David Frum's Blog, page 154

Conrad Black Against the Media, Ctd.

Grace Dent applauds what she describes as Black's "brazeness," and cheers him to repeat the performance on the show, Have I Got News For You.

'All of the Above' Is a Terrible Strategy

Eli Lehrer rejects the common political wisdom on developing new sources of energy.

Obama's Evolving Etch-A-Sketch

Buzzfeed's Andrew Kaczynski rounds up a few of the president's flip-flops.

Why Is Obama Suddenly So Talkative About Israel?

John Podhoretz thinks it's a sign the Obama campaign is nervous about losing Jewish votes in a few key states.

Tea Partying With Crony Capitalism

There's a charming conceit abroad that Tea Party Republicanism expresses some kind of revulsion against crony capitalism and lobbyist government. There's not much evidence in favor of this proposition - not at least if we judge people by actions rather than words. On the other side of the ledger, there's the story of Michigan's Proposal 6, a proposal put on the ballot by a billionaire monopolist in hope of retaining his monopoly.

The U.S. Army's Last Bayonet Charge

Today's post-debate interest in bayonets offers a fragment of an excuse to reproduce this delightful Peter Worthington column from the old Frum Forum.

Conrad Black to BBC Interviewer: You Are a Gullible Fool

Memo to Mitt: Don't Say "Bankruptcy"

I thought Gov. Romney did well last night. But however credible and reassuring he sounded through most of the 90 minutes, that success was offset by the harm he did himself in these two paragraphs:

Mitt's Many Missed Moments

Since I've been reading an extra dose of Ezra Klein today, I figured I'd emulate something he does quite well: a deep examination of the transcript. For brevity, I'll focus on Gov. Romney's missed opportunities.

Reality Check: Obama Has Not Restored America's Image in the Middle East

Not that this is how you should necessarily measure things, but you'd never know from last night's foreign policy debate that the United States is actually less popular in the Middle East today than it was in the Bush years. According to the Pew survey, attitudes to the US today in Lebanon are 3 points less positive than in 2008; in Egypt 3 points less, in Jordan 7 points less, and in Pakistan 7 points less.