »
March 16, 2011 — John Hinderaker

The Deadly Squeeze

Michael Ramirez sums up the plight of the taxpayer, squeezed by the unholy alliance of public sector unions and self-serving politicians. Click to enlarge: »
March 16, 2011 — Steven Hayward

The Progressive Dilemma

Sooner or later it was inevitable that it would start to occur to liberals/”progressives” that the exploding cost of over-generous public employee compensation and pensions would start to crimp social programs themselves. California, New York, and other states are seeing large cuts to education, Medicaid, and other social service programs, even as pension costs continue to skyrocket. In other words, the very programs that comprise the central purpose of liberalism »
March 16, 2011 — John Hinderaker

The Hinderaker-Ward Report, Vol. 1

I wrote last night that my long-time radio partner, Brian Ward, and I have started doing podcasts for Ricochet that are similar in style to our radio show. Here is the first one, which we recorded on Saturday: The show is tentatively being called the Hinderaker-Ward report. As I told Brian on the podcast, he got the order of the names right, but I’m not sure this is the best »
March 16, 2011 — John Hinderaker

Another Intercepted Arms Shipment, Bound for Gaza

Yesterday the Israelis intercepted a ship called the Victoria, bound from Turkey to Egypt and ultimately for Gaza. The Victoria held thousands of containers but, apparently unknown to its crew, four of those containers contained weapons that were manufactured in Iran and shipped out of Syria. The Israelis brought the Victoria to the port of Ashdod, where they displayed some of the Iranian munitions for reporters. These are 120 mm »