Even the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations (we Jews have so many “major” organizations that the organizations themselves need an organization)—not a group known for its even-handedness when it comes to Israel and its neighbors—called on “all parties” to “act in a manner that does not undercut” peace talks.
Peter Beinart
This was the decade of the viral video, thanks in part to You Tube’s founding in 2005. Watch video of the funniest, saddest, craziest viral videos, well, ever.
How do you characterize yourself? We live in such a label-induced society – oh that person’s a liberal and this is a conservative. If I was to say to Dede Scozzafava, so what are you? What applies, if anything?My kind of Republican!
I’m a Republican.
Defined as what?
When I look at the Republican Party of Lincoln and I look back at eight principles of being a Republican, I think I pretty much identify with each one of those principles. Whether it’s less government dependency, promoting self-sufficiency, believing in lower taxes, believing in fewer government regulations, believing in less government spending, or believing in individual liberty, individual freedom, and less government interference in the lives of people. Those are all positions that I’ve always held to, I’ve always articulated on behalf of, and those are the things I stand for. And I think those are Republican principles.
I went through an editorial board during this most recent race. And at the end, the gentleman, the lead editor just looked across the table at me and he said, “A moderate Republican? You’re a conservative Republican.” The social issues sometimes people might not agree with, but I really think I govern according to the Constitution and I live my personal life according to my faith, and I try very hard not to mix up the two.
Is it your intention to stay in the Republican Party?Er, so she's somewhat to my left on economics and clearly too much of a neocon on foreign policy.
I have every intention of staying in the Republican Party. This is my party too. There are a lot of moderate people—Republicans, like me--and I’m hearing from an awful lot from them. And I think the Republican Party needs to know if they don’t have room for us and they don’t want us working with them, we’re going to find a way to work against them. I’d much prefer for us to be a bigger party and us all to work on the things that are most important, the fiscal issues, foreign policy. If you listen to my foreign-policy positions, you know I’m a Republican.
Give me an example.
Israel. I’m pro-Israel. I’m pro-defense spending. I think diplomacy is good, but diplomacy only works if it’s backed up by a strong defense. And making sure you have a strong defense budget. When I see what’s going on with Iran it’s very, very scary. I don’t think that you can–it’s hard to put a peace branch out when you’re dealing with a regime like that. I think you have to be very, very firm with a lot of these countries. So if people took the time to know who I really was, I think they would have a Republican member in Congress today.
[..] what goes on in Governor Sanford’s personal life, I believe, just isn’t relevant to his role as a public official. The problem I see, like most problems I have with politics, goes back to the same thing—the hypocrisy of it all. One thing making everyone so mad, myself included, are the clips being played of Governor Sanford publicly blasting former President Clinton for his affair with Monica Lewinsky. It looks horribly hypocritical. And it is. We have to stop requiring that our politicians live at such a high level of moral superiority, as if they are infallible creatures. Let me assure you, they are not.
[..] Now I do not condone Governor Sanford’s actions. Far from it. I am a big believer in the sanctity of marriage. And how the entire drama played out was far too intimate for me. Those excruciatingly personal emails. His strange and emotional press conference. Jenny Sanford’s long, Gospel-quoting press release. All of it is an uncomfortable glimpse into the inner workings of a political marriage and we as Americans eat it up with a spoonful of schadenfreude. Was Governor Sanford wrong to have an affair? As a husband, of course he was. But should we burn him at the stake and make him leave office? I don’t believe so. Because sex and politics are two very different things, even if sometimes they seem hopelessly entwined. What he does in his personal life, I believe, would have nothing to do with how he balances his state’s budget or conducts business.
..this much we know without admitting: If this really were a movie, we’d be pulling for the Argentine.Well I'm not afraid to admit it nor do I need to hide behind "but that is fiction". If asked, I'd recommend Sanford beg his wife for an amicable divorce and go live his love.
Ah, but that is fiction.
Sad news: The last survivor of the Titanic died Sunday at the age of 97.Sad?
One Second After, by William R. Forstchen:Why not Tom Clancy's The Sum of All Fears, too? It's in the title!
"A gripping account of the first year after an electromagnetic pulse attack has eliminated all electricity in America."
The Silent Man, by Alex Berenson:
"This is a gripping and frightening story of an Islamist terrorist group developing a small nuclear weapon to be used in Washington during the State of the Union to wipe out the entire elected American government."
Over the longer term, [the GOP] needs to retool itself so it can become competitive in the Northeast, Midwest, and California. In my view, that means four things: 1) a more-relevant economic message with health care at its core; 2) an environmental policy based on science; 3) a softer tone on social issues; 4) a renewed emphasis on competence in government.I've heard many other pundits express concern that the GOP now regional party of the South and East of the Rockies. And this looks apparent on a standard map:
There are people in the party who are pointing in this direction, most notably Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah. It’s not a message the party wants to hear right this moment, but I think it’s the direction we will see the party taking.
The Republican Party once could lay claim to the mantle of being the fiscally responsible, or “Daddy Party.” That reputation was squandered some time ago, but it could be regained if the party would content itself with that all-important goal, and not instead fight doomed skirmishes over gay marriage, stem-cell research, abortion and creationism, Ten Commandments in the courtroom, and other such issues that the country has by and large already decided upon. The GOP once liked to call itself the party of “the Big Tent.” But America itself is the bigger tent.Let us hope stress positions and recklessly unnecessary wars are dead as well.
Critics, such as the one featured in this Politico article, fail to comprehend terrorism as a strategy. Thus, they are locked into counterproductive policies like secrecy and torture.Yglesias and Frum marvel at conservative paranoia.
Let’s start with the strategic logic of terrorism: By goading strong powers into overreaction and error, terrorism weakens those powers and strengthens itself. Among other things, overreaction and misdirection on the part of the strong power draw sympathy and support to terrorists as it confirms the terrorist narrative that they are in a struggle against evil powers.
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Few say, “There should be no regulation, and so I, as a libertarian, have no opinion about how it should be carried out.” Yet I hear again and again that, since the state should not be in the business of marriage, one should not, as a libertarian, have an opinion about how this business is to be carried out. Increasingly, I find this an obnoxious and shameful form of moral recusal. One cannot use an ideological image of perfect justice to excuse or ignore an obvious injustice within the actual imperfect system. That these injustices could not arise within one’s vision of the best society does not mean that they have not in fact arisen. That a debate would not occur in an ideal world does not mean that it is not occuring or that nothing morally hangs on its conclusion. To decide to sit out the debate, with an eye on utopia, is not a way to keep one’s hands clean.Christopher Buckley: Showdown at Notre Dame...
The most prominent Catholic politicians are: Vice President Joe Biden; Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi; Sen. John Kerry; Gov. Bill Richardson; former mayor Rudy Giuliani; and fresh-from-the baptismal font Newt Gingrich.Ezra Klein responds to Ponnuru's op-ed on the misguided case for universal coverage.
What do they all—with the exception of the dripping-wet Newt—have in common: they’re all pro-abortion. Sorry, I meant “pro-choice.” For this, some bishops, who were rather silent whilst their priests were fondling the altar boys, have said they would refuse them the sacrament of communion. In a public debate, the Bishop of Rhode Island actually likened Giuliani to Pontius Pilate.
While researching this posting, I found myself wondering if the thrice-married Newt had weighed in on the controversy. Sure enough: “It is sad,” he said, “to see Notre Dame invite president Obama to give the commencement speech since his policies are so anti-Catholic.” Well, that didn’t take long.
What all this Sturm und Drang has guaranteed, is that this will be one heckuva commencement speech to watch. What do you want to bet that all three networks dispatch their anchors to South Bend on May 17, making it a four-ring circus.
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