Liveblogging: The Fracas in Philly

9:00 PM I think that publicity still of Brian Williams was taken when he was twelve. 9:02 PM And Bri-Bri, right in with the “tell us how Hillary will eat our babies.” 9:03 PM Obama’s first canned joke — something about a guy named “Rocko”? — falls as flat as his smooth washboard stomach. 9:04 [...]

In the Arena

The Nobel Prize

In their usual intellectually dishonest fashion assorted left-wing bloggers are now claiming that I proposed George Bush for the Nobel Peace Prize. I didn’t, of course. I wrote a column criticizing the sloppiness and ineptitude of Bush’s so-called “Freedom Agenda.” I was slammed by the Weekly Standard as a result. I stand by every word [...]

SwampCast: When Obamas Attack

Some thoughts on what does and doesn’t constitute “the politics of hope,” and guess at what might be a useful, and substantive, point to make if he really plans on “differentiating” himself.

Murtha’s Earmarks

The Wall Street Journal has a superb page-one take-out today on Rep. John Murtha’s unabashed pursuit of pork on behalf of his western Pennsylvania district. The figures are eye-popping, and dispiriting: Murtha has funneled literally billions of dollars to his hometown of Johnstown, Pa., and the rest of his district, over the course of his [...]

Mike Huckabee’s Secret Weapon

Fact: Chuck Norris has not endorsed Mike Huckabee. Chuck Norris is Mike Huckabee.

In the Arena

Better in Iraq?

Spencer Ackerman has a smart analysis over at Tapped. I’m a bit less sanguine about the Sadr-Hakim peace holding for very long–there are constant skirmishes between the two factions throughout the Iraqi south, I’m told. But Ackerman’s point about the rise of Sunni military power–67,000 militia-men in arms–is a good one. The trouble is, this [...]

All(baugh) Aboard!

The Giuliani campaign put out a press release today heralding its acquisition of Joe Allbaugh’s services as a “senior adviser” on campaign strategy and homeland security. Allbaugh, you’ll remember, was once a member of the so-called Iron Triangle — the trio of top advisers to then-Gov. George W. Bush in Texas (the other two were [...]

N-Pod: First, They Came for the Hitlers

Norman Podhoretz responds to arguments that we should consider deterrence when it comes to Iran. First, I want to say that I think the attitude expressed by Fareed Zakaria represents an irresponsible complacency that I think is comparable to the denial in the early ’30s of the intentions of Hitler that led to what Churchill [...]

Obama: Betting it all on Iowa?

As you probably expected, the topic Matt Lauer really wanted to discuss with Obama strategist David Axelrod and Clinton adviser Howard Wolfson this morning was how aggressively Obama planned to attack Clinton at the Democratic debate in Philly tonight. In attempting to lower expectations, however, Axelrod said something that caught my attention. After a set-up [...]

In the Arena

Complexity on the Right

I should have posted on this earlier, but David Kirkpatrick’s piece about the evangelical flock’s growing impatience with their right-wing leaders in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine was probably the most important piece of political journalism I’ve seen this year…yet another sign that we’ve reached the raggedy edge of the right-wing pendulum swing. It also [...]