Right Turn - Jennifer Rubin commentary from a conservative perspective. - December 19, 2010

Friday question

Reports suggest that the president is looking outside the administration for a new chief of staff. Whom would you recommend and why? All answers should be in by 6 p.m. Sunday....

By Jennifer Rubin | December 24, 2010; 12:00 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (50)
Categories: Friday question
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Interview with Israeli ambassador Michael Oren (Part 1)

Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren looks older and thinner than he did when he took office in May 2009. That is perhaps understandable, given that the man renown for his historical scholarship and battlefield exploits had never served as a diplomat...

By Jennifer Rubin | December 24, 2010; 10:15 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (27)
Categories: Israel
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What did the Republicans get on START?

There has been much teeth-gnashing on the right over ratification of START. But conservatives should keep in mind several points. First, thanks to Senator Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) the Republicans secured amendment 4904 to the New START Resolution of Ratification. That...

By Jennifer Rubin | December 24, 2010; 9:00 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: National Security
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Morning Bits

Get over it. That's essentially what Bill Kristol tells conservatives who are kvetching over the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell": "Our fine servicemen and women won't quit, they won't whine, they won't fret, and they won't cause a scene....

By Jennifer Rubin | December 24, 2010; 7:45 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (14)
Categories: Morning Bits
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Now, what about immigration reform?

Neither Republicans nor Democrats are saying much about the defeat of the DREAM Act. It seems most Democrats would rather not bring up one of the Obama "losses" during the lame-duck session of Congress; Republicans are too busy grousing that...

By Jennifer Rubin | December 23, 2010; 2:06 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (25)
Categories: Immigration
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Do we need a director of national intelligence?

The New York Post editorial board, with hilarious panache, goes after the clueless director of national intelligence: On Monday, Diane Sawyer asked the White House's top anti-terrorism brains about the fallout from the sweeping arrests of 12 men in the...

By Jennifer Rubin | December 23, 2010; 12:30 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: National Security
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Michael Mukasey urges Jonathan Pollard's release

Another former U.S. official, Michael Mukasey, has stepped forward to call for Jonathan Pollard's release. The Jerusalem Post reports: Former US attorney-general Michael Mukasey sent a letter to US President Barack Obama, released Wednesday, calling for Jonathan Pollard's sentence to...

By Jennifer Rubin | December 23, 2010; 12:00 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (10)
Categories: Israel
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Did the No Labels folks read Arlen Specter's speech?

The No Labels website links to the farewell speech by Sen. Arlen Specter (D/R/D-Pa.). I guess they must search for the word "civility," but next time they should actually read the speech before offering it as a model of public...

By Jennifer Rubin | December 23, 2010; 10:50 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Senate Democrats, Senate GOP
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A suggestion to promote Middle East peace

On Monday, I made a number of suggestions for productive actions (e.g. fire George Mitchell, work on building Palestinian institutions, and commit to regime change in Iran) that the Obama administration could take in the wake of the breakdown of...

By Jennifer Rubin | December 23, 2010; 9:15 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (11)
Categories: Israel
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Psst, there's no Obama comeback

I'm getting whiplash trying to follow the Democrats' talking points. First, it was a disaster when Obama agreed to extend the Bush tax cuts. Obama was a wimp. Then it was a horrid error to allow the omnibus spending bill...

By Jennifer Rubin | December 23, 2010; 8:30 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (179)
Categories: Obama White House, President Obama
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Morning Bits

You can't have a "collapse" of GOP opposition for START if it never existed. You can't have a constitutional citation on legislation, holler the Democrats. Let the courts deal with all that stuff, bellows Rep. Barney Frank (D.-Mass.) Sigh. They...

By Jennifer Rubin | December 23, 2010; 7:45 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Morning Bits
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Democracy in Iraq

A raft of domestic news stories and the passage of START this week obscured arguably the most important international event in years: the formation of a democratic government, after months of wrangling, in Iraq. Earlier today, Peter Wehner, who served...

By Jennifer Rubin | December 22, 2010; 5:15 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (34)
Categories: Iraq, foreign policy
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What do conservatives think about Haley Barbour?

I did a very unscientific poll, contacting more than 20 conservatives -- think tank types, journalists, federal office holders, former government officials, congressional advisors, pollsters and campaign operatives -- with a simple question: "Is Haley Barbour through?" None of those...

By Jennifer Rubin | December 22, 2010; 1:36 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (25)
Categories: 2012 campaign
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Defunding ObamaCare wasn't exactly a secret

Ezra Klein breaks the news gently to the left: The Senate passed the Continuing Resolution 79-16 this afternoon. Another way of saying that: The Senate voted to defund the implementation of both health-care reform and financial-regulation reform.... Republicans had been...

By Jennifer Rubin | December 22, 2010; 12:00 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (40)
Categories: Budget, Obamacare
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Should Jonathan Pollard be pardoned?

Ha'aretz and other news outlets are reporting that Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu will formally request that the U.S. release Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard. Why, especially in the wake of the WikiLeaks classifed information disclosures, would Netanyahu make the request...

By Jennifer Rubin | December 22, 2010; 11:15 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (40)
Categories: Israel
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Trusting democracy on gay rights

Charles Krauthammer offers what I think is the most persuasive argument from a conservative perspective for the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell." He says that the issue wasn't whether it would be repealed, but by which branch of government:...

By Jennifer Rubin | December 22, 2010; 9:45 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (14)
Categories: law
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Haley Barbour's written statement isn't going to cut it

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour issued this statement in an effort to quell the firestorm over his comments in the Weekly Standard: When asked why my hometown in Mississippi did not suffer the same racial violence when I was a young...

By Jennifer Rubin | December 22, 2010; 8:30 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (10)
Categories: 2012 campaign
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Morning Bits

Howard Kurtz asks: "[I]s the press getting itself worked into a lather over what Barbour did and thought when he was a teenager?" No, over what he says and thinks as an adult. I mean, did Kurtz really miss the...

By Jennifer Rubin | December 22, 2010; 7:45 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Morning Bits
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California not so bad?!

A reader calls my attention to an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times by Bill Lockyer, the state's Democratic treasurer, and Stephen Levy, the director of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy. The two argue that California's...

By Jennifer Rubin | December 21, 2010; 3:45 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (28)
Categories: economy
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After START, when do we stop the one-sided deals?

A Capitol Hill guru on START observes that the letter from Adm. Mike Mullen urging ratification of START was inadvertently revealing. Mullen's letter contained this: "During that process, the Russian Federation publicly declared on several occasions that there should be...

By Jennifer Rubin | December 21, 2010; 3:00 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (33)
Categories: foreign policy
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What now that the peace process has failed?

Aaron David Miller, a lapsed peace processor, back in April decried the "false religion" of an activity that brings no peace, and isn't likely to for a long time. He was right then, and has reason to repeat the admonition....

By Jennifer Rubin | December 21, 2010; 1:32 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (12)
Categories: Iran, Israel
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What is civility, anyway?

In the midst of a raucous round of comments on my post about Cynthia Tucker violating the second rule of political discourse (calling the other side "unpatriotic"; the first is "Whoever makes the Hitler or Nazi analogy loses the argument"),...

By Jennifer Rubin | December 21, 2010; 11:30 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (7)

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Is America still 'ungovernable'?

"Ungovernable" is what certain liberal elites call our nation when their agenda does not slide through undisturbed by constitutional strictures, Senate rules and the popular will. Conservatives such as Charles Krauthammer and Pete Wehner have scoffed, understandably so, at the...

By Jennifer Rubin | December 21, 2010; 10:45 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (12)
Categories: 2012 campaign, Budget
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Beware of conservative magazines bearing cover stories

Haley Barbour has gotten himself in a heap of trouble. By praising White Citizens' Councils, appearing clueless about the history of racial injustice in the South, giving the Democrats a free swing at him and reviving recollections of another shockingly...

By Jennifer Rubin | December 21, 2010; 9:30 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (205)
Categories: 2012 campaign
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Will Obama get tough with Tehran?

A report in the Wall Street Journal a few days ago suggested that a turnaround in U.S. policy toward Iran might be coming: The U.S. and representatives of the European Union have agreed to impose joint sanctions against Iran in...

By Jennifer Rubin | December 21, 2010; 8:30 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (16)
Categories: Iran, foreign policy
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Morning Bits

Bill McGurn joins Bill Kristol and others in promoting this fine idea: "As President Obama and his speechwriters prepare for his upcoming State of the Union address, here's a modest suggestion: When you take the victory lap you are entitled...

By Jennifer Rubin | December 21, 2010; 7:45 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Morning Bits
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No Labels, no civility

The one area in which the No Labels set, which is generally center-left, could do something useful is to police its own. Cynthia Tucker writes: There is simply no modern precedent for the behavior of Republicans in the U.S. Senate....

By Jennifer Rubin | December 20, 2010; 3:45 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (51)

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Republicans adore Chris Christie -- on YouTube and off

Ezra Klein writes that -- oh my! -- Gov. Chris Christie has aides who film and circulate his lively interactions with the media and town hall audiences. Ezra contends that this somehow diminishes his chances in 2012. I don't know...

By Jennifer Rubin | December 20, 2010; 3:05 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (26)
Categories: 2012 campaign
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Iran rises because America retreats

While most news has been focused on domestic issues, along with the START treaty ratification, the New York Post editorial board reminds us of a danger that will dwarf others unless the Obama administration gets its act together: A leader...

By Jennifer Rubin | December 20, 2010; 2:15 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (40)
Categories: Iran, foreign policy
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Beyond 'No Labels'

The "No Labels" crowd has taken a lot of ribbing. When Frank Rich ("childish magical thinking, and, worse, a mindless distraction from the real work before the nation") George Will ("a political fantasyland"), Chris Beam ("Everything you need to know...

By Jennifer Rubin | December 20, 2010; 11:00 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (54)

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Is START stuck?

As of this writing, it is not clear if there are 67 votes in the Senate to ratify START. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced he would file for cloture on Tuesday, but aides and advocates on both sides of...

By Jennifer Rubin | December 20, 2010; 10:00 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (31)
Categories: Senate GOP, foreign policy
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Friday question answered

On Friday, I asked: "Who most distinguished him or herself this week, positively or negatively, and why?" Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was, quite deservedly, mentioned most frequently in the comments section. As Myhm put it: "This is a man...

By Jennifer Rubin | December 20, 2010; 9:15 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Friday question
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Religious voters alienated by liberal agenda

The piece examining religious voters' political affiliations by Tiffany Stanley in The New Republic is curious. She notices that religious voters have fallen away from the Democratic Party after the latter engaged in some successful outreach. But if one only...

By Jennifer Rubin | December 20, 2010; 8:30 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (11)

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Morning Bits

Making 23 Senate Democrats up for re-election in 2012 squirm: "Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) said he will force Democrats to vote on a repeal of the landmark healthcare reform law when Republicans control half of Congress next year....

By Jennifer Rubin | December 20, 2010; 7:45 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Morning Bits
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Network News

Right Turn: December 19, 2010 - December 25, 2010

Friday question

Interview with Israeli ambassador Michael Oren (Part 1)

What did the Republicans get on START?

Morning Bits

Now, what about immigration reform?

Do we need a director of national intelligence?

Michael Mukasey urges Jonathan Pollard's release

Did the No Labels folks read Arlen Specter's speech?

A suggestion to promote Middle East peace

Psst, there's no Obama comeback

Morning Bits

Democracy in Iraq

What do conservatives think about Haley Barbour?

Defunding ObamaCare wasn't exactly a secret

Should Jonathan Pollard be pardoned?

Trusting democracy on gay rights

Haley Barbour's written statement isn't going to cut it

Morning Bits

California not so bad?!

After START, when do we stop the one-sided deals?

What now that the peace process has failed?

What is civility, anyway?

Is America still 'ungovernable'?

Beware of conservative magazines bearing cover stories

Will Obama get tough with Tehran?

Morning Bits

No Labels, no civility

Republicans adore Chris Christie -- on YouTube and off

Iran rises because America retreats

Beyond 'No Labels'

Is START stuck?

Friday question answered

Religious voters alienated by liberal agenda

Morning Bits

Egypt: Just how weak can the administration be?

Laura Bush's human rights model

What a week

Morning Bits