I didn’t see the outburst that cost Serena her semi-final match, but I saw (as in, television saw) her smash her racket after losing the first set. Even that was pretty jarring. Strange. A sport where the crowd watches in respectful silence, while a champion smashes expensive equipment that most fans would be grateful to own. Cross-posted at Conventional Folly

WILL PELOSI FLIP ON AFGHANISTAN? The editors of the Wall Street Journal remind Madame Speaker that she was a singing a different tune on Afghanistan not long ago: It is well known that Mr. Obama has called Afghanistan a “war of necessity.” Less publicized is that in 2007 Speaker Pelosi was also saying that our real interests were in Afghanistan. “The war on terror is in Afghanistan,” Ms. Pelosi said just two years ago. “The fact that we weakened our commitment to Afghanistan...

Joe G. noted earlier that Joe Wilson scored very poorly on Politifact’s Truth-o-meter. Since that post, there have been five more targeting Rep. Wilson, including Kathy’s moderately titled, Is there a politician lower than Joe Wilson? I’m guessing Kathy has heard of Charlie Rangel. Anyhow, I’m not here to defend Joe Wilson, who most people never heard of until yesterday. I’m here to look at how President Obama scores on the Truth-o-Meter. After last night’s...

Those talk show hosts are awful. They say the most awful things. But it’s the President who runs the country, so I’m much more concerned with his disingenuity. From last night: Instead of honest debate, we’ve seen scare tactics. Also last night: Everyone in this room knows what will happen if we do nothing. Our deficit will grow. More families will go bankrupt. More businesses will close. More Americans will lose their coverage when they are sick and need it the most. And...

The editors of the New Republic have some harsh words[subscription only] for House Democrats, who toppled a GOP majority in 2006 by promising to clean up Washington. Charlie Rangel and John Murtha, two of the most senior and powerful Democrats in the House, are an embarrassment. Late August brought the stunning revelation that Rangel failed to note two bank accounts, each containing somewhere in the range of $250,000 and $500,000, on past financial disclosure forms. Add to this the unreported $75,000...

The situation in Afghanistan is bad and getting worse. Young Americans are losing their lives in a war that may soon lose the support of the American people. Fellow Americans, will we give in to despair, or will we find a new HOPE? Will we accept a painful defeat, or will we have the AUDACITY to seek a brighter future? Will we surrender to the partisanship of the old way of politics, or seek innovative BIPARTISAN solutions? You get my drift. Several months ago, it didn’t seem very interesting...

Just watched the first episode of (the new) Battlestar Galactica. I wanted to try it, but assumed it would keep my interest for only a few episodes. My wife only agreed to watch because she is a gracious and generous woman. For the first thirty minutes, she made snide remarks. At the sixty minute mark she asked me if an hour had really gone by. At the eighty minute mark, I told her we had to go to sleep because we’re going to California tomorrow. She begged for just ten more minutes....

Sonny already plugged Matt Labash’s great article about America’s most notorious mayor. I second that. The strangest thing I learned about Barry was that he came within one year of finishing a PhD in chemistry. He was an Eagle Scout. He recited poems in church. He went to college, and stopped one year short of getting his doctorate in chemistry, quitting to join the civil rights movement. “In chemistry, there’s order,” he says wistfully. “In politics, there’s...

George Will called for an end to counterinsurgency in Afghanistan, provoking a flood of responses from conservatives. The Wall Street Journal has given their opinions top billing. Fred Kagan writes that the future of Pakistan depends on Afghanistan. Max Boot reminds us that we already tried to win on the cheap — that’s why it’s such a mess today. Dan Senor and Peter Wehner call on Republicans to support Obama even when the going gets tough. Finally, Michael O’Hanlon and...

In so many words, Andrew Exum (aka Abu Muqawama) describes himself as a hesitant, hedging, uncertain and humble supporter of the war in Afghanistan. What mystifies him is why Washington is turning so rapidly against the war and why the Obama White House is so afraid of criticism from the left regarding Afghanistan. Andrew also prescribes a measure of humility and uncertaintly for arch-liberal opponents of the war, who have forgotten all too soon how they denounced the surge as a failure and denounced...

I felt some serious deja vu while reading Robert’s post about the hopelessness of our “endless bloody occupation” of Afghanistan. Just two years ago, the conventional wisdom was that there was nothing we could do to salvage our bloody and endless occupation of Iraq. Harry Reid told us “the war is lost” and Barack Obama insisted that sending more troops would accomplish nothing. In his post, Robert links to George Will’s recent column, in which he calls for a...

Why did so many Republican senators have such strong feelings for Ted Kennedy? John Barrasso of Wyoming describes the personal touch that Kennedy had: The day I got sworn into the Senate, June 25, 2007, to my knowledge he [Kennedy] was the only Democrat — well, somebody would have been in the chair presiding — who was there in the chamber for my swearing-in… Later they had a little reception for me and he came to that, and he was the only Democrat there. And he spent a long time...

No, not that ‘C’ word. I’m talking about Chappaquiddick. This weekend, Meet the Press, Face the Nation and This Week all devoted their full broadcasts to fond remembrances of Sen. Kennedy. I was curious whether they would mention the most controversial episode in his long career. On the one hand, a special measure of deference is appropriate for the recently departed. On the other, how can a serious news organization devote an entire broadcast to one man and ignore his flaws? ABC...

KENNEDY NEPHEW: SENATE CONTENDER AND PROUD CHAVISTA. Not only does Jamie Kirchick have a new essay up on Doublethink Online; he also has a new article up at TNR about the warm feelings of Joe Kennedy II for Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez. With his uncle’s passing, Joe II is now a leading contender for the open Senate perch in Massachusetts. Here’s the kind of wisdom Joe II might bring to US foreign policy: Kennedy has gone out of his way to defend and even praise Chavez, telling The...

That is the title of Norman Podhoretz’s new book. It won’t be out until September 8th, but the current issue of Commentary presents a symposium on the book, with contributions from prominent Jewish authors, mostly conservatives. Best I can tell from the symposium, the main thrust of Podhoretz’s argument is that American Jews have confused the Torah of Judaism with “the Torah of liberalism”. Authentic Jewish values have been displaced by liberal ideology, masquerading...

Give Chuck Schumer credit. He was trying really, really — yes, really — hard to pretend that the President hasn’t waffled on the public option, backing away from his commitment to liberal reform. Here’s Schumer and David Gregory on Meet the Press: MR. GREGORY: You’re not backing away from [the public option], but there is concern within the Democratic Party that President Obama is backing away. Here was the headline in the New York Post this week that spoke for a...

I’ve been looking for some clarity on our strategy in Afghanistan. The President seems to have one foot on each side of the fence. Now it seems the military brass is a bit confused. Here’s Adm. Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Meet the Press: MR. GREGORY: We’re rebuilding this nation? ADM. MULLEN: To a certain degree there is, there is some of that going on. MR. GREGORY: Is that what the American people signed up for? ADM. MULLEN: No, I’m–right...

Will Inboden ably explores the mystery of what British foreign policy will look like once the Tories take charge (since everyone in London knows the will). Will explains why, from a British perspective, it actually makes a certain amount of sense for the Tories to talk about having a “liberal Conservative” foreign policy.” Still, its contents are more than somewhat vague. Will writes, For all of David Cameron and the Conservatives’ political success in becoming poised to...

It’s been seven years now that Kevin Drum’s been blogging. His story says something great about the blogosphere. Some of the early bloggers were grad students in their pajamas. (Why is everyone looking at me?!?!?) In contrast, Kevin had a successful career in business, then decided to try his hand at blogging in his free time. His good nature, command of details and overall intelligence rapidly brought in a growing audience. Eventually, Kevin accepted an offer from the Washington...

Matt Yglesias asks: If you read accounts of the Soviet war in Afghanistan in the 1980s, people generally always seem to think that American and Saudi and Pakistani support for the Mujahedeen was an important factor. I don’t see anyone saying “it was all a big waste of time and the same stuff would have happened anyway.” Ask and ye shall receive! Two days after Matt put up his question, Fred Kagan posted a detailed look at the Soviet campaign in Afghanistan. So how important was US support...