Monthly Archives: August 2014
August 27, 2014 — John Hinderaker
Someone–possibly an attendee, possibly a member of the hotel staff–audio taped a Koch-sponsored conference that was held in California last June. This, I take it, was one of the twice-a-year seminars that Koch puts on, by invitation, for conservative donors and others. Three Republican Senate candidates, Joni Ernst, Tom Cotton and Cory Gardner, participated in a panel titled “The Senate: A Window of Policy Opportunity for Principled Leaders.” Whoever recorded
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August 27, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
In The Leopard, his great novel of 19th century Sicily, Giuseppe di Lampedusa writes about “that highly profitably grey area of the extreme left of the extreme right.” It seems that Francois Hollande, the Socialist President of France, hopes to profit in the area of the extreme right of the extreme left. As Steve noted, Hollande has dissolved his government and appointed a new cabinet. Most notably, Hollande has named
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August 27, 2014 — Steven Hayward
We noted here the other day (“Propping Up Obama”) the agony of the left over Obama’s miserable performance of late. But there are other signs that leftism is falling apart just about everywhere. Item: Leftist French President Francois Hollande has dissolved the government and is trying to reform a new government that is a few micrometers closer to the center in the interest of minimal reform to get the economy
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August 27, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
As Scott wrote earlier this morning, Israel and Hamas have agreed to a cease fire that essentially mirrors the one Hamas rejected in July, before the real fighting, which killed more than 2,000 Palestinians, began. I welcome the cease fire for personal reasons. My wife and one of my daughters are in Israel now. No one knows how long the cease fire will last, but it should hold for ten
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August 27, 2014 — Steven Hayward
Last month I taped an episode of the Claremont Institute’s “American Mind” video interview series with Claremont Review of Books editor and professor extraordinaire Charles Kesler. This first segment describes the writing of The Age of Reagan as well as some observations about how Reagan historiography has evolved. More to come–stay tuned!
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August 27, 2014 — Scott Johnson
President Obama spoke yesterday to the annual convention of the American Legion in Charlotte, North Carolina, at what seemed like Castroite length. The Teleprompters were on hand and in service. The White House has posted the text of his speech here; the video is below. I think it’s fair to say, as the Daily Mail’s David Martosko does, that the response of Obama’s audience was “tepid” at best. Andrew Malcolm
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August 27, 2014 — Scott Johnson
In an email message over the weekend, Gabriel Schoenfeld writes to raise a question close to my heart: Should journalists be free to choose which laws they are required to observe and which ones they can break at will? That, essentially, is what James Risen, Pulitzer-prize winning reporter at the New York Times, is demanding as the trial of alleged CIA leaker Jeffrey Sterling draws near. Is the Justice Department
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August 27, 2014 — Scott Johnson
Hamas and Israel have entered into a ceasefire on terms mediated by the government of Egypt. I believe that the terms mirror those to which Israel agreed on July 15. Hamas proclaims victory while Israel is already engaged in the political debate and self-criticism that follows its inconclusive wars. Bassam Tawil takes an illuminating look at Hamas’s “victory.'” Unfortunately, Hamas survives to continue on its genocidal mission. The genocidal mission
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August 26, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
Unless ISIS somehow turns out to be a flash-in-the-pan terrorist outfit, there’s a good chance that the signature statement of Barack Obama’s presidency will be his characterization of ISIS as “the jayvee.” To avoid this stain, Obama’s new press secretary, Josh Earnest, has been assigned to explain the statement away. Earnest argued that when Obama referred to local terrorists groups as “the jayvee,” he wasn’t singling out ISIS. Here is
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August 26, 2014 — John Hinderaker
Back in the 1980s, the Democratic Party media dubbed Ronald Reagan the “Teflon President.” By this, they meant that their false, dishonest and trivial attacks on Reagan didn’t sway the public, which appreciated the most meteoric economic recovery in modern history and restoration of America’s status as not just a great power, but a competent one. Something quite different is happening with Barack Obama. By any possible measure, he has
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August 26, 2014 — John Hinderaker
CNN has obtained and published an audio recording of a Ferguson, Missouri man engaged in what sounds like a sex chat with a woman. In the midst of it, you can hear gun shots in the background. These are presumed to be, although CNN says repeatedly that it has not verified the recording, the sounds of Officer Darren Wilson shooting Michael Brown. Erik Wemple relates the story behind the recording.
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August 26, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
The College Board, the private company that produces the SAT test and the various Advanced Placement exams, is effectively requiring that AP U.S. History be taught from a hard-left perspective. It is doing so through a newly-issued “Framework” for its AP U.S. History exam. I warned of this development here. Stanley Kurtz provides the back story. He points out that the co-chairs of the committee that redesigned the AP U.S.
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August 26, 2014 — Steven Hayward
Can we award one of our coveted Green Weenies to a bunch of third graders, or would that be bullying? We really do try to restrain ourselves from beating up on the Climatistas every day, because they just make it so easy with their relentless hysteria and McCarthyite antics. But when the Climatistas reach a whole new level of absurdity, we just can’t let it pass. There’s a brand new
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August 26, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
Egypt and the United Arab Emirates carried out airstrikes in Tripoli this weekend against the Islamist militants who were in the process of taking control of that city and its airport. The airstrikes appear to have failed to prevent that takeover. The government of Libya is, in the words of its ambassador to Egypt, “unable to protect its institutions, its airports, and natural resources, especially the oil fields.” Moreover, the
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August 26, 2014 — Steven Hayward
So Burger King is going to acquire the Canadian Tim Horton’s donut chain, in yet another tax inversion that causes so much cranial-rectal inversions among liberals. I sure hope we get a donut Whopper cheeseburger out of this merger. With bacon. That would be more awesome than a deep-fried Twinkie. (Lo and behold, turns out the genera already exist.) Even more delightful than finding out that liberal hero Warren Buffett
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August 26, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
The New York Observer reports that, according to an IRS court filing, the IRS destroyed Lois Lerner’s Blackberry after it knew her computer had crashed and after a Congressional inquiry was well underway. An IRS official declared under the penalty of perjury that the destroyed Blackberry would have contained the same emails (both sent and received) as Lois Lerner’s hard drive. Lerner’s hard drive crashed in June 2011 and the
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August 25, 2014 — Steven Hayward
My long review of Rick Perlstein’s The Invisible Bridge is in the can at the Claremont Review of Books (subscribe now you so can get the whole thing the day it comes out). Perlstein’s latest massive book has been generating more buzz than a turbine with bad ball bearings, with even some conservatives who ought to know better praising this malignant hit piece. I thought it likely that my forthcoming
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