http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/vdh/ en-us Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:38:27 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051170/posts Two articles in one post discussing the Berlin speech. ‘This Is the Moment’  And now we are loved again? It’s America, ObamaA modest dissent to the citizen of the world July 24, 2008Given the size of the audience in Berlin Thursday, the enthusiastic response, and the standard lines about how we-were-, -are-, and -will-be-friends boilerplate, one wonders whether all it took to win the Euro-hearts and minds was to have a charismatic, multiracial American spice up a standard George W. Bush speech about helping the world, addressing AIDs, more troops in Afghanistan, etc.? So supposedly sophisticated Europeans, who constantly dissect... NRO http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051170/posts#comment Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:38:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050670/posts The Sixties Won’t Go Away What more can anyone say about the 1960s and all its legacies? By Victor Davis Hanson Those who protested some 40 years ago often still congratulate themselves that their loud zeal alone brought needed “change” to America in civil rights, the environment, women’s liberation, and world peace. Maybe. But critics counter that the larger culture that followed was the most self-absorbed in memory. Everyone can at least agree that the spirit of the “Me Generation” is not going quietly into the night — especially since that generation ushered in a certain coarseness and self-righteousness that... NRO http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050670/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:10:17 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050222/posts Hillary used to go ballistic in frustration at the latest rather shameless incarnation of Obama, and McCain should not fall into the same malady. He understandably is angry because Obama, whose opposition to the surge and erstwhile desire to be done with Iraq by March 2007 would have lost the war, rode the anti-war wave when it was popular, and now, in his current metamorphosis to centrist, has piggy-backed onto the good news in Iraq as if it had nothing to do with the surge — as if McCain's lonely support for it either never happened or was irrelevant. And... The National Review http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050222/posts#comment Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:33:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2048502/posts [note: You won't read this in five minutes] Nile Gardiner, Ph.D.: Good morning. Welcome to the Heritage Foundation and the fifth Margaret Thatcher Freedom Lecture.The Margaret Thatcher Lecture series began in Sep­tember 2006, with a major speech by former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky on the subject, "Is Free­dom for Everyone?" It was followed by lectures on economic freedom and religious freedom by Hernan­do de Soto and Michael Novak, and by Ambassador John Bolton's lecture "Does the United Nations Advance the Cause of Freedom?"Our distinguished speaker today is Victor Davis Han­son, who will address the theme, "In Defense of Liberty: The... The Heritage Foundation http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2048502/posts#comment Sun, 20 Jul 2008 21:35:03 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047555/posts “This is our ethanol”So an exasperated Sen. Barbara Boxer screams that the farm-belt senators better support her regional selfishness in opposing California off-shore drilling against the national interest, in the same manner she went along with the ethanol boondoggle. Odd that she was so brazen in her confessional.Jackson’s N-wordI give some credit to Barack Obama. His ‘hope and change’ mantra drives some to near madness and has proved a wrecking ball of liberal careers. First, in 90 days he destroyed the Clinton political machine, leaving Bill’s past 7-year effort at PC rehabilitation, after Monica and the pardons, in shambles. Now... pajamasmedia.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047555/posts#comment Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:29:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047406/posts There is by now only one constant in the entire sad Iraqi saga since the brilliant three-week victory of 2003, and the subsequent violent reconstruction that followed. In our collective exasperation almost all the bad news from the front is due to someone else’s stupidity; any good reports are always the result of one’s own insight and sobriety. The result is irony, but also amnesia about what was written and said in the recent past. Consider the paradoxes we’ve witnessed. We were paralyzed for a year over Ambassador Joe Wilson’s carnival-like mission, in part due to the prompt of his... NRO http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047406/posts#comment Fri, 18 Jul 2008 11:45:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2046868/posts In the last 20 years, we were lectured constantly about “post-industrial” America. Experts proclaimed that the United States had evolved into an “information society” of “high-tech jobs.” The traditional sources of American strength—manufacturing, the production of food and fuel, and the assembling of cars and trucks—were apparently passé. Instead, others less fortunate abroad were to do those more grubby tasks, while Americans, with their BlackBerrys and laptops, funded, organized, lectured and critiqued them. Illegal aliens might cook our meals or change our children’s diapers to free us up for far more important tasks of litigation, finance and environmental review. The... Primetime Politics http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2046868/posts#comment Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:32:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2045565/posts I think McCain will incrementally continue to close the lead for four reasons: The hope and change rock-start moments are waning, and replaced by a new Obama composite: 1) Obama flips in furious fashion; the only controversy is over when the mutations will stop, and how well he can convince his base that they are only cosmetic adjustments of limited duration necessary for election and the implementation of their shared European-like agenda. 2) Obama is proving messianic; all the lectures about fainting, the Brandenburg Gate, his new seal, open-air address in Denver, oceans receding, etc. are cementing a portrait of... The Corner on National Review Online http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2045565/posts#comment Tue, 15 Jul 2008 03:16:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2043312/posts Almost everyone is talking about Barack Obama’s flip-flops, as the Senate’s most liberal member steadily moves to the political center and disowns firebrands like Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Fr. Michael Pfleger. But less noticed is that Obama is not just deflating John McCain’s efforts to hold him to his long liberal record, but also embracing much of the present agenda of an unpopular President Bush on a wide variety of fronts. Take social issues. Obama is now a gun-rights advocate. Like Bush, he applauded the Supreme Court’s overturning of a Washington, D.C., ordinance banning the possession of handguns. The senator,... Primetime Politics http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2043312/posts#comment Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:41:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2042850/posts A review of Conquest: How Societies Overwhelm Others by David Day. Oxford University Press, 2008. < ... excerpted ... > While Mr. Day writes well, draws on a great deal of learning, and offers some interesting examples from the Japanese and Chinese colonial experiences, there nevertheless emerges a predictable, and ultimately tiring, repetition of case studies — centered inordinately on the British colonization of Australia, the European conquest of the Americas, Hitler's efforts to incorporate the East, and what he describes as the contemporary expansion of Israel onto Arab lands. The result is that Mr. Day's selections are not... The New York Sun http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2042850/posts#comment Wed, 9 Jul 2008 12:25:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2042831/posts General Betray Us?Obama said not a word last autumn about the Moveon.org slander of Gen. Petraeus when he was running hard left of Clinton and the Moveon.org crowd was essential to his candidacy. But now? After West Virginia, Tennessee, Indiana, Ohio, Texas, Pennsylvania, etc. he realizes two things: there are no longer any rivals to the left, but quite a lot to the right who are turned off by him. So Moveon.org goes the way of Rev. Wright, while his grandmother, the flag lapel, guns, death penalty, Iraq, FISA, and NAFTA climb back on the bus—until he is elected (when... pajamasmedia.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2042831/posts#comment Wed, 9 Jul 2008 11:39:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040682/posts On this Fourth of July of our discontent — with spiraling fuel prices, a sluggish economy, a weak dollar, mounting foreign and domestic debt, continuing costs in Iraq, a falling stock market, and a mortgage crisis — we should remember two truths about America. First, the United States remains the most free and affluent country in the history of civilization. Second, almost all our problems are lapses of complacency, remain relatively easily correctable, and pale in comparison to past crises. By almost any barometer, the United States remains the most fortunate country in the world. We continue to be the... National Review Online http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040682/posts#comment Fri, 4 Jul 2008 13:06:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041301/posts The question is no longer on what has Obama backtracked, but rather on what has he not? The political problems with Obama's flipitis are twofold: one, it's coming late in the season. To defeat Hillary he went hard left in the void left by Edwards. But the primary dragged on so long, that when he recently flipped and flopped to leave the hard left on NAFTA, Trinity Church, Rev. Wright, FISA, gun control, campaign financing, death penalty, Iraq, Iran, Jerusalem, etc. he did so in the summer, not late winter. The result is that his formerly left positions were showcased... Private Papers http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041301/posts#comment Sun, 6 Jul 2008 01:53:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040278/posts It is not hard to see why and how the middle classes, the poor, and the union members would like to see larger government programs and greater taxes on the wealthy, but why are so many in the upper-upper middle classes so vehemently pro-Obama? Are they that confident in the public schools, teachers' unions, swearing off their archaic gasoline engines, wanting restrictions on free trade and globalization, and living in mixed, integrated working-class neighborhoods? One paradox about the Obama campaign is that in terms of aggregate cash, most of his total donations are of the larger sort, and they tend... The Corner on National Review Online http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040278/posts#comment Thu, 3 Jul 2008 15:22:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040144/posts One way to envision the McCain-Obama presidential race is as a boxing match — particularly like the famous Mohammed Ali championship fights. The deliberate McCain is like a Sonny Liston or George Foreman trying to cut the ring in half and force his lighter-footed opponent onto the ropes. For McCain, this comes in the form of numerous proposed town-hall debates, where he hopes that face-to-face questions and answers will fall on his less-seasoned opponent like sudden haymakers. In turn, Obama is like Ali; his style is to keep moving — and stay out of reach of his opponent. Obama does... NRO http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040144/posts#comment Thu, 3 Jul 2008 10:26:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2038504/posts I think we are beginning to see the full measure of the Obama general campaign strategy, framed along ten or so key directives that can allow the election of the most leftward candidate in American political history. So far the candidate himself needs no coaching, inasmuch he has proved to be one of the most pragmatic, flexible, and ambitious figures in recent memory, with superb handlers who understand the challenge of getting such a hard leftist past the suspicious American electorate. 1. “Maturing” Views. Move to the center on as many problematic issues as possible — whether FISA, NAFTA, talking... rcp http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2038504/posts#comment Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:28:04 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037134/posts June 26, 2008, 0:00 a.m. The Can't-Do SocietyWe have become a nation of second-guessing Hamlets. By Victor Davis Hanson Shakespeare warned us about the dangers of “thinking too precisely.” His poor Danish prince lost “the name of action,” as he dithered and sighed that “conscience does make cowards of us all.” With gas over $4 a gallon, the public is finally waking up to the fact that for decades the United States has not been developing known petroleum reserves in Alaska, in our coastal waters, or off the continental shelf. Jittery Hamlets apparently forgot that gas comes from oil... National Review Online http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037134/posts#comment Fri, 27 Jun 2008 05:22:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037066/posts We have become a nation of second-guessing Hamlets. Shakespeare warned us about the dangers of "thinking too precisely." His poor Danish prince lost "the name of action" as he dithered and sighed that "conscience does make cowards of us all." With gas above $4 a gallon, the public is finally waking up to the fact that for decades the U.S. has not been developing known petroleum reserves in Alaska, in our coastal waters or off the continental shelf. Jittery Hamlets apparently forgot that gas comes from oil — and that before you can fill your tank, you must take risks... IBD Editorials http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2037066/posts#comment Fri, 27 Jun 2008 01:19:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036614/posts We have become a nation of second-guessing Hamlets. Shakespeare warned us about the dangers of "thinking too precisely." His poor Danish prince lost "the name of action," as he dithered and sighed that "conscience does make cowards of us all." With gas over $4 a gallon, the public is finally waking up to the fact that for decades the United States has not been developing known petroleum reserves in Alaska, in our coastal waters or off the continental shelf. Jittery Hamlets apparently forgot that gas comes from oil -- and that before you can fill your tank, you must take... Real Clear Politics http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036614/posts#comment Thu, 26 Jun 2008 07:59:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033182/posts By this point in the presidential campaign, the public knows that a charismatic Barack Obama wants sweeping "change." While the national media have often fallen hard for the Illinois senator's rhetoric -- MSNBC's Chris Matthews said he felt a "thrill going up my leg" during an Obama speech -- exactly what kind of change can Obama bring if he's elected in November? FOREIGN POLICY Take Obama's foreign-policy pronouncements, which promise a break with the unhappy past. Two doctrines are most prominent. One is to engage our enemies and be nicer to our allies. The other calls for leaving Iraq on... Townhall http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033182/posts#comment Thu, 19 Jun 2008 04:29:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2028997/posts June 10, 2008, 6:00 a.m. Gone, but Not ForgottenBarack Obama and Rev. Wright. By Victor Davis Hanson There is a general sense — after Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Indiana — that the white working class is somehow illiberal, and so now the Obamiacs discuss, ponder, and fret over the “race question” ahead. But the problem is not, and has never really been, race, at least any more than it was in having a black secretary of state or Supreme Court justice or chairman of the Joint Chiefs, but simply the question of grievance. When Obama bought... National Review Online http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2028997/posts#comment Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:39:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2032609/posts The other day in southwestern Fresno County, a poor part of Central California, I talked with a number of folks at a rural gas station. Most drove second- and third-hand pickups, large cast-off sedans or used SUVs. Their general complaint was twofold: They didn't have the cash to buy a new fuel-efficient Honda or Toyota. And they were now spending a day or two of their wages just to fuel their cars for their long rural commutes. But I also fill up three hours away on the San Francisco peninsula near Stanford University, where I work. High-priced hybrid cars and... IBD Editorials http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2032609/posts#comment Wed, 18 Jun 2008 02:43:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2031732/posts "In dealing with Mr. Buchanan, one must accept at the beginning two caveats. First, as is his style, he will always resort to ad hominem attacks in lieu of an argument." "[I} was appalled by his absence of logic..." Pajamasmedia.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2031732/posts#comment Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:03:17 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2030579/posts Many commentators on Iraq had no strong ideas about the wisdom of removing Saddam Hussein, but often predicated their evolving views on the basis of whether we were perceived as winning or losing — and later made the necessary and often fluid adjustments. So in light of the changing pulse of the battlefield, it is time once again to examine carefully a few of the now commonplace critiques of the Iraq war. 1. We took our eye off the ball in Afghanistan by going into Iraq, thereby allowing the Taliban to regain the advantage. Any two-theater war can result in... National Review http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2030579/posts#comment Fri, 13 Jun 2008 14:40:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2030378/posts Order of BattleWar and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism by Douglas FeithHarper. 688 pp. $27.95 "The stupidest f—ing guy on the planet” is how General Tommy Franks, the head of U.S. Central Command, summed up Douglas Feith, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy in the Pentagon from July 2001 until his resignation in August 2005. Franks was cruder than most, but Feith was under almost continuously hostile scrutiny and controversy throughout his tenure. As the third-highest ranking civilian official in Donald Rumsfeld’s wartime Pentagon, he oversaw the Defense Department’s relations with foreign governments at... Commentary http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2030378/posts#comment Fri, 13 Jun 2008 03:37:47 GMT