In May 2013, President Barack Obama tried to control the damage of the IRS scandal by expressing his outrage–literally. In a statement in the East Room of the White House, he noted that “across the board, everybody believes what happened
Among the many dramatic events that dominated the headlines this week was an event of a private but no less dramatic nature: I survived a major car crash on Monday evening. I was driving through the calm streets of Santa
Some of the most prominent conservative leaders of the 20th century refused to support Nelson Mandela or his political party, the African National Congress. President Ronald Reagan preferred “constructive engagement” with the apartheid regime. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher opposed
The comparison is so crude as to be laughable, but given the mainstream media’s immediate linkage of the two, and President Barack Obama’s insistence on talking about himself in his eulogy for Nelson Mandela, it must be said: Obama is
On Thursday evening, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews–a noted Barack Obama fan–will be interviewing the 44th president at one of the lowest points in his presidency. Mockery of Matthews has already ensued, especially after he promised to include some “easy” questions. Yet
In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George Shultz give a thumbs-down–as diplomatically as possible–to the new Iran nuclear deal-in-progress. After reviewing the sorry history of failed diplomatic efforts to stop
The Wall Street Journal has lambasted the recent bipartisan deal in the Illinois state legislature to tackle the state’s enormous pension problem, one of the worst in the nation. The Journal cites several problems with the deal, including the fact that only 5%
I dislike the term “middle class,” for two reasons. One: it imposes a left-wing template on American society that simply does not fit. Two: it describes almost everyone and yet no one. Obama ran in 2008 and 2012 on the
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is attempting to force hospitals in California and Oregon to allow it to organize workers by using ballot initiatives that would cap executive pay and charges to patients, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday. The
Dr. Ezekeiel Emanuel told Fox News Sunday on Nov. 3 that if the federal Obamacare website was not “adequately working” by Nov. 30, then it might be time to consider delaying the law. On Sunday, he told NBC’s Meet the Press that
With the Christmas retail sales season off to its worst start in years, the search is on for explanations. Some blame a still-sluggish economy–though Gross Domestic Product did actually pick up a bit last quarter, despite the federal government shutdown.
The U.S. is withdrawing from leadership in the Middle East. At the same time, the U.S. is becoming less dependent on Middle East oil. Luke Rodeheffer and Lewis King, both graduate students at Istanbul’s Koç University, conclude from these two
I’m spending a bit of time poring through two books, each about two likely Republican presidential contenders in 2016: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s Unintimidated: A Governor’s Story and a Nation’s Challenge, and Chris Christie: The Inside Story of His Rise to Power,
Here’s what they call a classic “problem from hell.” California’s Gov. Jerry Brown signed a prison reform law in 2011 that sentenced lower-level offenders to county jails rather than state prisons. Since then, violence has risen disproportionately in county jails,
This Thanksgiving was more politicized than any in recent memory. More than the last one, after Barack Obama won re-election after four disappointing years. More than the 2008 Thanksgiving, which happened right after that bitterly contentious campaign, and when Slate.com
The Obama administration has been forced to admit that the nuclear deal to which Iran agreed last weekend in Geneva, Switzlerland has not actually been finalized. In the interim, Iran is continuing its enrichment of uranium, as well as continuing
“Black Friday” sales began early this year, with many retailers opening on Thanksgiving, and lines forming outside many others. Earlier sales meant earlier brawls, with a fight breaking out at a Rialto, California Wal-Mart at 6:45 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day,
A new poll released by Rasmussen on Wednesday indicates that Americans narrowly oppose the nuclear deal with Iran, 43% to 41%–a result within the 3% margin of error. That result contrasts sharply with the results of a poll released by Reuters/Ipsos
President Barack Obama and outgoing New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg have both tried to nudge their way into America’s Thanksgiving (or Thanksgivukkah) dinners, with talking points about Obamacare and gun control, respectively. Not only is introducing contentious political issues into
Illinois lawmakers in the Democrat-dominated state legislature have adopted a pension reform plan based on Republican ideas, after years of dithering and delay. According to the Chicago Tribune, the deal will raise the retirement age for state employees, trim cost-of-living
The Obama administration has entered secret talks with the Hezbollah terrorist group, mediated by Great Britain, according to a report in the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai, as relayed by the Jerusalem Post Wednesday. The State Department lists Hezbollah as a terrorist
That’s the question Micah Zenko poses at Foreign Policy. It’s partly a rhetorical question meant to highlight a perceived double standard in how Israel’s nuclear program is treated differently from Iran’s–a double standard that isn’t really one at all, since
At Foreign Affairs, Kenneth Pollack makes the best case possible for the Iran nuclear deal: while imperfect, it is merely an interim deal that will establish trust as a basis for a more comprehensive deal going forward. If that is
An interesting new theory is gaining traction about President Barack Obama’s motives in the Iran nuclear deal, which not only allows Iran to retain nuclear enrichment but also effectively legitimizes the regime and boosts it as a regional power. On
Ben Rhodes, the Deputy National Security Advisor to President Barack Obama, advised Israel in a televised interview not to attack Iran. While acknowledging Israel’s independent right to self-defense, Rhodes–who rose inexplicably from speechwriter to the highest levels of foreign and
Last week, the Times of Israel reported that senior presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett had been leading talks with Iran in secret for a year before the formal negotiations in Geneva this month. While the White House denied the report “100
In the wake of the deal reached in Geneva on Sunday on Iran’s nuclear program, much of the media’s initial excitement has given way to glum recognition that the agreement is little more than appeasement, inviting comparisons to the infamous
A video has surfaced from the presidential campaign trail in May 2008 that shows Michelle Obama talking about the sacrifices that Americans would have to make in order to achieve her husband’s health care goals. The future First Lady was
On Tuesday, National Public Radio (NPR) provided some of the worst reporting on climate change in recent memory in stories by Richard Harris, Steve Inskeep, Julie McCarthy, and Anthony Kuhn. Faced with the slow progress of international climate negotiations as
Nuclear weapons provide such a great strategic advantage, even if never used, that nations that come close to developing them can almost never be persuaded to back down. Whether enemy or ally, most nations on the threshold of becoming a
“The prime minister made it clear to the most powerful man on earth that if he intends to stay the most powerful man on earth, it’s important to make a change in American policy because the practical result of his
Relatives of U.S. citizens applying to immigrate to the United States legally are suffering unprecedented, year-long delays in waiting for their applications to be processed, as President Barack Obama smooths the path for illegal immigrants. In a response to complaints,
President Barack Obama is attempting yet another pivot away from Obamacare, delivering a speech about the need for immigration reform. Some critics have noted that Obama is diverting his energies to immigration–and to fundraising–on the eve of a crucial deadline
CBS News’ Los Angeles affiliate reported Sunday that the idyllic, celebrity-studded community of Pacific Palisades has been hit by a hate crime: eight local cars tagged with swastika graffiti. In a bizarre twist, all of the cars were “Prii (the plural
The Obama administration has strained the U.S. relationship with Israel more than any other. The nuclear deal with Iran is the latest example. Yet Israel might arguably be said to be doing its own part to worsen the relationship, with
The National Security Agency’s director, Gen. Keith Alexander, had offered to resign earlier this year, following the series of leaks by former contractor Edward Snowden, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday. The Obama administration declined Alexander’s offer, according to the
Paul Krugman is the latest lefty to push the line that California’s version of Obamacare, Covered California, is working so well that it redeems the rest of the program. This is a repeated refrain among Democrats because it was always
Harvard professor and noted civil rights and international law expert Alan Dershowitz criticized the nuclear deal with Iran sharply on Sunday, saying that it “could become a Chamberlain moment” for President Barack Obama. “I don’t think that this deal was
The persistent theme of much mainstream media coverage of President Barack Obama is the earnest effort to justify the leap of faith the American electorate made in 2008–a leap that the media themselves convinced the voters to make. Buzzfeed’s Ben
