David Frum's Blog, page 172

Sanctions Crushing Iranian Currency

These Iran sanctions may be working after all.

The Politics of Muslim Rage

Husein Haqqani goes into the weeds to examine the political roots of "Muslim Rage."

Life Imitates Patriots (Again)

Chrystia Freeland reports in the New Yorker on fear and rage that now grip the American ultra-rich:

10 Questions for President Obama

My CNN column proposes ten questions I'd like to see President Obama answer during the debates.

RIP Cobber

"Was it four times we pumped Cobber's stomach - or five?"

A Conservative Defense of Obamacare... from an AEI Scholar

Maybe 2012 will be the world's end after all. As David tweeted, "Prague spring: an AEI fellow defends Obamacare in NYT - and keeps his job (so far)."

The Steadily Improving Arab Spring

Arab spring? An Egyptian court of appeal has upheld a five-year prison sentence of a Coptic Christian schoolteacher for posting on Facebook cartoons and clippings that were deemed blasphemous against Islam (three years) and insulting to the new Muslim Brotherhood president of the country (two years).

Who Are the Real Job Creators?

Nick Hanauer demolishes the silliest idea of this election cycle: that of the Randian-inspired, intrepid "job creator" feeling oppressed by the government.

David's Bookclub: Sodom and Gomorrah

I first read A la Recherche du Temps Perdus in the summer I turned 17, and I have to say, it scared the hell out of me. I was new to the whole business of love and sex, and keen to learn more about it. Love is Proust's great theme, but his depiction of it is unremittingly negative. "I here give the name of love to a mutual torment," the narrator remarks in Volume 5, The Captive. Love affairs in Proust are based on desire and sustained by mistrust. The only joy is the momentary...

Can Sanctions Peacefully Stop Iran From Getting the Bomb?

My column in today's National Post discusses whether sanctions can succeed in stopping Iran from getting the bomb.