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
The New York Times editorial board has taken on Stanley Kurtz and other critics of the new AP U.S. History curriculum, alleging that they would rather cling to a “comfortable” version of events rather than one that is “more complex, unsettling,
President Barack Obama’s approval rating has plunged below 50% among registered voters in California in a new Field Poll released Tuesday, falling to 45%, with disapproval reaching 43%. At the start of the summer, Obama enjoyed his traditional cushion among
California voters are paying little attention to the state’s gubernatorial race, in which incumbent Democrat Gov. Jerry Brown, who enjoys 20-point leads over Republican rival Neel Kashkari, has barely campaigned at all. The two will meet for their first–and apparently
This is “bipartisanship” the way Democrats, and the mainstream media, like it: Republicans giving in on nearly every issue. From the Los Angeles Times to the San Jose Mercury News, journalists are united in praising the work that both parties did
“But I don’t want to put the cart before the horse. We don’t have a strategy yet.” With those words, President Barack Obama summarized the weakness and incompetence of his own administration. Nearly six years into office, and several years after
One of the major conservative criticisms of President Barack Obama’s decision, early in his presidency, to release secret memoranda about interrogation techniques used against terrorists was that the president–and Attorney General Eric Holder, who threatened prosecutions of intelligence officials–were giving
The long-term ceasefire that took effect Tuesday, after a surprise Egyptian-brokered agreement between Israel and Hamas, is being hailed by the terror group as a “victory.” In this case, the claim is more than propaganda. According to the details of
As residents continue to clean up the damage caused by the Napa earthquake on Sunday, and aftershocks keep coming, some are beginning to find words to describe what many felt was an “otherworldly” experience. Rabbi Elchonon Tenenbaum, who has lived
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is suffering a massive drop in his poll numbers as the war with Hamas rages on–and as impatience grows among the Israeli public for the military to bring quiet to the country by removing Hamas
The New Yorker‘s Connie Bruck tackles the question of whether the powerful pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) is losing influence among American Jews. She frames the issue as if AIPAC is siding “with Netanyahu against Obama,”
The magnitude 6.0 earthquake that struck Napa in the early hours of Sunday morning may not have done much damage, relatively speaking. Yet several wineries reported extensive damage to existing collections of valuable vintages, as well as to winemaking infrastructure
The U.S. Geological Survey reports that there have been ten earthquakes in California stronger than magnitude 7.0 since the biggest ever recorded, the estimated 7.9 Fort Tejon earthquake, struck in 1857. By comparison, the Napa earthquake of 2014–a mere 6.0–hardly
California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency on Sunday, following a magnitude-6.0 earthquake that struck at 3:20 a.m. and was the region’s strongest in 25 years. There were no reported deaths, though 120 people were reported injured, three
It is said that one should not judge a book by its cover. But consider the dust jacket of Paul Ryan’s The Way Forward: Renewing the American Idea. A smiling Ryan is walking down a banner-festooned rope line, hands grasping
The media watchdogs at HonestReporting.com have caught Time magazine in a classic antisemitic blood libel, spreading the myth that Jews harvest organs from dead Palestinians. The claim emerges in a video at Time.com about the Israeli military, which states: “in 2009 a
As residents of Northern California reel from the strongest earthquake in 25 years, debate rages in Los Angeles over how a buried tectonic fault might affect the path of a new subway line–or whether the fault exists at all. The
This week’s indictment of Texas Gov. Rick Perry was a reminder of how Democrats and the media tear down any possible conservative contender for the presidency with frivolous lawsuits and baseless investigations. The trouble is that we conservatives do a
Geometric forms typically add a kind of serenity to art. Matrices, grids, and colors establish comforting patterns that draw the viewer into a contemplative state. Not so Matthew Carter’s hellequinharlequinclown paintings, on exhibition at the Luis De Jesus Los Angeles gallery
Politico’s Glenn Thrush reports in this week’s edition of the magazine that Al Sharpton has become President Barack Obama’s “go-to man on race” in Ferguson and elsewhere. Thrush tells the story as one of Sharpton’s own reform and revival, dwelling on
On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu compared ISIS (Islamic State) and Hamas, calling them “branches of the same tree.” The Obama administration, in the person of Marie Harf, declined to do the same. Yet while Hamas is focused on
SAN PEDRO — Hundreds of onlookers gathered at the Los Angeles Waterfront to greet the world’s largest inflatable duck on its first visit to the West Coast of the U.S. as part of the local Tall Ships festival. “There it
One of the more important strategic problems Israel faces as it returns to war in Gaza–this time with an even stronger case for deposing Hamas–is what to do in the aftermath. One member of the Israeli Cabinet, dovish justice minister
In a statement delivered from his vacation site in Martha’s Vineyard, President Barack Obama reacted on Wednesday to the execution of American journalist James Foley by the terrorists of the Islamic State (also known as ISIS or ISIL). While he
Conventional wisdom holds that whatever presidential ambitions Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) may still hold have been destroyed with his indictment by a grand jury on charges that he abused his power. Sure, the charges are trumped-up, and have been
In response to Has the Moment Passed for Israel to Take out Hamas?: It took about ten minutes for Hamas to make my previous column obsolete by firing rockets at Israel, thereby violating the ceasefire (again) and forcing Israel to
As a 24-hour extension of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas continued Tuesday, with a deal still elusive, it is becoming less clear that Israel can still count on the political will or international patience that would allow it to