Flotilla's Goal Was Not Humanitarian By Debra J. Saunders
On CNN earlier this week, American Edward Peck, an activist who sailed with the Free Gaza Movement flotilla, asserted, "The purpose of the movement was humanitarian."
Political Commentary
Most Recent Releases
June 4, 2010
June 4, 2010
The Business of Politics By Susan Estrich
Even prominent Republicans, such as former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, agree that you don't need a special prosecutor to investigate whether former President Bill Clinton can have a conversation with Congressman Joe Sestak about job possibilities other than running for Senate, or whether White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's deputy can call former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff to find out whether he's interested in jobs other than challenging the state's incumbent Democratic senator.
June 3, 2010
Israel From 10,000 Feet By Joe Conason
The government of Israel is supposedly run by the Jewish state's toughest and most ardent defenders, but so far they have inflicted worse damage on its security and its future than its enemies ever could.
June 3, 2010
Time to Call the Tea Party's Bluff By Froma Harrop
I'm done trying to hack through the tea party thicket of self-contradiction, self-delusion and self-serving positions. My last straw is Rand Paul, a tea party favorite and now Republican nominee for senator from Kentucky.
June 3, 2010
Obama's 'Chicago Way' Plunders the Private Sector By Michael Barone
An interesting thing about Barack Obama is that he chose, on two occasions, to live in Chicago -- even though he didn't grow up there, had no family ties there, never went to school there.
June 2, 2010
Before You Beat Up on Israel By Susan Estrich
Since Hamas took over in Gaza in 2007, Israel has attempted to enforce a blockade. No one doubts that hardships have resulted -- but not enough hardships for Hamas to renounce its commitment to terror or to the destruction of the state of Israel.
June 1, 2010
Four Very Beautiful Ugly Americans By Debra J. Saunders
I am rarely accused of being overly sensitive to other cultures, and I've had my share of disagreement with the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Yet even I was offended at the decision to center the plot of "Sex and the City 2" on an all-expenses-paid vacations to Abu Dhabi for New York's famed four best friends. The sequel's racy material was considered so objectionable that the Islamic emirate wouldn't let filmmakers work there, so the crew had to shoot in Morocco.
May 31, 2010
Oil Spill Tars Dems' Reputation for Competence by Michael Barone
Obama Struggling to Show He's in Control," reads the headline on The Washington Post's story on Barack Obama's Thursday press conference, where most of the questions were about the Gulf oil spill. "Defensive, unauthoritative and equivocal," wrote Congressional Quarterly's Craig Crawford of Obama's performance. "He came across as a beleaguered bureaucrat in damage control."
May 30, 2010
I Read the Candidates' Books ... so You Won't Have To By Debra J. Saunders
If the eyes are the window to the soul, as the cliche goes, the political world has a corollary: Books written by candidates are the window into the soul the candidates would like you to believe they have.
May 29, 2010
Ban the Burqa By Froma Harrop
Belgium has banned the burqa, the head-to-toe veil worn in parts of the Muslim world. French President Nicolas Sarkozy wants his country to follow suit. What's an open-minded person to think?
May 28, 2010
What Rand Really Believes By Joe Conason
Rand Paul, tea party flavor of the month, is said to be avoiding "overexposure." Senior Republican Party operatives, worried by the Kentucky Senate nominee's all-too-revealing remarks after his primary victory, have urged him not to grant any interviews for a while. So he flip-flopped on his criticism of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, flaked out on a "Meet the Press" appearance and has scarcely been heard from since.
May 28, 2010
The Obama Mantra: Bill, Baby, Bill By Debra J. Saunders
President Obama spoke in the unfinished hull of a new factory built by solar-panel manufacturer Solyndra in Fremont, Calif., Wednesday to highlight his administration's focus on creating jobs. The new facility, Obama explained to a crowd of hard hats and suits, created 3,000 temporary construction jobs and was expected to provide 1,000 production jobs.
May 27, 2010
Down in the Polls, Dems at War With Themselves by Michael Barone
Intraparty civil war. It's a story line journalists often employ, though usually about only one party, the Republicans.
May 27, 2010
May House Update By Isaac Wood
Like many beleaguered sports fans, as the calendar turned to 2010, Republicans across the country were conjuring up the same thought: “This is the year!” After disastrous House elections in 2006 and 2008, Republicans dropped from their high-water mark of 232 House seats—their largest total since 1949—to just 178—their lowest total in a decade and a half. This precipitous decline brought considerable frustration to the new minority party. 2010 appeared to offer the chance for historic rebirth—and in many ways it still does.
May 27, 2010
Greece Comes to Washington, Again by Lawrence Kudlow
One day Team Obama announces a plan for enhanced rescission authority to impound wasteful spending. The next day the House surfaces a $200 billion “stimulus” plan to spend on transfer payments for welfare, even more unemployment compensation, still more Medicaid, and a bunch of special-interest subsidies.
May 26, 2010
West of the Potomac, GOP Hopes Rise by Tony Blankley
Historically, the American public -- confident, independent and undemanding-has not expected much out of Washington. Live your silver lives of limousines, private jets, power and celebrity; just do no permanent damage to the nation.
May 25, 2010
What Were They (Politicians) Thinking? by Froma Harrop
The candidates subject themselves to all those boring chicken dinners, weekends on the road and having to flatter unpleasant people. Their campaign workers, contributors and media friends struggle to pull them over the finish line.
May 24, 2010
The Gathering Revolt Against Government Spending By Michael Barone
This month, three members of Congress have been beaten in their bids for re-election -- a Republican senator from Utah, a Democratic congressman from West Virginia and a Republican-turned-Democrat senator from Pennsylvania. Their records and their curricula vitae are different. But they all have one thing in common: They are members of an appropriations committee.
May 22, 2010
Mexico City, Washington Gang up on Phoenix By Debra J. Saunders
Mexican President Felipe Calderon got the tough new Arizona immigration law wrong when he told Congress on Thursday, "It is a law that not only ignores a reality -- but also introduces a terrible idea of racial profiling as the basis for law enforcement."
