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September 23, 2009

End the Coarsening of Civic Discourse By Tony Blankley

As the town hall meetings on health care started in early August, the Democratic Party's talking points accused the attending citizens of being "demonstrators hired by K Street lobbyists." Then they started calling them a "mob." Getting into the spirit of his party, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called those who oppose Obamacare "evil." Then House Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer called the dissenters "un-American." For good measure, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused them of being Nazis.

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September 23, 2009

Dear John By Susan Estrich

Last weekend, The New York Times reported on its front page that former Senator, vice presidential candidate and presidential candidate John Edwards was considering "publicly" acknowledging paternity of his mistress's baby, but had not yet brought his wife around to the idea.

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September 22, 2009

Canada and France Also Have Health Care Debates By Froma Harrop

The debate over what kind of health care system we should have often includes the kinds others have. The programs in Canada and France have received special attention, and so those countries' efforts to fix their own programs should be of interest.

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September 21, 2009

Strangers to Dissent, Liberals Try to Stifle It By Michael Barone

It is an interesting phenomenon that the response of the left half of our political spectrum to criticism and argument is often to try to shut it down. Thus President Obama in his Sept. 9 speech to a joint session of Congress told us to stop "bickering," as if principled objections to major changes in public policy were just childish obstinacy, and chastised his critics for telling "lies," employing "scare tactics" and playing "games." Unlike his predecessor, he sought to use the prestige of his office to shut criticism down.

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September 20, 2009

Democrats' Quest for Balance in 2009 By Debra J. Saunders

Democrats seem to have shifted their thinking on a number of issues since President Obama took the oath of office. Figure some Dems have more faith in government with a like-minded man at the helm, and besides, circumstances have changed. But also figure that some Democrats were just looking for sore spots -- and their anti-Bush rhetoric was based not on principle, but raw opportunism.

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September 19, 2009

B.A. in Anchorage By Susan Estrich

I got a very nice e-mail from B.A. in Anchorage yesterday. Actually, it wasn't very nice. She (I think it's a she, but I don't know for sure) thinks I'm completely clueless and worse. But that's OK. She doesn't think I should be killed or strung up because I disagree with her. Reading the e-mail wasn't so scary that I had to forward it to the campus police and wonder why I bother. As far as I could tell, B.A. was actually trying to have a civil conversation with me about why she thought I was wrong.

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September 18, 2009

The Presidential Jinx By Larry J. Sabato

It was nearly twenty years ago. While assessing L. Douglas Wilder's 1989 victory for governor of Virginia, I first noticed that for four consecutive elections (1977, 1981, 1985, and 1989), the Old Dominion had voted for the gubernatorial nominee of the party opposite to the one controlling the White House. It merited a paragraph, but nothing more.

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September 18, 2009

What Americans Really Want Is Health Care Reform By Froma Harrop

"Obama's Speech Doesn't Turn the Tide," reads an ABC News headline about new poll results on public reaction to the president's address on health care reform. An interesting take, given that the tide doesn't need turning.

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September 18, 2009

Job-Killing Policies Could Doom Democrat Hopes By Michael Barone

"The level of unemployment is unacceptably high. And will, by all forecasts, remain unacceptably high for a number of years."

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September 17, 2009

Consumers Can Read The Writing On the Wall, Why Can't Government? By Howard Rich

Over the last three decades, American consumers have demonstrated precious little in the way of fiscal responsibility. Rather than adopting a motto of "spend only what you earn" and carrying on the frugality of previous generations, we've witnessed the dawning of an "age of credit." Little plastic cards have promised (and delivered) instant gratification to tens of millions of consumers - only to hit them later with double-digit interest rates, "fine print" which ruins their legitimate borrowing potential and condemns many to a downward cycle of debt and despair.

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September 17, 2009

Joe Wilson's Dixie Partisans By Joe Conason

The stupid misconduct of entertainer Kanye West and politician Joe Wilson demonstrated, if any fresh proof is necessary, that thoughtless rudeness isn't confined by ethnicity, ideology or background. With their highly public episodes of misconduct, both earned sharp public censure.

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September 17, 2009

Inside the Glorious Nation of ACORN By Debra J. Saunders

I would not go see the film "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" because I found more cruelty than humor in deliberately exposing unwitting civilians to the easy ridicule of smug sophomores.

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September 16, 2009

Enough Is Enough By Susan Estrich

Conservative loudmouths are crowing that they are driving Barack Obama's popularity ratings below 50 percent. They are very proud of themselves. They shouldn't be. Destroying what is best about our country is not something to brag to your children about.

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September 16, 2009

Administration Downsizes Our Diplomatic Muscle By Tony Blankley

With one-sixth of the Obama administration's term of office complete, last week it revealed its profound commitment to an unprecedented policy of eschewing the exercise of great-power diplomacy -- and indeed of being willing to consciously accept humiliation -- in the hope of gaining future advantage from talking with hostile but weaker nations.

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September 15, 2009

At Least Spanky Had Grace To Leave Quietly By Debra J. Saunders

Will the sex scandal of former GOP Assemblyman Mike Duvall make a difference for the California GOP? In that Duvall -- now known as Spanky -- had the good sense to resign 15 hours into the scandal, the answer would be: No.

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September 15, 2009

'Heads I Win, Tails I'm Bailed Out' By Froma Harrop

President Obama was on Wall Street, calling for a new regulatory regime to prevent a financial panic like the one set off a year ago. "We will not go back to the days of reckless behavior and unchecked excess that was at the heart of this crisis," he said.

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September 14, 2009

Tom Friedman Hails China's One-Party Autocracy By Michael Barone

The dwindling number of readers of The New York Times were treated Wednesday to a column by Thomas Friedman extolling China's "one-party autocracy," which, he told us, "is led by a reasonably enlightened group of people."

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September 13, 2009

Character and Care By Debra J. Saunders

Toward the end of his speech on health care Wednesday night, President Obama said that he had been thinking a lot about the phrase "the character of our country."

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September 11, 2009

Is the GOP On the Cusp of Another 1994? By Isaac T. Wood

All sound electoral predictions are grounded in history. Astute observers look back over the electoral landscape of the past and pick the bits and pieces of past years that match the conditions of the present.

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September 11, 2009

The Government-Insurance Option Is Dead By Lawrence Kudlow

The day after President Obama's impassioned speech for big-government health care, Wall Street bet heavily that the so-called government-insurance option he supports is dead.

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