Addressing the opening of the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, President Barack Obama spoke about the need to defeat extremism abroad–and cited racial tension in Ferguson, Missouri at home. The president had just told the assembled delegates and heads
Republican gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari continues to lag far behind incumbent Democrat Governor Jerry Brown, struggling to make up a 21-point gap, according to the latest Public Policy Institute of California poll. In an election where few voters are paying
California Secretary of State Debra Bowen reports that California voters are abandoning both major political parties in droves–and that they are leaving the Republican Party behind even more than the Democratic Party. The state’s 60-day report of voter registration shows
Just as world leaders–well, world leaders without China, India, and several other important fossil fuel-using countries–gathered at the UN Climate Summit in New York on Tuesday, a curious piece of news crossed the wires. The Financial Times reported that, for the
A perceptive viewer noticed something of interest in my dinner conversation with Gov. Sarah Palin about my new book, Wacko Birds: The Fall (and Rise) of the Tea Party. On the table was a copy of Joseph Teluskin’s recent biography
President Barack Obama ordered air strikes against ISIS targets inside Syria overnight. He received the full backing of Republican leaders in Congress. The attacks raise a number of military–and political–questions: 1. When did Congress authorize U.S. attacks in Syria? It
A study conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Washington has concluded that warmer sea and land temperatures along the Pacific coast in North America over the past 100 years are due to weak winds–and not
If Barack Obama was the candidate of Facebook, and has governed as the President of Selfie, then Hillary Clinton is the “Snapchat” candidate–i.e. one who is eager to erase the past from collective memory. Tony Lee reminded me today that
Leaders in Las Vegas are showing new interest in re-establishing a rail link between Sin City and Southern California, after more than 20 years without rail service. Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) said that she would push for resumption of Amtrak
Though California’s Republican Party is fighting for its survival, California’s Democrats are struggling with deep divisions that have come to the surface in the race for Superintendent of Public Instruction. Though the office is technically nonpartisan, the superintendent’s race is
Despite a rousing speech by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who indicated that he would soon open an office in the state in pursuit of his presidential ambitions, California’s Republican Party convention in Los Angeles, “Reclaim California,” sounded a note of
Last week, in the dead of night, the city council of Santa Monica, California voted to end its contract with a businesswoman who stages pony rides and a petting zoo at the weekly farmers’ market on Main Street. There was
Ukranian President Petro Poroshenko gave a stirring address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress Thursday, pleading for “military equipment–both non-lethal and lethal” in his country’s ongoing struggle to resist Russian invasion. He received a warm welcome from both
Take up the White Man’s burden–The savage wars of peace–Fill full the mouth of FamineAnd bid the sickness cease;And when your goal is nearestThe end for others sought,Watch sloth and heathen FollyBring all your hopes to nought. – Rudyard Kipling,
Former Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) is defying the skeptics by making the New Hampshire race against incumbent Democrat Sen. Jeanne Shaheen a real contest. Though he voted as a centrist in Washington, D.C.–even casting a critical vote for the Dodd-Frank
Hillary Clinton is back in the spotlight she never left, turning up with her husband Bill in Iowa over the weekend, fueling talk about her inevitable second attempt at the presidency. Yet her presentation seemed tone-deaf at times–even referencing the
SANTA MONICA, California — The Associated Press reports that the city of Santa Monica, California beat 300 other towns in competing for $1 million in funding from the Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors Challenge to study “just how much people in this picture-postcard
Professor Alan Dershowitz has released a new e-book, Terror Tunnels: The Case for Israel’s Just War Against Hamas, that provides an essential primer on the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Dershowitz argues–clearly and conclusively–that Israel’s war effort was
President Barack Obama reportedly rejected advice from Gen. Lloyd Austin, commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), to send a limited number of combat troops to the Middle East to assist in the fight against ISIS. According to Dustin Walker of RealClearDefense,
On Thursday, reflecting on the 13th anniversary of September 11, I found myself in rare agreement with David Frum, who noted that 9/11 was just one of the many ways in which the past 15 years have been disappointing. there
Assyrian Christians are standing with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) after he was booed for his support of Israel by some Middle East Christians gathered in Washington, D.C. Wednesday at an event hosted by an organization called “In Defense Of Christians.” Yet
State Sen. Barack Obama (D-Hyde Park), Hyde Park Herald, Sep. 19, 2001: We need to step up security at our airports. We must reexamine the effectiveness of our intelligence networks. And we must be resolute in identifying the perpetrators of these
Turkey will not support President Barack Obama’s call for a military response to ISIS, according to an official source quoted by Agence France-Presse on Thursday. It will not allow the U.S. to use air bases in Turkey for missions against
Sen. Angus King (I-ME), who caucuses with the Democratic Party, pointed out Wednesday that while the GOP has plenty to criticize in President Barack Obama’s foreign policy, its own foreign policy is muddled. Worse, he noted, the Republican Party seems
Looking back on Wednesday night’s presidential address to the nation, some analysts have wondered what, exactly, President Barack Obama intended to say. There was no real news in the speech, after all. The main point was to convey a four-part
