Nicholas Kristof approaches the health care debate from a starting point that I and others have previously acknowledged, namely: We don’t leave everything to the free market. There are certain areas in which we commonly acknowledge that government is the better actor. Perhaps health care coverage is one of them. Granted, Kristof seems to suggest (upon first read at least) that we go further with government...

In the wake of 9/11 attacks in the USA, the relations between the “Christian West” and the “Muslim World” took a nose-dive. Australia is among the few countries who made a concerted effort to win over the hearts and minds of the Muslims in their own country and elsewhere. Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard, now on a visit to India, announced in New Delhi that the International...

Ezra Klein: “This is the irony of the health-care endgame: The bill becomes much more conservative if it loses its final Republican.”

Distorting the Voice of the People by E.J. Dionne, Jr WASHINGTON — Health care reform is said to be in trouble partly because of those raucous August town hall meetings in which Democratic members of Congress were besieged by shouters opposed to change. But what if our media-created impression of the meetings is wrong? What if the highly publicized screamers represented only a fraction...

Pat Buchanan’s anti-Semitic, ahistorical screed about Hitler and World War II (linked through Matthew Yglesias) has caught some attention today, although not nearly enough considering that this is the same man who accused Sonia Sotomayor of being a racist:

Russia’s first nuclear test, Operation Joe Lightning. Soviet designs for the bomb were in large part stolen from the United States. Yesterday was the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II. As part of its coverage, Russian newspaper Vedemosti carried this article defending the admittedly wholesale theft of Manhattan Project data. For Vedemosti, columnist Igor Korotcheko writes in part: “The...

Sometimes its happenstance…other times its due to an incredible lack of judgment and bad taste LIKE THIS.

In a low turnout election last night to fill the seat left vacant by former Rep. Ellen Tauscher (and current Obama administration official) California Lt. Governor John Garamendi was the top finisher with 26% of the vote. Given the heavy Democratic tilt of the district (about 2-1) it is likely he will win the November runoff. This would leave a vacancy in the office of Lt. Governor and bring about some interesting,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

The President is finally getting bipartisanship, not on health care, but against a war that has morphed into Iraq II as George Will, no bleeding heart liberal, now says it’s “Time to Get Out of Afghanistan.” With calls for more troops and casualties rising, American abhorrence of an endless bloody occupation is coalescing into a demand for rethinking exactly what we are doing in that part of...

The truth is that he has no interest in reform. In fact, for all his Gang of Six efforts, he’s pretty much against it. I delved into Republican opposition to reform, including Grassley’s, yesterday. Here is Grassley himself, who has been emphasizing his opposition to reform in his recent fundraising efforts, speaking on a conference call with Iowa reporters: There’s a feeling that the only...

Why Americans are Up in Arms by Floyd and Mary Beth Brown Leftist elites are up in arms about Americans up in arms. At two recent Obama town hall meetings, men exercising their Second Amendment rights were spotted carrying firearms. While we do not condone threatening the president or anyone else for that matter, these citizens are well within their rights. It is legal to carry a firearm while demonstrating...

I tweeted on this last night, but I thought I’d link here to the NYT story: Seven months after taking office, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. is reshaping the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division by pushing it back into some of the most important areas of American political life, including voting rights, housing, employment, bank lending practices and redistricting after the 2010 census. As...

No wonder Americans are increasingly opposed to Obama’s socialist, radical vision of a nationalized health care system. Just look at what Obama will do to you, to me and to our loved ones if we allow him to succeed with his downright evil plan. In the first place, Obama’s diabolical health care plan would kill many of our children even before they are born, because Obama will force pro-life doctors,...

Obama Will Not Push for a Public Option by Jon Wells In a move recognizing the sober facts of political reality, President Barack Obama, according to Politico, is shifting his strategy on health care reform, including not insisting on a public option. It will enrage his liberal base, who flew into a tizzy when HHS Sec. Kathleen Sebelius floated the idea of the public option as a non-essential portion of health...

Courtesy Blue Dog Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin: We have to be pragmatic and forge some deal that moves us in a positive direction … We have expended unnecessary energy on elements of the plan that I don’t think are essential. I remain optimistic that when we come back in September, we will recognize how important it is to get half a loaf. Perhaps even more noteworthy is the following line from the...

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s image problems are about to get even harder. She is about to the pitchforked into the national headlines again due to an up and coming article in Vanity Fair that will contain an interview with Levi Johnston where he’ll give his version of what it was like to see Palin behind the scenes at home. His version isn’t pretty: he paints a portrait of a Palin...

Now we have the answer to yesterday’s question. What does Nancy Pelosi plan to do about Charlie Rangel and his curiously poor memory when it comes to matters of finance? Not a whole lot. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will let Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) keep his chairmanship despite his failing to report hundreds of thousands of dollars in assets on federal disclosure forms, according to Democratic...

Bob Englehart, The Hartford Courant This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to run on TMV. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

While I’ll be among the first to acknowledge that members of the radical (and not-so-radical) left produce their fair share of questionable if not detestable rhetorical moments, it seems the members of the radical (and not-so-radical) right are, of late, churning out more than their fair share. Granted, that is not a unique observation, nor is it without bias. Regardless, these latest examples seemed...

President Barack Obama has now hit a major danger zone: a new CNN poll finds that more independent voters disapprove of Obama than approve of him — and his biggest failing grades are on the economy, taxes, the budget and health care: A majority of independent voters disapprove of how Barack Obama’s handling his job as president, according to a new national poll. Fifty-three percent of independents...