David Frum's Blog, page 19

Rick Perry's War Against the University of Texas

Rick Perry is at war with the University of Texas at Austin and, indeed, the State Constitution of Texas, at least if you believe the thoroughly bipartisan and rapidly growing cast of critics.

Tammany Hall: the Game Where You Play as a New York City Ward Boss

Imagine a game where opponents identify immigrant groups, earn political favors from them by helping them to settle in their new county, and then translate that political capital into votes on election day.

Anti-Israel Wishful Thinking

My National Post column: how anti-Israel wishful thinking masquerades as dispassionate analysis.

Don't Call Gabriel Gomez a RINO

Massachusetts Republicans might have found their next Scott Brown.

Iranian Cleric Blames Women for Earthquakes

From Tom Gross's Mideast dispatch, news from Iran of an important new breakthrough in our understanding of seismic phenomena.

Murdered for Pursuing Justice in Pakistan

Bad things happen to people who investigate former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf.

Golden Dawn Continues Its Message of Hate

It’s been quite the week for Greece’s neo-Nazi party, Golden Dawn. On Thursday, Golden Dawn MP Giorgos Germenis snuck into an event with the intention of harming Athens mayor, Giogos Kaminis. At one point, Germenis tried to punch Kaminis, but instead ended up punching a 12-year old girl in the forehead. The party has denied that Germenis touched the young girl.

Why Does Ted Cruz Inspire Such Animosity?

Ted Cruz is brilliantly positioning himself to run in 2016 as the true leader of the party's conservative wing: a Spanish-surnamed Princeton grad and Harvard lawyer who checks all the ideological boxes, who stood apart from the Gang of Eight immigration deal and by the general weirdness of the Paul family's conspiracy-mongering.

Is Grover Norquist Powerful?

Noam Sheiber takes up the age-old Beltway question:

Jobs Numbers

165,000 more non-farm jobs, unemployment rate now at 7.5%, February numbers revised up from 268,000 to 332,000, and March from 88,000 to 138,000.