Mona Charen from Creators Syndicate

Find Me a Demon for 09/23/2008

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Neither of our would-be leaders covered himself in glory during the past week. A financial crisis (and for once the word "crisis" is apt) has opened beneath our feet, threatening to swallow God only knows how much of our prosperity in its maw, and the two candidates were unable to see beyond their own narrow political interests and unable to resist searching for effigies to burn.

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Updated: Tue Sep 23, 2008

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Big Bad Capitalists? for 09/26/2008

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

As I write, news is coming across the wire that a bill to bail out the financial industry is likely to pass. That is a relief. We have not seen a real financial panic for 80 years — but that doesn't mean we couldn't. Just as the psychology that creates bubbles (whether for tulips or real estate) does not change over time, neither does the psychology that stampedes for safety during crashe ...

Updated: Fri Sep 26, 2008

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ACORN, Obama, and the Mortgage Mess for 09/30/2008

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

The financial markets were teetering on the edge of an abyss last week. The secretary of the Treasury was literally on his knees begging the speaker of the House not to sabotage the bailout bill. The crash of falling banks made the earth tremble. The Republican presidential candidate suspended his campaign to deal with the crisis. And amid all this, the Democrats in Congress managed to find tim ...

Updated: Tue Sep 30, 2008

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Is This Hoover/Roosevelt Redux? for 10/03/2008

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

If scientists were able to determine, beyond doubt, that the sky were actually going to fall on Monday, Oct. 6, Congress would pass legislation containing tax breaks for lobster fisherman in Maine and glue manufacturers in Paducah. It's just what they do.

The Senate version of the financial bailout bill — an emergency measure designed (we thought) to keep the world economy from tum ...

Updated: Fri Oct 03, 2008

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Michelle Obama's Fearful Vision for 10/07/2008

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

I had an experience wearing a headscarf last week that was culturally and politically interesting. More on that in a minute. It made me think of Michelle Obama.

Last year, Mrs. Obama introduced her husband at a campaign event in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Like so many of Mrs. Obama's speeches, this one reflected a jaundiced view of her country. She began by telling the crowd that her husband ...

Updated: Tue Oct 07, 2008

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Hating the New York Times, Part 573 for 10/09/2008

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

In honor of the Jewish New Year, which reaches its culmination on Yom Kippur, a solemn day of fasting and repentance that falls this year on Oct. 9, I'd like to take a moment to recognize the open Jew-baiting that is enthusiastically enjoyed by our nation's leading newspaper.

The Oct. 7 edition of the New York Times featured a cheerful article about a video that is circulating on the web ...

Updated: Thu Oct 09, 2008

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Is This the End of Conservatism? for 10/14/2008

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

All of a sudden, this election is shaping up as a verdict on capitalism. The Obama campaign wanted it to be about George W. Bush. The McCain campaign wanted it to be about character. But instead, because the markets are shooting off in all directions like bullets from a dropped pistol, the stakes have suddenly been raised dramatically.

We are in the midst of the worst panic in history, i ...

Updated: Tue Oct 14, 2008

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Why McCain Didn't Land His Punches for 10/17/2008

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

John McCain had his last big opportunity to score heavily against Barack Obama on Wednesday night. And while he turned in his best debate performance so far, he fell short.

In order to reset the table for the remainder of the campaign (and it is very late) McCain needed to explain to voters that Obama hails from the further reaches of the left wing of the Democratic Party. While voters h ...

Updated: Fri Oct 17, 2008

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Fair Taxation? for 10/21/2008

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

God bless him. Joe the plumber, that is, for coaxing from Sen. Obama his true motive for raising taxes. It isn't to fund the government, or deal with the deficit, or to establish a rainy day fund. It's to "spread the wealth around," which the Illinois senator insists is "good for everyone."

Sen. Obama calls this a "tax fairness plan," but what is fair?

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Updated: Tue Oct 21, 2008

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The Financial Crisis and Triumph of Spin for 10/24/2008

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

The two candidates for president stood even in the polls when the financial tsunami hit around mid-September. Since then, the Democrat has pulled ahead.

Perhaps there was nothing John McCain could have done that would have changed things. It may be that voters are primed to blame the party in the White House for any bad news (to say "the party in power" when the Democrats contr ...

Updated: Fri Oct 24, 2008

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Does Obama's Friendship with Khalidi Matter to Jews? for 10/28/2008

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

From the Palestinian Authority Daily: "Twenty-three-year old Ibrahim Abu Jayyab sits by the computer in the Nusairat refugee camp (in the Gaza Strip) trying to call American citizens in order to convince them to vote for the Democratic candidate for president, Barack Obama..."

Like many Palestinians, Abu Jayyab is excited about the prospect of an Obama presidency. (By the way, ...

Updated: Tue Oct 28, 2008

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Top Ten Reasons to Vote for McCain/Palin for 10/31/2008

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

10.) John McCain is much, much funnier than Barack Obama. But then, almost everyone is.

9.) John McCain is a passionate patriot who has always been, and will always be, guided by what he thinks is best for America. He can trace his ancestry back to an officer on Gen. George Washington's staff and his family has served the nation nobly in war and peace ever since. McCain believes in winni ...

Updated: Fri Oct 31, 2008

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Sex and the Single Kid for 11/04/2008

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

So it's the day before the election that will supposedly sweep away all vestiges of conservatism in American life and what do I find? The Washington Post carries a front-page story about TV contributing to teen pregnancy.

"Teenagers who watch a lot of television featuring flirting, necking, discussion of sex and sex scenes are much more likely than their peers to get pregnant or get ...

Updated: Tue Nov 04, 2008

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Racial Psychodrama for 11/07/2008

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Twelve years ago, the most popular man in American political life was an African-American — Colin Powell. A four-star general who had served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and as national security adviser, the Brooklyn-born Powell had presidential timber written all over him. A number of leading Republicans — Bill Bennett and Jack Kemp leap to mind — talked him up at ...

Updated: Fri Nov 07, 2008

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Was Todd Palin Dissed, Too? for 11/11/2008

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

The knives — long, short, and in-between — have come out with particular swiftness searching for Sarah Palin's jugular. Unnamed aides to Sen. McCain have not just dished to the press about the former vice presidential candidate, they've sought to bury her.

For what it's worth, I don't think this backbiting will damage her. Who really believes that she didn't know Africa is a ...

Updated: Tue Nov 11, 2008

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Quantum of Nonsense for 11/18/2008

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Absurdity, cartoonish violence, sexism, campiness — these are no bars to enjoying a matinee with my teenaged boys. So off we went to see Daniel Craig as James Bond do his suave star turn in “Quantum of Solace” over the weekend.

We ought to have known, from the impenetrable title, that this was not going to be satisfying entertainment. "Quantum" means — r ...

Updated: Tue Nov 18, 2008

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Thoughtful Warriors for 11/21/2008

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Unlike some who shall, in the interests of comity, remain nameless — conservatives do not cry foul when they lose elections. They do not whine that the election was stolen, or secured through dirty campaign tricks, or otherwise illegitimately won. Instead, they ask themselves where they went wrong.

The National Review Institute, a think tank founded by the late William F. Buckley a ...

Updated: Fri Nov 21, 2008

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Giving Thanks for Genocide? for 11/25/2008

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Thanksgiving is coming — a time to participate in the great American tradition of maligning and abusing our ancestors. Last year, Seattle public school administrators warned teachers that "Thanksgiving can be a particularly difficult time for many of our Native students." Accordingly, teachers were advised to consult a list of 11 Thanksgiving "myths." No. 11 read as fo ...

Updated: Tue Nov 25, 2008

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About That New New Deal for 11/28/2008

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

"This is the best deal since 1932." So said House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) regarding the increased public appetite for government intervention in the economy. Incoming White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel echoed the sentiment when he told the Wall Street Journal, "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste."

Oh, boy. While B ...

Updated: Fri Nov 28, 2008

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Pinch Me, Am I Dreaming? for 12/02/2008

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Superstition almost forbids me to comment on President-elect Obama's appointments thus far. The news has been so shockingly welcome that I'm almost afraid to remark on it for fear of breaking the spell.

Such reticence has not afflicted everyone on the right, though. Here's Max Boot, conservative editorialist, author, and military historian: "I am gobsmacked by these appointments, mo ...

Updated: Tue Dec 02, 2008

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