January 3, 2010 – 12:17 pm
As Ed’s piece (immediately below) on Nigel Lawson reflects, December saw the transformation of climate change discussion. By month’s end, dismissing so-called “deniers” was out. Honoring skepticism was in.
Why? Two events, of course: the outcome (more aptly non-outcome) of the Copenhagen summit and the release of the University of East Anglia emails.
Despite [...]
December 22, 2009 – 10:44 am
‘Tis the season for family, and what better way to celebrate family than to bear witness to the diverse expertise of one prominent British house?
So today we have former UK Chancellor Nigel Lawson on the Wall Street Journal op-ed page. Lord Lawson (indeed!) writes on the folly of Copenhagen – and carbon-control initiatives in general – [...]
December 14, 2009 – 3:24 pm
At last, we have been recognized.
For years, my wife and I have driven Volvos. We go to a liberal church, vacation in liberal places, once lived in San Francisco, and watch Showtime’s Californication. And yes, we shop at Whole Foods.
Something about our consumer profile prompts liberal activist groups and Democratic precinct captains to come knocking [...]
December 3, 2009 – 10:41 am
Tiger Woods screwed up and now, like flies on regurgitated honeydew, public relations experts are flocking to the media to explain how they would have helped him handle the situation much more effectively. (I’d link to some, but just Google “Tiger Woods PR fail” and you’ll get the gist.)
Most of the Monday morning quarterbacking centers [...]
December 2, 2009 – 2:51 am
Despite pronouncing the word “Taliban” as if he were a calypso singer, President Obama sounded and looked strong and confident in his Afghanistan-themed address last night.
The optics were right, as the president was joined by row upon row of sharply dressed officers-in-waiting. The pace of the speech was good – the president not getting too [...]
November 26, 2009 – 1:43 am
In October 1863, with his country mired in civil war, President Lincoln directed Americans to set aside the last Thursday in November as a day to give thanks for their “bounties.”
Turkey was not mentioned, nor was one pardoned. Wal-Mart Black Friday sales, including Vizio HDTVs for as little as $349, still lay in America’s magnificent future, [...]
November 15, 2009 – 12:10 pm
We don’t generally do up-to-the-minute news here, but I thought it worth following up on two points I raised yesterday regarding President Obama’s trip to Asia.
First, it appears that even with George Bush out of the way, international leaders are still having trouble reaching agreement on a climate change accord with teeth.
Consensus is forming now [...]
November 14, 2009 – 12:30 pm
Ten months into his own term as US president, Barack Obama continues to conjure the ghost of George W. Bush to help define himself in international circles.
Of course, it’s not really the ghost of George W. Bush. It’s the ghost of the caricature of George W. Bush.
Kicking off his Asian trip with remarks at Tokyo’s [...]
November 11, 2009 – 12:28 pm
It was impossible not to wonder what was going through the mind of former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev as he joined the throngs in Berlin this week to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Two Americans that have long been close to Gorbachev are Stephen Cohen, professor of Russian studies at [...]
November 11, 2009 – 11:39 am
The 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall has prompted a number of articles and reflections about President Reagan’s historic 1987 speech. Needless to say, Clark is the true expert on the issue — but I wanted to link Tony Dolan’s recent piece from the Wall Street Journal, reminiscing about the speechwriters’ full [...]
November 6, 2009 – 11:15 am
John Mashek, who has died at age 77, set himself apart from the journalistic pack by taking a deep and deliberative approach to the White House beat at U.S. News & World Report. I first encountered him as a student at the University of Texas at Austin, where John gave talks that, with dry humor, [...]
November 5, 2009 – 10:03 am
The latest in the General Motors saga appears to be a case of either embarrassingly bungled communications or wretched diplomacy by the Obama Administration.
In brief: GM had announced plans to sell Opel, the German car manufacturer. The German government spent months brokering a deal with a Canadian-Russian venture to buy Opel and preserve jobs in [...]
November 4, 2009 – 5:51 pm
Ruth Marcus of The Washington Post argues that the New Jersey and Virginia elections predict nothing for President Obama and the Democratic Congress.
Her case is superficially convincing. She does a good job of showing how these two races, historically, have not been good predictors of how the next election will turn out. Two things about this [...]
November 4, 2009 – 12:23 pm
Time for President Obama to move the smiley face upside down after the only two governorships up for grabs yesterday – both currently held by Democrats – went over to the dark side.
Chris Christie, proving that only Republicans named Christie can win in New Jersey, knocked off both incumbent governor Jon Corzine and an independent [...]
November 1, 2009 – 11:33 am
Funny people, people who appreciate funny people, people who wonder how funny people got so funny — check out my colleague Jeff Nussbaum’s review of “And Here’s the Kicker” in today’s Washington Post.
A preview:
“When Al Gore was vice president and saw on his schedule that he would have to speak at an event that [...]
