National Review articles from February 2009

National Review archives from February 2009

Someone HELP! this Child.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
February 9, 2009... I am so sad that HELP! is a casualty of your superb new format. My ten-year-old son adores HELP!, and it has been a springboard for our discussions of current events for several years. He read the table of contents for your last issue in...

Looking good.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
February 9, 2009... The first thing I noticed about your January 26 issue was the new design. It's very clean and airy. I like it very much. It's a nice platform for the great artwork you often run, but it doesn't detract from your editorial content. I also like...

Loyal Republicans.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
February 9, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In Conrad Black's review of H. W. Brands's book on Franklin D. Roosevelt ("The Old New Deal," December 15), Black states that in the Spanish Civil War "most Americans favored the Spanish Republicans, but most...

Lincoln.(The Week)
February 9, 2009... Lincoln, on the other hand, did not have Shakira.

There is so much patriotism on the left, anno Obama, that they might now own more flags than Che shirts.(The Week)(President Barack Obama)(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... There is so much patriotism on the left, anno Obama, that they might now own more flags than Che shirts. Patriotism should not be the sport of partisanship. Obama himself, a careful student of his own life, is mindful of the opportunities he...

Barack Obama wants Timothy Geithner to administer the Treasury.(The Week)(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... Barack Obama wants Timothy Geithner to administer the Treasury. That means, among other things, overseeing the IRS. Byron York's just-the-facts report for NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE summarizes why Geithner should be rejected: "What senators learned...

If Eric Holder were a Republican, his nomination to be attorney general, and even more so his confirmation, would be inconceivable.(The Week)(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... If Eric Holder were a Republican, his nomination to be attorney general, and even more so his confirmation, would be inconceivable. As Clinton's deputy attorney general, he was a central figure in the disgraceful pardon of Marc Rich, one of the...

The Obama campaign's anti-war critique of Bush security policy was doctrinaire.(The Week)(Barack Obama, George W. Bush)(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... The Obama campaign's anti-war critique of Bush security policy was doctrinaire. The Obama administration--due as much to good fortune as to pragmatism--is signaling more flexibility. Bush's successful troop surge in Iraq paved the way for the...

Left-wingers such as House Judiciary Committee chairman John Conyers demand a special commission to investigate Bush's "crimes.".(The Week)(George W. Bush)(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... Left-wingers such as House Judiciary Committee chairman John Conyers demand a special commission to investigate Bush's "crimes." Obama, however, now grasps that such circuses would dent his carefully crafted "unifier" image and have a chilling...

The next secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, told her fellow senators that she was all for "smart power.".(The Week)(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... The next secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, told her fellow senators that she was all for "smart power." Right, then-we thought there was something wrong when Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice embraced "stupid power." If smart power means the...

The media did not pay much attention to Joe Biden during the 2008 presidential campaign, in part because they were too busy with Sarah Palin: Did she censor books in her local public library?(The Week)(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... The media did not pay much attention to Joe Biden during the 2008 presidential campaign, in part because they were too busy with Sarah Palin: Did she censor books in her local public library? (No.) But Biden has a rich history, including of...

Some employees are simply irreplaceable.(Michelle Obama and her work and pay at The University of Chicago Medical Center)(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... Some employees are simply irreplaceable. Take Michelle Obama, for example. The University of Chicago Medical Center hired her in 2002 to run "programs for community relations, neighborhood outreach, volunteer recruitment, staff diversity, and...

NR argued that, while the Senate may have had the right to reject the appointment of Roland Burris to Barack Obama's vacated seat, it would be unwise to do so, the corruption of the process inhering in the appointer, Governor Blagojevich, not the appointee.(The Week)(Rod Blagojevich)(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... NR argued that, while the Senate may have had the right to reject the appointment of Roland Burris to Barack Obama's vacated seat, it would be unwise to do so, the corruption of the process inhering in the appointer, Governor Blagojevich, not...

Democratic Washington is consumed by the alleged need to pass a "stimulus bill" that would keep consumption strong in the short run.(The Week)(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... Democratic Washington is consumed by the alleged need to pass a "stimulus bill" that would keep consumption strong in the short run. When the federal government has attempted such fine-tuning of the economy before, it has most often failed....

The current financial disorder results in no small part from political monkeying with the credit markets.(The Week)(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... The current financial disorder results in no small part from political monkeying with the credit markets. Obama offers as an antidote more political monkeying with the credit markets. He intends to twist the arms of bankers who have accepted...

A number of erstwhile supporters of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program have expressed their dissatisfaction with the way the initial $350 billion has been spent.(The Week)(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... A number of erstwhile supporters of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program have expressed their dissatisfaction with the way the initial $350 billion has been spent. Count us among them. The bailout was hard to swallow in the weeks...

Robert Rubin, dean of the Goldman Sachs Democrats, is resigning from the board of Citigroup.(The Week)(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... Robert Rubin, dean of the Goldman Sachs Democrats, is resigning from the board of Citigroup. Rubin served President Clinton as Treasury secretary and is at the center of a group of influential Democrats who dominated economic policy during the...

On May 9, 2001, President Bush unveiled his first set of nominees to the federal appellate bench.(Barack Obama chooses nominees to the federal appellate bench)(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... On May 9, 2001, President Bush unveiled his first set of nominees to the federal appellate bench. Among them were Barrington Parker and Roger Gregory, both former Clinton appointees. These nominations were a rare gesture of bipartisanship in...

Barack Obama went to a dinner with conservative columnists at George Will's house.(The Week)(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... Barack Obama went to a dinner with conservative columnists at George Will's house. By all accounts charming and well-informed, Obama wanted to make a gesture toward the civil discourse he talks about so often. Good for him.

Democrat Charlie Rangel wants to bring back the draft.(The Week)(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... Democrat Charlie Rangel wants to bring back the draft. His chances of success are only slightly better than they were in 2004, when the House defeated his bill by a vote of 404-2. He is raising the issue in order to disseminate once again the...

A law passed in a panic over tainted toys from China now threatens to put thousands of small American vendors out of business.(The Week)(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... A law passed in a panic over tainted toys from China now threatens to put thousands of small American vendors out of business. The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act requires all toys and clothes sold to children in the U.S. to be tested...

Should a municipal utility district in Austin have to ask the U.S. attorney general before it moves a polling place across the street?(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... Should a municipal utility district in Austin have to ask the U.S. attorney general before it moves a polling place across the street? The Voting Rights Act has been interpreted to answer yes. Because Texas was found to engage in discriminatory...

The weather doesn't always cooperate with the plans of human beings, but thankfully, it has agreed to work with the U.S. political timetable.(The Week)(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... The weather doesn't always cooperate with the plans of human beings, but thankfully, it has agreed to work with the U.S. political timetable. Within a week of Barack Obama's inauguration, climatologist Jim Hansen announced that the U.S. had...

Events in Gaza have been explaining to the locals that messing with Israel is costly.(The Week)(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... Events in Gaza have been explaining to the locals that messing with Israel is costly. The lesson is painful, and may well become more painful if it is not properly learned. The surprise is that Israel waited so long to take action against the...

For decades now, Jimmy Carter has been a purveyor of PLO propaganda.(The Week)(Palestine Liberation Organization)(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... For decades now, Jimmy Carter has been a purveyor of PLO propaganda. Indeed, he has been a writer of that propaganda: He ghosted speeches for Arafat (as confirmed by the historian Douglas Brinkley, in an admiring book about Carter). But now...

My fellow ideologues.(on Barack Obama)
February 9, 2009... 'WHAT is required," proclaimed Barack Obama in his pre-inaugural address in Philadelphia, "is a new declaration of independence, not just in our nation, but in our own lives--from ideology and small thinking, prejudice and bigotry--an appeal...

People in Arab countries and even Iran have participated only on a very limited scale in demonstrations against Israeli action in Gaza.(The Week)(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... People in Arab countries and even Iran have participated only on a very limited scale in demonstrations against Israeli action in Gaza. Palestinians in Jordan and Israel, and on the West Bank, seem to recognize that Hamas is ruining their...

Russia exports huge quantities of natural gas through pipelines in Ukraine and then onward to many countries in Europe.(The Week)(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... Russia exports huge quantities of natural gas through pipelines in Ukraine and then onward to many countries in Europe. In the depth of a cold winter, the Kremlin decided to cut supplies. This brutal step has led to deaths, factory closures,...

The Chinese government has announced that March 28 will henceforth be celebrated as Serf Liberation Day in Tibet, commemorating the day in 1959 when China took full control of Tibet, sweeping away the evils of the old clerico-feudal order and bringing all the blessings of Communism and Mao Tsetung Thought to the long-suffering Tibetan peasantry.(The Week)(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... The Chinese government has announced that March 28 will henceforth be celebrated as Serf Liberation Day in Tibet, commemorating the day in 1959 when China took full control of Tibet, sweeping away the evils of the old clerico-feudal order and...

The Associated Press tells us: "A court in central China has sentenced a woman to death for hiring someone to strangle her 9-year-old son so she could have another child with her new husband without violating population laws.(The Week)(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... The Associated Press tells us: "A court in central China has sentenced a woman to death for hiring someone to strangle her 9-year-old son so she could have another child with her new husband without violating population laws.... Li initially...

In France, Pres. Nicolas Sarkozy proposed some school reforms.(The Week)(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... In France, Pres. Nicolas Sarkozy proposed some school reforms. This did not go down well with teachers, some of whom let their feelings be known when Sarkozy arrived in Saint-Lo for a speech. As the Associated Press put it, they "hurled shoes...

Recent reports indicate that 40 al-Qaeda members have died of the plague.(The Week)(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... Recent reports indicate that 40 al-Qaeda members have died of the plague. On one level, it's great news when Mother Nature does our job for us. On another, it is a sobering reminder--like the fact that Gitmo detainees' health tends to...

Hitler and Churchill were both competent painters, though both showed a marked aversion to the human form, preferring still lifes and landscapes.(The Week)(Adolf Hitler and Winston Churchill)(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... Hitler and Churchill were both competent painters, though both showed a marked aversion to the human form, preferring still lifes and landscapes. Here comes a new national leader eager to fill a canvas: Vladimir Putin, prime minister (and...

G. K. Chesterton thought Rudyard Kipling, for all his bellicosity, best understood the arts of peace: the work of the administrator and the engineer that keeps the world going, and that is often heroic because life and death depend on its successful execution.(The Week)(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... G. K. Chesterton thought Rudyard Kipling, for all his bellicosity, best understood the arts of peace: the work of the administrator and the engineer that keeps the world going, and that is often heroic because life and death depend on its...

Andrew Roberts, the British historian, was rung up by an "American lady" who wanted him to appear on her radio program.(The Week)(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... Andrew Roberts, the British historian, was rung up by an "American lady" who wanted him to appear on her radio program. (The term "American lady" is his.) She was setting up a debate: Was George W. Bush the worst president in American history,...

The movie Notorious, a life of the rapper known as the Notorious B.I.G., opened to some acclaim-also one shooting and four stabbings, at last count.(The Week)(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... The movie Notorious, a life of the rapper known as the Notorious B.I.G., opened to some acclaim-also one shooting and four stabbings, at last count. As the poet said, "You're nobody 'til somebody kills you."

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has opened a campaign against fishing-or, in animal-rights Newspeak, against "the hunting of sea kittens.".(The Week)(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has opened a campaign against fishing-or, in animal-rights Newspeak, against "the hunting of sea kittens." By rebranding our piscine pals "sea kittens," you see, the PETA people hope to make...

Jim Boulet Jr. was a hero of the culture wars: as executive director of English First for more than two decades, he defended our common language against the relentless assaults of multiculturalism.(The Week)(Obituary)
February 9, 2009... Jim Boulet Jr. was a hero of the culture wars: As executive director of English First for more than two decades, he defended our common language against the relentless assaults of multiculturalism. He battled bilingual education,...

It's always something stupid that people remember you for.(The Week)(Obituary)
February 9, 2009... It's always something stupid that people remember you for. Ricardo Montalban appeared in hundreds of movies and television shows in a career that began before Pearl Harbor, yet to members of the age cohort that is now running America, he is...

The new old thing.(POLITICS)(Brief article)
February 9, 2009... PRESIDENT OBAMA'S task in his inaugural address was to unify the country behind his leadership, so he did not give a partisan speech. He made several nods to post-partisanship, as when he pledged to get past "stale political arguments" and...

Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, R.I.P.(OBITUARY)(Obituary)
February 9, 2009... RICHARD JOHN NEUHAUS, who died on January 8, was the most influential Catholic and Christian theologian and writer in America during the second half of the 20th century. His influence can be compared to that of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, with one...

A Rhapsode and a question mark: the Obama inauguration, placed in history.(Barack Obama)
February 9, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] FUSSY rituals, ubiquitous kitsch, Aretha Franklin doing her thing, Rick Warren doing his thing, the weather (cold enough to be challenging, not inclement enough to be painful), but above all the crowds: Deduct what...

Federal roadblocks: a saner regulatory regime would help us update our transportation infrastructure.
February 9, 2009... AS part of his stimulus plan--which in total adds up to nearly $1 trillion--President Obama has proposed investing $85 billion in the nation's infrastructure. Many have asked: Why not spend more in this area? U.S. infrastructure is under severe...

Captain extraordinary: Ivan Castro of the U.S. Special Forces.(Biography)
February 9, 2009... Fort Bragg, N.C. CAPT. IVAN CASTRO will tell you he's an ordinary man, basically. You may wish to disagree. He is an officer in the U.S. Special Forces, and blind. He was blinded while fighting in Iraq about two and a half years ago. He...

A spiritual force: Fr. Richard John Neuhaus and the reinvigoration of religious conservatism.(Biography)
February 9, 2009... IF you type "the naked public square" into Google, 0.41 seconds later you get access to 252,000 entries. My guess is that this greatly underestimates the number of times that this phrase has been quoted and the number of people it has...

Twelve ideas for the middle class: a policy symposium.(Cover story)(Essay)
February 9, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] CONTEMPORARY conservatism has too often lost touch with the concrete concerns of middle-class America. For a long time, conservatism thrived politically on the domestic troika of welfare, crime, and income-tax rates....

Faith-based economics: Keynes makes a comeback, but his ideas are still wrong.(John Maynard Keynes)(Viewpoint essay)
February 9, 2009... A RECENT Wall Street Journal article describes "the new old big thing" in economic policy: "Around the world... policy makers are invoking the ideas of British economist John Maynard Keynes... who argued that governments should fight the...

Slow boat to China: a writer's retreat becomes a view of global recession.(Short story)
February 9, 2009... 'I'M sure they told you about the change in the schedule?" the chipper, bearded master of the Hanjin Miami asked me as the 90,000-ton container ship eased effortlessly away from its berth in the port of Seattle. "Change in schedule?" I...

Memorandum: April 20, 2009.(The Long View)
February 9, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] TO: All Huffington Post (paid) contributors FROM: Arianna RE: The Olbermann accident & a medical & mental-health benefits clarification Dear Team: I'm writing this to you on board Bob Pittman's G5,...

A tour of unreality.(The Persian Night: Iran under the Khomeinist Revolution)(Book review)
February 9, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Persian Night: Iran under the KBomeinist Revolution, by Amir Taheri (Encounter, 300 pp., $25.95) PRESENT-DAY Iran is a glaring example of the human propensity to do harm in the belief that one is doing good....

Into the abyss.(Poe: A Life Cut Short)(Book review)
February 9, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Poe: A Life Cut Short, by Peter Ackroyd (Nan A. Talese, 224 pp., $21.95) EMERSON and the New England Transcendentalists loftily professed to know nothing much about evil, that hoary idea from the childhood of the...

One of Those Moments.(Poem)
February 9, 2009... ONE OF THOSE MOMENTS Near sundown, on a day in early spring, A sudden radiance in a shadowed street. Soft, breathing trees--the airy spheres of foliage Take on a tender valedictory light. I look a long time as the dark...

Mother of her country.(Mistress of the Monarchy: The Life of Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster)(Book review)
February 9, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Mistress of the Monarchy: The Life Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster, by Alison Weir (Ballantine, 416 pp., $28) THE moist glow of overcome pilgrims is unmistakable. The residents of Lincoln, England, are...

Righteous rebel.(Samuel Adams: A Life, by Ira Stoll)(Book review)
February 9, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Samuel Adams: A Life, by Ira Stoll (Free Press, 352 pp., $28) WHEN, in April 1775, Paul Revere set off from Boston to Lexington, his main mission was not, as generations of schoolchildren once were taught, to...

Uprisings.(Film)(Valkyrie and Defiance)(Movie review)
February 9, 2009... STORY matters. By rights, this winter's anti-Nazi double feature, Valkyrie and Defiance--in which the Wehrmacht's officer class and Belarus's Jews, respectively, take up arms against Hitler's Germany--ought to be a two-engine train wreck. The...

Chance of a ghost.(The Straggler)(occult fiction)(Viewpoint essay)
February 9, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I WAS somewhat surprised recently to be told by a friend that she had had a "reading" done. I didn't grasp her meaning immediately. The Church of Scientology came first to mind. Don't they have some ritual...

Pennsylvania-Kentucky longrifles.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
February 23, 2009... I'd like, if I may, to correct some misperceptions about what I do and do not argue in my book American Rifle: A Biography--reviewed in the December 15 NR ("Politics in the Round") and subsequently the subject of a letter to the editor ("Loaded...

We liked limousine liberals better when they paid.(The Week)
February 23, 2009... We liked limousine liberals better when they paid for their own cars.

Former senator Tom Daschle, who withdrew his nomination to serve as secretary of health and human services, faced three problems.(The Week)(Brief article)
February 23, 2009... Former senator Tom Daschle, who withdrew his nomination to serve as secretary of health and human services, faced three problems. First, he violated the standards of the man who nominated him. President Hope and Change promised to chase...

Geithner, whose offenses were worse, should be dismissed.(The Week)(Timothy F. Geithner)(Brief article)
February 23, 2009... Geithner, whose offenses were worse, should be dismissed. He is an eminent example of our new two-tiered tax code--one law for us yokels, another, more generous system for politically connected friends of Barack Obama. Geithner failed to pay...

While campaigning for president, Barack Obama repeatedly pledged that lobbyists "won't find a job in my White House.".(The Week)(Brief article)
February 23, 2009... While campaigning for president, Barack Obama repeatedly pledged that lobbyists "won't find a job in my White House." With the election over, he soon learned that excluding people who are knowledgeable in their fields simply because they made...

President Obama took a swipe at Rush Limbaugh, telling Republicans whom he'd brought into the White House to discuss the stimulus bill that "you can't just listen" to him "and get things done.".(The Week)(Barack Obama)(Brief article)
February 23, 2009... President Obama took a swipe at Rush Limbaugh, telling Republicans whom he'd brought into the White House to discuss the stimulus bill that "you can't just listen" to him "and get things done." Obama thinks he is being clever, making a...

Michael Steele, the former lieutenant governor of Maryland, won the race to be chairman of the Republican National Committee.(The Week)(Brief article)
February 23, 2009... Michael Steele, the former lieutenant governor of Maryland, won the race to be chairman of the Republican National Committee. The optimistic way of looking at it is that there is a lot of upside potential: The party has far to go in its...

It's a story out of Shakespeare, with dialogue by Mamet.(The Week)(on Rod R. Blagojevich)(Brief article)
February 23, 2009... It's a story out of Shakespeare, with dialogue by Mamet. Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich came up through the same Chicago political machine as Barack Obama, but unfortunately lacked Obama's discretion--as well as his eloquence and talent for...

The ascent of Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand to the Senate seat sought, then not sought, by Caroline Kennedy, puts the baroque calculations of Albany on the national stage.(The Week)(Brief article)
February 23, 2009... The ascent of Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand to the Senate seat sought, then not sought, by Caroline Kennedy, puts the baroque calculations of Albany on the national stage. Gillibrand, a 42-year-old veteran of all of one House term, has an air of...

The second coming of Keynes.(The Week)(John Maynard Keynes)
February 23, 2009... As the world's economy has entered a dramatic slowdown, an interesting Keynesian revolution has taken shape. Up until recently, there was wide consensus among macroeconomists that activist fiscal policy was inadvisable. Princeton University's...

A lead sentence in a Washington Post article deserves to enter the annals of political-reporting history: "Just days after taking office vowing to end the political era of 'petty grievances,' President Obama ran into mounting GOP opposition yesterday to an economic stimulus plan that he had hoped would receive broad bipartisan support.".(The Week)(Brief article)
February 23, 2009... A lead sentence in a Washington Post article deserves to enter the annals of political-reporting history: "Just days after taking office vowing to end the political era of 'petty grievances,' President Obama ran into mounting GOP opposition...

An article from the Associated Press focused on a little-covered aspect of Obama's greatness: "Rick Bayless," a Chicago chef, "says Obama's comfortable demeanor at the table--slumped contentedly in his chair, clearly there to enjoy himself--bodes well for the nation's food policy.(The Week)(Barack Obama)(Brief article)
February 23, 2009... An article from the Associated Press focused on a little-covered aspect of Obama's greatness: "Rick Bayless," a Chicago chef, "says Obama's comfortable demeanor at the table--slumped contentedly in his chair, clearly there to enjoy...

Obama has changed one more thing: business casual is acceptable in the White House on weekends, and he takes his jacket off in the Oval Office when he cranks up the thermostat.(The Week)(Barack Obama)(Brief article)
February 23, 2009... Obama has changed one more thing: Business casual is acceptable in the White House on weekends, and he takes his jacket off in the Oval Office when he cranks up the thermostat. (Spokesman David Axelrod attributed Obama's appetite for heat to...

Al-Arabiya, the Arab satellite channel based in Dubai, obtained the first televised interview of the Obama administration.(Al-Arabiya Productions FZ L.L.C., Barack Obama)(Brief article)
February 23, 2009... Al-Arabiya, the Arab satellite channel based in Dubai, obtained the first televised interview of the Obama administration. The point no doubt was to emphasize that he himself has Muslim roots, and therefore is well placed to deal with the...

The stimulus package is a magic hat out of which Democrats pull rabbits to feed to their pet causes.(The Week)(Brief article)
February 23, 2009... The stimulus package is a magic hat out of which Democrats pull rabbits to feed to their pet causes. Nancy Pelosi, worried about the state of children's health, hit upon an ingenious solution: fewer children. To that end, she attempted to...

Democrats in Congress put provisions into the stimulus bill that would prohibit the procurement of foreign-made steel and iron for use in most of the bill's infrastructure projects.(The Week)(Brief article)
February 23, 2009... Democrats in Congress put provisions into the stimulus bill that would prohibit the procurement of foreign-made steel and iron for use in most of the bill's infrastructure projects. Such "Buy American" provisions are doubly damaging: They force...

President Obama has boldly followed through on his commitment to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay--sort of.(The Week)(Barack Obama)(Brief article)
February 23, 2009... President Obama has boldly followed through on his commitment to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay--sort of. His executive order promises that the facility will be closed within a year, a non-binding deadline he could extend simply by...

Obama also issued an executive order overturning the pro-life "Mexico City" policy that Republican presidents have followed over the last three decades.(Barack Obama)(Brief article)
February 23, 2009... Obama also issued an executive order overturning the pro-life "Mexico City" policy that Republican presidents have followed over the last three decades. Under that policy, groups that advocate or commit abortions could not receive money from...

If President Obama is sincere in his stated intention to reform entitlements, he needs Republican support.(The Week)(Barack Obama)(Brief article)
February 23, 2009... If President Obama is sincere in his stated intention to reform entitlements, he needs Republican support. As eager as many Democrats may be to raise taxes to pay for Social Security and Medicare, they are unlikely to want to take full...

While we'd like to believe that the Obama administration has caught a sudden case of acute federalism, we do not believe that explains the president's desire to allow California to enforce its own strict auto-emissions rules, which exceed federal standards.(The Week)(Barack Obama)(Brief article)
February 23, 2009... While we'd like to believe that the Obama administration has caught a sudden case of acute federalism, we do not believe that explains the president's desire to allow California to enforce its own strict auto-emissions rules, which exceed...

Richard Nadler has a bracing piece in this issue (see page 28) arguing that the restrictionist position on immigration is political disaster for Republicans.(The Week)(Brief article)
February 23, 2009... Richard Nadler has a bracing piece in this issue (see page 28) arguing that the restrictionist position on immigration is political disaster for Republicans. We think Nadler underestimates the effect of the general degradation of the Republican...

Iraqis voted in peaceful and orderly provincial elections, another sign that the improved security environment forged by the surge is sustainable.(The Week)(Brief article)
February 23, 2009... Iraqis voted in peaceful and orderly provincial elections, another sign that the improved security environment forged by the surge is sustainable. Prime Minister Maliki's Dawa party, running as the party of law and order, appears to have...

Ever since Obama's election, the State Department has been busy drafting a letter to Iran, or so the London Guardian confidently reports and everyone seems to believe.(The Week)(Brief article)
February 23, 2009... Ever since Obama's election, the State Department has been busy drafting a letter to Iran, or so the London Guardian confidently reports and everyone seems to believe. What's more, it's to be a sweetheart letter. It might be sent to Iran's...

Israel has derived several advantages from its recent campaign in Gaza.(The Week)(Brief article)
February 23, 2009... Israel has derived several advantages from its recent campaign in Gaza. At last, it put an end to the long-running and inexplicable failure to respond to the thousands of missiles that Hamas and its associates have enjoyed firing from Gaza into...

Last year Dutch conservative parliamentarian Geert Wilders made a short film titled Fitna, that being the Arabic word for "discord.".(The Week)(Brief article)
February 23, 2009... Last year Dutch conservative parliamentarian Geert Wilders made a short film titled Fitna, that being the Arabic word for "discord." In the film, Wilders explored themes of violence in Islam and the Koran. Muslims made a fuss, Wilders retorted...

On January 31, the Communist party in the Czech Republic--yes, it still exists--delivered a letter to Obama at the U.S. embassy in Prague.(The Week)(Brief article)
February 23, 2009... On January 31, the Communist party in the Czech Republic--yes, it still exists--delivered a letter to Obama at the U.S. embassy in Prague. It urged the new president to abandon the Bush administration's plans to build a small missile-defense...

It's time the West started looking to China for human-rights inspiration.(The Week)(Brief article)
February 23, 2009... It's time the West started looking to China for human-rights inspiration. Or so says Sir Jonathon Porritt, one of the U.K.'s leading environmental advisers. He suggests a two-child limit to combat global warming. Further, the problem isn't just...

Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre nicely illustrated the dead end of "traditionalist" opposition to Vatican II.(The Week)(Brief article)
February 23, 2009... Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre nicely illustrated the dead end of "traditionalist" opposition to Vatican II. In 1988, against Pope John Paul II's orders, he consecrated four priests as bishops. They were promptly excommunicated, sundering, in...