Author: McQ

Joltin’ Joe Biden previewed it in Germany yesterday: As promised, Vice President Joe Biden reached out to the international community Saturday, saying the U.S. is open for talks with Iran and Russia to repair relations, and willing to work with allies to solve world problems. But in his first major foreign policy speech for the […]

Well, after Democratic assurances that the Fairness Doctrine wasn’t something they planned to pursue, Michigan Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow muddied those waters again. Appearing on the Bill Press Show she had this to say: BILL PRESS: Yeah, I mean, look: They have a right to say that. They’ve got a right to express that. But, […]

Yesterday, President Obama expressed outrage at Wall Street’s “excesses” and said he would cap the salaries of CEOs in institutions getting federal bailout money to $500,000 a year. If that isn’t absurd enough: Adding to the outrage was a flurry of reports that after taking taxpayer rescue funds, some big banks were still planning to […]

It sure has been getting low-key coverage in the MSM, but it appears the election in Iraq went off very well and is producing some surprising and, frankly, good results. 14,400 candidates stood for office. Unlike 2005, when 200 candidates were killed prior to the election, this time 8 were lost. 14 of the 18 […]

Of course “Dear Leader” and the boys also call the missile the Taepodong-2 and it is supposedly capable of reaching the US (Alaska or Hawaii – and no Sarah Palin can’t see NoKo from Alaska). But as the title indicates, there’s little doubt about why it is to be launched: The apparent preparations for a […]

Every time I see one of these stories I just shake my head in wonder. Obama and Congress are frothing at the mouth at those Wall Street types for paying out 18 billion in “bonuses”. Of course, had Congress not acted like a panicked herd of wildebeast when Paulson came flapping around declaring the sky […]

Please ignore the outrage you hear from Congress about Citi almost buying a new airplane. Apparently that’s an inappropriate expenditure of bailout funds. But this, one assumes, is appropriate: New York’s Charles Rangel and five other Democratic members of the House enjoyed a trip to the Caribbean sponsored in part by Citigroup (see above) in […]

After all the complaints about New Orleans, you’d think the Obama administration would be sensitive to this sort of thing: In some parts of rural Kentucky, they’re getting water the old-fashioned way — with pails from a creek. There’s not room for one more sleeping bag on the shelter floor. The creative are flushing their […]

After 2 years of lambasting the Bush administration about its supposed failure to adhere to the rule of law, it takes a military judge to remind our new President that he too must adhere to it. You may remember that the new commander-in-chief issued a request (which is, in reality, an order) that the military […]

An interesting turn of events: In Democratic legal circles, no attorney has been more pilloried than former Bush Justice Department official John Yoo, chief author of the so-called torture memos that Barack Obama last week sought to nullify. But now President Obama’s incoming crew of lawyers has a new and somewhat awkward job: defending Yoo […]

I‘ve been doing a lot of reading in the MSM and among pundits concerning this seemingly counter-intuitive “stimulus” package being rushed through Congress. Thomas Oliver best sums up why I see it as “counter-intuitive”: You read that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says about half the new administration’s $825 billion stimulus won’t kick in for […]

And no, it isn’t Bill Ayers this time, but someone much like him. Yes, our old buddy Ernesto “Che” Guevara has been resurrected (again) in the newest adaptation of his life in Steven Soderbergh’s “Che.” And yes, I use the term “adaptation” quite purposely. Apparently Benicio del Toro, who stars as Che, isn’t getting quite […]

I’ve tried to make the point in the past about how, regardless of anyone’s desire, there is going to be pain associated with the financial mess in which we presently find ourselves. The question is will an apparent aversion to pain lead government to soften it but also extend while doing so, or do politicians […]

I get a hoot out of things like this. Matt Yglesias: For years now, liberals have had to put up with basic points about the value of not doing stuff that’s hugely unpopular around the world caricatured as the idea that if we just act nicer, al-Qaeda leaders will lay down their arms. The reality, […]

Apparently (according to WPIX) Gov. David Patterson has made his choice to fill Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat. Her name is Kirsten Gillibrand and she’s a Congresswoman from upstate NY. Sources say Gillibrand, a blue-dog Democrat and a good fundraiser, would be an asset to Paterson in any bid for election in 2010. However, since her […]

Well Europe finally has the US president they want and how do they say “boy are we glad you’re the man?” France’s defence minister on Wednesday appeared to rule out any immediate reinforcement of French troops in Afghanistan if requested by Barack Obama, the new US president. Hervé Morin said deploying additional French forces to […]

Steve Benen at Political Animal approvingly quotes Adam Serwer’s take on the Obama inaugural speech, and is sure an “era of maturity” has been ushered in to being. Call me a skeptic, but some of us really have our doubts given what we’ve seen previously from those supposedly ushering in this era: Another reminder of […]

A line from President Obama’s inaugural speech: With old friends and former foes, we’ll work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. A fact concerning President Obama’s inaugural celebration: According to an article in Bloomberg, as many as 600 private jets were expected to touch down in […]

An unrepentant terrorist was turned back at the Canadian border – so where’s the story? An American education professor, one of the founders of a radical 1960s group known as the Weather Underground, which was responsible for a number of bombings in the United States in the early 1970s, was turned back at the Canadian […]

If Al Gore is AGW’s “Hysteric-in-Chief”, James Hansen has to be the VHIC. And he’s out with the newest doomsday “runaway greenhouse effect” prediction in one of coldest winters in a few decades: Barack Obama has only four years to save the world. That is the stark assessment of Nasa scientist and leading climate expert […]

Apparently Obama has decided Osama is no big deal. Or, “Gosh, those Bush guys weren’t so dumb afterall”: Barack Obama suggested last night that removing Osama bin Laden from the battlefield was no longer essential and that America’s security goals could be achieved merely by keeping al-Qaeda “on the run”. “My preference obviously would be […]

His name? Captain Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger, III, a former USAF F-4 pilot. What did he do? Deadsticked an A320 Airbus into the Hudson River after he lost power in both engines due to birdstrikes and made a perfect landing. The crew then took charge and got the 150+ passengers out of the aircraft and […]

I got a bit nauseated yesterday listening to all the talking heads tell us over and over the obvious talking point that Timothy Geithner made an “honest mistake”. Really? How honest of a mistake is it when you knowingly ignore something your employer went out of its way to ensure you knew? The IMF did […]

No immediate closure of Gitmo and now this? The leftoids must be about to explode: Since the November election, however, the U.S. and Iraq have signed a new security agreement that provides for all the more than 140,000 U.S. troops to leave by 2012, despite concerns among senior U.S. commanders that Iraqi forces might not […]

Ah, land of my ancestry, what is happening to you? A yob accused of robbing a driving instructor walked free from court after a judge ruled his alleged victim was ‘too believable’ to give evidence. Mother-of-two Denise Dawson, 36, was praised for being ‘honest, utterly decent and brave’ when she testified against Liam Perks, 20. […]

I would put this under the category “they just can’t help themselves”. On yesterday’s podcast I briefly talked about this Robert Reich blog post that pertains to the stimulus package being contemplated by the incoming Obama administration. In this case it isn’t about the cost or the necessity (or lack thereof) – I think anyone […]

If you’re wondering what’s up for Congress, this list of the first 10 Senate bills might give you a preview: * S.1 – American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 A bill to create jobs, restore economic growth, and strengthen America’s middle class through measures that modernize the nation’s infrastructure, enhance America’s energy independence, expand […]

Jimmy Carter starts his article in the Washington Post this way: I know from personal involvement that the devastating invasion of Gaza by Israel could easily have been avoided. After visiting Sderot last April and seeing the serious psychological damage caused by the rockets that had fallen in that area, my wife, Rosalynn, and I […]

All sorts of opinion is out there concerning PEBO’s desired stimulus package. I pick Jonathan Cohn’s over at the Plank because it pretty much covers what I want to cover. For instance: The general consensus among left-of-center economists these days is that government spending, rather than tax cuts, represent the most efficient way to fight […]

Okay, they call it “plan B”, but you get the point. This is some seriously desperate, and goofy, stuff. Written by Steve Connor, the “Science Editor” and Chris Green for The Independent, it takes you deep into the warping effect AGW has had on “science”. An emergency “Plan B” using the latest technology is needed […]