It is strange to think that, in all likelihood, I am afforded no more comprehensive a view of American politics as a result of actually living in the United States than is my family back in England; for, even in this primary season, and long before the general election starts, the coverage in Britain is already extensive. ‘Twas ever thus, as far back as I can remember: When I was eight years old, dispatches from the contest between Bill Clinton and George H. W. Bush were so ubiquitous that, tired of the whole thing, my mother stopped listening to the radio for a month. She was not alone, but, though BBC studies commonly conclude that license payers want to hear “less of America,” this popular attitude is somewhat contradicted by the stratospheric viewing figures that U.S. election seasons invite… ›› Read on National Review Online
I had expected Maureen Dowd’s lamentation to be followed immediately by a broadside against the Right; perhaps with the typical Reid-esque charges of obstructionism, or cynicism, or “politics,” or anything that implies that culpability lies outside of the West Wing. Instead, she trains her fire on the president and keeps it steadily there. The thrust of Dowd’s argument is that the president feels “disappointed” byus. An “introvert,” he shares Jimmy Carter’s incredulity that our boisterous democracy does not bend happily to his definition of the rational. And so, hurt by America’s failure to appreciate his brilliance, he and Michelle have become physically and emotionally reclusive, preferring the company of a small clique of friends that recognize his gifts… ›› Read on National Review Online
Charles C. W. Cooke fills in for Jim Geraghty and discusses Jon Huntsmans dropping out, Harry Reid’s charge that the GOP is “obstructionist,” and the Newsweek Cover that claims Obama’s critics are “dumb.”
Let us leave aside for a moment the first question, which is “Why is it a bad thing for a potential president to speak another language?” and instead focus on the breathtaking hypocrisy of Newt Gingrich’s attacking another candidate for being intellectually capable. From what I have observed over the course of this primary cycle, Speaker Gingrich is determined to leave nobody in doubt as to his credentials, and at times seems almost desperate to exploit and project his (perceived) erudition. He remains keen for his audience to know that he has worked as an historian (both real and fake) in his past, has taught college at various points — he even promised to teach a class from the White House, should he be elected — and is in possession of a firm grasp of the history of the United States and beyond. Even when Gingrich is not talking overtly about his academic history, he enjoys bringing up esoteric historical facts in the course of debates. (These vary wildly in their relevance to the debate but are always interesting in and of themselves.) ›› Read on National Review Online
In Britain, five Muslim men from the East Midlands city of Derby have been put on trial for the composition and distribution of leaflets. The literature — entitled “The Death Penalty?” — contends that gay sex is a sin that leads its practitioners directly to hell; it also calls for homosexuals to be given the death penalty and features on its front side a picture of a mannequin hanging from a noose. The prosecution is the first under a new “hate crime” law passed in March 2010 that makes it illegal to “stir up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation.” ›› Read on National Review Online
Occupy Wall Street is wandering in the desert. This much was made clear on New Year’s Day. Sitting at the airport in London waiting for my flight back to America, I watched a stream of hysterical tweets from OWS’s Twitter account. They described the attempted “reoccupation” of New York City in terms usually reserved for genuine crises. It was 4 a.m. on the East Coast, and the occupiers were in the midst of an attempt to grab the first headlines of 2012 — ostensibly by encouraging their members to get themselves arrested, which is apparently the new metric of revolutionary success… ›› Read on National Review Online
