Yes, But, However! » Opinion

US and Egypt should walk back on NGO row

The Hill — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:44:00 +0000

U.S. relations with Egypt have sunk to a new low in a row between the Egyptian military rulers and foreign pro-democracy NGOs accused of fomenting instability in the country. Unfortunately, both sides have mishandled things and the crisis is escalating. I’m in Cairo, where Egyptian activists say that the military authorities should have acted earlier to enforce a 2002 law providing for the registration of NGOs. But while Egyptian authorities contend that the NGOs failed to register, the NGOs say they had taken steps to do so and fear that the registration is just a pretext for the crackdown.

An American’s Apology

John Romano — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:10:38 +0000

By John Romano

(YBH) – My country is officially out of hand. When two British tourists tweet in slang about partying in America and then are denied entry to the country because of it. Well, my blood runs cold.

DHS's latest boogeymen: Twenty-something Brits.

The world should know that we are not all seeking to recreate the security apparatus of Eastern Europe circa 1970 here in America. I think as many Americans as possible should vocalize that notion. Especially these days.

I can’t stand President Obama’s policies and (non)leadership style, and advocated and supported John McCain. Even with Sarah Palin on the ticket. However, even I thought Obama would be a moderating influence over things like homeland security and tamp down the paranoia creeping into the American psyche. In fact he’s made it worse.

What amazes me the most is that no cooler heads prevailed at DHS. The twenty-something British pair, Leigh Van Bryan and Emily Bunting, were, according to the Daily Mail, interviewed for over five hours and incarcerated overnight before being sent back to the UK. Clearly someone must have seen that the couple were harmless? There is no system in place to determine a real threat from a satirical tweet? If that is the case we are actually in more danger than I thought. Note to the morons at DHS, terrorists don’t tweet their plans! Really!

Which brings me to the worst part of all. The U.S. government is actively monitoring Twitter and Facebook and presumably this column. A chilling thought indeed.

So if you are reading this Herr officer, please, please, please gain some perspective. You are embarrassing the s@#$ out of my country. To the British tourists who got a taste of American Orwellianism, I apologize and say you are welcome in my country. I’ll be happy to “destroy” a few pints of beer next time I’m in the UK.

The Sunshine State’s Republican primary

The Hill — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:39:00 +0000

The result in Florida — the biggest and most diverse primary state so far — has restored the natural Republican political order. Mitt Romney’s strong victory gives him a big boost toward winning the Republican Party presidential nomination. There’s a long way to go until the Republican convention in Tampa, but for the first time, Mr. Romney neared 50 percent of the vote. He has the delegate lead, more money, support from the establishment and political momentum. It is a powerful combination. Newt Gingrich has vowed to stay in the race. But he has limited opportunities to fight back. He had a hard time competing in media-rich Florida and lacks the money to battle on equal terms as Super Tuesday approaches in early March. Few debates are scheduled in the coming weeks, limiting Gingrich’s opportunity to make up the difference. His best hope remains the lack of enthusiasm for Romney.

Romney’s path forward

The Hill — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:29:00 +0000

Mitt Romney won a big victory, and that win should propel him to the nomination sometime by June, given the vagaries of the proportional delegate system put in place by the Republican National Committee. But Romney shouldn’t feel that comfortable with his position in the party or with the state of his party at the moment. Sarah Palin can be dismissed as a goofball and an idiot for continuing to embrace Newt Gingrich, despite the former Speaker’s trouncing in the Sunshine State. But she speaks for many of the goofballs and idiots who make up a fairly large chunk of the Republican/Tea Party base.

Ask A.B.: An extended GOP primary battle

The Hill — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:45:00 +0000

The Hill’s A.B. Stoddard sits down with John Feehery and Peter Fenn to discuss an extended GOP primary battle and election politics on Capitol Hill.

Education equality and choice: Creating a positive future

The Hill — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:21:00 +0000

Last week was a big week for people who care about education reform. National School Choice Week stormed the nation with more than 400 events across all 50 states. More than half the nation’s governors issued proclamations supporting the week. The week shone a light on school choice in all its forms and got people talking about educational options for our children. The good news is that school choice continues to advance across the nation. Only if this progress continues to build will our nation’s future be secure.

Country-club GOP establishment lays down the law to Ron Paul, Sarah Palin, the Tea Party and the conservative movement

The Hill — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:55:00 +0000

At some country-club golf course recently, Speaker Boehner, Haley Barbour and the Bain Capital and banking wings of the GOP probably devised the plan that is now under way: Ron Paul, get on the program behind Mitt and stop talking down wars. Sarah Palin, stop referring to the GOP establishment as Stalinesque. Tea Party members: shut up and get behind the former liberal governor of Massachusetts. Conservative movement, cool it. So what if our nominee was the godfather of ObamaCare?

Why Newt is good for the GOP

The Hill — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:47:00 +0000

I thought long and hard about this blog title. It could take on many meanings. But more than any other, I believe Newt Gingrich’s decision to remain in the primary race until the bitter end is good for the party because it will keep Mitt Romney battle-ready. Think about it. We saw just a little bit of a threat from Newt in South Carolina (many would call that a MAJOR threat!), and look at how the Romney machine mobilized. It was quite impressive. And if you weren’t paying attention, you can be sure the Obama campaign in Chicago was. One of Romney’s closest advisers — former Bush 41 political director Ron Kaufman — used to ask any candidate who ever considered running for office, “Do you have a primary opponent?” If the candidate answered, “No,” the story goes, he would tell them, “Well, see if you can get one … It only makes you tougher for your general-election opponent.”

GOP Establishment Gets its Candidate, But Loses Me

John Romano — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:46:41 +0000

By John Romano

(YBH) – It’s official. I don’t care about the Republican nominating process anymore. The elites decided on Mitt Romney the day John McCain lost in 2008 and have been working that angle ever since. Why bother?

For me, the moment came last week when listening to the whiny-sounding*, yet usually well-informed, conservative talk-show host Michael Medved. Mr. Medved, who I’ve long admired, has gone overboard in his advocacy of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. These days his show is usually three hours of alternating between praising Mitt Romney and knocking his current sparring partner (currently Newt Gingrich).

The kicker was last week after the last GOP debate. Per usual, Mr. Medved was gleefully exclaiming the merits of a Mitt Romney candidacy while disparaging the rest of the field. What came next really surprised me. As Mr. Medved played clips from the debate, and as far as I can tell**, he left out the following retort from former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum to Governor Romney over the issue of ObamaCare:

“Think about what that means going up against Barack Obama … You are going to claim [about the Affordable Care Act], ‘Well, it doesn’t work and we should repeal.’ And he’s going to say, ‘Wait a minute, governor. You said it works well in Massachusetts.’ Folks—we can’t give this issue away in this election. It is about fundamental freedom … It’s going to be on your ballot as to whether there should be a government mandate here in Florida. According to Governor Romney, that’s OK.”

Rick Santorum is right. How will Mitt Romney defend against such an attack by Mr. Obama? He won’t, is the answer. Obama will destroy Romney on this issue. Hence why Mr. Medved either didn’t play the clip or downplayed its rhetorical significance to his audience.

The Republican establishment has been shoving Mitt Romney down the throats of the party faithful for almost a year now. Newt’s moon base aside, they have also done everything in thier power to destroy every other candidate. I call it the “Rove Rule”. If the GOP elite and the Democrats both strongly dislike you, you are done in national politics. That is basically everyone who has thrown his hat in the ring except Mitt Romney (and perhaps Jon Huntsman).

If you are a tea partier and you want to know what the party elite actually think of you, look no further than the spoon feeding of all things Mitt Romney that has gone on over the last year or so. Perhaps Barack Obama isn’t the only one that thinks the tea party and middle America is filled with ignorant sheep-like “bitter clingers”?

The odd thing is, Romney would have probably won without rigging the game and alienating the tea party wing of the GOP. RomneyCare and his fip-flopping aside, he’s not that bad of a candidate. Pushing so hard for Romney was a mistake on the part of the party establishment that may come back to haunt them in November ,when the party needs passionate boots on the ground. You see, I’ll vote for Romney over Obama (my earlier pledge withstanding), but without the enthusiasm of people like me, Romney will have a much harder go of it in November than guys like Karl Rove or Michael Medved think.

Barring an asteroid hitting Earth, the contest will be the one the GOP establishment so desperately wants: ObamaCare vs. RomneyCare. Well, that is fine, but count me and millions of other movement conservatives out.

* An earlier version of this article called Mr. Medved “weaselly”, that is incorrect. My intent was to call him “whiney” it has been corrected.

** If Mr. Medved makes a claim that he played the clip on his show I’ll gladly retract this statement, as I didn’t listen to all three hours of his broadcast.

Erskine Bowles for North Carolina governor

The Hill — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:46:00 +0000

President Obama’s invitation to Bush family members to the White House makes him seem an Everyman, all things to all people, and Caroline Kennedy’s open letter to vote for Obama a second time because her name is Kennedy — both mark the turning of the times, and suggest that Obama, like the Kennedys and the Bushes, is no longer a rising part of the times. We have left the age of two-family politics, honoring Northeastern gentry who bask in Kennebunkport or Hyannis, and have entered instead into a full-bore Jacksonian heartland awakening. Tea Party has taken the mantle these past two years. But Jacksonian populism, channeled today by Gingrich, Sarah Palin, Ron and Rand Paul, all started in Virginia with Mudcat Saunders.  