Dan Calabrese

Want that Keystone XL pipeline, do ya? Obama sure would like a carbon tax!

The Wall Street Journal's Kim Strassel and her Potomac Watch column are essential reading if you really want a sense of how and why things happen in Washington. But it won't necessarily leave you encouraged. Say, for instance, you think Democrats have no hope of passing a climate change bill with Republicans in control of the House. (Just like you thought that would bring an end to Obama's spending explosion, sillies.)

Watergate-era Judiciary chief of staff: Hillary Clinton fired for lies, unethical behavior

I've decided to reprint a piece of work I did nearly five years ago, because it seems very relevant today given Hillary Clinton's performance in the Benghazi hearings. Back in 2008 when she was running for president, I interviewed two erstwhile staff members of the House Judiciary Committee who were involved with the Watergate investigation when Hillary was a low-level staffer there. I interviewed one Democrat staffer and one Republican staffer, and wrote two pieces based on what they told me about Hillary's conduct at the time.

Forget 2040: Ryan working on budget that balances in 10 years

If the GOP shows some fight, this could actually happen.

Obama’s masterful war against GOP strawmen

I guess I already knew this, but something struck me about Obama's inaugural address yesterday, especially as I read the transcript this morning. The reason Obama succeeds politically is that he has done a masterful job of setting up Republican strawmen - and straw policies - to use as his foils. And real Republicans do little but flail away helplessly in response.

Exactly what the hell are we celebrating, Washington?

Ever the provocateur, Rob was on Twitter ripping on Obama's inaugural comments in real time, only to draw a rebuke from a member of the MSM who said that today he should "give it a rest" and "celebrate that we can do this peacefully."

Spooked GOP needs to exorcise the demons of ‘95 and emulate Newt Gingrich

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution today we get the latest piece of advice Republicans should absolutely not take - but probably will. It comes from one Jay Bookman, whoever he is, and Bookman offers all the reasons the GOP can't possibly win a fight over raising the debt ceiling. There's one thing you'll notice about Bookman's advice, and it's true from the first word to the last: It's all political. There's not a word in Bookman's piece about the impact of policy on the fiscal health of the nation. There's a lot about poll numbers. There's a lot about pundit wisdom. There's nothing about substance:

Obama’s gun policy advisors: 8-year-olds

Hey, why not? The entire gun control push is based on emotion anyway, so why not justify it by releasing a bunch of handwritten letters from kids urging the president to do something? It's as shameless as it is pathetic, but is anyone really surprised by now that Obama would stoop to this?

White House petitions: Now you’ll have to get four times the signatures before they pretend to take

We can't cut even the tiniest sliver off the deficit. We can't get anywhere near accuracy on fiscal projections. But hey, we can fix that sadly broken process of online petition drives at WhiteHouse.gov!

Worse than Obama lying: The media lying for him

Rob's already dealt very nicely with the fact that Obama is completely lying in his assertion that, without an increase in the debt ceiling, the federal government will be forced to default on its obligations.

Obama too busy with gun control nonsense to talk to Netanyahu

I don't think Obama's friends at the AP realized what they were giving away in a throw-away sentence about the strained relationship between Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu.

Message ‘important’ people on Facebook? That’ll be 100 bucks

They say the idea here is to cut down on spam. If everyone on Facebook can message Mark Zuckerberg all they want, his inbox will be flooded and he'll never even go near it. So what would be the point?

Jim DeMint: You know, conservatives need better messaging

Is that really it? Our ideas are great but we're just not selling them very well? Fresh out of the Senate and now seated as the leader of the Heritage Foundation, that's what Jim DeMint says in the Washington Post:

Michael Kinsley: Hillary looks like crap because she’s always traveling for show

I like Kinsley. He is probably my favorite liberal columnist, and definitely the one who makes you work the hardest to defend your conservative point of view. One of the reasons I like him is that he's willing to pull no punches about liberal icons. It's not that he doesn't like Hillary or think she did a good job as Secretary of State. He just thinks she does a lot of preening for show, and that especially includes the all-night travel and the 16-hour days for which the press and her supporters are lionizing her:

Here’s an idea: Republicans should emulate Richard Nixon

Hey, what's not to love? The guy won two terms as president. He came back from what appeared to be a career-ending humiliation when his defeat for the California governorship seemed to mean we wouldn't "have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore."

Union thugs set up ‘walk of shame’ at Michigan Capitol

You know how it is in politics, right? You win some, you lose some. If a vote doesn't go your way, you're disappointed, but you pick yourself up, dust yourself off and move on. You don't cling to your anger like grim death because that's pointless and only prolongs your bitterness.