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A repulsive bunch, a collection of self-involved, arrogant elitists that has already inflicted disaster upon what they regard as the lesser orders, and is covering up the evidence. Maybe you are already sick and tired of all the attention being paid to the elites meeting in Davos for the annual World Economic Forum gathering. They are, after all, a pretty repulsive bunch, a collection of self-involved, arrogant elitists, what CDR Salamander calls a “wannabee gaggle of quasi-oligarchs and autocrat throne sniffers” (hat tip: Glenn Reynolds). But for all their hypocrisy (flying in on hundreds of private jets while demanding the...

A fund-raising letter has revealed one of the leading figures pushing for an investigation of alleged U.S. torture of terror suspects following 9/11: leftist billionaire-financier George Soros. Officials at the Open Society Institute, which was founded by Soros in 1993 to promote progressive causes around the globe and which bills itself as “a Soros Foundation Network,” issued an e-mail to supporters yesterday announcing the creation of a new organization called the Commission on Accountability. On its Web site, the Commission on Accountability demands an “independent, non-partisan” investigation of “torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees.” The Commission on...

Damn the tea bags. A top adviser to President Barack Obama takes a dim view of last week's anti-tax "tea parties," promoted by organizers in the spirit of the Boston Tea Party. "The thing that bewilders me is this president just cut taxes for 95 percent of the American people. So I think the tea bags should be directed elsewhere because he certainly understands the burden that people face," David Axelrod said Sunday. --snip-- Axelrod replied: "I think any time that you have severe economic conditions, there is always an element of disaffection that can mutate into something that's unhealthy."

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said yesterday that he hopes world oil prices will not rise any higher but accused the US of stoking geopolitical tensions behind the rally. Chavez’s comments came in a speech inaugurating a new subway line in the capital of Caracas, during which he also pledged to divert any new revenues from surging oil prices to social and infrastructure development. He also said that he plans to enter into a joint venture with China to manufacture oil drills, instead of buying them from US companies. The world’s fifth-largest oil exporter, Venezuela sells most of its oil to...

WASHINGTON -- Sometime between now and the Fourth of July, the Senate plans to revisit what over the course of 17 years has become a seasonal rite of patriotism on Capitol Hill: a vote on whether to amend the Constitution to ban protesters from burning the American flag. Each time, the arguments on both sides are passionate. Each time, the support needed to move ahead with an amendment falls short. But this year could be different, as two important trends cross paths. For one, proponents of the amendment appear to have more support than ever in the Senate. They say...

An ABC News poll finds that most Americans oppose gay marriage but markedly fewer — especially those outside George W. Bush's core supporters — would amend the U.S. Constitution to ban it. Opponents, however, are far more likely to call it a make-or-break issue in their vote for Congress — a finding that explains Bush's renewed push for a gay marriage ban. Among all Americans, 58 percent say gay marriage should be illegal, but fewer, 42 percent, say it rises to the level of amending the U.S. Constitution. Among conservative Republicans and evangelical white Protestants, though, opposition to gay marriage...

Governor Mitt Romney has sent this letter to every member of the Senate encouraging them to Vote "Yes" on this landmark peice of legislation--the Marriage Protection Amendment (MPA). A few excerpts are below: "Americans are tolerant, generous, and kind people. We all oppose bigotry and disparagement, and we all wish to avoid hurtful disregard of the feelings of others. But the debate over same-sex marriage is not a debate over tolerance. It is a debate about the purpose of the institution of marriage. Attaching the word marriage to the association of same-sex individuals mistakenly presumes that marriage is principally a...

by Mark Finkelstein June 6, 2006 While considerable attention focuses on Ann Coulter's more superficial charms, from a conservative perspective Ann's real beauty is her absolute refusal to buy into liberal logic, no matter how pervasive. That independence of mind was on display this morning during her interview with Matt Lauer. Ann was on to tout her new book, Godless: The Church of Liberalism, released today on . . . 6/6/6 - sign of the devil and all that. The first example came in the the context of President Bush's current push for a constitutional amendment that would prohibit gay...

In a year it is wrestling with an out-of-control budget, a war going badly, and one impasse on immigration and another on its own ethics, the Senate is taking time out to debate altering the U.S. Constitution by adding the Marriage Protection Amendment. The amendment is widely predicted to fall short of the needed votes to amend the Constitution for only the 23rd time in its 217-year history _ 13th if you omit the original 10, the Bill of Rights _ and well it should. At its gravest level, the amendment would make a significant incursion into federalism and state's...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush and congressional Republicans are aiming the political spotlight this week on efforts to ban gay marriage, with events at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue - all for a constitutional amendment with scant chance of passage but wide appeal among social conservatives. "Ages of experience have taught us that the commitment of a husband and wife to love and to serve one another promotes the welfare of children and the stability of society," Bush said in his weekly radio address. "Government, by recognizing and protecting marriage, serves the interests of all." The president was to make...

Today Mark Earley and I will be at the White House, meeting with President Bush and leaders of the pro-family movement. The president will then speak to the nation in support of the federal marriage amendment [Marriage Protection Amendment]. Thank God we have a president who supports this. I have discussed it with him several times, and I can tell you that he understands fully the social, cultural, and legal reasons why amending the Constitution is the only way to protect marriage. Unfortunately, a lot of politicians don’t get it. They argue that we do not need a marriage amendment....

The Department of Homeland Security, responding to a state of emergency declared last week by Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano because of illegal immigration, says it wants to help Arizona combat alien smuggling, ease related prison overcrowding and train state police officers. "We are moving forward quickly and aggressively to fashion a comprehensive plan with real solutions," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told the governor in a letter delivered Monday. He said the agency wants to "build a partnership with Arizona." Mr. Chertoff said yesterday that his agency was examining how best to tighten U.S. borders while catching, detaining and deporting...