Monthly Archives: March 2015
March 27, 2015 — John Hinderaker
Yesterday the NCAA announced that it is deeply concerned about Indiana’s just-passed Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and intends to scrutinize Indiana carefully to determine whether the state is fit to host events like the Final Four, scheduled to take place in Indianapolis next week: The NCAA national office and our members are deeply committed to providing an inclusive environment for all our events. We are especially concerned about how this
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March 27, 2015 — Steven Hayward
We recently spent two hours conversing with the great historian Fred Siegel, author of several fine books, including most recently The Revolt Against the Masses: How Liberalism Has Undermined the Middle Class (coming out soon in paperback with additional material). We range widely, Brian Lamb-style, over the whole of his life and career, and we’ll be rolling out highlights in short installments over the next few weeks. I had some
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March 27, 2015 — Paul Mirengoff
As noted in a post I wrote earlier today, France has joined Israel in expressing dismay over the nuclear deal President Obama seems intent on reaching with Iran. Needless to say, Saudi Arabia, Iran’s arch-enemy, shares the disgust. Israel and France seem to have little leverage with Obama. Indeed, Obama probably feels delighted that Prime Minister Netanyahu is unhappy. Saudi Arabia might be another matter. In fact, the Saudis may
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March 27, 2015 — Paul Mirengoff
The damage to America’s relationship with Israel caused by President Obama’s desperate quest for a deal with Iran has been well-documented. It’s of no concern to Obama, who would like to see our ties with the Jewish state weakened anyway. For him, the weakening is a collateral benefit of the appeasement. But now, the U.S. relationship with France has been shaken by Obama’s accommodation of the mullahs. Adam Kredo of
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March 27, 2015 — Paul Mirengoff
When President Obama decided to employ U.S. air power to support the effort to dislodge ISIS from Tikrit, he pushed for the Iranian-dominated Shiite militias to leave the battlefield. He did so even though these forces made up more than 80 percent of the attacking force. The Shiite militiamen didn’t need to be asked twice. According to the Washington Post, they have refused to continue fighting. One militia threatens to
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March 27, 2015 — Scott Johnson
Until today, New York Times reporter Carl Hulse reminds us, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid has insisted he’s running for reelection. In the video below, however, Reid announces that he will not face the voters again next year. He will step down from his Senate seat. Reid still insists (and Hulse dutifully states it as a fact) that Reid’s serious facial and eye injuries resulted from a New Year’s day
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March 27, 2015 — Scott Johnson
Omri Ceren writes from Lausanne by email with comments for media covering developments related to the negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran: Secretary Kerry and FM Zarif started off the second day in a row with a 10:00am meeting (technically 10:08am), which again including US Energy Secretary Moniz and Iranian Atomic Energy Organization chief Salehi. Presumably the rumor mill will pick up around lunch time again, but in the
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March 27, 2015 — Scott Johnson
Yesterday we noted the Arutz Sheva story reporting on the Obama administration’s disclosure of formerly top secret data regarding Israel’s nuclear facilities and capabilities. The disclosure came in the form of the declassification and release of a detailed, 386-page report on Israeli and NATO nations’ nuclear facilities and capabilities; the Pentagon declassified only the part about Israel, continuing to classify the parts regarding other countries. The document was quietly declassified
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March 27, 2015 — Scott Johnson
This week we celebrate with Ammo Grrrll the ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of this column. She writes: Hey, fans, Top Commenters, trolls and friends! Guess what? This is the First Anniversary of Thoughts From the Ammo Line! The first column debuted on March 30th, 2014. I had been standing in the ammo line at Walmart for hundreds of hours over the year-long ammo drought, with plenty of time to chat with
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March 27, 2015 — Paul Mirengoff
Dartmouth claims to be “moving forward,” but its academic hiring reflects a commitment to marching in place to the drumbeat of the left. The latest issue of Dartmouth Life invites alums to “meet Dartmouth’s new faculty members.” We meet the new profs through one paragraph statements about “what engages their intellectual curiosity.” In too many cases, the answer appears to be leftism. Here is what Christian Haines, the one new
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March 26, 2015 — Scott Johnson
Omri Ceren writes by email from Lausanne to elaborate on the AP story reporting that the United States is considering letting Tehran run hundreds of centrifuges at a once-secret, fortified underground bunker in exchange for limits on centrifuge work and research and development at other sites. Omri writes: And just like that, PMDs and Yemen are those things we were talking about in the last news cycle. For the rest
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March 26, 2015 — Paul Mirengoff
From 2011 through 2014, the House of Representatives was conservatism’s only reliable line of defense against President Obama’s leftist encroachments. It’s quite possible that after 2016, conservatives will again need to look to the House to play this vital defensive role. To maintain control of the House, and to keep it in fighting trim, Republicans must run strong, principled conservatives — and not just for open and Democrat-held seats. We
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March 26, 2015 — Scott Johnson
Reader Martin Karo writes: Arutz Sheva reports on the Obama administration’s release – a broadcast, not a leak – of formerly top secret data regarding Israel’s nuclear facilities and capabilities. The damaging revelations come via the Defense Department’s publication of a detailed, 386-page report on Israeli and NATO nations’ nuclear facilities and capabilities. In an overtly political act, the Pentagon declassified only the part about Israel, continuing to classify the
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March 26, 2015 — Steven Hayward
Gallup is out with its annual poll of environmental issues. I’ll just go with their headline: In the U.S., Concern About Environmental Threats Eases Among the key findings: Consistent with the decline in worry about specific environmental problems, Americans have become more positive about the quality of the environment in recent years. If Americans perceive the environment to be in relatively good shape, it follows they would be less concerned about potential
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March 26, 2015 — Scott Johnson
The Wall Street Journal has a scoop on the endgame in the negotiations with Iran over a deal on its nuclear program. The United States is folding on issues involving the possible military dimensions of Iran’s past work. The descent into absurdity continues. Jay Solomon and Laurence Norman report (story accessible here via Google): Iran’s refusal to implement the IAEA work plan threatens to undermine the prospects for this comprehensive
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March 26, 2015 — Scott Johnson
It seems to me highly improbable that the AP’s diplomatic correspondent would be as big a thorn in the side of State Department flacks as Matt Lee is. Lee elicits the obligatory verb “grilling” whenever one refers to his inquiries at State Department briefings. We have featured videos of Lee “grilling” State Department spokesmen Jen Psaki and Marie Harf several times here. This week Lee “grilled” Psaki over the deparment’s
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March 26, 2015 — Scott Johnson
I learn (via InstaPundit, of course) that Newsmax has announced its Top 50 Conservative Blogs of 2015. Accepting the award on behalf of InstaPundit, Glenn Reynolds comments: “It’s always nice to be number one.” In a competitive field, Power Line comes in at number 4. As we approach the end of our thirteenth year online, that’s not too shabby either. We try harder. The Newsmax Top 50 demonstrates familiarity with,
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