washingtonpost.com - Charles Krauthammer -- Washington Post Opinion Columnist (washingtonpost.com)

Hail Mary vs. Cool Barry

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Krauthammer's Hail Mary Rule: You get only two per game. John McCain, unfortunately, has already thrown three. The first was his bet on the surge, a deep pass to David Petraeus who miraculously ran it all the way into the end zone.

Catharsis, Then Common Sense

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson went to Capitol Hill seeking $700 billion. He got an earful. Now, $700 billion is a serious sum, and Congress has the fiduciary responsibility to make sure the money it appropriates goes for a good cause. But from the indignant congressional demands for a laundry list of quid pro quos, you would have thought Paulson wanted it for his personal use.

History Will Judge

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT

For the past 150 years, most American war presidents -- most notably Lincoln, Wilson and Roosevelt -- have entered (or reentered) office knowing war was looming. Not so George W. Bush. Not so the war on terror. The 9/11 attacks literally came out of the blue.

Charlie Gibson's Gaffe

Charles Krauthammer — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT

"At times visibly nervous . . . Ms. Palin most visibly stumbled when she was asked by Mr. Gibson if she agreed with the Bush doctrine. Ms. Palin did not seem to know what he was talking about. Mr. Gibson, sounding like an impatient teacher, informed her that it meant the right of 'anticipatory self-defense.' "

Obama's Altitude Sickness

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT

The Democrats are in a panic. In a presidential race that is impossible to lose, they are behind. Obama devotees are frantically giving advice. Tom Friedman tells him to "start slamming down some phones." Camille Paglia suggests, "be boring!"

Palin's Problem

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT

"There are two questions we will never have to ask ourselves, 'Who is this man?' and 'Can we trust this man with the presidency?' "

The Perfect Stranger

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Barack Obama is an immensely talented man whose talents have been largely devoted to crafting, and chronicling, his own life. Not things. Not ideas. Not institutions. But himself.

NATO Meows

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Read the first five paragraphs of the NATO statement on the Russian invasion of Georgia and you will find not a hint of who invaded whom. The statement is almost comically evenhanded. "We deplore all loss of life," it declared, as if deploring a bus accident. And, it "expressed its grave concern over the situation in Georgia." Situation, mind you.

How to Stop Putin

Charles Krauthammer — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

The Russia-Georgia cease-fire brokered by France's president is less than meets the eye. Its terms keep moving as the Russian army keeps moving. Russia has since occupied Gori (appropriately, Stalin's birthplace), effectively cutting Georgia in two. The road to the capital, Tbilisi, is open, but apparently Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has temporarily chosen to seek his objectives through military pressure and Western acquiescence rather than by naked occupation.

No Will To Drill

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Let's see: housing meltdown, credit crunch, oil shock not seen since the 1970s. The economy is slowing, unemployment growing and inflation increasing. It's the sixth year of a highly unpopular war, and the president's approval rating is at 30 percent.

Pelosi: Save the Planet, Let Someone Else Drill

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi opposes lifting the moratorium on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and on the Outer Continental Shelf. She won't even allow it to come to a vote. With $4 gas having massively shifted public opinion in favor of domestic production, she wants to protect her Democratic members from having to cast an anti-drilling election-year vote. Moreover, given the public mood, she might even lose. This cannot be permitted. Why? Because, as she explained to Politico: "I'm trying to save the planet; I'm trying to save the planet."

Maliki Votes for Obama

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EDT

In a stunning upset, Barack Obama this week won the Iraq primary. When Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki not once but several times expressed support for a U.S. troop withdrawal on a timetable that accorded roughly with Obama's 16-month proposal, he did more than legitimize the plan. He relieved Obama of a major political liability by blunting the charge that, in order to appease the MoveOn left, Obama was willing to jeopardize the astonishing success of the surge and risk losing a war that is finally being won.

The Audacity of Vanity

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Barack Obama wants to speak at the Brandenburg Gate. He figures it would be a nice backdrop. The supporting cast -- a cheering audience and a few fainting frauleins -- would be a picturesque way to bolster his foreign policy credentials.

How Hostages, And Nations, Get Liberated

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EDT

On the day the Colombian military freed Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other long-held hostages, the Italian Parliament passed yet another resolution demanding her release. Europe had long ago adopted this French-Colombian politician as a cause celebre. France had made her an honorary citizen of Paris, passed numerous resolutions and held many vigils.

A Man of Seasonal Principles

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EDT

You'll notice Barack Obama is now wearing a flag pin. Again. During the primary campaign, he refused to, explaining that he'd worn one after Sept. 11 but then stopped because it "became a substitute for, I think, true patriotism." So why is he back to sporting pseudo-patriotism on his chest? Need you ask? The primaries are over. While seducing the hard-core MoveOn Democrats that delivered him the caucuses -- hence, the Democratic nomination -- Obama not only disdained the pin. He disparaged it. Now that he's running in a general election against John McCain, and in dire need of the gun-and-God-clinging working-class votes he could not win against Hillary Clinton, the pin is back. His country 'tis of thee.

The Ever-Malleable Mr. Obama

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EDT

"To be clear: Barack will support a filibuster of any bill that includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies."

McCain's Oil Epiphany

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Gas is $4 a gallon. Oil is $135 a barrel and rising. We import two-thirds of our oil, sending hundreds of billions of dollars to the likes of Russia, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia. And yet we voluntarily prohibit ourselves from even exploring huge domestic reserves of petroleum and natural gas.

Make the Election About Iraq

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EDT

In his St. Paul victory speech, Barack Obama pledged again to pull out of Iraq. Rather than "continue a policy in Iraq that asks everything of our brave men and women in uniform and nothing of Iraqi politicians, . . . [i]t's time for Iraqis to take responsibility for their future."

At $4, Everybody Gets Rational

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EDT

So now we know: The price point is $4.

Carbon Chastity

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 30 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

I'm not a global warming believer. I'm not a global warming denier. I'm a global warming agnostic who believes instinctively that it can't be very good to pump lots of CO2into the atmosphere but is equally convinced that those who presume to know exactly where that leads are talking through their hats.

Obama's Metastatic Gaffe

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 23 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

When the House of Representatives takes up arms against $4 gas by voting 324-84 to sue OPEC, you know that election-year discourse has entered the realm of the surreal. Another unmistakable sign is when a presidential candidate makes a gaffe, then, realizing it is too egregious to take back without suffering humiliation, decides to make it a centerpiece of his foreign policy.

The Miracle, at 60

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 16 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Before sending Lewis and Clark west, Thomas Jefferson dispatched Meriwether Lewis to Philadelphia to see Benjamin Rush. The eminent doctor prepared a series of scientific questions for the expedition to answer. Among them, writes Stephen Ambrose: "What Affinity between their [the Indians'] religious Ceremonies & those of the Jews?" Jefferson and Lewis, like many of their day and ours, were fascinated by the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel and thought they might be out there on the Great Plains.

Too Late to the Duck Hunt

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 09 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

By the time Hillary Clinton figured out how to beat Barack Obama, it was too late. When she began the race in 2007 thinking she was in for a coronation, she claimed the center in order to position herself for the real fight, the general election. She simply assumed the party activists and loony left would fall in behind her.

The 'Race' Speech Revisited

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 02 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

"I can no more disown him [Jeremiah Wright] than I can disown my white grandmother."

Obama's 'Distractions'?

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Real change has never been easy. . . . The status quo in Washington will fight. They will fight harder than ever to divide us and distract us with ads and attacks from now until November.

Deterring the Undeterrable

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EDT

The era of nonproliferation is over. During the first half-century of the nuclear age, safety lay in restricting the weaponry to major powers and keeping it out of the hands of rogue states. This strategy was inevitably going to break down. The inevitable has arrived.

The Holocaust Declaration

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EDT

On Tuesday Iran announced it was installing 6,000 more centrifuges -- they produce enriched uranium, the key ingredient of a nuclear weapon -- in addition to the 3,000 already operating. The world yawned.

The Fabulist Vs. the Saint

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Hillary Clinton met her Waterloo at Tuzla. She'd been regaling audiences with tales of a dangerous landing under sniper fire in Tuzla 12 years ago and then running for cover. None of this occurred. When CBS provided the tape, she was forced to admit to "a misstatement."

'A Rank Falsehood'

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Asked at a New Hampshire campaign stop about possibly staying in Iraq 50 years, John McCain interrupted -- "Make it a hundred" -- then offered a precise analogy to what he envisioned: "We've been in Japan for 60 years. We've been in South Korea for 50 years or so." Lest anyone think he was talking about prolonged war-fighting rather than maintaining a presence in postwar Iraq, he explained: "That would be fine with me, as long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed."

The Speech: A Brilliant Fraud

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EDT

The beauty of a speech is that you don't just give the answers, you provide your own questions. "Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes." So said Barack Obama, in his Philadelphia speech about his pastor, friend, mentor and spiritual adviser of 20 years, Jeremiah Wright.

Adventures In Identity Politics

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Elections can be about policy, personality or identity. The race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton is surely not about policy. The differences between the two are microscopic.

The Great Non Sequitur

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EST

She threw the kitchen sink at him. Accused Barack Obama of plagiarism. Mocked his eloquence. Questioned his truthfulness about NAFTA.

In Defense of Lobbying

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 00:00:00 EST

Everyone knows the First Amendment protects freedom of religion, speech, press and assembly. How many remember that, in addition, the First Amendment protects a fifth freedom -- to lobby?

Democrats Dug In For Retreat

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 00:00:00 EST

"No one can spend some 10 days visiting the battlefields in Iraq without seeing major progress in every area. . . . If the U.S. provides sustained support to the Iraqi government -- in security, governance, and development -- there is now a very real chance that Iraq will emerge as a secure and stable state."

The Audacity of Selling Hope

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 00:00:00 EST

There's no better path to success than getting people to buy a free commodity. Like the genius who figured out how to get people to pay for water: bottle it (Aquafina was revealed to be nothing more than reprocessed tap water) and charge more than they pay for gasoline. Or consider how Google found a way to sell dictionary nouns-- boat, shoe, clock -- by charging advertisers zillions to be listed whenever the word is searched.

The Apostate Sheriff

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 00:00:00 EST

On Super Tuesday, John McCain secured the Republican nomination. How did that happen? Simple. In the absence of a compelling conservative, the Republican electorate turned to the apostate sheriff.

Clawing for a Legacy

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 00:00:00 EST

Legacy? What legacy?

Losing Ugly

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST

There's losing. There's losing honorably. And then there's John Edwards.

Black Dreams, White Liberals

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST

Dr. King's dream began to be realized when President Lyndon Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. . . . It took a president to get it done.

A Sneer, a Tear, a Comeback

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST

Was it the tears in the New Hampshire coffee shop? Whenever there is a political upset, everyone looks for the unscripted incident, the I-paid-for-this-microphone moment that can account for it. Hillary Clinton's improbable victory in New Hampshire is being widely attributed to her rare display of emotion when asked how she was holding up. This "Hillary cried, Obama died" story line is satisfying, but it overlooks an earlier moment played to a national television audience of 9 million that was even more revealing.

Crooked Roads to Democracy

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST

"My mother always said, democracy is the best revenge."

Bush's 'Axis of Evil,' Six Years Later

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EST

Just four months after Sept. 11, George Bush identified Iran, Iraq and North Korea as the "axis of evil" and declared that defanging these rogue regimes was America's most urgent national security task. Bush will be judged on whether he succeeded.

An Overdose of Public Piety

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EST

Mitt Romney declares, "Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone." Barack Obama opens his speech at his South Carolina Oprah rally with "Giving all praise and honor to God. Look at the day that the Lord has made." Mike Huckabee explains his surge in the polls thus: "There's only one explanation for it, and it's not a human one. It's the same power that helped a little boy with two fish and five loaves feed a crowd of 5,000 people."

Huckabee Plays the Religion Card

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EST

When Mitt Romney's father ran for the presidency 40 years ago, his Mormonism was not an issue. When Mo Udall was a major challenger for the Democratic nomination in 1976, his religion was so irrelevant that today most people don't even remember that Udall was Mormon.

Stem Cell Vindication

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:00:00 EST

"If human embryonic stem cell research does not make you at least a little bit uncomfortable, you have not thought about it enough."

On Iraq, a State of Denial

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 00:00:00 EST

It does not have the drama of the Inchon landing or the sweep of the Union comeback in the summer of 1864. But the turnabout of American fortunes in Iraq over the past several months is of equal moment -- a war seemingly lost, now winnable. The violence in Iraq has been dramatically reduced. Political allegiances have been radically reversed. The revival of ordinary life in many cities is palpable. Something important is happening.

Alliances In Ruins?

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 00:00:00 EST

When the Democratic presidential candidates pause from beating Hillary with a stick, they join in unison to pronounce the Democratic pieties, chief among which is that George Bush has left our alliances in ruins. As Clinton puts it, we have "alienated our friends," must "rebuild our alliances" and "restore our standing in the world." That's mild. The others describe Bush as having a scorched-earth foreign policy that has left us reviled and isolated in the world.

Marcos . . . Pinochet . . . Musharraf?

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 00:00:00 EST

Islamist barbarians are at the gates. The president declares de facto martial law. The country's democratic forces of the center and left, led by well-dressed lawyers and a former prime minister, take to the streets.

The Real Hill-Bill Problem

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Americans don't normally take much notice of Argentine elections. But they did notice when Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, wife of President Nestor Kirchner, was elected to succeed him on Sunday, ensuring not just a co-presidency but the prospect of alternating presidencies as far as the eye can see.

A Fine Field of 41/2

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Major grumbling among conservatives about the Republican field. So many candidates, so many flaws. Rudy Giuliani, abortion apostate. Mitt Romney, flip-flopper. John McCain, Mr. Amnesty. Fred Thompson, lazy boy. Where is the paragon? Where is Ronald Reagan?

Pelosi's Armenian Gambit

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EDT

There are three relevant questions concerning the Armenian genocide.

The Great Navigator

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Bill Clinton's greatest domestic achievement, aside from abolishing welfare, was free trade. The crown jewel was the North American Free Trade Agreement. He got that through Congress over sustained union opposition in 1993. Monday, Sen. Hillary Clinton proposed that NAFTA and other existing trade agreements be reassessed every five years.

What Sputnik Launched

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Fifty years ago this week, America was shaken out of technological complacency by a beeping 180-pound aluminum ball orbiting overhead. Sputnik was a shock because we had always assumed that Russia was nothing but a big, lumbering and all-brawn bear. He could wear down the Nazis and produce mountains of steel but had none of our savvy or sophistication. Then one day we wake up and he has beaten us into space, placing overhead the first satellite to orbit the Earth since God placed the moon where it could give us lovely sailing tides.

France Flips While Congress Shifts

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Ahmadinejad at Columbia provided the entertainment, but Sarkozy at the United Nations provided the substance. On the largest possible stage -- the U.N. General Assembly -- President Nicolas Sarkozy put Iran on notice. His predecessor, Jacques Chirac, had said that France could live with an Iranian nuclear bomb. Sarkozy said that France cannot. He declared Iran's nuclear ambitions "an unacceptable risk to stability in the region and in the world."

Middle East Volcano

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT

On Sept. 6, something important happened in northern Syria. Problem is, no one knows exactly what. Except for those few who were involved, and they're not saying.

A 'Realistic Chance' of Success

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT

As always, the inadvertent slip is the most telling. Discussing the performance of British troops, Gen. David Petraeus told Sen. Joe Biden of the Foreign Relations Committee that he'd be consulting with British colleagues in London on his way back "home." He had meant to say "Iraq," where he is now on his third tour of duty. Is there any other actor in Washington's Iraq war drama -- from Harry Reid to the Joint Chiefs -- who could have made such a substitution? Anyone who not only knows Iraq the way Petraeus does but feels it in all its gravity and complexity?

The Partitioning of Iraq

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres.

Thinking Beyond Maliki

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT

The government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has had more than 15 months to try to pacify the Sunni insurgency by offering national accords on oil-sharing, provincial elections and de-Baathification. It has done none of these. Instead, Gen. David Petraeus has pacified a considerable number of Sunni tribes with grants of local autonomy, guns and U.S. support in jointly fighting al-Qaeda.

The Iraqi Convergence

Charles Krauthammer — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT

After months of surreality, the Iraq debate has quite abruptly acquired a relationship to reality. Following the Democratic victory last November, panicked Republican senators began rifling the thesaurus to find exactly the right phrase to express exactly the right nuance to establish exactly the right distance from the president's Iraq policy, while Murtha Democrats searched for exactly the right legislative ruse to force a retreat from Iraq without appearing to do so.