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I was sad to read an obit of Happy Rockefeller. I met her once, when Bill and Pat Buckley invited her to dinner. She came with a British fellow, Sir John. She was very pleasant. And she seemed happy, à la her name. Let me quote from the obit, published in the New York Times: Happy Rockefeller, the socialite whose 1963 marriage to Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller of New York, soon after both had been divorced, raised a political storm in a more genteel time and may have cost him the Republican presidential nomination in 1964, died on Tuesday at...

For years, the Left in Britain had a taunt: “There are more pandas in Scotland than there are Tory MPs.” Ha ha ha! Yes, there were two pandas in the Edinburgh Zoo and only one Conservative representing a Scottish constituency in parliament. Activists used to dress as pandas to remind David Cameron and the Conservatives of this fact. Well, guess what? There are now more pandas in Scotland than there are Labour MPs. Yup: After its wipeout at the hands of the Scottish National Party, Labour has a single MP representing a Scottish constituency. Just as the Tories (still) have...

One of the raps against George W. Bush was that he treated our allies badly: He was arrogant toward them, insensitive, cloddish. Of course, this was a bad rap: He handled our alliances — and our other relationships — well, as I argued at length. I thought of the rap against Bush the other day when I read what the current vice president, Joe Biden, said about our Afghan allies: “Daddy is going to start to take the training wheels off in October — I mean in next July, so you’d better practice riding.” Condescending and appalling. Whatever you think...

Like you, I’m sure, I’m all for “realism” in foreign policy. Sometimes you have to hold your nose: as when you deal with the rulers in Beijing, for example. But now and then you might ask, “How does it look to the boys in the camps?” That is the line attributed to Vladimir Bukovsky, the great Soviet dissident. When making policy or holding meetings, Westerners should pause to consider, “How will it look to the boys in the camps?” Well, our new president, Obama, has been pretty depressing on that score. It started, really, when he gave an interview to...

In recent days, there has been a great fuss over Rush Limbaugh. It’s amazing, the attention he attracts, and the heebie-jeebies he gives people. Some of my friends have blasted him. One was in my office just yesterday, blasting him. Okay. Rush isn’t for everybody, but who is? There are many other radio hosts on the dial, and you can choose the ones you like — or none at all. I like Rush. I think he’s right about almost everything. And I like his spirit — the sheer joie de vivre he expresses. I wish I had more of that...

The Kerry campaign has reached rock bottom. I'm not talking about its standing in the polls — I don't care about that, so much. I'm talking about its moral status. Its behavior during Prime Minister Allawi's visit to the United States was appalling. The contempt that these people — the Kerry people — threw on Allawi was beyond belief. I feel like a McCarthyite when I think, "Are they on the other side? They seem desperate for our endeavors in Iraq to fail. They seem to be rooting against us." But I think it. Of Allawi, Joe Lockhart, the Kerry...

Shall we start with some media bias? Some grousing about? Conservatives never tire of it — the grousing, that is — but, at the same time, the media never tire of delivering the bias. So . . . From lovely Reuters comes a news story, featuring this sentence: "Bush, who avoided combat in Vietnam while serving as a pilot in the Texas Air National Guard, calls himself a war president for his re-election campaign against Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran." Read that a few times, and keep gasping. That sentence is from a wire service, mind...

Shall we start with some media bias? Some grousing about? Conservatives never tire of it — the grousing, that is — but, at the same time, the media never tire of delivering the bias. So . . . From lovely Reuters comes a news story, featuring this sentence: "Bush, who avoided combat in Vietnam while serving as a pilot in the Texas Air National Guard, calls himself a war president for his re-election campaign against Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran." Read that a few times, and keep gasping. That sentence is from a wire service, mind...

Ready for a little Teresa, the lady who would be First Lady? Okay, check her out. First, in response to Bush's gay-marriage position, she says, "It's divisive politics." Oh, sure: divisiveness. Because it's only supporters of a marriage amendment who are acting divisively, not those who would impose a radical redefinition of marriage. "You wish to thwart my staggeringly revolutionary action, therefore you are divisive." What a lovely way to argue! And here's Joe Klein, in the Quote of the Day from yesterday's Hotline (a political compilation from the National Journal people): "[Bush] said he was a war president, but...

Welcome to Part III (and for Parts I and II, go here and here). Shall we just wade right in? Back in, that is? Okay. I'll begin this installment with the amazing Olusegun Obasanjo, president of Nigeria. He meets with a few journalists in an on-the-record session, garbed in his native dress, looking elegant and serene. As I mentioned earlier in this Journal, Obasanjo is a dignified man whose lilting English is endearing, almost hypnotic. If he's challenged, however, he gets prickly — formidable. The thought occurs, "You don't get to be Number One in an African country — or...

Friends, I'm writing you from the village of Davos, in Switzerland, where the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum is being held. I will report for the next few days, mixing items of some moment with items of a light nature. (How does that differ from the normal Impromptus, huh?) Anyone and everyone is here, as is always the case. You have your heads of state: Abdullah, Klaus, Kwasniewski, Musharraf, Khatami, Erdogan. You have a slew of foreign ministers, and other ministers. U.S. Cabinet members include Ashcroft and Evans (Vice President Cheney will also show.) You have thinkers, deep...

Yesterday, I committed Part I of this Davos Journal, and I promised you, the next day, a little Bill Clinton — so here he is. As you may remember from my reporting and commentary last year, Bill Clinton is King of Davos, the World Economic Forum's favorite American, by far, just as Shimon Peres is its favorite Israeli (you may detect a pattern here). There is almost a worshipful attitude about Clinton here in Davos, as people get adoring looks in their eyes, and follow his every move like bobby-soxers in thrall to Sinatra. No wonder the ex-prez so loves...

May I start with a little anti-union rant? I didn't think you'd mind, you NRO wingnuts, you. It is also an anti-airline rant — and you may not mind that, either. I'm writing you on the high seas, in the course of a National Review cruise (and you should really come on one). But I don't have my baggage, and never have, since I boarded last Saturday. Here was the deal: On that day, Saturday, I took an American Airlines flight to Ft. Lauderdale, to meet NR's ship. The plane landed, on time, at 2:15. But the ground crew would...

Colmes & Kunstler. Rosie, o Rosie. About David Bar-Illan. And more I saw something that shocked me, from Alan Colmes. You know him: one half of the Hannity-and-Colmes team on Fox. Interviewed by The Hotline (a Washington political sheet), Colmes was asked, "If you could have any other job besides the one you have now, what would it be?" Colmes answered, "I admired William Kunstler. To defend the defenseless, to empower the powerless, to work within the system to change it. Atticus Finch in 'To Kill a Mockingbird.'" This is a breathtaking statement, if you know the personalities, issues, and...

I'd like to start by comparing George W. Bush to Jimmy Carter. Now, before you lose your lunch, hear me out. Besides, President Carter wasn't all bad. The other day, Bush said, "When you become the president" — he always says "the president," instead of "president" — "you cannot predict all the challenges that will come. But you do know the principles that you bring to the office, and they should not change with time or with polls." Nicely said. And very reminiscent of something that Governor Carter said repeatedly in the '76 campaign: "We must adapt to changing times...

May I start with something hilarious? I didn't think you'd mind. I heard from a reader who'd been in Germany, and he passed a sign that said "Free Mumia!" Only it was in German, of course, and the German word for "free" is "frei" — pronounced "fry." So . . . my reader took immense satisfaction from that! • A brief word about Rush. I'm glad he's in rehab, and, as I said before, I feel certain he'll lick this — this rotten addiction. Of course, many people are taking a great deal of pleasure in Rush's predicament. Evan Thomas...