In an interview on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition on Monday, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, declined to say whether a U.S. strike on Syria would be legal without the approval of the UN. She was asked
It’s odd how President Barack Obama appears to be enlisting (or at least enjoying) the help of pro-Israel organizations to push for congressional approval for an attack on Syria, but his own group, Organizing for Action, doesn’t seem to be
It’s finally that time of year again. I’ve been ready for some football since February. Even with the thrill of the Chicago Blackhawks’ victory in the Stanley Cup, there’s nothing quite as engaging as a weekend-plus of football. I’m no
The Syria crisis has provoked–or revealed–a new division on the left, between those activists and organizations willing to defend their principles despite the Obama administration’s reversals, and those on the “Obama left” determined to back the leader at all costs.
One of the luxuries of being a new administration appointee is being able to duck blame, politely or otherwise, for the mistakes of your predecessor. On Syria, new UN Ambassador Samantha Power does not have that luxury. Yet she continues
Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence Page is one of President Barack Obama’s more reliable defenders–or, more accurately, a reliable critic of Obama’s critics. Yet Page asks a key question in his column Sunday: “Would a younger Obama vote for his new
A visit back to Illinois this week offered a chance to survey the state’s politics (both through friends and the Chicago press), as well as the still-dismal condition of the state’s finances. One of the GOP hopefuls, Bruce Rauner, made
As pro-Israel organizations begin to weigh in strongly in favor of President Barack Obama’s proposed attack on Syria, it is worth remembering that the most influential, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), once believed (wrongly, in my view) that
As the vote to authorize a U.S. attack on Syria nears this week, President Barack Obama is preparing to grant six interviews on Monday, and to address the nation on Tuesday. But the opposition is growing in strength and has
Ed Lasky makes a great point at the American Thinker today: the Obama administration is drafting pro-Israel groups to help sell his Syria policy to Congress (including, alarmingly, the Republican Jewish Coalition). But where are the Arab-American and Muslim groups,
The Republican Jewish Coalition has thrown its weight behind efforts to pass congressional authorization for President Barack Obama’s plans for a military strike against Syria over its use of chemical weapons. The RJC believes in good faith that a U.S.
Testifying on Tuesday afternoon at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about evidence regarding Syria’s use of chemical weapons, Secretary of State John Kerry urged his former colleagues to “Just think about it. In logical terms. Common sense.” Those are terms
Barack Hussein Obama rose to power by attacking–in a somewhat apocryphal 2002 speech–what he called George Walker Bush’s “dumb war” in Iraq. Let us compare Obama’s approach to Syria with Bush’s in Iraq. 1.Bush in Iraq: Attacked an evil regime
California governor Jerry Brown is receiving a fair bit of good press lately, including a fanciful profile in the latest issue of Rolling Stone in which author Tim Dickinson credits Brown with a “miracle” turnaround. It’s typical leftist agitprop: no assessment
Nothing Congress will do next week will make the Syria crisis any worse than it already is for Israel. President Obama’s “red line” on chemical weapons was likely crossed long ago, with no response. Likewise, Obama’s demand that Assad leave
Thanks to the lingering sluggish economy, and the looming implementation of Obamacare–in other words, thanks to President Barack Obama–the U.S. workforce (such as it is) is rapidly shifting towards part-time rather than full-time work. Reuters, no less, noted recently that
The White House is attempting to win congressional support for President Barack Obama’s proposed military strike against Syria by telling members of the House and Senate that such action would be for the benefit and safety of Israel. It’s a
August was largely a disappointment for both the pro- and anti-immigration reform rallies that were meant to rally public opinion on both sides of the issue. But the Arizona Republic, like many mainstream media outlets, falsely scores the outcome in
In a post today at his Washington Post blog, Ezra Klein attempts to defend Enroll America’s targeting of ten states–nine of which have GOP governors–as something other than a political ploy to use Obamacare exchanges to build Democratic political organizations
President Barack Obama has no foreign policy or military strategy on Syria. So he has reverted to a successful domestic policy strategy: blame Congress. His last-minute decision to seek Congressional approval is a win-win politically: if the vote fails, he
I’m officially on vacation, but keeping an eye on U.S. reaction to events in Syria, which call to mind Marx’s observation that history repeats itself “the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.” It is impossible to take
At the age of 80, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is hanging on, despite liberal worries that she is missing the opportunity to be replaced by President Barack Obama. She is quite happy to be part of what she
The Obama administration has reacted to Syria’s announcement that it would accept a UN investigation of alleged chemical weapons attacks by rejecting the inspections, saying that they are too little, too late. It is a striking gesture of defiance from
Former UN Ambassador (now National Security Advisor) Susan Rice was notorious for missing key debates and votes. Now her successor, Samantha Power, is following the same path, missing an urgent UN Security Council meeting on Syria because of a “personal
Back when the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin story first exploded onto the national scene, with false accounts of a “white” shooter and edited 911 calls, we at Breitbart News made an editorial decision not to become involved in the racial tit-for-tat
The week’s results are in–and Mark Levin’s The Liberty Amendments is #1 on the New York Times bestseller list in both the hardcover and combined hardcover and e-book categories. Not bad for a “radical” idea! If you are still thinking about buying this
Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew called on Congress Thursday to “raise the debt ceiling as soon as members get back to Washington after summer recess.” Lew delivered a strident, partisan speech, repeating familiar arguments from the 2012 presidential campaign.
The alleged use of deadly chemical weapons by the Syrian regime against civilians and opponents on the anniversary of President Barack Obama’s “red line” statement might have marked the collapse of Obama’s foreign policy–if such policy actually existed. In fact,
As Congress returns from recess next month following August’s town hall battles over immigration, it will take up the ever-controversial issue of the debt ceiling, plus tax reform. Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew will be at the center of the
Al Jazeera America’s slogan is: “There’s more to it.” The Qatari government-owned channel clearly wants viewers to look past its sensational coverage of anti-American terrorists, its ongoing use as a mouthpiece for Jew-hatred, and its growing alienation from Arab journalists
Suddenly, some of the “neoconservatives” who support the cause of democracy in Egypt and the Middle East generally are suggesting that it might be better for the U.S. to support the Egyptian military, though it came to power through a
Update: Folkenflik has responded on Twitter that his interview about Knell’s departure on Monday’s edition of All Things Considered (versus his story on Tuesday’s edition of Morning Edition) did mention the O’Keefe sting (though did not credit O’Keefe by name): Makes
Trust Peter Beinart to exploit the Egypt crisis to attack the American Jewish community and pro-Israel groups. Beinart writes at the Daily Beast that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and the American Jewish Committee (AJC) have “whitewashed last
Politico reports today that California Republicans are urging House Republicans to pass “comprehensive” immigration reform, for fear that the party “can’t win elections” in the state unless the legislation succeeds. That false message parrots the talking points being pushed by
The question of whether to continue military aid to Egypt despite the July coup and the killing of hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood demonstrators is morally fraught. Strategically, however, it is far less of a dilemma. At the moment, weakness or
Hundreds gathered in downtown San Diego on Sunday afternoon to call for the resignation of Mayor Bob Filner, who is beset by over a dozen accusers who claimed he sexually harassed them. Billed as “Freedom from Filner,” the rally featured
The crackdown of the Egyptian military against supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood is brutal and violates human rights norms. What is curious is that those expressing justified outrage over the actions taken by the Egyptian military are perfectly willing to
It is difficult to explain to Americans, particularly young Americans, what was wrong with the Clinton era, and why we ought not want to re-live it. The 1990s are sealed into our national memory as a time of great prosperity
The movement to boycott embattled San Diego Mayor Bob Filner, the city’s first Democratic mayor in two decades, has spread beyond the Hooters restaurant chain, which kicked off the effort in response to multiple allegations of sexual harassment against him.
There’s much talk about Chris Christie as the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 (yes, already). Christie is certainly gearing up for a run, and has begun by attacking potential GOP rivals. But while moderate Republicans like Christie