Free Republic

His online minions attack me fiercely over last week’s column. They should hear what my kids call me. Over many years of writing pieces critical of politicians, my Republican targets mostly took the beatings like men, many going so far as to acknowledge—if only in confidence—that they probably deserved it. Not so Vice President JD Vance, and his dreary band of online enforcers. This egotism—or rather, insecurity—is worth analyzing. This column reported last week on the bitterness Mr. Vance’s congressional colleagues are feeling over his continual absence. In recent administrations, governing majorities have come to rely on the vice president—who...

It’s no secret Joe Biden’s team spent its final days shoveling money out the door, and in ways designed to limit Donald Trump’s ability to claw it back. Officials working under Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright have now completed a review of the Loan Programs Office (LPO)—the government entity that brought you Solyndra— and the extent of the shenanigans is remarkable. Figures and documents provided to me show a loan free-for-all: More than $90 billion showered on entities in a matter of months, a lot of it to companies of questionable taxpayer value. The highlights of DOE’s review: Unprecedented...

The recriminations are flying, as Barack Obama’s and Joe Biden’s forces go to war over who’s more to blame for Democrats’ humiliating defeat Tuesday. So long as the left is pointing fingers, let it direct a big, fat digit at the outfit that played the biggest role in losing it this election: the U.S. media. That isn’t the conventional wisdom, which holds that the press’s naked shilling for Democratic candidates amounts to an in-kind campaign contribution. And no doubt the media’s ceaseless attacks on Donald Trump and Republicans did help round up some undecided voters. Yet the boosterism for Kamala...

Here’s the common reaction to the Waukesha, Wis., murders: It’s nuts that the suspect, with his long criminal history, was free on $1,000 bail posted days before the automotive rampage. Here’s New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in a tweet the day after the Waukesha murders: “Today, we sent a letter . . . to NYC’s 5 District Attorneys requesting information on excessive bail in the NYC court system.” The letter was also signed by fellow New York Democrat Carolyn Maloney and Maryland’s Jamie Raskin. That disconnect will haunt Democrats. Waukesha is one of those rare moments when the consequences of...

FEBRUARY 26, 2009 Obama: The CliffsNotes Decoding the president. By KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL Any high-school kid with a set of CliffsNotes knows Moby Dick is so much more than just a whale. Any American watching the new administration might wish for a similar study guide. Thirty-nine days, one press conference, one congressional address, and one budget into this presidency, Barack Obama is finding his groove. Out of the early chaos has emerged an administration with a set of talking points. The president is now honing these explanations of what went wrong, and how he will make it right. Yet, as...