The New Republic

David Frum, the former Bush speechwriter, started his career as apostate Republican primarily arguing that the party needed to move to the center on strategic grounds. But now he's starting to say some really ideologically heterodox things: America suffers much more child poverty than do comparably wealthy countries – Germany, France, Canada, etc. – for two main reasons: READ MORE >>

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I realize that there's a concerted Democratic campaign to portray Republican Senate nominee Sharon Angle as a nut. That does not change the fact that Sharron Angle is, in fact, a nut. Indeed her nuttiness seems to transcend even the broad universe of right-wing nuttiness and encroaches onto other realms. Per David Frum: READ MORE >>

David Frum has found another one of Rand Paul's conspiracy theories: READ MORE >>

Peter Beinart replies, or purports to reply, one more time: READ MORE >>

One of the problems with David Frum's campaign to nudge the Republican Party toward the center is that he relentlessly conflates moral arguments with arguments about electoral feasibility. Frum clearly believes that the party's rightward lurch is wrong and renders the party unable to address real-world problems. But, to appeal to conservatives who don't share his beliefs about public policy, he often frames his case in crass electoral. READ MORE >>

Jonah Goldberg has a long essay in Commentary attempting to defend the notion that President Obama is a socialist. The argument suffers from numerous flaws. READ MORE >>

There are a few writers who contribute to National Review's blog who understand that many other writers for National Review are poorly-informed propagandists. Generally, this minority of intelligent conservatives have tended to avoid criticizing their more rabid colleagues, or have couched their criticisms in the most gentle terms. READ MORE >>

There's been a ton of chatter about the prospect of Democrats imposing a value-added tax, but almost all of it has come from conservatives. The conversation has thus taken on an odd quality -- it's conservatives whipping each other into a progressively more hysterical state while liberals stand aside puzzled. David Frum has a much more persuasive take on what taxes Obama is likely to raise. READ MORE >>

Former Bush aide Tevi Troy's essay in National Affairs, "Bush, Obama, and the Intellectuals," is kind of strange. It begins by promising to confound the popular impression that Barack Obama is an intellectual and George W. Bush is not: READ MORE >>