Iran continues to emit wisps of turmoil at the highest levels. First, there’s the unprecedented statement by the Association of Researchers and Teachers of Qom–the religious center of Iraq–in support of the reform movement. This was the group that was at the heart of the movement led by Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomenei that brought about the Islamic [...]
Should we really have been so surprised? Quitting things seems to be a defining trait of Sarah Palin. This, after all, is a woman who attended five colleges in as many years: Palin’s first stop, at the University of Hawaii in Hilo in 1982, didn’t last long, according to Johnson. Palin and three Wasilla friends [...]
Barack Obama’s approach to foreign policy–rebuild bridges and focus on commonalities, not differences–will be tested this week in Russia. In advance of the trip, Obama and his aides have been adopting an ever-so-slightly more aggressive posture. Late last week, Obama took the notable step of seeming to scold Russian Prime Minister Vladamir Putin for “keeping [...]
From the New York Times: The most important group of religious leaders in Iran called the disputed presidential election and the new government illegitimate on Saturday, an act of defiance against the country’s supreme leader and the most public sign of a major split in the country’s clerical establishment. A statement by the group, the [...]
Following up on Michael Scherer’s excellent post, here’s a web story on Sarah Palin’s surprise decision to resign as governor of Alaska. If you’d told me a governor was going to resign today, I’d have laid good money on Mark Sanford. Also, a friend made a good point at dinner: if one resigns 18 months [...]
Late last year, I spoke with a number of Republican Party activists about Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. What would she need to do to have a chance in 2012? Could she be the conservative star that the media seemed to think? The answers were more or less the same. She was a clear talent, they [...]
The constitution doesn’t require much participation from the American people. It protects their rights — free speech, to bear arms, a fair trial, etc – but it doesn’t even make voting mandatory. The one action it does require is for citizens to stand up and get counted, which is why every 10 years the census [...]
A dispatch from Swampland London correspondent Catherine Mayer: Last night Richard LeBaron, America’s Chargé d’Affaires ad interim in London, hosted the annual Independence Day shindig at Winfield House, the sumptuous ambassadorial residence that has stood empty since the departure in February of the last U.S. envoy to Britain, Robert Tuttle, a Bush appointee. As waiters [...]
The New York Times puts its story about the Washington Post controversy on Page One, with a headline that calls it a “Pay-for-Chat Plan;” the Washington Post puts its own version back in the Style Section (Page C1), and calls them “Corporate Dinners.”
I know I’m a bit dim, but it sounds to me like the President confirmed my story about his church preference in a conversation today with a group of Catholic reporters. We have attended services at Camp David every weekend that we’re there. I will tell you, by the way, that it is a wonderful [...]
