William Kristol's Slant

"In my opinion, any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should ‘have his head examined,’ as General MacArthur so delicately put it.”Thus spoke Defense Secretary Robert Gates, addressing the cadets ..

At last Wednesday’s White House briefing, CNN’s Ed Henry asked new flack Jay Carney why it had taken President Obama so long to speak out about the violence in Libya.“The president puts out statements on paper sometimes,” Carney explained.

When campaigning for the presidency, Barack Obama often appealed to "what Dr. King called 'the fierce urgency of now.'" And, he would continue, "I believe that there’s such a thing as being too late, and that hour is almost upon us."According to today's Washington Post, "The Khamis Brigade, named ..

It is of course possible, and probably likely, that the Arab Spring of 2011 will fail, as other springs in the Middle East and elsewhere have never come to fruition. There would still be a case, for reasons of honor and duty, for the United States to try to help, to do the right thing, to stand wit ..

Read Paul Gigot's interview with Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan in today's Wall Street Journal. Watch Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's press conference from yesterday afternoon. Then get to work on that Ryan-Walker ticket in 2012.(Yes, I know they'd forfeit Wisconsin's 10 electoral votes in the ..

"They are suckers,” one senior Democratic congressional aide told Politico.He was speaking of the House Republicans who last week committed to detailed proposals to reduce entitlement spending. President Obama had punted in his budget. Plenty of powerful Republicans were happy to punt right back. ..

Our friend Charles Krauthammer began his column last week by asking, “Who doesn’t love a democratic revolution? Who is not moved by the renunciation of fear and the reclamation of dignity in the streets of Cairo and Alexandria?”Some on the right, that’s who.

This is the 3 a.m. phone call. Will President Obama rise to the occasion?He could, and he should. His initial diagnosis two years ago of the Middle East proved wrong. His administration’s initial response to the crisis in Egypt has been halting. His normal supporters are befuddled. The soft “rea ..

The Obama administration has gradually been adjusting to reality. On Friday evening, President Obama was still exhorting President Mubarak: “I told him he has a responsibility to give meaning to those words, to take concrete steps and actions that deliver on that promise.” By this morning, Secre ..

The prestigious and, since its formation less than a year ago, consistently ahead-of-the-curve Working Group on Egypt, co-chaired by Michele Dunne of Carnegie and Robert Kagan of Brookings, has just issued a new statement late Saturday.?The Group includes Middle East and foreign policy experts rangi ..

We learned, I think, two important things from last night's speeches. Both had to do with the power struggles within the two parties, and who now has the upper hand in those battles.On the Democratic side, the Bill Daley-Bruce Reed Clintonites have taken control of the Obama administration, and ther ..

The Chinese government chose to answer some questions (though not others) submitted by the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, ahead of the visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao to the U.S.. The first paragraph of Hu Jintao's response to Question 4 could turn out to be historically important ..

Having recently praised Michele Bachmann, and remaining a fan in general, I think it appropriate to register disappointment at her embrace of a silly position. On several conservative websites, you'll find a web ad featuring her and promoting a petition: "Tell Congress, 'Don't Raise the Debt Ceiling ..