The Conservative Political Action Conference in DC wrapped up today. I tromped down there Friday and got a few photos. There were heaps of books on Sarah Palin and several organizations touting her political future. Joe the Plumber was there, along with lots of people...

Dennis Ross’ appointment was finally announced today. This appeared as a “press release” on the State Department’s website late this afternoon: Appointment of Dennis Ross as Special Advisor for The Gulf and Southwest Asia Robert Wood Acting Department...

Elliott Abrams just confirmed that he will be official mouthpiece of Bibi Netanyahu and his Likud Party at the Council on Foreign Relations and on the pages of The Weekly Standard (and probably in the Wall Street Journal, too). In reading the article, ironically...

The "Obamameter" is the St. Petersburg Times new tool for following President Obama's progress on completing his campaign promises. It's very cute and handy, but is it any more reliable than the president? While checking in to the site this afternoon, I came across...

As first reported by Laura Rozen and subsequently confirmed by Chris Nelson, it appears that Chas Freeman has been appointed chairman of the National Intelligence Council (NIC), the body that is charged by the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) with synthesizing...

I am finishing up a new book and am seeking suggestions for a snappy title. The book’s essays deal with the political sanction for mass killing, the fraud of idealism, how truth is perverted in Washington, why power corrupts, Leviathan-loving intellectuals, the...

So says Thomas Ricks, author of Fiasco and The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008, on last night's Daily Show. "General Odierno says he would like to see 35,000 troops there (Iraq) in 2015. What that means is that we...

Those who have believed that the departure of Dubya from the oval office will mean that Israeli politicians will no longer be able to call up American presidents and tell them what to do should think twice. The story of General Anthony Zinni’s aborted appointment as...

Thursday is the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln. I would be perplexed by the Lincoln cult if I thought the prime Lincoln idolizers gave a damn about individual liberty. Lincoln is lionized not because he saved self-government, but primarily because he sanctified...

Michael Ledeen, who 25 months ago announced to the world that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had died — he got this from such an exclusive source that not even Amir Taheri, another neo-con fantasist, could confirm or deny the story — once again...