L.A. Times - Jonah Goldberg

Goldberg: Obama's 'idiot' defense

Jonah Goldberg — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

As the administration finds itself ensnared by errors of its own making, the curtain is drawn back on the cult of expertise and the fantasy of statist redemption.

Although there's still a great deal to be learned about the scandals and controversies swirling around the White House like so many ominous dorsal fins in the surf, the nature of President Obama's bind is becoming clear. The best defenses of his administration require undermining the rationale for his presidency.

Goldberg: Benghazi's smoking guns

Jonah Goldberg — Tue, 14 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

There's an arsenal worth, from testimony at congressional hearings to the State Department's flawed internal review to the four dead Americans.

President Obama was asked about the metastasizing Benghazi scandal in a joint news conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday. Referring to the Americans who died in Benghazi, the president said, "We dishonor them when we turn things like this into a political circus." He added that "the whole issue of talking points, throughout this process, frankly, has been a sideshow.… There's no there there."

Goldberg: Niall Ferguson's blooper

Jonah Goldberg — Tue, 7 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

The historian's real mistake was confusing biographical relevance for policy relevance when mentioning Keynes' sexuality.

At an investment conference last week, Harvard historian Niall Ferguson created a huge mess for himself. He glibly speculated that maybe because economist John Maynard Keynes was a childless, "effete" homosexual, he embraced a doctrine that favored immediate economic gratification. Keynes' bon mot "in the long run, we are all dead" takes on new meaning when you realize he didn't have kids to worry about.

Goldberg: Sci-fi worthy of Malthus

Jonah Goldberg — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

If science fiction is supposed to raise ambitions for what humans can accomplish, then Hollywood is failing.

In the new sci-fi movie "Oblivion," Earth's most precious resource is Tom Cruise. But running a close second (spoiler alert) is water. Aliens want it. All of it.

Goldberg: 'Right wing' doesn't equal 'terrorist'

Jonah Goldberg — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

The unjustified rush to pin violence on the 'right wing' — particularly the tea parties — has reached the point of parody.

"If history were to repeat itself," warned President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his 1944 State of the Union address, "and we were to return to the so-called normalcy of the 1920s, then it is certain that even though we shall have conquered our enemies on the battlefields abroad, we shall have yielded to the spirit of fascism here at home."

Goldberg: Kermit Gosnell and abortion's darkest side

Jonah Goldberg — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

The case brings up a moral issue the media would rather not address.

If abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell is found guilty of homicide, he will be unique among murderers-for-hire: He set his fees based on weight. "The bigger the baby, the more he charged," a grand jury explained. It recommended he be charged with eight counts of murder — one patient, seven babies.

Goldberg: What 'the Iron Lady' forged

Jonah Goldberg — Tue, 9 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Margaret Thatcher didn't destroy the British equivalent of what Americans call liberalism. She destroyed socialism.

In 1975, when asked to explain why Margaret Thatcher was poised to take over the Tory Party, the irascible British satirist Malcolm Muggeridge replied that it was all due to television and the fact that the telegenic Thatcher had a "certain imbecile charm."

Goldberg: Is disability the new welfare?

Jonah Goldberg — Tue, 2 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

As the nature of the economy changes, disability programs are sometimes taking the place of welfare.

The government in Britain recently did something interesting.

Goldberg: The wisdom of Dan Quayle

Jonah Goldberg — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0700

His 1992 speech criticizing 'Murphy Brown' stirred controversy, but he was right about the importance of marriage in raising children.

Almost exactly 20 years ago, Barbara Dafoe Whitehead wrote a controversial essay for the Atlantic titled "Dan Quayle Was Right."

Goldberg: Fusion power on the right

Jonah Goldberg — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Conservatives and libertarians have always been more in agreement than they think. Fusing the two has been an ongoing process.

"At CPAC, the Future Looks Libertarian," read a dispatch on Time magazine's website. "CPAC: Rand Paul's Big Moment," proclaimed the Week magazine. Meanwhile, the New York Times headlined its story about the annual conservative political action conference "GOP divisions fester at conservative retreat."