National Review articles from March 2009

National Review archives from March 2009

Living inspiration.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
March 9, 2009... Thank you for Jay Nordlinger's article on Capt. Ivan Castro ("Captain Extraordinary," February 9). Captain Castro is a tremendously inspiring man. I had the honor of meeting him while running the Air Force Marathon in Dayton last September, and...

Very superstitious.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
March 9, 2009... When I read John Derbyshire's piece indicating that "interest in the occult has faded" ("Chance of a Ghost," February 9), I wondered whether he is in touch with current entertainment trends. A quick scan of the TV listings reveals shows such...

One thousand pages of stimulus legislation.(The Week)
March 9, 2009... One thousand pages of stimulus legislation, a few hours to read it: It's change you'll just have to take his word for.

The Democrats have made a number of personnel blunders, Republicans have mostly held together against the stimulus, and the public shows little confidence that the stimulus will save the economy.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... The Democrats have made a number of personnel blunders, Republicans have mostly held together against the stimulus, and the public shows little confidence that the stimulus will save the economy. Republicans are taking comfort from these...

We at National Review believed that the Senate should seat Roland Burris, Barack Obama's successor, despite the corruption of Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, the man who appointed him, on the grounds that Burris himself was untainted by sleaze.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... We at NATIONAL REVIEW believed that the Senate should seat Roland Burris, Barack Obama's successor, despite the corruption of Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, the man who appointed him, on the grounds that Burris himself was untainted by...

Everything about Sen. Judd Gregg's recent turn in the spotlight was odd.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... Everything about Sen. Judd Gregg's recent turn in the spotlight was odd. It was odd that the conservative New Hampshire Republican--a tax cutter, spending cutter, and stimulus skeptic--would accept President Obama's offer to serve in the...

Politicians like to say the only poll that matters is the one taken on Election Day.(public opinion polls and political canvassing)(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... Politicians like to say the only poll that matters is the one taken on Election Day. If what are thought to be Obama's desires are met, the Census Bureau will "sample" Americans rather than count them in 2010. This is nothing but a glorified...

David Lloyd George once dismissed an irresolute rival thus: "Like a cushion, he always bore the impress of the last man who sat on him.".(Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's political stands)(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... David Lloyd George once dismissed an irresolute rival thus: "Like a cushion, he always bore the impress of the last man who sat on him." Kirsten Gillibrand of New York has not yet even warmed the cushion of her Senate seat but already is...

As predicted, General Motors and Chrysler need more money.(restructuring plans)(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... As predicted, General Motors and Chrysler need more money. GM says it needs $12 billion in addition to the $18 billion it has already asked for, and Chrysler wants another $2 billion on top of its $7 billion request. GM announced that it plans...

The U.S. government created this country's ethanol industry.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The U.S. government created this country's ethanol industry. First it subsidized it. Then it protected it with tariffs. Finally, after these measures failed to spark a demand for ethanol, the government mandated its...

The Democrats have enacted a major expansion of the federal-state health-insurance program for children, S-CHIP.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... The Democrats have enacted a major expansion of the federal-state health-insurance program for children, S-CHIP. While we know that the expansion is expensive, we have no evidence that it improves children's health. In part the absence of...

In a closely watched case in California's Ninth Circuit federal appeals court, the Obama Justice Department reaffirmed the Bush administration's assertion of the state-secrets privilege in order to block a civil lawsuit brought on behalf of five men who claim they were kidnapped by the CIA and dispatched to countries that tortured them.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... In a closely watched case in California's Ninth Circuit federal appeals court, the Obama Justice Department reaffirmed the Bush administration's assertion of the state-secrets privilege in order to block a civil lawsuit brought on behalf of...

The future of military-commission prosecutions for terrorist war crimes remains in doubt.(Barack Obama's domestic policy )
March 9, 2009... The future of military-commission prosecutions for terrorist war crimes remains in doubt. Despite his rash campaign rhetoric, President Obama has been cautious on the national-security front, maintaining most Bush policies and conceding that...

After steering the nomination of Holder through his Judiciary Committee by giving short shrift to Holder's prior stewardship of the blatantly politicized Clinton Justice Department, Sen. Patrick Leahy promptly called for a "truth and reconciliation commission" to investigate the politicization of Bush's DOJ.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... After steering the nomination of Holder through his Judiciary Committee by giving short shrift to Holder's prior stewardship of the blatantly politicized Clinton Justice Department, Sen. Patrick Leahy promptly called for a "truth and...

Bill Clinton, it must be owned, has a way with words.(Fairness Doctrine)(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... Bill Clinton, it must be owned, has a way with words. He famously couldn't determine what the meaning of the word is is, and now he defines the word fairness as a synonym for censorship. The former president is lending his voice to the choir of...

In 1985 Congress made it unlawful to use lead pigments in the inks, dyes, and paints in children's books, though there was no evidence that any child had ever been harmed thereby.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... In 1985 Congress made it unlawful to use lead pigments in the inks, dyes, and paints in children's books, though there was no evidence that any child had ever been harmed thereby. Last summer, following the panic over lead paint on toys from...

Smile.(The Week)(cheering up despite economic crisis)(Essay)
March 9, 2009... NO sane person enjoys a global recession, particularly one that flirts with being a depression. But in the spirit of the man who asked Mrs. Lincoln, "How was the theater, beyond the obvious unpleasantness?" I join with Eric Idle of Monty...

As we go to press, jurors in Arizona are considering a complaint against Roger Barnett, an Arizona rancher.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... As we go to press, jurors in Arizona are considering a complaint against Roger Barnett, an Arizona rancher. Sixteen Mexicans seek $32 million in damages from Barnett, whose ranch was under siege from illegals who cut through his fences,...

President Obama, hailed as a verbal master, uses "enormity" a lot.(The Week)(Barack Obama's use of the word "enormity")(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... President Obama, hailed as a verbal master, uses "enormity" a lot. And he uses it incorrectly. He thinks it means something very, very big, instead of something very, very bad. (Some modern dictionaries nod to the incorrect usage, out of...

Abdul Qadeer Khan is a real-life Dr. Strangelove whose career casts a menacing shadow over the future.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... Abdul Qadeer Khan is a real-life Dr. Strangelove whose career casts a menacing shadow over the future. Thanks to him, his native country of Pakistan has the nuclear bomb. To his countrymen, he is the hero who allows them to wipe India out even...

Geert Wilders, Dutch politician, was invited to Britain to screen Fitna, his film blaming jihadist violence on the Koran.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... Geert Wilders, Dutch politician, was invited to Britain to screen Fitna, his film blaming jihadist violence on the Koran. But the government refused him a visa, held him when he tried to land at Heathrow, and sent him home. The Home Office...

The trouble with the Israeli election is that Tzipi Livni of the center-left Kadima party and Bibi Netanyahu of center-right Likud won it more or less equally.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... The trouble with the Israeli election is that Tzipi Livni of the center-left Kadima party and Bibi Netanyahu of center-right Likud won it more or less equally. Neither of them has anything like the numbers necessary for government, so the end...

The world makes too little of the oppression of Palestinians--by other Palestinians.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... The world makes too little of the oppression of Palestinians--by other Palestinians. So Amnesty International is to be applauded for its recent report on Gaza. The nub of it is, "Hamas forces and militias in the Gaza Strip have engaged in a...

The tactic of accusing Israel of war crimes whenever it takes steps to defend itself should by now have been worked too often to be effective any longer.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... The tactic of accusing Israel of war crimes whenever it takes steps to defend itself should by now have been worked too often to be effective any longer. But no: The recent campaign in Gaza produced a memorable specimen of the false accusation...

The depravity of Islamofascism, the depravity of the jihad, knows no bounds.(The Week)(Samira Jassim)(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... The depravity of Islamofascism, the depravity of the jihad, knows no bounds. The latest illustration of this comes from Iraq, where lives a woman named Samira Jassim. She is known as "Um al-Mumenin," or the "Mother of the Believers." She...

Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez won a referendum, giving him the possibility of remaining in power forever.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez won a referendum, giving him the possibility of remaining in power forever. The voters abolished term limits. Chavez jubilantly declared that he would speed up "the construction of true socialism." (Would that...

Charles de Gaulle regarded NATO with deep suspicion as a conspiracy by les Anglo-Saxons to dominate Europe.(The Week)(North Atlantic Treaty Organization)(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... Charles de Gaulle regarded NATO with deep suspicion as a conspiracy by les Anglo-Saxons to dominate Europe. In 1966 he removed French troops from NATO command and expelled non-French troops from France. Well, times have changed. Current French...

Prince Harry's sins against multicultural orthodoxy just go on multiplying.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... Prince Harry's sins against multicultural orthodoxy just go on multiplying. The 24-year-old second son of the heir to the British throne is currently a lieutenant in the British army, having graduated from Sandhurst Military Academy in 2006. He...

Fire has been a recurring part of Australia's natural history for millions of years.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... Fire has been a recurring part of Australia's natural history for millions of years. The Aborigines understood this and pre-emptively burned off vegetation around villages to protect themselves. White settlers learned to take similar...

An important blow for public health was struck on February 12 when a special federal court ruled there was no evidence of a link between the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism in children.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... An important blow for public health was struck on February 12 when a special federal court ruled there was no evidence of a link between the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism in children. A few days before the decision was...

Here is an abortion story: in the Miami area, a woman named Sycloria Williams went to get an abortion.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... Here is an abortion story: In the Miami area, a woman named Sycloria Williams went to get an abortion. She was 23 weeks pregnant, and she paid $1,200. As she sat in the chair, waiting for her abortion, an accident happened: She gave birth to a...

Muzzammil Hassan is a businessman in the Buffalo area.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... Muzzammil Hassan is a businessman in the Buffalo area. He founded a TV network designed in part to portray Muslims in a positive light. Recently his wife, Aasiya Zubair Hassan, filed for divorce from him. She is no longer: Her husband beheaded...

The bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln should not obscure that of Charles Darwin.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... The bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln should not obscure that of Charles Darwin. The English naturalist offered to explain the origin, multiplicity, and development of species, but his work was immediately put to other uses. Evolution appeared to...

National Review readers, along with our writers and editors, all (we are pretty sure) belong to the species Homo sapiens.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... NATIONAL REVIEW readers, along with our writers and editors, all (we are pretty sure) belong to the species Homo sapiens. A very closely related species, with whom our remote ancestors shared territory for many thousands of years, was Homo...

The saga of Nadya Suleman, better--much better--known as Octomom, continues to enthrall and appall.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... The saga of Nadya Suleman, better--much better--known as Octomom, continues to enthrall and appall. Motherhood remains a good thing, even in a culture of abortion and broken homes, and the primitive awe that attended multiple births--Rome was...

The old-fashioned virtues are still alive in Omaha, Neb., where a man named Anthony Burres accidentally dropped his wallet and then sped off on his motorcycle as $100 bills began flying away in the breeze.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... The old-fashioned virtues are still alive in Omaha, Neb., where a man named Anthony Burres accidentally dropped his wallet and then sped off on his motorcycle as $100 bills began flying away in the breeze. A bystander took off to chase down...

This magazine has often expressed ambivalence about the government's war on drugs, but private-sector prohibition is another issue.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... This magazine has often expressed ambivalence about the government's war on drugs, but private-sector prohibition is another issue. Major League Baseball--a business highly dependent on public goodwill that prizes continuity with the past--is...

The recession economy is playing havoc with some of our received wisdom.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... The recession economy is playing havoc with some of our received wisdom. The maxim "Quit before they fire you," for example, is out of favor when jobs are hard to find. So believes 35-year-old Ravone Jones of Madison, Wis. Obviously...

Ready to snap fingers?(The Week)(Man jailed for whistling )(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... Ready to snap fingers? Two, three: "They're creepy and they're kooky / Mysterious and spooky / They're altogether together ooky / The Addams Family." Pleasant to recall an old TVfavorite; but that theme song brought a 20-week jail sentence down...

Stimulus for Liberals.(THE ECONOMY)(Democratic Party)
March 9, 2009... PERHAPS the central liberal criticism of George W. Bush is that he used a national crisis as an opportunity to pursue partisan aims. Liberals do not seem to see that, to an outsider, this is exactly what the stimulus bill looks like: an attempt...

Bank job.(THE ECONOMY II)(Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner)
March 9, 2009... TREASURY SECRETARY TIMOTHY GEITHNER announced his plan to save the banking system--or, rather, announced that he has a plan. Geithner hinted at new financial commitments on the order of $2 trillion, but he declined to describe his plan in any...

Away from the gated community: Republicans should not build a strategy around courting 'upscale' voters.(Essay)
March 9, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] DEMOGRAPHY is destiny in politics, or so we have heard. In 2004, the growth of the exurbs was said to be generating a permanent Republican majority. Now the strong support for the Democrats by young people,...

Lawyer's lawyer, radical's radical: meet Obama DOJ nominee Dawn Johnsen.(Barack Obama)
March 9, 2009... PREGNANCY provokes a welter of feelings, physical and emotional. But does anyone really think of pregnancy as slavery? Apparently so: Indiana University law professor Dawn Johnsen, Pres. Barack Obama's nominee to head the Justice Department's...

Lo, a smart grid! The Left's energy miracle turns out not to be that.(president Barack Obama's policy on renewable energy)
March 9, 2009... 'WE will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together," President Obama promised in his inaugural address. "We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and...

Why we hate us: the business of making movies drives Hollywood nuts.(Viewpoint essay)
March 9, 2009... YOU think you know Hollywood? Sure, you've seen your share of movies. You read Vanity Fair and Entertainment Weekly and sneak a peak at Showbiz Tonight from time to time to catch the latest on Lindsay Lohan's sexual orientation. You probably...

The tacky index: Hollywood writer + Los Angeles address + Filet-O-Fish = Danger!(creditworthiness of credit cardholders)(Essay)
March 9, 2009... EVERY decent American, when he or she is standing at a cash register, having just handed over the Visa card to pay for the pile of groceries or whatever, says the same silent prayer: Please let the card go through. Or we open the...

Governor girly-man: Arnold Schwarzenegger caves to the Democrats as his state drowns in red.(Cover story)
March 9, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] CALIFORNIA conservatives greeted Arnold Schwarzenegger's ascension to the governor's office in the famous "total recall" election of 2003 with wary optimism. If anyone could make "post-partisanship" work in...

Magical mystery tour: David Cameron and the need for nastiness.
March 9, 2009... IN a New York Times column on the forthcoming struggle for the shrunken soul of the GOP between "reformers" and "traditionalists," David Brooks threw out the line that reformers "tend to be intrigued by the way David Cameron has modernized the...

The Democrats' Senate scrapper: Harry Reid in the new Washington.
March 9, 2009... ON the recent Inauguration Day, Washington became solidly Democratic. And there are three kings in this new Washington. The kingiest of all, of course, is President Obama. Then there is the famous, notorious Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House....

Losing Gordon Gekko: Wall Street has gone over to the Democrats. Should conservatives miss it?(Essay)
March 9, 2009... IN the sweating-bullets world of venture capital, start-ups live or die by The Pitch--the one-shot better-get-this-right opportunity an entrepreneur has to sell his idea to the people who have the money to make it happen. Barack Obama, the most...

Excerpts from the unread parts of the American recovery and reinvestment act.(The Long View)(Excerpt)
March 9, 2009... FROM PAGE 237: ... for an additional amount for "Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations," $290,000,000, of which $145,000,000 is for necessary expenses to purchase and restore floodplain easements as authorized by section 403 of the...

Such a catholic.(Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor)(Book review)
March 9, 2009... IN 1972 Flannery O'Connor was posthumously honored with the National Book Award for her Complete Stories. As her publisher, Robert Giroux, was readying himself to receive this highest of American literary prizes, he was caught short when an...

Watts up.(Terrestrial Energy: How Nuclear Power Will Lead the Green Revolution and End America's Energy Odyssey)(Book review)
March 9, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Terrestrial Energy: How Nuclear Power Will Lead the Green Revolution and End America's Energy Odyssey, by William Tucker (Bartleby, 420 pp., $27.50) FITTINGLY for a book about nuclear energy, William Tucker's...

A Wolfe Tome.(The Future of Liberalism)(Book review)
March 9, 2009... The Future of Liberalism, by Alan Wolfe (Knopf, 352 pp., $25.95) ALAN WOLFE of Boston College is a prolific and generally well-regarded author. In the last five years he's published four books on contemporary politics and public policy: The...

Fairy tale and nightmare.(Coraline)(Movie review)
March 9, 2009... I DON'T know how young I was when my well-meaning parents took me to see Darby O'Gill and the Little People, one of the Walt Disney Company's live-action efforts from the Eisenhower era, which was being screened for some sort of kids'movie day...

Starry Night.(Poem)
March 9, 2009... Starry Night At the High Museum of Art, Atlanta On Loan from MoMA 29 September 2000 He fought the demons with a tube of paint, With knife and brush to...

Down in the dumps.(The Straggler)
March 9, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] CONSERVATIVES, it says here, are happier than liberals. I am looking at this much-discussed study from New York University on "The Palliative Function of Conservative Ideology." So far as I can make out--and you...

At these costs.(Letters)
March 23, 2009... Richard Nadler's piece "At What Cost?" (February 23) states that "attempts to remove illegals have diminished the conservative movement." The piece reflects the false choice often presented to Republicans: Support amnesty or offend Hispanic...

An overreaching plan for government-run health care, big ideas from Newt Gingrich, Clinton and Netanyahu preparing to face off in the Middle East.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 23, 2009... An overreaching plan for government-run health care, big ideas from Newt Gingrich, Clinton and Netanyahu preparing to face off in the Middle East, the Dow at 6,700... anybody heard from Monica Lewinsky lately?

President Obama announced his plan to withdraw from Iraq. It's noticeably more reasonable than his rhetoric from the campaign, when he at times seemed to be saying he would pull out entirely in 16 months.(The Week)(Barack Obama )(Brief article)
March 23, 2009... President Obama announced his plan to withdraw from Iraq. It's noticeably more reasonable than his rhetoric from the campaign, when he at times seemed to be saying he would pull out entirely in 16 months. He now wants to go from the current...

President Obama brushed aside concerns about the stockmarket crash that accompanied his first month in office, comparing its "fits and starts" to the fickle swings one sees in political tracking polls during campaigns.(The Week)(Barack Obama)(Brief article)
March 23, 2009... President Obama brushed aside concerns about the stockmarket crash that accompanied his first month in office, comparing its "fits and starts" to the fickle swings one sees in political tracking polls during campaigns. He missed a subtle...

In response to a housing meltdown caused in part by 1) loose lending standards, 2) shenanigans at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and 3) perverse financial incentives, President Obama proposes.(The Week)(Barack Obama)(Brief article)
March 23, 2009... In response to a housing meltdown caused in part by 1) loose lending standards, 2) shenanigans at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and 3) perverse financial incentives, President Obama proposes to: 1) loosen lending standards, enabling homeowners to...

Several Republican governors have signaled that they will reject some stimulus money on the grounds that it would saddle them with new permanent entitlements to fund.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 23, 2009... Several Republican governors have signaled that they will reject some stimulus money on the grounds that it would saddle them with new permanent entitlements to fund. (One Democratic governor is reportedly weighing the idea.) The stimulus bill...

Rush Limbaugh delivered a stemwinder at the Conservative Political Action Committee's annual conference.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 23, 2009... Rush Limbaugh delivered a stemwinder at the Conservative Political Action Committee's annual conference. (Because Fox News broadcast it, he joked that it was his first address to the nation.) No one who listened to it can doubt his heartfelt...

Bobby Jindal got poor reviews for his response to Obama's address to Congress.(The Week)(Barack Obama)(Brief article)
March 23, 2009... Bobby Jindal got poor reviews for his response to Obama's address to Congress. Some of the critics suggested that Jindal's national aspirations had been badly damaged. We think that Jindal was quite strong in challenging Washington's runaway...

Something pleasant is afoot in Connecticut--just possibly. Christopher Dodd has been senator from there for a very long time: since 1981.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 23, 2009... Something pleasant is afoot in Connecticut--just possibly. Christopher Dodd has been senator from there for a very long time: since 1981. There is hardly a Democrat more obnoxious on all issues, foreign and domestic. He is tied only by Senators...

To lead the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, a post calling for nonpartisan, academic rigor, Obama chose Dawn Johnsen, a Bush-bashing, left-wing ideologue so extreme that she has analogized abortion restrictions to state "conscription" of the woman's body and called them a form of "involuntary servitude" in violation of the Thirteenth Amendment's prohibition of slavery.(The Week)(Barack Obama)(Brief article)
March 23, 2009... To lead the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, a post calling for nonpartisan, academic rigor, Obama chose Dawn Johnsen, a Bush-bashing, left-wing ideologue so extreme that she has analogized abortion restrictions to state...

The Rocky Mountain News, which began publication in April 1859 on Cherry Creek (later Denver), in the Kansas Territory (later Colorado), folded, two months before its sesquicentennial.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 23, 2009... The Rocky Mountain News, which began publication in April 1859 on Cherry Creek (later Denver), in the Kansas Territory (later Colorado), folded, two months before its sesquicentennial. The Rocky was an increasingly rare thing among daily...

William Rusher was publisher of this magazine from 1957 to 1988, a key lieutenant to WFB.(The Week)(William Frank Buckley Jr.)(Brief article)
March 23, 2009... William Rusher was publisher of this magazine from 1957 to 1988, a key lieutenant to WFB. From 1973 to just the other day, he wrote a syndicated column. His last column was devoted to conservatism and America. He said that, beginning in the...

Sen. Jim Bunning won reelection in Kentucky in 2004 by a whisker even as President Bush carried the state by 20 points.(The Week)(George W. Bush)(Brief article)
March 23, 2009... Sen. Jim Bunning won reelection in Kentucky in 2004 by a whisker even as President Bush carried the state by 20 points. That's one reason Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, also a Kentuckian, reportedly wants Bunning to drop out of the...

Having ripped the Bush administration's detention of enemy combatants as a top Obama campaign adviser, now--attorney general Eric Holder pronounced himself "impressed" upon finally visiting Guantanamo Bay.(The Week)(George W. Bush and Barack Obama)(Brief article)
March 23, 2009... Having ripped the Bush administration's detention of enemy combatants as a top Obama campaign adviser, now--attorney general Eric Holder pronounced himself "impressed" upon finally visiting Guantanamo Bay. He gushed that the facility is very...

George Bush famously admonished, "Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists.".(The Week)(foreign economic assistance to Gaza)(Brief article)
March 23, 2009... George Bush famously admonished, "Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists." Evidently the Obama doctrine is: "You're either with us or... we'll fund you." The new administration will provide $900 million to Hamas-dominated...

A world-class deficit.(The Week)(United States budget deficit )
March 23, 2009... IT'S time for a pop quiz. What is bigger than the combined economies of India, Russia, Brazil, Spain, and Canada? Answer: the U.S. budget deficit over the next ten years, if the Obama budget plan becomes law. President Obama plans to...

The Obama administration reversed an 18-year-old ban on photographing flag-draped coffins of servicemen arriving at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 23, 2009... The Obama administration reversed an 18-year-old ban on photographing flag-draped coffins of servicemen arriving at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. The ban was originally instituted by George H. W. Bush, in response to media exploitation: The...

It was a pleasant surprise when the Senate voted 87-11 to prohibit the FCC from reimposing the Fairness Doctrine on America's broadcasters.(The Week)(Federal Communications Commission )(Brief article)
March 23, 2009... It was a pleasant surprise when the Senate voted 87-11 to prohibit the FCC from reimposing the Fairness Doctrine on America's broadcasters. The vote is not binding without the House's consent, which does not seem forthcoming; and in any event,...

Congress is on the verge of granting the District of Columbia statehood on the cheap, by awarding it a permanent seat in the House of Representatives.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 23, 2009... Congress is on the verge of granting the District of Columbia statehood on the cheap, by awarding it a permanent seat in the House of Representatives. The current proposal would increase the size of the House from 435 to 437 members. The first...

"We will end education programs that don't work," promised Obama in his address to Congress.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 23, 2009... "We will end education programs that don't work," promised Obama in his address to Congress. Perhaps congressional Democrats misheard him, because they're working hard to kill the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, which helps nearly 2,000...

A year ago, Candidate Obama endorsed the "concept" of medical marijuana, and promised to stop federal raids on dispensaries in states that have passed medical-marijuana laws (14 at the latest count).(The Week)(Brief article)
March 23, 2009... A year ago, Candidate Obama endorsed the "concept" of medical marijuana, and promised to stop federal raids on dispensaries in states that have passed medical-marijuana laws (14 at the latest count). Two days after his inauguration, the Drug...

Washington State is about to put into effect a referendum, passed by voters in November, to allow the terminally ill to ask physicians to assist their suicides.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 23, 2009... Washington State is about to put into effect a referendum, passed by voters in November, to allow the terminally ill to ask physicians to assist their suicides. The activists behind the initiative have already made clear that they want...

To shape the intelligence on which policy is made, Obama has chosen Charles W. "Chas" Freeman to run the National Intelligence Council.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 23, 2009... To shape the intelligence on which policy is made, Obama has chosen Charles W. "Chas" Freeman to run the National Intelligence Council. A staunch critic of Israel and lackey for Saudi Arabia, Freeman argues that Americans "should examine...

A World Conference on Racism is due to be held in Geneva at the end of April, under the auspices of the United Nations Human Rights Council.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 23, 2009... A World Conference on Racism is due to be held in Geneva at the end of April, under the auspices of the United Nations Human Rights Council. There has been one of these before, in 2001 at Durban, and it was a vile public display of...

The headline read, "Jewish Leaders: She's Not the Hillary We Knew.".(The Week)(Secretary of State Hillary Clinton )(Brief article)
March 23, 2009... The headline read, "Jewish Leaders: She's Not the Hillary We Knew." Hmm. CBS reported, "In a swift about-face from her views as New York's senator, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is now hammering Israel over its treatment of Palestinians in...

Geert Wilders had a busy month, with little or no time to focus on his duties as a member of the Dutch parliament and leader of the Party for Freedom.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 23, 2009... Geert Wilders had a busy month, with little or no time to focus on his duties as a member of the Dutch parliament and leader of the Party for Freedom. He's really a single-issue politician, with the platform that Islam is less a religion than a...

President Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu are already performing an awkward two-step, and this will determine the future of Israel, the Palestinians, and perhaps the wider Middle East as well.(The Week)(Brief article)
March 23, 2009... President Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu are already performing an awkward two-step, and this will determine the future of Israel, the Palestinians, and perhaps the wider Middle East as well. Center-right Netanyahu ideally would like to form a...