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Entries from December 2009

Reporting from the Front Lines

Peter Worthington wrote on December 31st, 2009 at 4:36 pm

Michelle Lang, who was killed by a massive roadside bomb in Afghanistan, was one of a hundred journalists who have died on the job during 2009.  more

1 Comment

A Squalid Memorial

David Frum wrote on December 31st, 2009 at 8:04 am

This afternoon, while on a family holiday in Buenos Aires, my son and I went to pay our respects to the dead at the site of the terrible bombing of the city’s Jewish community center in 1994.  more

5 Comments

The Agony of the States

David Frum wrote on December 30th, 2009 at 10:31 am

Incoming New Jersey GOP governor Chris Christie faces an $8 billion budget deficit. During past economic downturns, states have been rescued from tough decisions when another revenue boom came along in time to save them. That may not happen this time.  more

52 Comments

Hijacking the Tea Party

Jeb Golinkin wrote on December 29th, 2009 at 6:20 pm

The Tea Party movement is fast becoming the political tool of elites on the far right who are using it to promote their own handpicked candidates and causes.  more

14 Comments

Dealing with Terror the Israeli Way

Peter Worthington wrote on December 29th, 2009 at 5:09 pm

Instead of the present system of patting down everyone, removing shoes, and no toilet visits, blankets or laptop computers in the last hour of flight, why not just emulate Israeli airport security?  more

10 Comments

Stop Understating the Threat

Lloyd Green wrote on December 29th, 2009 at 3:50 pm

Yesterday, the President tried to reassure the nation. Obama promised he would not rest until he found those who were accountable. But a tone of commitment and intent were lacking, as was his tie.  more

17 Comments

Waiting and Waiting for Malpractice Reform

David Gratzer wrote on December 29th, 2009 at 12:34 pm

Medical malpractice reform is popular and needed – and, despite stretching for more than 2,000 pages, basically absent from Senator Reid’s bill.  more

14 Comments

Pawlenty: Running to the Right and into Trouble

Bryce McNitt wrote on December 29th, 2009 at 12:30 pm

Tim Pawlenty’s moves to reach out to religious and economic conservatives could emerge as real vulnerabilities if he gains ground in the GOP race.  more

8 Comments

Draft Rudy

John Guardiano wrote on December 29th, 2009 at 9:04 am

The 2010 election may be a banner year for Republicans. But if the party is to capitalize on the electoral wind at its back, then it mustn’t cede New York and the Northeast to the Democrats; it must field top-tier candidates like Rudolph Giuliani.  more

13 Comments

The Real Culprit in the Underwear Bombing?

David Frum wrote on December 29th, 2009 at 7:22 am

There are two ways to protect air travel: look for bombs or look for terrorists. The underwear bomber dramatically illustrates the futility of the first policy – and the huge potential advantages of the second. Yet the government still won’t learn.  more

132 Comments

Passengers Shouldn’t be the First Line of Defense

Peter Worthington wrote on December 28th, 2009 at 4:07 pm

There is a lackadaisical attitude towards security by the Obama administration. The foiled Christmas day plane-bombing attempt was the third “terrorist” attack on the U.S. in the first year of Obama’s presidency.  more

14 Comments

Unhealthy Habits are What’s Killing Us

David Frum wrote on December 28th, 2009 at 3:10 pm

For all the money Americans spend on health care (60 percent more per person than any other advanced country), Americans are not an especially healthy people.  more

19 Comments

New Year, Old Problems

Peter Worthington wrote on December 28th, 2009 at 8:16 am

Obama was elected on the promise of change, but his popularity will continue to sag if he persists in providing rhetoric instead of real accomplishments.   more

8 Comments

Finding the Good in Obamacare

Eli Lehrer wrote on December 27th, 2009 at 8:28 am

Anyone afraid of big government has plenty of reasons to dislike the healthcare reforms likely to become law sometime early next year. But an honest look at it from a conservative, free market perspective reveals a few bright spots too.  more

59 Comments

Poverty Breeds Terrorism?

Kapil Komireddi wrote on December 26th, 2009 at 3:35 pm

The man who came close to blowing up the Detroit-bound plane belonged to a well-heeled family in Nigeria: his father was a high-ranking banker and the bomber himself is an engineering student.  more

23 Comments

Reid’s Bill Could be the End of Private Insurance

Sam Theodosopoulos wrote on December 26th, 2009 at 3:00 pm

The left blogosphere is denouncing Obamacare as a triumph for private insurers. But Robert Book of the Heritage Foundation argues that the plan could extinguish the private insurance industry.  more

13 Comments

Swann’s Way

David Frum wrote on December 26th, 2009 at 11:33 am

My newest bookshelf entry reviews Marcel Proust’s Swann’s Way.  more

1 Comment

Swann’s Way

David Frum wrote on December 26th, 2009 at 11:20 am

One of Proust’s great themes is the transformation of personality across time. Our earlier selves cannot begin to imagine our later selves; our later solves are baffled if not horrified by our earlier selves.  more

3 Comments

Merry Christmas from Al Qaeda

Sean Linnane wrote on December 26th, 2009 at 11:01 am

Is Abdul Farouk Abdul Mutallab, who attempted to ignite an explosive device aboard a passenger airliner, an Al Qaeda operative or is this just another episode of ‘Self-Induced Jihad Syndrome?’  more

9 Comments

Last Stand in the Senate

David Frum wrote on December 26th, 2009 at 9:13 am

39 Republican senators voted just before Christmas to pronounce the Obama-Reid healthcare bill unconstitutional. The argument for unconstitutionality was just one expression of Republican dislike of the plan. The dislike is amply justified. But the vote was not.  more

6 Comments