Columnist.
The Wall Street Journal recently showed Vladimir Putin in Crimea. There was the saturnine Slav in an unusually ebullient mood. He was standing in front of a banner ostensibly celebrating the victory of the USSR in what Russians still call "The Great Patriotic War" against Hitler in 1945. Of course, some would argue that the only reason Vladimir Vladimirovich appeared before the large red banner with its Communist Hammer and Sickle insignia is for historical accuracy. Those victory banners from 1945 have a long history in Russia. Defenders of Putin's public association with the symbols of Soviet power might say it is rather like us celebrating America's victory at Fort McHenry in 1814 with a fifteen-star, fifteen stripe "Star-Spangled Banner."
With Iran on the verge of obtaining nuclear weapons and Russia wanting to re-assert itself as a world power through the Ukrainian crisis, a strong military presence in the world is more important for America than ever. A critical way the military does this is by remaining a global leader in ballistic missile technology. The details of ballistic missile defense systems are wonky and technical, especially as the technology improves far beyond those missiles used in the defense systems proposed by conservative hero President Ronald Reagan. But now, as military weaponry becomes more sophisticated at an alarmingly fast rate, and more hostile countries acquire ballistic missile technology, the United States must stay ahead of the curve when it comes to missile defense. But staying ahead of the curve for our defenses does not necessarily mean always supporting the most theoretical advancements, especially as our federal government struggles to rein in record deficits.
>*"I will not allow my commitment to Israel to be questioned by anyone, particularly for partisan, political purposes, so I want to be crystal clear about what I believe and what I don't believe," Kerry said after U.S. lawmakers and pro-Israel groups criticized him, with some demanding his resignation or at least an apology…"I have been around long enough to also know the power of words to create a misimpression, even when unintentional, and if I could rewind the tape, I would have chosen a different word [than Apartheid] to describe my firm belief that the only way in the long term to have a Jewish state and two nations and two peoples living side by side in peace and security is through a two-state solution," Kerry said. [From Breitbart news.]* The Secretary of State admits he was "inarticulate." And he proceeds to prove it daily.
The world has watched in dismay as Russia's ruler, Vladimir Putin, has gobbled up Crimea. Now, he seems bent on dismembering Ukraine. Much of our attention has been focused on Putin and his next targets. Perhaps Taiwan is next. In the East, China's Communist leaders are watching, too. They pay close attention to the actions of this former KGB agent. Putin is increasingly popular in Russia as he seeks to restore some of the power and prestige of the old USSR. For its part, China has been rattling a saber over Japan's Senkaku Islands. Concerned, President Obama recently rushed to Tokyo. There, he reminded the world of the U.S.-Japanese Defense Treaty.
Secretary of State John Kerry has taken only one element from all of America's history in his peripatetic quest to forge a Mideast peace settlement: It is Theodore Roosevelt's famous "Big Stick." It was the Nobel Peace Prize winner, President Roosevelt, who famously quoted the West African proverb: "Walk softly but carry a big stick." Kerry has walked anything but softly. In fact, he has often jammed his boot in the door and hectored the sides in the century-old Arab-Israeli conflict. He seems determined to force a Mideast settlement on the contenders by using his Big Stick diplomacy -- on one side.
Justice John Paul Stevens doesn't believe anyone has the right to own a gun, and admits that you would need to rewrite the Constitution to make his preference a legal reality. And that's exactly what he thinks should happen. Throughout his 35-year tenure on the Supreme Court, Justice Stevens was a lion of the Legal Left. He was an unapologetic advocate of the "Living Constitution" -- that judges should continually reinterpret the words of the Constitution in accordance with what they, and other elite members of society, decide is the evolving enlightenment of modern society.
A critical vote may await the Senate upon its return next week. The Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee is scheduled to vote on a massive proposal to overhaul the nation's mortgage finance market. Yet the draft language released by the authors -- Chairman Tim Johnson (D-SD) and Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID) -- has raised concerns across the political spectrum. Organizations and individuals at polar ends of the political landscape, from Ralph Nader on the left to the Independent Community Bankers Association on the right, and from the right-leaning 60 Plus to the left-leaning NAACP, have all voiced objection to parts of this mammoth legislation. Others, such as HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and the National Association of Realtors have been more supportive of the bill. Who is right and what should Senators do?
Henry Kissinger made Mideast "shuttle diplomacy" famous in the 1970s. The peripatetic Sec. of State then jetted back and forth between Israel and Egypt and fashioned an uneasy cease-fire in the Yom Kippur War of 1973. President Obama has added a new *twist* to shuttle diplomacy. It seems whenever Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in the air en route to Washington, the Commander-in-Chief chooses that time to apply the screws to Israel's democratic government. Three years ago, Mr. Obama made a major pronouncement: Israel should return to the pre-1967 borders as a basis for negotiating with the Arabs. He delivered these prepared remarks while Netanyahu was still in the air. Once Netanyahu came down to earth, he politely but firmly took the President to school on Mid Eastern affairs. Sitting in the Oval Office, and before live TV cameras, the Prime Minister noted that Israel could never return to those indefensible borders and remain a viable country.
How did our relations with Russia go so far wrong so quickly? The Obama administration hoped to have a "reset" of our bilateral ties by wiping the slate clean. In giving the Russians a *reset*, we were showing a willingness to let bygones be bygones. Or, in their case, let Putin's 2008 invasion of neighboring Republic of Georgia be forgotten. It was exactly the wrong thing to do. But the trouble with our Russian relations goes further back. After the collapse of Communism and the largely peaceful dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1991, it seemed we were headed for a new era of liberal democracy in Russia. Boris Yeltsin was the brave, bluff, buoyant President of the Russian Federation who had boldly stood atop a tank in Moscow when the Communist Party made its last-ditch effort to seize power and depose the feckless Mikhail Gorbachev. Yeltsin was courageous, to be sure. He might easily have been killed.
With Vladimir Putin's seeming success in rolling over Crimea and pushing aside the Ukrainians, President Obama is talking tough. And, though Ukraine is not a member of NATO, Poland, the Baltic states, Hungary and the Czech Republic are. They need some shoring up. So Mr. Obama has sent Vice President Joe Biden to reassure the Poles. This makes sense to President Obama because Joe Biden sat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for nearly forty years. Sending Joe Biden to Warsaw will impress the Russians, the president believes. Now, they will surely know that Obama means business. The president famously said of his veep: "nobody messes with Joe."
The former President of Lebanon, Amine Gemayel, is a Maronite Christian. He recently warned of "an exodus approaching biblical proportions." Gemayel told [a gathering in Zurich of Christian Solidarity International (CSI)](www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/former-lebanese-president-warns-of-crisis-of-pluralism-in-middle-east-250336691.html) and other human rights activists that the current wave of church burnings, murders, and riots against Christians in the Mideast is the work of radical Islamists. The former Lebanese leader's own brother had been assassinated in Beirut by these same jihadists. President Gemayel's warnings echo those issued two years ago by Vienna's Catholic prelate. Christoph Cardinal Schönborn in 2012 told a religious freedom roundtable in Washington that Egypt and Syria "must not become Iraq." He was referring to the ethnic cleansing that had led the post-Saddam government of Iraq to turn a blind eye to the killing or the driving out of more than half of that war-torn Arab country's pre-invasion Christian population of 1.6 million.
New York Times columnist David Carr thinks that Piers Morgan got the heave-ho from CNN because of his British accent. Well, we know what Mr. Carr thinks of the rest of us Yanks, don't we? He told fellow superior liberal Bill Maher several years ago that Alabama and Kansas are not "smart states." And when you absolutely have to go to the Heartland, to places Timesmen call "flyover country," you need to be aware you are dancing "the dance of the low-sloping foreheads." That line got quite the chuckle on Maher's cable show. Maher guffawed along with Carr.
The centenary of World War I is upon us. That Great War began in August, 1914. We can expect a flood of new books and documentaries on what some then called "the war to end all wars." The rising power of the United States was not fully felt in Europe then. In fact, some German militarists unwisely dismissed the U.S. "They won't land a single soldier in France," one of their admirals vainly told his Kaiser. "Our U-boats will sink their troop ships." One new book on the sudden outbreak of the war is attracting attention and critical praise. Diplomatic historian Margaret MacMillan's new work, *The War that Ended Peace*, has been "blurbed" by no less a figure than former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Madame Secretary says this book "tells the story of how intelligent, well-meaning leaders guided their nations into catastrophe."
It was the most memorable moment in the debates of the 2008 nomination cycle. Before the New Hampshire Primary, Sen. Hillary Clinton was asked by the debate moderator to respond to comments that she had a powerful resume, impressive achievements, but she didn't measure up on the "likeability" scale. Her response was charming. "That hurts my feelings." But her opponent, freshman Sen. Barack Obama scored a knockout with his ultra-cool rejoinder. "Your likeable enough, Hillary." You have to see it. Hillary actually won that primary, narrowly. But it didn't take away the sting of Obama's barb. Likeable enough.
There seems to be a rising chorus -- even among some on the right -- that marriage is over and we need to give up on the civil institution of marriage. I'm reminded of the blonde starlet, Mae West. This Hollywood celebrity was asked why she didn't marry one of the handsome young men who always followed her around. "Marriage is a great institution," said Mae, "but I'm not ready for an institution." Married or not, Mae West understood marriage better than some federal judges and some policy analysts. When we hear them say "let's privatize marriage," what they are really saying is let's abandon the children. And let's abandon America's future.
It's getting harder even for sincere media supporters of President Obama's signature legislative achievement -- the government takeover of health care known as Obamacare -- to defend the indefensible. Kirsten Powers has spoken up for the compassionate idea of covering everyone. But she signaled on FOX News that it was getting harder to defend the botched rollout and, now, losing her *own* coverage, she is looking less and less willing to stand up for this deeply flawed program. Powers attributes all this confusion -- and the *thirty-five* "fixes"Mr. Obama has unilaterally mandated -- to "incompetence."
She's described as "the top U.S. diplomat for Europe." And so, when her indiscreet telephone call goes viral on the Internet, it *ought* to be big news. Victoria Nuland was promoted from her post as State Department spokesperson following the 2012 elections. Now, she holds the coveted post of Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs. The specific quote being circulated has an unmistakable Nuland saying "F--- the [European Union]!" Well, now, isn't the kind of thing you would expect a seasoned diplomat to be saying? We know she is seasoned because we watched her seasoning. She might have won the Gold Medal for ice dancing around a simple question: Is Jerusalem the capital of Israel?
A favorite tactic of the Obama Administration is to engage in outrageous behavior, and then -- with the support of its allies -- put its opponents on the defensive by accusing them of engaging in the conduct of which it is in fact guilty. So, for example, the Administration takes far-out positions on social issues -- then labels as "extreme" anyone who stands up for mainstream values. The White House promotes monetary policies that destroy jobs -- and then attacks the business community for driving "income inequality."
No one in modern America has done more than President Obama to bring about *in*equality. His modern utopia is turning into a *queuetopia*. Under ObamaCare, Americans have to queue up even to sign up for health care. We will of course have to stand in ever lengthening lines to get his "navigators" to direct us to a real physician. It's a *queuetopia* when the best he can offer in his State of the Union Address is a longer period of time to stand in the *unemployment lines*. Few of those who have to wait in those lines would prefer a government check to a real job.
For millions of Americans, politics has lost its meaning. There is growing dissatisfaction with both party organizations. More and more Americans tell pollsters they are Independents. The way to reclaim the Republican Party is not be seeking some illusory "middle ground" between principled conservatism and radical liberalism. The way to bring the GOP back at the national level is to hold the party leadership to the pledges it has made for generations.
