Risks to Second Amendment from ATT

American Rights Need American Defenders, Hays Daily News, Kansas, March 30, 2012. "Is the Arms Trade Treaty about a U.N. army coming to take away our guns? That’s crazy. But this is a pro gun-control administration, negotiating at the pro gun-control U.N. with countries that have no Second Amendment. A treaty could fall far short of gun confiscation and still restrict our freedoms."

The Tappin Case, Round Two

Answers to Questions on the Tappin Extradition Case, The Commentator, March 22, 2012. "A few weeks ago, I wrote an article on extradition from the United Kingdom to the U.S., inspired by the furor over the case of Christopher Tappin. The gist of the article was that the U.K. wanted the 2003 U.S.-U.K. Extradition Treaty and the accompanying and broader Extradition Act of 2003, that the claims made about the unfairness of the Treaty are false, and that Ministers in Her Majesty’s Government should have the courage to say so. These are not popular views, in large part because they are rarely if ever expressed in Britain. So in the spirit of encouraging debate, I’ll return to the question, and present some new documents that critics of the Tappin case should read."

Establish U.S. Red Lines on ATT

U.S. Needs Red Lines for Arms Trade Treaty Negotiations, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #3548, March 22, 2012. "The final Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) in February decided that, in preparation for the July 2–27 conference in New York that will finalize the ATT, U.N. member states should by March 31 submit short statements on the provisions that they believe should define any ATT. The U.S. should use this opportunity to establish firm red lines for the July conference and to make it clear that it will reject an unacceptable ATT that originates in either the July conference or in any other venue."

Unacceptable Ambivalance on Falklands

Obama’s Private Assurances on Falklands Not Good Enough, Contentions, March 18, 2012. "Until I hear President Obama state, on the record and publicly, that the U.S. sees no reason for negotiations over the Islands because it recognizes British sovereignty over them, I am going to take this brief, private interchange reported at second hand for what it is worth: not very much at all."

Two Lightweights Prop Each Other Up

"United By Appearance Not Substance," Yorkshire Post, March 17, 2012. Reviewing the March 2012 Obama-Cameron Summit. Not available online. "Palling around with Obama is part of that policy of appearances, of winning credibility by association. It is a strange fate for Cameron, who made waves in 2006 with his call for a Britain that was “solid but not slavish” in friendship with America. But in 2012, Britain is short on friends. The much-touted revival of Commonwealth ties has fallen flat, and the very idea of drawing closer to Europe is profoundly unpopular, not to mention economically suicidal."

Two Terrible Speeches

Why Writes This Stuff?, Contentions, March 15, 2012. "Look – writing welcoming remarks must be a tedious job, and I wouldn’t like to do it for anything. But would it be too much to ask that his speechwriters avoid obvious solecisms? If you’re going to use the tired ‘the British burned the White House’ joke, don’t follow it up, two paragraphs later, with the claim that “through the grand sweep of history, through all its twists and turns, there is one constant – the rock-solid alliance between the United States and the United Kingdom.” So, except for the whole burning thing, it’s a constant?"

What the Summit Should Have Done

At Obama-Cameron Summit, U.S. and Britain Should Take Action to Rebuild Alliance, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #3533, March 8, 2012. "The U.S. and Britain face a number of serious issues at home and abroad. But the most important need is for the U.S. to demonstrate that Europe matters, that the institutions of the EU are no substitute for—and are in fact inferior to—the legitimacy of democratic and sovereign European nations, and that, instead of seeking to reset relations with autocracies like Russia, it will give the highest consideration to the concerns of its allies. The U.S. and Britain are close enough and important enough to each other to disagree on occasion, as they have in the past. But if Britain decides to continue the downgrading of its security role or the U.S. continues to care less about transatlantic security and political cooperation, the problem will not be an Anglo-American disagreement. It will be the slow disappearance of the Special Relationship."

Why Your Cell Phone Doesn't Work

Big Government and the Spectrum Problem, Contentions, March 8, 2012. "Larry Downes has a remarkable column on CNET news about the shortage of spectrum for use by mobile broadband. It is a catalog of government ineptitude, incompetence, regulatory capture, and short-sightedness."

The No Good, Very Bad Ike Memorial

Ordered Liberty and Controlled Chaos, Contentions, March 7, 2012. "Gehry’s philosophy of design reminds me of my encounters with deconstructionist theory in graduate school: disorienting, until you realize that the point of the enterprise is not to convey meaning but to smash it, while all the while assuming a pose of ironic, superior, unsmashed detachment in order to win immunity from criticism. Gehry’s leitmotif is that “life is chaotic, dangerous, and surprising,” democracy is either chaos or at best “controlled chaos,” and so buildings should be chaotic as well. This is the kind of thing that sounds well until you think about it for five seconds. Modern democracies are in fact the most unchaotic, predictable, secure societies in the history of the world – the only way they look chaotic is next to the Garden of Eden, or the paradise of the planner."

Here's One Thing You Missed: The Cuts Don't Exist

Britain Shows No Sign of Shaking Addiction to Debt, Taxes and Regulations, Contentions, March 7, 2012. "With British Prime Minister David Cameron’s state visit impending next week, we can expect to hear a good deal about – though see nothing very much done about – Afghanistan, the NATO Summit, Libya, and Syria, But we’re also likely to get a smattering of commentary about Britain’s parlous fiscal position. If we’re lucky, the media will talk about “Tory spending cuts.” If we’re really lucky, they’ll call them “savage.” Writ large, it’s useful to remember one thing about these spending cuts: they don’t exist."

The Tappin Extradition Case

A Few Home Truths About Extradition from the United Kingdom, The Commentator, March 2, 2012. "As Mr. Grieve has conceded in one of his more sensible reflections, the Tappin case is controversial because Mr. Tappin appears to be an eminently respectable man. Unfortunately, it is possible for a man to appear to be respectable, and even to be the President of the Kent Golf Union, and still to be creditably accused of a serious crime. If Mr. Tappin is found innocent, there will be no public outcry in the U.S. But if the U.S. trial proceeds fairly – as I believe it will – and especially if he is found guilty, I trust there will be public and government recognition in Britain that the critics were wrong, and that the extradition system – and the American system – works."

Are Ron Paul's Supporters 'Right-Wingers'?

Democrats, Republicans, and Ron Paul, Centre for Policy Studies, March 2, 2012. "What is just as interesting is that the less well-off, less-educated, the less-religious, the young, and the unmarried, most of whom normally lean Democratic, are this time out going disproportionately (though not in large numbers) for Paul. It is an open question whether that trend is best described as reshaping the Republican Party by bringing new voters in, reshaping the Democratic Party by leading traditional voters out, or as the action of voters fundamentally unaffiliated with either party – and, absent Paul, likely to back neither.

European Integration As Means, Not Ends

Five Conservative Principles That Should Guide U.S. Policy on Europe, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #3524, March 1, 2012. "A strong transatlantic alliance should be at the heart of U.S. foreign policy. Washington should reinvigorate partnerships with America’s key friends and allies in Europe. It should adopt policies that advance national sovereignty and economic freedom across the Atlantic, rather than subvert them."

What The US Must Do Now About the ATT

U.S. Must Stand Its Ground on U.N. Arms Trade Treaty, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #3513, February 21, 2012. "The final Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) was held last week. The purpose of this PrepCom was to adopt rules of procedure for the U.N. Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty, which will be held in New York July 2–27. This conference is intended to complete the negotiation of the ATT and thus open the treaty for signature and ratification. The outcome of the PrepCom makes it even more vital for the U.S. to establish its red lines and stand its ground before and during the July conference."

Consensus and Transparency Dominate Final ATT PrepCom

U.S. Must Address Critical Questions at Final Preparatory Committee on U.N. Arms Trade Treaty, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #3500, February 13, 2012. "The final Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) will be held on February 13-17. The purpose of this PrepCom is to determine the rules of procedure for the U.N. Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty, which will be held in New York from July 2-27. This Conference is intended to complete the negotiation of the ATT, and thus open the treaty for signature and ratification. At the final PrepCom, the U.S. must address critical questions about the rules of procedure that will shape the outcome of the July conference."

Obama's Dirty Trick on UK Defense Strategy

Obama Retreats from Old Military Alliances, Yorkshire Post, February 10, 2012. "For the first time since the mid-1950s, Britain has a defense strategy that fails to mesh with America’s: it is best able to wage the kind of wars that the U.S. says it no longer cares to fight. The sad, sudden American retreat has badly dented the basis of Britain’s defense planning, and served a much wider notice that the U.S. would prefer to spend more on welfare and less on warfare. Unfortunately, its enemies are unlikely to share those priorities."

Syria Shows Obama Doctrine (In)action

Syria: A Perfect Illustration of the Obama Doctrine’s Failure, Centre for Policy Studies, February 9, 2012. "Obama has little to gain by putting foreign policy on the front pages and, it would appear, little desire to put them front and center either. He needs only to do just enough -- in the form of speeches, symbolic actions, gestures to the left, and not very covert military operations -- to neutralize the charge that he’s not interested in American leadership. Syria testifies to the fact that the dreams of his early administration have comprehensively failed, and that he’s now relying on ad hoc approaches. True, all foreign policy is to an extent improvisation, but great improvisers work off the melody. Right now, the Obama Doctrine is a discordant mess."

On the 2012 SOTU

American Leadership AWOL Again, Heritage Foundation Foundry, January 24, 2012. "The President’s remarks in his State of the Union Address on foreign policy were formulaic. This Address was about domestic policy and, ultimately, about the 2012 election, which the President clearly believes will be won or lost on the basis of his record at home. Unfortunately, that does not absolve him of his responsibility to do more than slot token references on events abroad into his remarks."

On Tevi Troy's Article on Think Tanks

A View of Think-Tanks from America, Centre for Policy Studies, January 23, 2012. "Working as I do at the Heritage Foundation, and writing for the Centre for Policy Studies, may put me in danger of mistaking the trees for the forest. Still, British readers should check out Tevi Troy’s article “Devaluing the Think Tank,” in the latest issue of National Affairs, available free online. Troy’s claim is that U.S. think tanks play “a central role in policy development,” but that, “while most think tanks continue to serve as homes for some academic-style scholarship regarding public policy, many have also come to play more active (if informal) roles in politics." "

A Case Study of Media Error (Or Bias)

Politifact’s Pants on Fire, Contentions, January 20, 2012. "I’ve worked with PolitiFact before, and while I’ve not agreed with previous pieces, they were at least defensible. What it comes down to is that Romney’s claim is factually correct, but assessing the context would require a book-length analysis that would be subject to a wide amount of legitimate dispute over many factors, some of them fundamentally unknowable. Even if applied earnestly and knowledgeably, fact-checking is terrible at assessing this kind of context, precisely because the facts are not known: it’s why Churchill described strategic leadership as an art, not a science. Fact-checkers would have a better sense of their potential contributions and limits if they bore Churchill’s wisdom in mind, and recognized that checking facts is not the same thing as criticizing art."

Reviewing "The Iron Lady"

'Iron Lady' Bias Can't Diminish Thatcher, Contentions, January 18, 2012. "The Iron Lady is not a particularly good movie. In structure and feel, it’s much more a one-woman play than it is a film. But on the screen it’s a success nonetheless, if only because, perhaps without meaning to, it displays conviction politics in their purest, most elemental, and most attractive form."

Economic Freedom Means More Than Austerity

In Europe, Reducing Spending Necessary, But Not Sufficient, To Restore Economic Freedom, Heritage Foundation Foundry, January 17, 2012. "If the 2012 edition of Heritage’s Index of Economic Freedom has bad news for the United States, the news for Europe is not much better. The 43 nations of the European region did manage to lose less economic freedom than did the United States, but a decline is still a decline. And the European decline was broad-based: Only nine countries made gains, and every one of the top 10 declined—in some cases, dramatically. The underlying driver of the declines in many cases will come as no surprise: higher levels of government spending."

Morning Bell on the Iron lady

Morning Bell" The Real 'Iron Lady', Heritage Foundation Foundry, January 11, 2012. "Tomorrow brings the nationwide release of The Iron Lady, starring Meryl Streep as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Streep referred to the challenge of portraying Lady Thatcher as “daunting and exciting,” and as requiring “as much zeal, fervour and attention to detail as the real Lady Thatcher possesses.” Her performance has already been widely praised by critics, but for those who respect Lady Thatcher, not all the omens are positive. In an interview, Streep compared Lady Thatcher to King Lear and commented that what interested her about the role “was the part of someone who does monstrous things maybe, or misguided things. Where do they come from?” That doesn’t sound good."

University Travel and Totalitarians

Blue State Travel to Cuba, Contentions, January 3, 2012. "A friend has forwarded me a solicitation from the University of Michigan’s Alumni Association to join them on a “Cultural Connection” visit to Cuba. It is a depressing piece of moral blindness. For $3,845, Wolverines can enjoy an eight day trip, complete with “a visit to a local health clinic” to “learn about socialized medicine and the delivery of social services in Cuba,” a trip to an art institute to “compare and contrast the role of the arts in Cuba and the United States” and “identify any differences in the opportunities for artistic expression,” and a “substantive discussion” with the management team of a dance company to explore “the political and financial challenges they face” (i.e. the U.S. embargo) in exporting Cuban dance culture. There is a good deal more in the same vein, including a visit to the Museum of the Revolution and dinner at the Restaurante Vieja Havana, “formerly the American Club,” but you get the picture. It would be pleasant if moral blindness was all that was involved here, but sadly, it’s not."

Christmas Wishes to the UK on Defense

Lessons on Defence Policy from America in 2012, Centre for Policy Studies, December 29, 2011. "My wish is that Britain will in 2012 learn a lesson from America on its defence policy. The lesson is not simply that Britain should spend more money on defence. It certainly should do that, but Britain’s limited and steadily shrinking defence budget is only a symptom of Britain’s underlying problem. Its real problem is that, while America regrettably takes defence less seriously than it used to, it is still far better off than Britain, which no longer treats defence as a centrally important political issue. The lesson Britain should learn from America, therefore, is that defence is a core duty of the state, and it is worthy of appropriately serious political care and attention. My policy wish to Britain thus takes the form of three Christmas wishes."