Chuck Reed, the Democrat major of San Jose who built a national reputation as a champion of pension reform, has backed Republican Pete Peterson in the race for California Secretary of State in November. “As our chief elections officer, the
Addressing the opening of the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, President Barack Obama spoke about the need to defeat extremism abroad–and cited racial tension in Ferguson, Missouri at home. The president had just told the assembled delegates and heads
Republican gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari continues to lag far behind incumbent Democrat Governor Jerry Brown, struggling to make up a 21-point gap, according to the latest Public Policy Institute of California poll. In an election where few voters are paying
California Secretary of State Debra Bowen reports that California voters are abandoning both major political parties in droves–and that they are leaving the Republican Party behind even more than the Democratic Party. The state’s 60-day report of voter registration shows
Just as world leaders–well, world leaders without China, India, and several other important fossil fuel-using countries–gathered at the UN Climate Summit in New York on Tuesday, a curious piece of news crossed the wires. The Financial Times reported that, for the
A perceptive viewer noticed something of interest in my dinner conversation with Gov. Sarah Palin about my new book, Wacko Birds: The Fall (and Rise) of the Tea Party. On the table was a copy of Joseph Teluskin’s recent biography
President Barack Obama ordered air strikes against ISIS targets inside Syria overnight. He received the full backing of Republican leaders in Congress. The attacks raise a number of military–and political–questions: 1. When did Congress authorize U.S. attacks in Syria? It
A study conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Washington has concluded that warmer sea and land temperatures along the Pacific coast in North America over the past 100 years are due to weak winds–and not
If Barack Obama was the candidate of Facebook, and has governed as the President of Selfie, then Hillary Clinton is the “Snapchat” candidate–i.e. one who is eager to erase the past from collective memory. Tony Lee reminded me today that
Leaders in Las Vegas are showing new interest in re-establishing a rail link between Sin City and Southern California, after more than 20 years without rail service. Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) said that she would push for resumption of Amtrak
Though California’s Republican Party is fighting for its survival, California’s Democrats are struggling with deep divisions that have come to the surface in the race for Superintendent of Public Instruction. Though the office is technically nonpartisan, the superintendent’s race is
Despite a rousing speech by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who indicated that he would soon open an office in the state in pursuit of his presidential ambitions, California’s Republican Party convention in Los Angeles, “Reclaim California,” sounded a note of
Last week, in the dead of night, the city council of Santa Monica, California voted to end its contract with a businesswoman who stages pony rides and a petting zoo at the weekly farmers’ market on Main Street. There was
Ukranian President Petro Poroshenko gave a stirring address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress Thursday, pleading for “military equipment–both non-lethal and lethal” in his country’s ongoing struggle to resist Russian invasion. He received a warm welcome from both
Take up the White Man’s burden–The savage wars of peace–Fill full the mouth of FamineAnd bid the sickness cease;And when your goal is nearestThe end for others sought,Watch sloth and heathen FollyBring all your hopes to nought. – Rudyard Kipling,
Former Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) is defying the skeptics by making the New Hampshire race against incumbent Democrat Sen. Jeanne Shaheen a real contest. Though he voted as a centrist in Washington, D.C.–even casting a critical vote for the Dodd-Frank
Hillary Clinton is back in the spotlight she never left, turning up with her husband Bill in Iowa over the weekend, fueling talk about her inevitable second attempt at the presidency. Yet her presentation seemed tone-deaf at times–even referencing the
SANTA MONICA, California — The Associated Press reports that the city of Santa Monica, California beat 300 other towns in competing for $1 million in funding from the Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors Challenge to study “just how much people in this picture-postcard
Professor Alan Dershowitz has released a new e-book, Terror Tunnels: The Case for Israel’s Just War Against Hamas, that provides an essential primer on the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Dershowitz argues–clearly and conclusively–that Israel’s war effort was
President Barack Obama reportedly rejected advice from Gen. Lloyd Austin, commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), to send a limited number of combat troops to the Middle East to assist in the fight against ISIS. According to Dustin Walker of RealClearDefense,
On Thursday, reflecting on the 13th anniversary of September 11, I found myself in rare agreement with David Frum, who noted that 9/11 was just one of the many ways in which the past 15 years have been disappointing. there
Assyrian Christians are standing with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) after he was booed for his support of Israel by some Middle East Christians gathered in Washington, D.C. Wednesday at an event hosted by an organization called “In Defense Of Christians.” Yet
State Sen. Barack Obama (D-Hyde Park), Hyde Park Herald, Sep. 19, 2001: We need to step up security at our airports. We must reexamine the effectiveness of our intelligence networks. And we must be resolute in identifying the perpetrators of these
Turkey will not support President Barack Obama’s call for a military response to ISIS, according to an official source quoted by Agence France-Presse on Thursday. It will not allow the U.S. to use air bases in Turkey for missions against
Sen. Angus King (I-ME), who caucuses with the Democratic Party, pointed out Wednesday that while the GOP has plenty to criticize in President Barack Obama’s foreign policy, its own foreign policy is muddled. Worse, he noted, the Republican Party seems
Looking back on Wednesday night’s presidential address to the nation, some analysts have wondered what, exactly, President Barack Obama intended to say. There was no real news in the speech, after all. The main point was to convey a four-part
In this hyperpartisan age, there is one point of agreement between Republicans and Democrats on foreign policy–that is, in addition to the newfound conviction that Congress need not exercise its constitutional authority over war: namely, that there shall be no
NEW YORK, New York – The South African hip-hop shock rave duo known as Die Antwoord (“The Answer,” pronounced DEE AHNT-vuhr’d) has kicked off its U.S. tour, and played to a packed, sold-out Terminal 5 on Tuesday evening in Manhattan.
As President Barack Obama prepares to address the nation Wednesday evening about his strategy for defeating ISIS–a strategy he recently said did not exist–it is worth noting that the president’s foreign policy speeches are rarely helpful, and often harmful, to
Ahead of President Barack Obama’s prime time do-over about ISIS, Jeffrey Goldberg has laid down some cover fire, insisting that Obama has a long list of achievements in the Middle East for which he gets no credit. En route to
David Remnick of the New Yorker has offered a weak, though amusing, defense of President Barack Obama’s foreign policy. The liberal Remnick warns readers not to “to dismiss caution as weakness,” not to think Obama’s slow reactions to Vladimir Putin or
Secretary of State Debra Bowen, whose long absences from her office have prompted criticism from at least one candidate to replace her in November, revealed to the Los Angeles Times on Friday that she suffers from severe and “debilitating” depression. Bowen
In an interview with Chuck Todd of NBC News’ Meet the Press, President Barack Obama blamed the crisis of unaccompanied minor children at the border for prompting his decision to break his promise to use executive action to grant amnesty
SACRAMENTO, California — High-speed rail has become one of the most contentious issues in the contest between Governor Jerry Brown and Republican challenger Neel Kashkari. In the one (and only) gubernatorial debate, Kashkari attacked the Democrat incumbent’s high-speed rail policy
Republican gubernatorial nominee Neel Kashkari is winning praise across the board for his performance in Thursday’s night’s debate against incumbent Democrat Gov. Jerry Brown. “Neel, despite looking something like Mr. Spock, proved he belonged on the same stage, was not
The terrorists of the Islamic State (ISIS, or ISIL) have taken their fight beyond their initial enemies–the U.S. and their Arab/Muslim rivals–and have declared their intent to challenge powers far beyond, including Russia. The notion of a global conflict might
SACRAMENTO, California — The state’s political media filled the lobby of the Senator Hotel on a warm, dry late summer evening. Seated on folding plastic chairs and hunched over card tables draped in white, the journalists did their best to
SACRAMENTO, California — Republican candidate for governor Neel Kashkari turned in a solid performance in his first–and only–debate with incumbent Democrat Jerry Brown on Thursday evening, shaking off a tough welcome from lead moderator John Myers of KQED and hammering
President Barack Obama has struggled to sound convincing in recent days as he addressed the challenge of ISIS–or “ISIL,” his preferred acronym for the so-called Islamic State. Obama’s problem goes beyond gaffes about his lack of strategy. The fundamental issue
Novelist Carole Malkin is, among other accolades, the mother-in-law of writer/activist/entrepreneur Michelle Malkin. Recently, she has published two new novels: The Life and Art of Gary Geckleman and Paper Bridge. Both are coming-of-age stories, centered around teenaged Jewish boys struggling to
