Today's Wall Street Journal features an editorial on last week's belated funding for the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. I want to pick out two paragraphs to share. First, on the Democrats: Hamilton and Madison knew what they were doing when they gave the bulk of the war powers to the President, and it's hard […]
Let me start with a hypothetical. Let's say that immediately after the San Diego Union-Tribune article revealing that Rep. Randy "Dirty Duke" Cunningham had made several hundred thousand dollars by selling his home to a defense contractor above market value -- and that contractor subsequently sold the home at a big loss -- that the […]
I've already told you I don't watch much in the way of network TV. This past week the two network shows I do watch, "Veronica Mars" and "Heroes," came to an end. If you watch either of these shows and haven't seen the final episodes yet on your TiVo, then skip the rest of this […]
President Bush has signed the emergency supplemental bill funding the war in Iraq with no deadlines or limits on the use of military force, just a bit of pork and a minimum wage hike. Finally. The votes in the House (280-142) and Senate (80-14) have to be a little disconcerting for the retreat now coalition. […]
Documents found in an Al Qaeda safe house illustrate what torture really is, for those who are confused (e.g. Andrew Sulliivan, Amnesty International). Warning, the pictures are disturbing. A Fox News report yesterday suggested that the reason for the pictures and not simply written instructions may be twofold: First, the Al Qaeda recruits may be […]
It appears some Texas students are angry that the local school board isn't allowing them to walk at graduation because they failed the state's TAKS test. The goal of the test is to make sure the kids have some basic skills in reading, writing and arithmetic. The students validated the school board's decision when one […]
Journalists get math wrong -- a lot. I used to joke a lot that I was probably the only journalist in the world who had taken multi-variable calculus. Then I found out that OpinionJournal.com's James Taranto had too. (For the record: It's been nearly 16 years since I took the course. I passed, with a […]
One of the other things Democrats promised in 2006 was greater disclosure and curbing of runaway earmarks -- a practice created by the Democrats, but turned into a streamlined machine by the Republicans. (Do you think this paragraph will get metaphor alert treatment from OpinionJournal.com?) Well, Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.), has decided to add a […]
The House passed "lobbying reform" tonight. Chief among the reforms is a measure that requires lobbyists to disclose how much money they solicit from friends and business associates on behalf of a candidate. The so-called “bundling” bill was steeply resisted by pro-business Democrats and minority members who worried it would discourage lobbyists from helping to […]
Update below. President Bill Clinton swept into office promising to have the most honest and ethical administration in history. By whatever your measure, he fell far short. Likewise, Democrats took control of the House in January for the first time in a dozen years full of promises to be fair and just -- unlike their […]