AmSpec Blog

Jesse Helms, R.I.P.

info@spectator.org (James Antle) — Fri, 4 Jul 2008 13:47:48 EST

Senator No, the 86-year-old conservative stalwart from North Carolina, has died, on July 4 of all days. This obituary is reasonably fair. I wish I could say all of them were. Helms was far from a flawless figure, but he is arguably the most consistently consequential legislator associated with the conservative movement. Dave Weigel reviewed William Link's Righteous Warrior: Jesse Helms and the Rise of Modern Conservatism for us here; I reviewed it here.

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The Obama Coalition

info@spectator.org (James G. Poulos) — Fri, 4 Jul 2008 13:24:53 EST

Put Phil and Jim's critiques together and what do you get? A broad yet extraordinarily fragile coalition of Obama voters -- all of whom want at least one kind of substantive, even sweeping change in policy, and all of whom stand to be significantly disappointed. Michael has already beaten this drum --

If he wins the White House, Obama will leak damaging news on Fridays. He will flinch. He will misspeak from podiums adorned with the presidential seal. He will make stupid and damaging bargains with his political enemies. He will not be able to satisfy free-traders and protectionists. He will not usher in an era fo...

Believe It Or Not

info@spectator.org (Philip Klein) — Fri, 4 Jul 2008 10:05:48 EST

The New York Times slams Obama in its lead editorial:

We are not shocked when a candidate moves to the center for the general election. But Mr. Obama’s shifts are striking because he was the candidate who proposed to change the face of politics, the man of passionate convictions who did not play old political games.

In recent days I've been wondering if Obama's reversals are an example of deft Clintonian triangulation, or if they will begin to hurt his candidacy. About a month ago, I wrote about Obama's Mitt Romney problem, noting that, "Obama has never had to run a general election campaign against a viable Republican in which his liberal views underwent scrutiny and he was forced to move to...

Watch J.P. Freire

info@spectator.org (James Antle) — Thu, 3 Jul 2008 18:49:51 EST

J.P. will be on MSNBC tomorrow from 10 a.m. to noon discussing the McCain camp's shake-up, Obama's attempted lurch away from the left, Rush Limbaugh, the veepstakes, and more.

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Order of Canada

info@spectator.org (Erin Wildermuth) — Thu, 3 Jul 2008 17:37:00 EST

Doctor Henry Morgentaler receives the Order of Canada, Canada's highest civilian honour. The award has struck a nerve. The good doctor is best known as an abortion activist. He opened an illegal clinic in 1969 and has consistently fought for the right to choose.

Some Canadians are annoyed with the decision because they feel that the Order should be given only to people whose work is unanimously considered beneficial to Canada. Clearly, an abortion activist doesn't fit the bill.

Father Lucien Larre has actually returned his Order, which he received some 25 years ago, saying that he couldn't in good conscious be linked to the activist.

Still, Morgentaler is only being given a "Member" medal in the Order. This status, the lowest awarded to a Canadian, specifically honors people who have serviced a "par...

On Washington and His Army

info@spectator.org (Quin Hillyer) — Thu, 3 Jul 2008 16:51:55 EST

Rich Lowry has a very nice piece out today on George Washington and his Continental Army. A good read heading into Independence Day!...