The expulsion of the U.S. ambassadors from Bolivia and Venezuela sadly reflects the increasing spiral of radicalism, paranoia and bad behavior that are the hallmarks of Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez and his closest ally, Evo Morales. It is a rejection of models of civility and diplomatic cooperation and hemispheric solidarity once fostered by the statesmen of the Americas. A hunger for power, authority, and endless praise have become the hallmarks of these radical populist leaders. We agree with the Department of State statement of today that the expulsion of the ambassadors, …
MINNEAPOLIS – “If Hubert Humphrey was still a leader of the Democratic Party, I would not be at this convention today,” Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) told a packed audience at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Policy this afternoon. Sitting on a panel that included National Security Adviser to Ronald Reagan, and Ambassadors Robert Portman and Richard Williamson, Lieberman concluded his opening remarks saying, “Humphrey believed in the kind of progressive politics at home and idealism abroad that I grew up with.” Fortune magazine’s Nina Easton hosted the ‘Building …
Heritage’s Sally McNamara discusses the concerns for the West now that Russia invaded Georgia. In the video she highlights three main reasons why we need to be concerned: 1. The Invasion was illegal and immoral 2. Europe’s response has been wholly inadequate 3. The West should stress to Russia that actions have consequences. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtqvpb_KzgI[/youtube] Read more about this conflict: Russia’s Recognition of Independence for South Ossetia and Abkhazia Is Illegitimate: They Are Not Kosovo The EU Must Express Solidarity with Georgia at Its Emergency Summit
DENVER – Google CEO Eric Schmidt told an audience here at The Big Tent that the most common question he gets when he travels abroad is why Google insists on “supporting American hegemony.” Schmidt explained that “free speech is not a universal value” and that Google’s commitment to open accessible information is “seen as so obviously American worldwide.” Big Tent host Rachel Maddow earlier pressed Schmidt on Google’s cooperation with China, but Schmidt insisted that the way they worked with Chinese censors (by marking where each censored word or sentence …
DENVER — Tonight former President Bill Clinton is supposed to deliver a speech on the official Democratic National Convention theme, “Securing America’s Future.” It is still unclear whether Clinton will stick to his assigned topic, or if he will go off message and defend his presidential legacy. Part of that legacy is the beginning of the online left, specifically MoveOn.org, which was created in 1998 to help defend Clinton from impeachment. MoveOn has since expanded its policy portfolio far beyond sexual harassment lawsuits, and its claimed 3.2 million members are …
Despite promises to withdraw their troops, Russian forces are still manning checkpoints in undisputed Georgian territory and demanding advance notification of all travel through the central Georgian city of Gori. Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utishvili commented: “This is ridiculous. If they ask you to get a Russian visa if you want to travel from Washington to Baltimore, that’s what it looks like.” How did we get here? For the first time since the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) was created in 2002, President Vladimir Putin attended the April 2008 NATO Summit …
Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez faces an election on November 23, and he’s wasting no time in further undermining civil society and consolidating his power. Jaime Daremblum of the Hudson Institute reports: On July 22, the Venezuelan president arrived in Moscow to finalize a number of bilateral energy and military agreements, including several arms deals that (according to a Russian newspaper) are reportedly worth around $2 billion. (His previous weapons acquisitions from Russia total some $4.5 billion.) On July 31, he announced plans to nationalize the Spanish-owned Bank of Venezuela, his …
A core belief of the hard core left is that free trade has killed American manufacturing and that increased protectionism is key to bringing it back. Harold Meyerson forwards this world view in today’s Washington Post: The loss of several million manufacturing jobs during the Bush presidency coincides with the first economic recovery in American history in which the average family’s income actually declined. … When you compare Obama’s economic positions to those of John McCain, this should be no contest. McCain has supported every offshoring, free-trade accord, past or …
Why do liberals insist on demonstrating every day that they have no idea how markets work? Yesterday Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) asked the White House “to determine whether [it has] the authority to take action to immediately halt all exports of U.S. oil, and if not, to work with Congress to give the Executive Branch authority to protect America’s vital resources.” The U.S. does export 1.8 billion barrels of oil a day, but all barrels of oil are not created equal. The U.S. often produces oil that is difficult to …
Initiative for Public Policy Analysis executive director Thompson Ayodele writes about hunger, trade, and his homeland Nigeria in The Madison Times: Food prices have skyrocketed internationally. In my own Nigeria, rice has epitomized the crisis after doubling in price since last year. … It’s not hard to link African food crises to inappropriate government agricultural policies that stifle the continent’s great agricultural potential. Over the years, nothing has been done to address low crop yields. To the contrary, government has seemingly gone out of its way to hamper production with …
