Informed Speculation

…but if you haven’t read Peggy Noonan’s latest, you really should. I don’t always agree with Ms. Noonan; big whoop. Who says you always have to agree with someone to enjoy their work? She’s a helluva writer, that’s why I like her, and when she’s on, she’s up there with the great ones. Her latest, [...]

Richard Cohen (who recently suggested the test of a legitimate war is if you are willing to forcibly send your grown man of a son to, presumably, die in it, in the mode of the biblical Abraham) is back with another insipid, whimpering walk down memory lane as he attempts to relive the glory days [...]

I have decided that it’s time to end this blog. Effective immediately. That’s the bad news…the good news is I’m replacing it with Decision ’08, the magazine! That’s right, this is the inaugural post – er, article! Article! – of the all-new format (which, ironically, is identical to the old format in every way, shape, [...]

Holy cow, will this week ever end? Hurry up and get here, three-day weekend!… Sissy Willis has further news of the latest meme taking over the moonbat side of the blogosphere, ‘fake applause’ – remember, I’ve gone on the record in predicting a mention in this week’s Frank Rich column… Tom Maguire has the scoop [...]

Perhaps attempting to fill the void left by fellow hack MoDo, whose sabbatical mercifully continues, intensely partisan New York Times whiner Bob Herbert assures us that Iraq is, what else, a quagmire. In fact, he manages to use the word quagmire four (4) times in his latest column. In case you missed the point, here’s [...]

Things are looking hopeful for passage of the Central American Free Trade Agreement in the Senate today, but the House is not scheduled to take it up until July, and it is expected to face a tougher fight there. Few things get my unhesitating support regardless of circumstance, but free trade is one of them. [...]

Don’t miss out on the second edition of RINO Sightings; it’s sure to be a star-spangled spectacular! The post will go up on July 4th, and though Stephen said you have until Friday, because I’m feeling generous on this Independence Day weekend, I’ll accept your submissions until noon on Sunday, July 3rd. In other words, [...]

Economist and pundit extraordinaire Thomas Sowell is 75 today; be sure and read his birthday column, and celebrate the best way possible, by grabbing one of his many excellent books (hat tip to Power Line)…

Trey Jackson has come through again, this time with the video (well, audio, anyway) of supreme idiot Ward Churchill and his ‘just for grins’ musings on fragging. While the rest of the world ponders the best move to secure the peace in Iraq, Churchill contemplates the best ways to make our military less effective. You [...]

The more you consider the Downing Street Memo, the more reasonable it seems. I’m beginning to think the conservatives should bring it up more. Why? Well, here’s a few reasons… Resistance is futile…so go vote already!… It’s just one month, but this is very good news, indeed: the army has exceeded its recruitment goals for [...]

Longtime reader Fred emailed me this story earlier, but I haven’t had a chance to get to it yet, so I’ll direct you to Ryan James for the details…it seems one of the justices who went with the majority on the horrendous Kelo decision has had his own property symbolically attacked by a voter who [...]

The great Arthur Chrenkoff catches our old buddy the Kos engaging in a particularly galling bit of cynicism: he offers two paths for Democrats to seize the high ground in the Iraq debate: Promote a withdrawal of forces since we have achieved our mission of bringing freedom to the Iraqi people; and We need greater [...]

The project to rebuild Ground Zero has, thus far, been an embarrassment. We’ve had the spectacle of designs, redesigns, lack of tenants, both real and potential, and the insertion of political correctness into the mix. Of course nothing can ever detract from the site’s resonance with the American people, but we can do much better [...]

…comes from Ruben Navarrette, Jr., in the San Diego Union-Tribune, who defends Tom Cruise’s recent Scientology-fueled rant on the Today show as an important contribution to the debate over over-reliance on prescription drugs, particularly the use of ritalin on the young. Lauer thought that Cruise was being judgmental, and that he should keep his opinions [...]

The ever-resourceful Claudia Rosett has a piece up on Kofi’s latest effort at U.N. ‘reform’. Ms. Rosett notes how the threat from Congress to withhold funds has sent Kofi into overdrive again, and she uncovers this little nugget in the latest reform proposals: …If there is one item in all Mr. Annan’s talk of reform [...]

One thing about a presidential speech, or the prospect of one, even, is it refocuses the debate; for that reason alone, Bush’s speech will have a laudatory effect. There are plenty of excellent contributions out there already; unfortunately, none of those excellent contributions will figure in this post. Nope, this post is about those heavy [...]

…the Political Teen has the President’s speech right here, and the Indepundit has a good roundup…

Mickey Kaus – too presidential!… Ryan James – good speech; not a Joe Biden fan… John Hinderaker at Power Line: excellent speech – clear, confident, substantive… Lorie Byrd – one of Bush’s best; in fact, may have written it herself… Kos – obsession over fake applause (prediction: Frank Rich will incorporate ‘fake applause’ into his [...]

The President’s speech, I thought, was solid, not spectacular; I don’t think it will have much of an impact in and of itself. As I’ve said many times now, we must press forward aggressively and follow up on this speech with other events, speeches, and opportunities to get media time that focuses on the positive… [...]

Lots of talk about this Michael Ignatieff piece in the New York Times. It’s a longish article on the promise of Jeffersonian democracy, both realized and yearned for, and whether it’s a chimera or the world’s birthright. Ignatieff both pinpoints the problem and suffers from it at the same time (then again, maybe it’s the [...]