Connecticut Commentary: Red Notes from a Blue State

Nancy Pelosi Ever since she did a 180 degree turnabout on impeachment, Democrat Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has been wrapping herself in the warm folds of the U.S. Constitution. The day after the House impeached Trump, Pelosi declared the partisan vote, “A great day for the Constitution of the United States, a sad day for America that the president’s reckless activities,” only two of which are mentioned in the indictment brought by the Democrat dominated House, “necessitated us having to introduce articles of impeachment.” Even Genghis Khan was more real – “woke” in the language of millennials.   “The greatest joy a man can have,” said the great Khan, “is to dance on the chest of his enemy.” Moving inexorably towards impeachment during much of President Donald Trump’s first term in office, Democrats have been dancing “somberly” while the cameras have been rolling. But, when they are together far from live mics, is it not possible to imagine them greeting joyousl...

Political campaigns are narrow spaces; there is not a lot of elbow room in them to explain in fulsome detail proposed public programs and their consequences. But a good campaign must represent more than a string of feel-good bumper sticker sentiments. Republicans vying for the gubernatorial race this year climbed out on a conservative limb and dedicated themselves to specific policy changes: no more tax increases; permanent reductions in spending; and, most alarming to progressive Democrats, the wresting of democratic government from powerful special interests -- i.e. union representatives.

When former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hobbled out of President Barack Obama’s cabinet, Mr. Obama found the perfect replacement in John Kerry, who believes that one cannot be both a patriotic Israeli Jew and a democrat; the reader will please note the lower case “d” in democrat. Mr. Kerry would not wish to suggest that individual Jews cannot be Democrats, because that would cost the Democratic Party of which he is a member both patronage and votes. Saying just the right thing at just the right moment is not Mr. Kerry’s strong suit, nor for that matter is diplomacy, effective in foreign policy only when it is attached to strength and honor. In this, Mr. Kerry is a chip off his chief’s block. Having failed diplomatically in Iraq, Mr. Obama withdrew American troops from the country, creating a vacuum that eventually was filled by what Mr. Obama called “a JV team.” That would be ISIS, which now has a presence in multiple countries in the Middle East and the North African...

At this juncture, Americans should be asking: What is the desirable end point of a negotiation between Iran and the West? The undeclared endpoint should be a speedy arrival at a resolution not inimical to Western interests. Here is a report from the Los Angeles Times  on current negotiations between the Obama White House and Iranian leaders: “U.S. officials said Sunday that Iran would be allowed to continue existing research and development projects and with pencil-and-paper design work, but not to advance research with new projects. Araqchi [an Iranian representative], however, implied that the program would have wide latitude. “’No facility will be closed; enrichment will continue, and qualitative and nuclear research will be expanded,’ he said. ‘All research into a new generation of centrifuges will continue.’” That would be a final result that, from a Western point of view, would frustrate the very purpose of the negotiations – which is to prevent Iran from...