“Department of State” on The Daily Caller

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley is resigning from his position, to be replaced on an interim basis by deputy Mike Hammer, the department confirmed Sunday. (more)

“Freedom, in a political context, has only one meaning: the absence of physical coercion.” ~ Ayn Rand in Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal (more)

The late Sen. Ted Kennedy arranged to “rent” a brothel for a night while on a visit to Chile and other Latin American countries decades ago, according to a 1961 State Department memo obtained and published by the watchdog group Judicial Watch. (more)

A beleaguered business deal in Taiwan has some financial analysts wondering whether bailed-out insurance giant American International Group (AIG) even cares about paying back the $20 billion it owes taxpayers. (more)

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was thought to be many things during the Bush administration: stubborn visionary of Pentagon reform, sender of “snowflake” memos and, by his left-wing critics, evil war monger. (more)

“The Office of the Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State for Women’s Empowerment.” (more)

More than four years after leaving office, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is arguing the war in Iraq was worthwhile, and says he’s not sorry sorry about the decisions he made there and in Afghanistan, reports ABC News. (more)

If you can get MSNBC’s Chris Matthews to deviate from the liberal talking points or take a break from his Michele Bachmann obsession, he has demonstrated he can say something insightful. (more)

We’re about to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s birth. As much as I would like to praise that great and good man, I have to wonder what he would do about Egypt. (more)

Two New York Times journalists have been arrested in Egypt, according to a tweet from Associated Press Middle East  correspondent Hadeel Al-Shalchi. (more)

The Obama administration has not shown us it cares about the persecution of Christians. This is obvious. At a time of rising persecution of Christians throughout Muslim lands, the president has nominated Dr. Suzan Johnson Cook — a “motivational speaker” with questionable qualifications — to hold the critical position of U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. (more)

“Let the Jews have Jerusalem. It is they who made it famous.” (more)

There is jubilation throughout Beijing and Shanghai tonight as a triumphal President Hu returns to China after backhanding the President of the United States in too many ways to count. Actually, Hu didn’t even wait until he got back to China to start celebrating — he began his victory party while still at the White House. According to the Epoch Times, a global newspaper with an emphasis on Communist China, the musical guest performing at the White House state dinner that Obama threw for Hu, a pianist named Lang Lang, played a song widely known in China as an anti-American anthem. It is the theme song of a very famous Chinese movie. (more)

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton left Washington for a quick trip to Mexico on Monday to reinforce ties, at a time when drug-related violence has surged despite increasing U.S. and Mexican efforts to combat it. (more)

The Obama administration’s Office of Management and Budget has decided to reduce costs by cutting the U.S. Coast Guard’s Offshore Patrol Cutter. The new cutter was supposed to replace the Reliance class of 210-foot cutters. I know something about the Reliance. I trained on that venerable cutter — 35 years ago! The USCGC Reliance, though a relatively new craft at the time, had been in service for about ten years even then. (more)

Political memory in the United States can be remarkably short. At the end of the Bush administration and throughout the 2008 presidential campaign, it became clear that the majority of Americans wanted U.S. domestic and foreign policies to change for the better. Weary from two wars and a near economic collapse, America’s call for change culminated with the 2008 presidential election. 52.9% of voting Americans opted for a president who openly supported an Iran policy centered on “diplomacy without preconditions” to resolve the outstanding issues that have long fueled U.S.-Iran tensions. Nearly two years after taking office, direct U.S. negotiations with Iran have been limited to four days, and a (eerily familiar and unconvincing) campaign for war has begun. How we got here is predictable: the same special interests and partisan politics that influence many U.S. foreign policies. How to avoid another unnecessary war in the Middle East requires a sober understanding of the inevitable costs to America. Three key issues stand out: (more)

When I despair at the shallow ranting on TV (I don’t have one, but it is always on at my dad’s), I am reassured by the quality of thinking going on in many of our think tanks here in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere. An outstanding example was the all-morning discussion of President Dwight D Eisenhower’s farewell address Thursday at the CATO Institute. Ike’s granddaughter, Susan Eisenhower, introduced the two panels of experts on what Ike called the “military-industrial complex.” A lecture by any one of them would have been worth the drive into town. But here were all ten of them together: Andrew Bacevich, Charles Dunlap Jr., Lawrence Korb, Lawrence Wilkerson, Chris Preble (the organizer), Eugene Gholz, John C. Hulsman, Richard Betts and Ted Galen Carpenter. What a group. You can see the entire program here. (more)

Coverage of the recent parliamentary elections in Egypt has largely centered on the fact that the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) rigged the election. Many have assumed, amid the descriptions of ballot stuffing, exaggerated voter turnout records, and bullying, that the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated candidates who lost are the real force behind democracy in Egypt. The assumption is not only incorrect, but also dangerous, as the Brotherhood’s actual goals are directly opposed to democracy. The Muslim Brotherhood is the world’s most influential Islamist body, and it’s not about to let democracy get in the way of its commitment to Sharia law and the much-desired Islamic state. Yet, few Americans have ever heard of the organization or of Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the Brotherhood’s de facto spiritual leader, though his teaching spreads the Brotherhood’s ideals to millions across the globe. (more)

The continuing WikiLeaks controversy has focused needed attention on a number of important issues: whether, for example, Julian Assange was justified in releasing classified information in order to make government more accountable, whether the release of the information put U.S. intelligence sources and methods at risk, and whether the legitimate need for secrecy in certain government activities occasionally provides cover for government activities that public officials would have trouble justifying if they took place in the open. (more)

Hugo Chavez, the yanqui-hating dictator of Venezuela, will not accept Washington’s proposed emissary and has dared the United States to break diplomatic relations. It seems Ambassador-select Larry Palmer’s sin is that he did not applaud Chavez when he used his rubber-stamp parliament to perpetuate his dictatorial regime. The State Department’s limp-wristed response was to cancel the visa of the Venezuelan ambassador. That, and silence from the White House, told the megalomaniac in Caracas exactly what the United States will do when Iran finishes building a nuclear missile base in Venezuela — absolutely nothing. (more)