http://www.realclearpolitics.com/ en Copyright 2008 Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:58:02 -0600 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.33 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss It makes no sense to see Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, as represented in at least one family account, as the victim of "harassment" by fellow soldiers (and therefore a candidate for "understanding"?) He's an officer. Soldiers don't harass officers. It makes no sense to suggest he'd been traumatized by narratives he had heard concerning the awfulness of combat in Iraq and therefore resisted the idea of deployment there. He's an Army psychiatrist, not a rifleman. Since when, anyway -- read "The Iliad" for confirmation -- has combat been other... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/07/pondering_the_fort_hood_massacre_99067.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/07/pondering_the_fort_hood_massacre_99067.html William Murchison William Murchison 2009/11 11/07/2009/00/00/00 Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:46:10 -0600 After more than a decade of public healthcare with mandatory coverage, so many Canadian doctors have left the practice and so many young people have entered other fields that Canada ranks 26th of 28 developed nations in its ratio of physicians to population. Once, Canada ranked among the leaders in the number of physicians, but that was before government healthcare drove doctors out of the practice in droves. The fundamental fact is that we cannot cover 36 million new patients without more doctors and nurses, much less with the declining census of medical professionals the Canadian experience... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/07/rationing_waiting_lists_lower-quality_care_99053.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/07/rationing_waiting_lists_lower-quality_care_99053.html Dick Morris Dick Morris 2009/11 11/07/2009/00/00/00 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:29:12 -0600 What is so wrong with the current medical system in the United States that we are being urged to rush headlong into a new government system that we are not even supposed to understand, because this legislation is to be rushed through Congress before even the Senators and Representatives have a chance to read it? Among the things that people complain about under the present medical care system are the costs, insurance company bureaucrats' denials of reimbursements for some treatments and the free loaders at hospital emergency rooms whose costs have to be paid by others. Will a... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/07/the_costs_of_medical_care_part_iv__98984.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/07/the_costs_of_medical_care_part_iv__98984.html Thomas Sowell Thomas Sowell 2009/11 11/07/2009/00/00/00 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:05:19 -0600 11:33 A.M. EST THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. I want to begin by offering an update on the tragedy that took place yesterday at Fort Hood. This morning I met with FBI Director Mueller and the relevant agencies to discuss their ongoing investigation into what caused one individual to turn his gun on fellow servicemen and women. We don't know all the answers yet and I would caution against jumping to conclusions until we have all the facts. What we do know is that there are families, friends and an entire nation grieving right now for the valiant men and women who came under attack... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/06/remarks_on_the_fort_hood_shooting_99063.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/06/remarks_on_the_fort_hood_shooting_99063.html Barack Obama Barack Obama 2009/11 11/06/2009/00/00/00 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:32:35 -0600 WASHINGTON -- During long campaign swings in Virginia's recent gubernatorial campaign, Bob McDonnell's staff would count the cars that sported both Obama and McDonnell bumper stickers. These ideologically confused motorists turned out to be an important demographic. On Election Day, according to exit polls, about one in 10 voters who supported Barack Obama in 2008 said they voted for McDonnell, the Republican. Cable television debates offer a choice between extremes. Competitive statewide elections are a fight for the middle. This is the contest Republicans won on Tuesday. Given the... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/06/obama_cedes_the_center_99049.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/06/obama_cedes_the_center_99049.html Michael Gerson Michael Gerson 2009/11 11/06/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:27:22 -0600 WASHINGTON -- Sure, Election Day 2009 will scare moderate Democrats and make passage of Obamacare more difficult. Sure, it makes it easier for resurgent Republicans to raise money and recruit candidates for 2010. But the most important effect of Tuesday's elections is historical. It demolishes the great realignment myth of 2008. In the aftermath of last year's Obama sweep, we heard endlessly about its fundamental, revolutionary, transformational nature. How it was ushering in an FDR-like realignment for the 21st century in which new demographics -- most prominently, rising... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/06/the_myth_of_08_demolished_99048.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/06/the_myth_of_08_demolished_99048.html Charles Krauthammer Charles Krauthammer 2009/11 11/06/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:31:01 -0600 WASHINGTON -- Democrats have some thinking to do after Tuesday's elections, but Republicans don't have time to think. They're too busy trying to survive the party's internal purge and avoid being shipped off to political Siberia. Will loyal members inform on others for harboring suspiciously moderate views? Will anyone judged guilty have to wear a sign saying "Republican In Name Only" as penance? Will there be re-education camps? Will deviationists face the Enhanced Interrogation Technique of being forced to listen to the wit and wisdom of Glenn Beck, at... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/06/attack_of_the_palinites.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/06/attack_of_the_palinites.html Eugene Robinson Eugene Robinson 2009/11 11/06/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:47:23 -0600 On November 3, the fairy tale died. The election results in Virginia and New Jersey dismantled the self-satisfied, just-so story that Democrats have been telling themselves about last year's election. The story goes like this: In 2008, Americans voted for change not just in the nation's leadership, but in its fundamental political orientation. They wanted a shift to the left not seen since 1932. The nation's political map had been utterly transformed. Barack Obama owned the suburbs and independents, and laid claim to formerly secure Republican states. An outdated GOP had been... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/06/does_obama_still_believe_the_fairy_tale_99052.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/06/does_obama_still_believe_the_fairy_tale_99052.html Rich Lowry Rich Lowry 2009/11 11/06/2009/00/00/00 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:20:53 -0600 Matthew Hoh, a U.S. foreign service officer, resigned recently from his commission in Afghanistan's Zabul province, writing a letter in which he expressed doubts, not about "how we are pursuing this war, but why and to what end." The shades of Vietnam were presented in the letter itself. It was written Sept. 10, and the story fully surfaced this last week in the Washington Post. Hoh was flown to an interview in Washington with Richard Holbrooke, the administration's "point man" for Afghanistan and Pakistan, after his superiors grasped the political implications... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/06/we_need_a_real_strategy_for_afghanistan_99031.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/06/we_need_a_real_strategy_for_afghanistan_99031.html David Warren David Warren 2009/11 11/06/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:37:11 -0600 The defeat of Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman in New York's 23rd district isn't likely to change conservatives' plans to turn their attention quickly to Florida's GOP Senate primary. The Club for Growth's endorsement of former state Speaker Marco Rubio (R) now seems inevitable, since he has positioned himself as the conservative insurgent against Gov. Charlie Crist (R), whom Rubio defines as an ally of President Barack Obama and an unreliable soldier in the struggle against liberalism. Earlier this year, I wrote in this space ("Florida Senate Race: Just... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/06/after_hoffman_rubio_is_likely_conservatives_next_challenge_99050.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/06/after_hoffman_rubio_is_likely_conservatives_next_challenge_99050.html Stuart Rothenberg Stuart Rothenberg 2009/11 11/06/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:22:39 -0600 Late in the game, Republicans are proposing alternatives to Democratic health care reform, but they're certainly not being bold. If they were, they'd follow the lead of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), the party's foremost Jack Kemp-style conservative, whose Patients' Choice Act aims for near-universal coverage without mandates. Instead, to go along with incessant excoriating of "Obamacare," House and Senate Republican leaders are proposing modest "step by step" cost-saving reforms that Democrats ought to consider, but won't. Republicans will offer a... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/06/gop_ducks_role__as_party_of_yes__on_health_reform_99051.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/06/gop_ducks_role__as_party_of_yes__on_health_reform_99051.html Mort Kondracke Mort Kondracke 2009/11 11/06/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:16:29 -0600 CREECH AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. -- Thirty years ago this week, a group of Iranian "students" shouting "death to America" stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking nearly 100 hostages -- among them 65 Americans. Though foreign national employees and some Americans were released within a few weeks, the remaining 52 were held for 444 days. For the American people, it was an introduction to militant Islam. For then-President Jimmy Carter, intent on "engaging" the radical regime that had replaced Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, it was a disaster. The Obama administration... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/06/they_dont_get_it_99045.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/06/they_dont_get_it_99045.html Oliver North Oliver North 2009/11 11/06/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:36:58 -0600 Twenty years ago, the Berlin Wall came tumbling down. If Humpty Dumpty had been sitting on top of it, not Soviet soldiers, nor Stasi spies could put Humpty together again. It wasn't the end of history, as some liked to call it, but rather like history on a pause button that showed the world in one powerful moment that some of the evil that men do can be undone. It is a coincidence not lost on political philosophers that the Wall fell on the same date as Kristallnacht in 1938, when the Nazi's -- with lots of help from "otherwise decent people" -- smashed windows and... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/06/a_fallen_wall_forfallen_men_99044.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/06/a_fallen_wall_forfallen_men_99044.html Suzanne Fields Suzanne Fields 2009/11 11/06/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:38:05 -0600 President Obama likes to preen himself on his supposed moral superiority to his predecessor. He announced the closing of Guantanamo in his first week on the job (though 10 months on, it remains open) to advertise the new administration's disdain for George Bush's war-fighting tactics. And at every opportunity since, he has stressed that his policies -- on taxes, on the Middle East, on health care, on "man-caused disasters," and on "climate change" -- reflect a more refined and elevated morality than has ever before held sway in Washington, DC. So you have to... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/06/are_you_with_us_or_with_them_99043.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/06/are_you_with_us_or_with_them_99043.html Mona Charen Mona Charen 2009/11 11/06/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:40:04 -0600 For the Blue Dogs, Tuesday was a fire bell in the night. Virginia Republicans led by Robert McDonnell crushed the most conservative Democrat nominee in decades, rolling up a victory that rivaled Ronald Reagan's rout of Walter Mondale. New Jersey GOP nominee Chris Christie, whose campaign had been the despair of its backers, won a 5-point victory over Jon Corzine, despite huge Democratic advantages in money and voter registration, two visits by Barack Obama and the presence on the ballot of a third-party candidate who took votes away from Christie. Maine has gone Democratic in five... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/06/for_whom_the_bell_tolls_99042.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/06/for_whom_the_bell_tolls_99042.html Pat Buchanan Pat Buchanan 2009/11 11/06/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:43:56 -0600 In 2006, the minority party in Congress issued a dire report on the "unprecedented erosion of the democratic process." Democratic Rep. Louise Slaughter, then the ranking member of the House Rules Committee, authored the scathing document. She blasted the majority Republicans' violations of "procedural fairness," short-circuiting of debate, and late-night meetings "to discourage members and the press from participating" in legislative deliberations. My, how history repeats itself. Fast-forward to 2009. The Imperial Congress has returned. The oppressed have... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/06/the_death_of_deliberative_democracy_99041.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/06/the_death_of_deliberative_democracy_99041.html Michelle Malkin Michelle Malkin 2009/11 11/06/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:44:21 -0600 GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: Well, they call it a "House call." House Republicans and protesters gathered on Capitol Hill here in Washington. They're fighting with all they have to stop the Democrats' plans for health care reform. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kill the bill! Kill the bill! Kill the bill! UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kill the bill! Kill the bill! Kill the bill! UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kill the bill! Kill the bill! Kill the bill! UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The biggest voice in the United States... UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kill the bill! Kill the bill! Kill the... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/rep_price_on_the_house_health_care_bill_99064.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/rep_price_on_the_house_health_care_bill_99064.html On the Record On the Record 2009/11 11/05/2009/00/00/00 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:40:45 -0600 1:20 P.M. EST THE PRESIDENT: Hey! Hello, everybody. Please sit down. Good afternoon, everybody. I wanted to come down and just talk a little bit about health care before Robert gives his regular briefing. I am extraordinarily pleased and grateful to learn that the AARP and the American Medical Association are both supporting the health insurance reform bill that will soon come up to a vote in the House of Representatives. When it comes to the AARP, this is no small endorsement. For more than 50 years, they have been a leader in the fight to reduce the cost of health care and expand... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/obama_on_support_from_aarp_and_the_ama_99033.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/obama_on_support_from_aarp_and_the_ama_99033.html Barack Obama Barack Obama 2009/11 11/05/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:57:03 -0600 Now this is change I can believe in. Remember the stories written one year ago today, the morning after the Barack Obama win? It wasn't just about him, said the prevailing analysis. This was a giant reset button, a realignment of American politics, which had skewed mostly Republican since Reagan. We were told the Obama election was a pivotal event signaling a repudiation of all of those nasty things Republicans had been selling and an embrace of the Democratic brand that could leave the GOP reeling for years. But the people of Virginia and New Jersey have now suggested otherwise,... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/of_course_these_votes_were_about_obama_99040.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/of_course_these_votes_were_about_obama_99040.html Mark Davis Mark Davis 2009/11 11/05/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:54:47 -0600 Welcome to the permanent American tea party. You will recall how when the tea-party movement erupted during the congressional recess in August, it was spun on the left that these events were the creation of conservative ideologues. At the start, yes. By the end, though, it was about anxieties deeper than that. The GOP is now spinning the results in Virginia and New Jersey as proof that voters are fed up with the liberal ideologues in the White House and Congress. Yes, but it's deeper than that. What was learned Tuesday is that the American voter is absolutely, totally, unremittingly... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/voters_are_desperate_for_political_leadership_99032.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/voters_are_desperate_for_political_leadership_99032.html Daniel Henninger Daniel Henninger 2009/11 11/05/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:02:21 -0600 WASHINGTON -- A year after Barack Obama's election stirred broad hopes for change among American voters, persistent high unemployment and the spectacle of continued gridlock in Washington threaten Democratic dominance of the political landscape. Tuesday's defeats in gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey not only ended a decade or more of Democratic gains in those states but signaled possible trouble ahead in the midterm elections at the national level. At the same time, the loss of another Republican House seat in a special election -- the fourth such defeat in the last... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/trouble_ahead_for_democrats_99027.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/trouble_ahead_for_democrats_99027.html David Broder David Broder 2009/11 11/05/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:25:07 -0600 As the final votes were being counted, it was possible to draw some lessons from Republican Bob McDonnell's victory in Virginia and the close, three-way governor's race in New Jersey, never mind that White House press secretary Robert Gibbs has taken to saying that the elections don't mean much. The odd-year elections -- held in the first year of a presidency -- have been meaningful over the last two decades. In 1993, New Jersey voters rejected tax-raising Democratic Gov. James Florio, despite the best efforts of Bill Clinton's consultant James Carville -- a harbinger of... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/virginia_new_jersey_races_showing_voters_changing_course__99021.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/virginia_new_jersey_races_showing_voters_changing_course__99021.html Michael Barone Michael Barone 2009/11 11/05/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:50:53 -0600 EAST BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- Tuesday's elections were a rebuke to the right wing and a warning to Democrats. They were also a timely reminder that President Obama needs to tune up his celebrated political organization and find a way to make Americans feel hopeful again. The night's biggest loser was the national conservative political machine -- the wealthy tax-cutters at the Club for Growth and the Palin-Limbaugh-Beck complex. The Beltway Right shoved aside local Republicans in an upstate New York congressional race, imposed their own candidate who didn't even live in the district,... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/not_right-wing_but_still_angry_99026.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/not_right-wing_but_still_angry_99026.html E.J. Dionne E.J. Dionne 2009/11 11/05/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:28:48 -0600 Against the backdrop of high unemployment and a public revolt against a Democratic health-care bill -- which would significantly increase taxes, slash Medicare spending, and massively raise health-care spending elsewhere in a government takeover of our leading growth sector -- the Republicans swept the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races. It's interesting that early signs of economic recovery are not helping the Obama Democrats. This is largely because of the 9.8 percent unemployment rate, which is expected to move higher. Even the crazy jobs-saved-or-created campaign is having... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/the_economics_of_a_gop_gubernatorial_sweep__99023.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/the_economics_of_a_gop_gubernatorial_sweep__99023.html Larry Kudlow Larry Kudlow 2009/11 11/05/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:43:53 -0600 For perhaps the first time in American history, seemingly rational adults will sit down and spend significant time dissecting the off-off-year elections in Virginia, New Jersey and New York's much-discussed 23rd Congressional District. Naturally, a consensus will emerge: The angry, hard-right, radical, insane (etc.) conservative base has hijacked the Republican Party and, in the process, further alienated a beleaguered nation -- a nation that apparently is hankering for tripling deficits and government takeovers of the health care, energy, banking and car industries. Like Democrats, I,... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/can_it_be_a_party_for_capitalism_99000.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/can_it_be_a_party_for_capitalism_99000.html David Harsanyi David Harsanyi 2009/11 11/05/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:33:35 -0600 It's been a long time since Republicans savored the day after. "This certainly was a much needed shot in the arm for Republicans. And should be a dire warning sign for Democrats," said Tony Fabrizio, a veteran GOP strategist. But Fabrizio's long term view differed. "The smart Republicans are looking at it and saying ok, we're not dead yet," he continued. "But we can't assume that the election of these two Republicans means that the voters think we are right and are embracing Republican principles." Tuesday's gubernatorial victories in... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/gop_strategists_still_see_formidable_future_99030.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/gop_strategists_still_see_formidable_future_99030.html David Paul Kuhn David Paul Kuhn 2009/11 11/05/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:57:13 -0600 The Council on American-Islamic Relations sent out its usual roundup Tuesday of news stories alleging the mistreatment of Muslims in America. There was a story critical of the FBI harassment of Muslims in Queens, N.Y., in the wake of the arrest of a suspected terrorist. Another story concerned calls for an investigation into an FBI shooting that left Detroit Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah dead. There were also notices of CAIR banquets. There was no story about Noor Faleh Almaleki. Her father, Faleh Hassan Almaleki, has been arrested for running down his 20-year-old daughter, as well as the mother... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/there_is_no_honor_theres_only_killing_99029.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/there_is_no_honor_theres_only_killing_99029.html Debra Saunders Debra Saunders 2009/11 11/05/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:21:03 -0600 Although it is cheaper to buy a pint of milk than to buy a quart of milk, nobody considers that to be lowering the price of milk. Although it is cheaper to buy a lower quality of all sorts of goods than to buy a higher quality, nobody thinks of that as lowering the price of either lower or higher quality goods. Yet, when it comes to medical care, there seems to be remarkably little attention paid to questions of both quantity and quality, in the rush to "bring down the cost of medical care." There is no question that you can reduce the payments for medical care by having either a... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/the_costs_of_medical_care_part_ii__98985.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/the_costs_of_medical_care_part_ii__98985.html Thomas Sowell Thomas Sowell 2009/11 11/05/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:59:46 -0600 As President Obama decides whether to send more troops to Afghanistan, we should remember that most of the conventional pessimism about Afghanistan is only half-truth. Remember the mantra that the region is the "graveyard of empires," where Alexander the Great, the British in the 19th century, and the Soviets only three decades ago inevitably met their doom? In fact, Alexander conquered most of Bactria and its environs (which included present-day Afghanistan). After his death, the area that is now Afghanistan became part of the Seleucid Empire. Centuries later, outnumbered... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/afghan_mythologies_99028.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/afghan_mythologies_99028.html Victor Davis Hanson Victor Davis Hanson 2009/11 11/05/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:33:04 -0600 The Tea Party wing of the Republican Party had the perfect strategy for upstate New York's 23rd congressional district: 1. Support a candidate who doesn't live in the district -- in this case, Conservative Douglas Hoffman. Savage the local Republican choice, Dede Scozzafava, and hound her into dropping out. 2. Condemn the local Republicans who had picked the moderate Scozzafava as being "insiders." And have the finger-pointers be Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson. (Guess no one would ever accuse them of... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/the_tea-baggers_were_carpetbaggers__99025.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/the_tea-baggers_were_carpetbaggers__99025.html Froma Harrop Froma Harrop 2009/11 11/05/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:36:06 -0600 When Newt Gingrich warned Republicans that they were making a grave "mistake" by driving out moderates and enforcing the angry orthodoxy of the far right, the sober tone of his remarks was stunning. This is a politician who is no stranger himself to the wilder shores of extremism, a populist and a purist who rose to great power against the GOP establishment, and a demagogue whose lexicon lacerated the "Democrat Party" as decadent, elitist, unpatriotic and immoral. In his day, Gingrich channeled the same phobias and fury as the Tea Party activists whose growing influence in... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/the_gops_toxic_tea_party_99024.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/the_gops_toxic_tea_party_99024.html Joe Conason Joe Conason 2009/11 11/05/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:38:48 -0600 Barack Obama held out hope of overcoming partisan divides, lowering the temperature and bringing Americans together. How's that working out? Not well, it appears. One year after he was elected, Americans look more polarized than ever. In a special House election in upstate New York, a Conservative Party candidate, backed by Sarah Palin, took on a moderate Republican whom his supporters called a "radical leftist," forced her to withdraw and then lost to the Democrat. It's entirely possible that in the Senate, not a single Republican will vote for an administration-supported... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/america_only_seems_polarized_99022.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/america_only_seems_polarized_99022.html Steve Chapman Steve Chapman 2009/11 11/05/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:49:59 -0600 On Election Day this past Tuesday, the people of Maine voted to repeal gay marriage, 53 percent to 47 percent. Gay-marriage advocates are bitterly disappointed. They spent three years building an organization to push gay marriage in Maine. They had every major newspaper and most other media on their side, as well as the political establishment -- the governor, the attorney general, the head of the schools. They were awash in money, out-fundraising pro-marriage advocates by more than 50 percent. (Full disclosure: The National Organization for Marriage contributed $1.8 million to the Yes on One... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/the_maine_vote_for_marriage_99020.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/the_maine_vote_for_marriage_99020.html Maggie Gallagher Maggie Gallagher 2009/11 11/05/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:17:16 -0600 SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, my goodness, we have a good crowd today. Well, we have had an excellent conversation, and I welcomed the new foreign minister to Washington so early in his tenure, and I am looking forward to spending more time with him when I travel to Berlin and participate in the very exciting and important commemoration of the fall of the Berlin Wall. For Americans, our relationship with Germany is rooted in our commitment to freedom and democracy. And certainly, the new government that the minister represents exemplifies that. This time is a reminder of the values that we share... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/clintons_remarks_with_the_german_fm_99034.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/clintons_remarks_with_the_german_fm_99034.html Hillary Clinton Hillary Clinton 2009/11 11/05/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:38:13 -0600 WASHINGTON -- Actress Cate Blanchett, who has played Queen Elizabeth I, is performing here, portraying someone less than regal -- flurried, anxious Blanche DuBois, in Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire." If Obama administration officials involved in formulating Afghanistan policy see her, they should wince when she speaks DuBois' signature line: "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." The U.S. mission -- whatever it is; stay tuned -- in that fractured semi-nation depends on substantially increased competence and radically reduced... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/our_stranger_in_kabul_99009.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/05/our_stranger_in_kabul_99009.html George Will George Will 2009/11 11/05/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:33:39 -0600 (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DAVID AXELROD, OBAMA SENIOR ADVISER: The New York 23 race was the one race that was really a microcosm of the national debate. The other races in Jersey and in Virginia were really state races, very much focused on state races, Jersey was very much focused on Governor Corzine. But in New York 23, the issues that we're discussing every day in Washington were very much on the ballot. (END VIDEO CLIP) BRET BAIER, HOST: Well, here are the big winners of the races that we focused on the most, Chris Christie in New Jersey, Bob McDonnell in Virginia, and as you hear there,... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/04/panel_on_the_2009_elections_99065.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/04/panel_on_the_2009_elections_99065.html Special Report With Bret Baier Special Report With Bret Baier 2009/11 11/04/2009/00/00/00 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:41:46 -0600 GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: The GOP has hammered the House Democrats' health care bill, and critics have fired back at Republicans, Oh, yes? Do you have a better idea? Well, today House Republicans say they do. They officially released the Republican health care reform bill. So what's it all about? Republican congressman Mike Pence joins us. Good evening, sir. REP. MIKE PENCE, R - IND.: Good evening, Greta. VAN SUSTEREN: So what is the Republican health care reform bill, and how is it different than what the Democrats are proposing? PENCE: Well, the Democrat bill, all 1,990... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/04/reps_pence__taylor_debate_health_care_99039.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/04/reps_pence__taylor_debate_health_care_99039.html On the Record On the Record 2009/11 11/04/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:54:45 -0600 NEIL CAVUTO, HOST: Meanwhile, to the White House and another tea party dis, spokesman Robert Gibbs saying today anger gets you just 45 percent. Of course, he was referring to 45 percent of the vote that Conservative candidate Doug Hoffman received in that hotly contested New York congressional race. Something tells me that Fred Thompson might see things slightly different. He was an early backer of Hoffman, the Republican presidential candidate, co-host of The Fred Thompson Show," joining me right now. Senator, what do you make of that? FRED THOMPSON, FORMER REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/04/fred_thompson_on_doug_hoffman_99038.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/04/fred_thompson_on_doug_hoffman_99038.html Your World w/Neil Cavuto Your World w/Neil Cavuto 2009/11 11/04/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:53:28 -0600 BLITZER: A picture can be worth a thousand words, as they say. Right now, one image is being used to spell out a whole story. It's being used against Florida's Republican governor, who now wants to become the next U.S. senator. Governor Charlie Crist is joining us now from the capital, Tallahassee. Gloria Borger, our senior political analyst, is joining me now in the questioning. Governor, thanks for coming in. GOV. CHARLIE CRIST (R), FLORIDA: It's a pleasure, Wolf. Always good to be with you. And you, too, Gloria. Thank you. GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST:... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/04/interview_with_florida_gov_charlie_crist_99037.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/04/interview_with_florida_gov_charlie_crist_99037.html The Situation Room The Situation Room 2009/11 11/04/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:49:07 -0600 RACHEL MADDOW: Last week, a Foreign Service officer and former marine captain named Matthew Hoh went public with his resignation from the U.S. State Department, making him the first U.S. official known to have resigned over the war in Afghanistan. His resignation letter said in part, quote, "I have lost understanding of and confidence in the strategic purposes of the United States' presence in Afghanistan. To put it simply, I fail to see the value or the worth in continued U.S. casualties or expenditures of resources in support of the Afghan government in what is, truly, a... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/04/interviews_with_matthew_hoh__al_gore_99036.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/04/interviews_with_matthew_hoh__al_gore_99036.html Rachel Maddow Show Rachel Maddow Show 2009/11 11/04/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:46:40 -0600 Let's start with the chairman of Republican National Committee, Michael Steele. Mr. Steele, thank you for joining us. MICHAEL STEELE, RNC CHAIRMAN: Hey, Chris. MATTHEWS: I'm going to warm you up with some accolades, first of all. Two great candidates in terms of the way they ran their race, Virginia and New Jersey, positive candidates. They didn't run to the far right. They ran to the center right. They knew what they were doing. Their opponents ran negative campaigns, fearful campaigns. And your side won. Will that be the mode for next year's elections? Are you going to... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/04/interviews_with_michael_steele__robert_gibbs_99035.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/04/interviews_with_michael_steele__robert_gibbs_99035.html Hardball Hardball 2009/11 11/04/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:44:56 -0600 James C. Wright Middle SchoolMadison, Wisconsin 1:40 P.M. CST THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, everybody. Hello, Madison! (Applause.) Thank you so much. Thank you. Everybody, please, have a seat. Have a seat. It is good to see all of you. Good to be back in Madison. I want to first of all just say that Jim Doyle is not only one of the finest governors we have in the country, but is also a great friend, a great supporter; his entire family has been wonderful. And so I just could not be prouder to associate myself with the outstanding work that Jim has done in the state. Please give him a... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/04/obamas_remarks_on_strengthening_americas_education_system_99014.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/04/obamas_remarks_on_strengthening_americas_education_system_99014.html Barack Obama Barack Obama 2009/11 11/04/2009/00/00/00 Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:30:01 -0600 QUESTION: Secretary Clinton's trip was initially intended to shore up American credentials in Pakistan, but a Middle Eastern leg was added to her tour and ended up becoming the focus of her week overseas. I spoke with her shortly before she was to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Madame Secretary, thank you very much for taking the time. SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you. QUESTION: You're here in Cairo and about to meet with President Mubarak. Even though you started in Pakistan, most of your nine-day trip has been spent focusing on the Middle East. Now, as you're about... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/04/secretary_clintons_interview_with_npr_99013.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/04/secretary_clintons_interview_with_npr_99013.html Hillary Clinton Hillary Clinton 2009/11 11/04/2009/00/00/00 Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:27:10 -0600 I made The New York Times last week. It even ran my picture. My mother would be proud. Unfortunately, the story was critical. It said, "Critics have leaped on Mr. Stossel's speaking engagements as the latest evidence of conservative bias on the part of Fox." Which "critics" had "leaped"? The reporter mentioned Rachel Maddow. I wouldn't think her criticism newsworthy, but Times reporters may use MSNBC as their guide to life. He also quoted an "associate professor of journalism" who said my speeches were "'pretty shameful' by... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/04/the_double_standard_about_journalists_bias__99003.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/04/the_double_standard_about_journalists_bias__99003.html John Stossel John Stossel 2009/11 11/04/2009/00/00/00 Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:46:07 -0600 WASHINGTON -- Advice to readers about the coming orgy of analysis about the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial elections: Ignore it. Disquisitions on The Meaning of It All for President Obama or the 2009 results as a harbinger for Congress in 2010 have scant basis in reality. Over-interpreting election results is an occupational hazard for political reporters. This problem is particularly acute in the year after a presidential contest, when we are suffering from a bad case of electoral withdrawal. Thus, The New York Times instructs that the contests offer "some clues about how... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/04/of_elections_and_sunspots_99004.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/04/of_elections_and_sunspots_99004.html Ruth Marcus Ruth Marcus 2009/11 11/04/2009/00/00/00 Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:44:08 -0600 RICHMOND, Va. -- Democrats in Virginia had been bracing for a losing hand on election night, and voters dealt them just that. Former attorney general Robert F. McDonnell entered Election Day with a lead in the polls of more than 13 points over R. Creigh Deeds, a longtime state legislator. It took a recount to decide the two candidates' previous face-off -- the 2005 attorney general's race -- but that wouldn't be needed this time. McDonnell ended the day with a commanding 18-point win to become the state's next governor. A social conservative who successfully ran... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/04/virginia_loss_showcases_democratic_troubles_99012.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/04/virginia_loss_showcases_democratic_troubles_99012.html Kyle Trygstad Kyle Trygstad 2009/11 11/04/2009/00/00/00 Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:06:22 -0600 According to the October 30th New York Times, "The nation's gross domestic product expanded at an annual rate of 3.5 percent in the quarter that ended in September, matching its average growth rate of the last 80 years." I'm no economist, but that tells me we are no longer in a recession, even if some of that is attributable to the government's huge spending in that period. The nation doesn't feel secure, however, and the reason is obvious. Our unemployment rate is currently at 9.8 percent. If you count the unemployed people who are no longer looking for jobs,... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/04/for_the_jobless_the_great_recession_continues_99011.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/04/for_the_jobless_the_great_recession_continues_99011.html Ed Koch Ed Koch 2009/11 11/04/2009/00/00/00 Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:32:36 -0600 WASHINGTON -- As I was talking recently with the founder of a large American corporation, the conversation turned (inevitably) to health care reform. His employees in their 20s, on average, cost the company about $1,500 a year in health bills. Those in their 50s cost at least 10 times more. The effect of proposed health care reform -- which limits the ability of insurers to charge higher premiums for older adults -- would be, he said, a large shift of America's health care burden to the younger generation. This is not an unintended consequence of reform; it is the whole purpose. It is... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/04/funding_health_care_on_the_backs_of_the_young_99010.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/04/funding_health_care_on_the_backs_of_the_young_99010.html Michael Gerson Michael Gerson 2009/11 11/04/2009/00/00/00 Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:34:36 -0600 WASHINGTON -- With the "re-election" of President Hamid Karzai, if that's the right word for a process that featured fraudulent balloting and a canceled runoff, the United States now confronts the hardest puzzle of all about Afghanistan: How to improve governance there -- which most experts agree is essential to defeat the Taliban -- without taking even more control from Afghan officials? President Obama took the first step out on this tightrope Monday, with a congratulatory phone call to Karzai that was at the same time a backhanded slap. He urged the Afghan president to... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/04/for_karzai_reform_or_else_99008.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/04/for_karzai_reform_or_else_99008.html David Ignatius David Ignatius 2009/11 11/04/2009/00/00/00 Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:39:37 -0600 On Nov. 9, 1989, large crowds of German citizens from both East and West Berlin approached the Berlin Wall. At several border crossing points, East Berliners began shouting at the armed communist guards, demanding they open the gates and shove aside barbed wire obstacles. The confused guards yielded and disappeared. The gleeful crowds from the communist East and the free West mingled and mixed, occasionally waving at television cameras. Young men whacked at the wall's hideous concrete with pick axes and sledge hammers, then passed the tools to other eager hands. Make no mistake. The... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/04/cracking_the_berlin_wall__99007.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/04/cracking_the_berlin_wall__99007.html Austin Bay Austin Bay 2009/11 11/04/2009/00/00/00 Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:40:03 -0600