Monthly Archives: August 2012
August 28, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
Rich Lowry argues that “of all the tasks for the Romney campaign at this week’s Republican convention, burnishing the personal image of the candidate should be the easiest.” According to Lowry, Romney “is a man utterly committed to his family and his faith, whose life is studded with acts of devotion and generosity.” In offering this assessment, Lowry relies, as he should, on the book The Real Romney, written by
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August 28, 2012 — John Hinderaker
The latest ad from the Romney campaign is called “Switchers.” It features several individuals who voted for Obama in 2008, but who are supporting Romney this year. They express disappointment with Obama’s record, focusing on unemployment, debt, Obamacare and lack of leadership. The tone of the video is, I think, very good. The participants are not angry or over the top, but disappointed in what the Obama administration has produced.
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August 28, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
Ben Shapiro at Breitbart reports that the super PAC Special Operations for America, led by former Navy SEALs, is set to release a video called “Bow to Nobody.” The ad depicts Navy SEALs in combat situations and states that they fight so that America will not have to bow to anybody. But then, the ad shows President Obama bowing before the Saudi king. Ryan Zinke, the former Navy SEAL who
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August 28, 2012 — Scott Johnson
Chris Hillman was a founding member of the Byrds and is one of my all-time favorite musicians — we celebrate his birthday every year in “Time Between” — but I never thought I’d get to see him perform live, let alone in a reconstituted lineup of a great band going back twenty years. (“Time Between” is the first song Hillman ever wrote, back when he was with the Byrds.) Last
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August 27, 2012 — John Hinderaker
Code Pink may be the stupidest organization in America. Foreign policy, domestic policy, you name it: Code Pink is terminally stupid. Today in Tampa, Code Pinkers dressed up as vaginas–seriously–to protest something, I suppose abortion. So after all these years, feminism has come to this: women are just vaginas. Here they are, making fools of themselves. Ironically, the woman with the “Hands off my vagina” sign apparently supports Obamacare. The
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August 27, 2012 — John Hinderaker
We have been chronicling the increasingly desperate appeals for money that Barack Obama and his minions have been sending to the party’s faithful. Since I am on their email lists, I get several on most days. Here are two that arrived in my inbox today. The first is from James Carville. Note the classless tone, and the subject heading: “wonder boy.” From: James Carville [mailto:
[email protected]] Sent: Monday, August 27, 2012
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August 27, 2012 — Steven Hayward
. . . has to be the one for the California delegation that includes a copy of a really good book. From the Sacramento Bee: The Buzz: California swag bags for GOP conventioneers valued at $700 By Bee staff ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. — California delegates attending the Republican National Convention this week will take home a goodie bag filled with GOP gear, gift cards and some Golden State-grown staples
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August 27, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
Now that Tropical Storm Issac has churned its way past Tampa, it’s time for the Republicans to proceed with their convention. The event should commence on Tuesday with strong intention of proceeding through Thursday. Republican officials reportedly are concerned about how it would look to hold a convention while a hurricane dishes out damage in states like Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The concern is understandable, if only because the mainstream
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August 27, 2012 — Scott Johnson
Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie — the Man from SOROS — has done himself and his office no honor with his high-handed attempt to undermine the proposed Minnesota constitutional amendments protecting traditional marriage and requiring photo identification for voting. Ritchie sought to undermine the proposed amendments’ chances of passage by toying with the ballot titles prescribed by the legislature. Today the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that, in doing so,
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August 27, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
A new Washington Post/ABC survey shows that Mitt Romney has a huge lead over President Obama among married women. The Hill has the details: Married women are strongly backing Mitt Romney, 55%-40%, over Barack Obama. Compare that with 2008 exit polls when Obama won married women with children, 51%-47%, while McCain won married women with no kids 53%-44%. Romney’s 15% margin soundly beats both numbers. That 15% is identical to
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August 27, 2012 — Steven Hayward
Now he’s done it. It wasn’t enough for Francis Fukuyama to declare (rather prematurely) the “end of history”; now he’s gone and declaimed about The Wire, the greatest television show ever done (except for Firefly, but that’s a rant for another day). Actually, it’s quite a good piece. Fukuyama notes that the series creator, David Simon, is a lefty who thought he was making a proto-Marxist critique of American society:
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August 27, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
Last week, when a poll by a Democratic outfit showed Republican Pete Hoekstra narrowly leading incumbent Debbie Stabenow in the Michigan Senate race, I cautioned that we should wait for more polling before expressing any optimism about this race. Now comes a poll from Mitchell Research that gives Hoekstra a similarly narrow lead. The Mitchell poll has Hoekstra nominally ahead, 45-44. The earlier poll, by FMW, had Hoekstra ahead 48-46.
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August 27, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
Former Florida Governor Charlie Crist will speak at the Democratic Convention on a day yet to be determined. Crist, formerly a Republican, has already endorsed President Obama. A convention address by a prominent politician with ties to the other party can be effective. Zell Miller brought down the house, and likely swayed some undecided voters, with his scathing attack on the Democrats in 2004. Joe Lieberman, the anti-Zell Miller in
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August 27, 2012 — Scott Johnson
Robert S. Wistrich is one of the world’s foremost scholars of anti-Semitism. Witness his monumental history A Lethal Obsession: Anti-Semitism From Antiquity to the Global Jihad. In this column, Professor Wistrich assesses the state of leftism vis-a-vis Israel and holds out some slight hope for the left to reconnect to an authentic emancipatory vision. Although it’s a hope that we have long since abandoned. we are proud to present Professor
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August 27, 2012 — Scott Johnson
As the GOP convenes to hold its convention, now is a good time to assess the state of the race between Obama and Romney. Sophisticated psephologists — say that quickly three times — have recently done precisely this. Both Jay Cost and Sean Trende have looked at the polls and provided their assessments. To round out the picture, add a dash of Karl Rove on the undecided vote. Taken together,
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August 26, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
Yesterday, John reviewed “2016,” the new movie in which Dinesh D’Souza argues that Barack Obama has assumed the anti-colonialist, anti-Western, anti-American, anti-free enterprise perspective of his left-wing, African father. Joe Malchow supplemented John’s post and noted that the film is doing well at the box office this weekend. Joe is correct. According to this report, “2016: Obama’s America,” having expanded from limited to nationwide release this weekend, took in $6.2
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August 26, 2012 — Steven Hayward
It’s been a picture postcard perfect day out here on the central coast of California, with a large pod of humpback whales frolicking out in the ocean right in front of me (video coming shortly), so I’ve neglected the keyboard most of the day. California enjoys what economists call “exploitable asymmetries,” which means California’s climate and topography enable liberals to get away with more idiotic stuff than interior states, because
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