Ron Fournier wrote A Thing, wherein he declares the Obama Presidency over a scant three years early on account of how Obama is exactly like Bush, because Both Sides. If that's his thesis, then it could have been very interesting and important if this influential DC opinion-maker had expounded on it in substantive, relevant areas, … Continue reading Ron Fournier is…The Least Self-Aware Man in the World

Sure, it's a borderline narco-state run by a corrupt drug lord who probably cheated to win re-election, women still have no rights, and the Taliban is still a grave threat, but Afghanistan? You better believe it's Mission Accomplished.

In the past I've labeled the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) as "neo-conservative," and that was perhaps...well, actually it was pretty accurate. But even a stopped clock is right twice a day, and way back in January WINEP published a smart piece on Al-Qaeda's activity in Yemen. Its author, Daniel Green, seems to … Continue reading Soft power doesn’t usually involve a body count

Senator McCain realizes "it was a gross exaggeration" to compare President Obama shaking Raul Castro's hand with the agreement to hand over part of Czechoslovakia to the Nazis, which is mighty generous of him. But he doesn't get this perverse need to observe basic standards of polite interaction with Bad Guys (defined, obviously, as "guys … Continue reading A President McCain would’ve greeted other world leaders with a swift kick to the balls

Via Sullivan, people are for some reason talking about the book Who's Bigger? Where Historical Figures Really Rank in ways that don't involve eye-rolling and laughter. The authors, Steven Skiena and Charles Ward, are trying to quantify historical significance by looking at how frequently a particular historical figure or concept is mentioned. This is apparently … Continue reading Wait, you mean Grover Cleveland ISN’T the 98th most significant person in history???

Clearly some in the GOP are being taken out of their "everybody I don't like is Hitler" comfort zone, which then leads to messes like this: The comment came during an exchange about the effect of preventive services on health care premiums under the Affordable Care Act. Sebelius disputed Rep. John Shimkus’ (R-IL) claim that … Continue reading OK, Republicans, you can go back to calling everybody Hitler

The identification, surrender, and destruction of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile seems to be continuing apace, with the US agreeing to handle the destruction of Syria's bulk chemical stockpiles (i.e., the stuff that hasn't already been mixed into lethal chemicals and/or been put into a warhead) starting early next year aboard a maritime reserve vessel specially … Continue reading Apparently we still don’t know who gassed Ghouta

We're adding more Hitlers by the day: But McCain said Obama should not have extended his hand to Castro. "Of course not," the senator said when asked. "Why should you shake hands with somebody who's keeping Americans in prison? I mean, what's the point?" That's when he added the Hitler comparison. "Neville Chamberlain shook hands with … Continue reading Shaking hands with Hitler, that’s a paddlin’

Former US Senator Rick Santorum said A Thing last night, which is that Obamacare America is basically like Apartheid South Africa. No, really! Praising Mandela for standing up to a "great injustice," the former Pennsylvania senator continued by ascribing his own conservative principles to the civil rights pioneer: Nelson Mandela stood up against a great … Continue reading Does anybody make dumber analogies than Rick Santorum?

It's an old story; well-meaning Syrian ex-pat sends food and other aid back home in support of protests against Assad, approaches rich Kuwaitis about increasing the amount of assistance, suddenly finds himself running weapons to armed extremist groups. It's also the reason why the United States never went all-in on the Syrian rebellion despite all … Continue reading Why the United States hasn’t embraced the Syrian rebels, part ??? of ∞