Ken Blackwell

His appeal to comity --- defined as a friendly social atmosphere, social harmony --- was undoubtedly Barack Obama’s greatest attribute as a candidate. He promised a new politics, a new cordiality. No more red-state/blue-state divisions. He touted his Senate friendship with Oklahoma’s Tom Coburn. It was genuine. On the campaign trail in 2008, Sen. Obama offered his sitting down with Tom Coburn as an example of how he could reach out to opponents and bring disparate groups together. (more)

Forbes magazine, which is a respected resource for business leaders, recently came out with a list of the world’s most powerful women. Not surprisingly, Forbes chose German Chancellor Angela Merkel as No. 1. This is doubtless because the conservative Merkel has been trying to get the European Union to shape up. Putting out economic fires in Greece, Spain, Ireland and Portugal, Germany’s financial strength has been put to the test. Just how much longer can the E.U. rely on Germany’s productivity to subsidize European sloth? Merkel is like the old E.F. Hutton ads on TV: When Angela talks, Europeans listen. (more)

Floundering. Flopping around like a fish on deck. That’s the best description of the Obama administration this summer. The president’s now on a bus tour of the Heartland. Next, he’s slated to go to Martha’s Vineyard for a well-earned vacation. (more)

For almost two hundred years, the Monroe Doctrine has been a cornerstone of American foreign policy. First proclaimed in December 1823, the message from President James Monroe to the imperialist ruling houses of Europe was bold and unmistakable: The Western Hemisphere, including the Latin American colonies that were throwing off European rule, was not open to further colonization, and the U.S. would view any attempts by Europeans to extend their existing colonies into independent American states or to interfere with those states' attempts to achieve independence as hostile acts against us, the United States of America. (more)

I learned in science class that no two snowflakes are exactly the same --- their uniqueness is owed to the fact that tiny droplets in clouds cool and freeze at different rates. Determining whether a student understands this or any other level of science is where tests come into play, and for students considering college, the standardized admissions test has an important role. (more)

As the debt ceiling issue reaches a stage of urgency, it is clear that the positions staked out by Republicans and Democrats are on different planets. (more)

President Obama got a good laugh from his liberal audience at the nationally televised meeting of his Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. At least all those who joined in the laughter there had jobs. (more)

CNN contributor LZ Granderson got it right. He’s posted an online video taking issue with the San Francisco gay activists who want government to ban circumcision for little boys. (more)

Americans know the Bible story of King Solomon. Two women came to him with a baby. They were disputing whose child it was. “Cut the child in half,” the wise king ordered. The mother of the child cried out: Give the baby to her. She would give up her child rather than let it be killed. (more)

Hamas, the Palestinian terror group that runs Gaza, is mourning the death of Osama bin Laden. He is a “martyr” to these jihadists. And Hamas has just concluded a pact with the so-called Palestinian Authority (PA), or Fatah, the group that the U.S. recognizes and to whom we give lavish foreign aid. We are currently giving $600 million a year to the so-called Palestinian Authority. (more)

Hillary Clinton’s campaign ad was memorable. It featured a telephone ringing at 3 a.m. It strongly suggested that Barack Obama was not prepared to take that phone call at that critical hour. Somewhere a crisis would mount, and she wanted primary voters to understand that the inexperienced Illinois senator was not ready to tackle it. (more)

During a recent speech at Cleveland State University focused on small business in Ohio, President Obama described a goal of “knocking down barriers that stand in the way of your growth.” Unfortunately, his EPA couldn’t be more in the dark about how to translate that message into practice -- with the agency poised to adopt more than 30 new, major regulations and over 170 major policy rules in the next several months. (more)

President Obama came into office pledging a new approach to the Middle East. We were told that his middle name — Hussein — would give him unprecedented entrée to the corridors of power in that troubled region -- and to the Arab street. (more)

Eleven years after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, on the eve of America’s great centennial celebration, counterfeiters formed a plot to steal his body from its honored grave in Springfield, Illinois. They had plans to hold the body for ransom. The U.S. Secret Service was able, happily, to disrupt this ghoulish plot. (more)

If it weren’t so sad, this story from the Washington Times would be too funny. It seems that money from President Obama’s $862,000,000,000 “stimulus” bill of two years ago has been spent to upgrade the Wilmington, Del., Amtrak station. Vice President Biden lobbied personally, we read, to get the funding for the station he has famously used ever since he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972. Now, Amtrak, grateful for his support, has all on its own initiative decided to name the spruced-up station the Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. Amtrak station. (more)

President Obama and Vice President Biden this week paid an unannounced visit to Arlington National Cemetery. They went there to offer the thanks of a grateful nation for the service of Frank Buckles, the last known survivor of the American “doughboys” of World War I. Buckles was barely 16 when he fibbed about his age to get into uniform. (more)