THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 2007



THE ONLY THING WE HAVE TO FEAR IS FEAR ITSELF. In the face of Wall Street chaos, Larry Kudlow writes:

The economy is in relatively good shape. Stocks are still at a relatively high level. The unemployment rate is low. The vital economic signs are positive. But we need a credit fix. We need to restore banking confidence. Right now. 

Kudlow has a solution. It includes a little presidential involvement:

He needs to show leadership by meeting with Ben Bernanke, either in Washington or Texas. Remember, during the rough days of 1981-82, President Reagan met with Paul Volcker in the Oval Office. Reagan gave Volcker the green light to do whatever was necessary to curb inflation.

SHADOWY FIGURES. Victor Davis Hanson calls for an end of writers gratuitously hiding behind anonymity.


IOWA VS. NEWARK. Newt Gingrich on the recent killings in New Jersey and what Washington must do or get the boot.


UNIDIRECTIONAL MULTICULTURALISM. Mark Steyn: “In the land of the blind, the Muslim taxi driver is king.”


THERE’S SNOW IN NEW YORK. Jason Steorts reviews Tony Snow on Iraq at a Hudson Institute event Thursday morning:
It is a mark of his oratorical skills that when somebody’s cell phone started playing Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” during the peroration, this sounded appropriate rather than absurd.

GET RIGHT: Rich Lowry stands athwart history yelling Stop! Stop punishing candidates for becoming more conservative! We want them to do that.


SO MUCH FOR “CONSENSUS”: Should climate alarmists be less sensitive about CO2 emissions? Joel Schwartz asks.


HUCKABEE HULLABALOO. Jim Geraghty thinks it might be Mike Huckabee’s moment:
For four straight debates, Republicans have watched Huckabee and put him in the intriguing-longshot category. Smart guy, can turn an artful phrase or two, good executive experience, with one big drawback: Who’s actually going to vote for him?

But after his second-place finish at the Ames straw poll this past weekend, Huckabee can make the case that he’s the candidate social conservatives can unify behind, with signs of appeal well beyond the “religious Right.”

HOW AL QAEDA COULD WIN. Daveed Gartenstein-Ross warns of the latest movements of al Qaeda across the globe.


PICTURES DON’T LIE. But their captions do. Greg Pollowitz spots a deceptive AFP photo that would make a soldier go ballistic on the “Media Blog.”


FAIREST OF THEM ALL?  The Editors doubt that embracing the Fair Tax will help any Republican candidate win the Oval Office.  


ANTI-CHOICE DEMS. Kathryn Jean Lopez urges Democrats to embrace choice:
Supporting school choice is, frankly, a populist position. Most Democrats would have taken it by now if they weren’t so beholden to teachers’ unions and other liberal pressure groups.

WHAT’S YOUR PROBLEM? Jonah Goldberg and Peter Beinart return to the webcams to discuss the scrutiny of New Republic’s Scott Thomas.


NEWSROOMS APPLAUDING ROVE?  Travel to a “sacred and magical place,” the Seattle Times, with John Podhoretz.


A WIN FOR FREE SPEECH. David French applauds Yale University Press for not succumbing to jihad-protecting censorship.


A KISS GOODBYE. Tunisia gives Suha Arafat the boot.

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