Today, 21 March 2011, marks the 150th anniversary of Alexander Hamilton Stephens’ delivery of the Cornerstone Speech in Savannah, Georgia. On 20 December 1860, the state convention called by the legislature of South Carolina after the election of Abraham Lincoln
by Paul A. Rahe21 Mar 2011, 12:43 PM PST0
Inside the Obama administration, a debate is raging. In the face of the uprisings in the Middle East, Barack Obama has opted to sit on his hands. He has a talent for that. Robert Gates, who is extremely wary –
by Paul A. Rahe18 Mar 2011, 4:28 AM PST0
Sad to say, what I wrote last year at this time is hardly less apt today: “The State of the Union Address is ordinarily a bore. It generally consists of a laundry list of proposals, and the list nearly always
by Paul A. Rahe25 Jan 2011, 4:42 AM PST0
We were given fair warning on Tuesday when Robert Gates arrived in China. I doubt, however, that we will heed it. Liberal, commercial polities have a tendency to be caught flat-footed at the beginning of an armed conflict, and what
by Paul A. Rahe14 Jan 2011, 4:38 AM PST0
We were given fair warning on Tuesday when Robert Gates arrived in China. I doubt, however, that we will heed it. Liberal, commercial polities have a tendency to be caught flat-footed at the beginning of an armed conflict, and what
by Paul A. Rahe13 Jan 2011, 6:05 AM PST0
Well, one thing is now clear. Barack Obama very much wants to be re-elected, and he is willing to do whatever it takes. As I have already pointed out in anticipatory posts – first here, then here – he could
by Paul A. Rahe8 Jan 2011, 5:44 AM PST0
There have been reports – here, here, and here– that Barack Obama has approached William M. Daley about becoming the White House Chief of Staff. If true, these reports are very interesting, indeed. You see: Bill Daley has a history.
by Paul A. Rahe4 Jan 2011, 2:33 PM PST0
The experts charged with determining when recessions begin and end tell us that the latest of these unpleasant events ended a while ago. Technically, they are no doubt right. But that does not mean that the economic crisis we have
by Paul A. Rahe10 Dec 2010, 4:42 AM PST0
A bit less than a year ago, I posted piece entitled Is Barack Obama a One-Trick Pony? I raised this question with an eye to three thumbsuckers that had recently appeared – one on Politico by veteran commentator Elizabeth Drew;
by Paul A. Rahe8 Nov 2010, 3:49 AM PST0
The election is now over and the results are in – except in Alaska, Colorado, Washington, and a congressional district here and there. And one by one the usual suspects are weighing in with their comments. Most of these are
by Paul A. Rahe5 Nov 2010, 4:39 AM PST0
“There is,” Shakespeare’s Brutus said to Cassius, “a tide in the affairs of men.” Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a
by Paul A. Rahe3 Nov 2010, 7:44 AM PST0
Over the last twenty-two months, Barack Obama, Rahm Emanuel, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid have sown the wind. Today – if the polls are any indication – they will reap the whirlwind. The portents have been there for a very
by Paul A. Rahe2 Nov 2010, 4:51 AM PST0
Scott Rasmussen now predicts that the Republicans will pick up fifty-five seats in the House. Larry Sabato at the University of Virginia still has the pick-up at forty-seven but says that, if forced to tweak the numbers right now, he
by Paul A. Rahe20 Oct 2010, 4:37 AM PST0
Back in mid-June, Leslie Gelb floated an idea in an op-ed piece that he published in The Wall Street Journal. After the midterms, he argued, when Robert Gates resigned his position as Secretary of Defense, Hillary Clinton should be given
by Paul A. Rahe18 Oct 2010, 6:12 AM PST0
There is a brief story by Jim Carlton in the weekend edition of The Wall Street Journal entitled “Fiorina Stays Away from Middle Road,” and in the cover story for the latest issue of The Weekly Standard, Fred Barnes describes
by Paul A. Rahe11 Oct 2010, 6:29 AM PST0
On Thursday, in Detroit, a federal district judge named George Caram Steeh ruled Obamacare constitutional. On Friday, Mike Pence, a Republican Congressman from Indiana, expressed his confidence that the Supreme Court will declare key sections of the bill unconstitutional. I
by Paul A. Rahe10 Oct 2010, 8:37 AM PST0
A lot has been written on this site and elsewhere concerning the Pledge to America that the Republicans unveiled on Friday. For the most part, bloggers have been critical. Some have argued that it will not do the Republicans any
by Paul A. Rahe28 Sep 2010, 5:49 AM PST0
Can we trust the current polls? I do not mean to level any accusations. I think that, with rare exceptions, the pollsters are doing their best to assess the trends. If nothing else, they know that accuracy pays off –
by Paul A. Rahe26 Sep 2010, 5:25 AM PST0
Congressman Mike Pence spoke at Hillsdale College Monday night at the invitation of the Young Republicans. I attended the dinner held in his honor before the talk, briefly chatted with him, and listened with care and interest to his talk
by Paul A. Rahe23 Sep 2010, 4:47 AM PST0
Today marks Constitution Day. On 17 September 1787, in Philadelphia, the Framers of the American Constitution added their signatures to the document they had produced, and soon thereafter it was dispatched to the Continental Congress for consideration by the states.
by Paul A. Rahe17 Sep 2010, 4:48 AM PST0
We have come a long way in the last twenty months. The President of the United States, his Chief of Staff, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Majority Leader in the United States Senate have done for
by Paul A. Rahe2 Sep 2010, 4:51 AM PST0
I am not personally acquainted with John Boehner, though I laid eyes on him once. I do not really know Eric Cantor either – though we met in passing in April, 2009 when I was in DC promoting my book
by Paul A. Rahe26 Aug 2010, 5:04 AM PST0
A year ago, in a blogpost entitled The Great Awakening, I argued that conservatives “should be grateful to Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Rahm Emanuel.” After all, I wrote, they had unmasked “the Democratic Party as a conspiracy
by Paul A. Rahe12 Aug 2010, 5:34 AM PST0
Ten months back, at the very end of September, I posted online a brief piece entitled Obama’s Wrecking Crew, in which I drew attention to a column in The New York Post in which Charles Gasparino reported two items of
by Paul A. Rahe10 Aug 2010, 5:52 AM PST0
Something ominous is happening within the Democratic Party, and Barack Obama will soon have to start paying attention. For weeks now, James Carville has been railing against the Obama administration’s handling of the oil spill in the Gulf. On Tuesday,
by Paul A. Rahe29 Jul 2010, 5:11 AM PST0