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Jonah Goldberg is editor-at-large of National Review Online,and the author of the forthcoming book The Tyranny of Clichés. You can reach him via Twitter @JonahNRO.
Liberal Obsession With Race is Growing Old
By
Jonah Goldberg (Dec 21, 2012)
When will liberals stop living in the past? Specifically, when will they accept that they aren't all that stands between a wonderful, tolerant America and Jim Crow?
I... more
On Newtown, Mourn First, Then Act
By
Jonah Goldberg (Dec 19, 2012)
On Friday, in his moving and heartfelt statement in response to the horrific shooting in Newtown, Conn., President Obama said, "As a country, we have been through this too... more
The GOP -- Not a Club For Christians
By
Jonah Goldberg (Dec 12, 2012)
In the scramble to make the GOP more diverse, a lot of people are looking at Asian Americans, whom many believe are a natural constituency for the party. I would love it if... more
The Stone Truth: Left-Wingers Are Boring
By
Jonah Goldberg (Dec 07, 2012)
When, at long last, will people understand that the left is boring?
The question came to mind as I was dipping in and out of Oliver Stone's
miasmic 700-plus-page tome.... more
Let the Taxi App Roll
By
Jonah Goldberg (Dec 05, 2012)
If Hollywood remade "The Graduate" and set it in 1980, the one word the businessman would have for Dustin Hoffman's character wouldn't be "plastics." It'd be "medallions."... more
Brain-lock Inside The Beltway
By
Jonah Goldberg (Nov 30, 2012)
It's at times like this I'm ashamed to admit I live inside the Beltway.
Well, that's probably not specific enough since I'm usually ashamed to admit I live inside the... more
Egypt's 'Moderate' Despot
By
Jonah Goldberg (Nov 28, 2012)
What do you call a leader of a theocratic and cultish movement with a deep
and clear disdain for democracy who suddenly assumes dictatorial powers?
A "moderate," of... more
Obama Needs a Family Plan
By
Jonah Goldberg (Nov 21, 2012)
President Obama has several stated ambitions for his presidency. He wants it to be "transformative." He wants to unite Americans of all parties. He wants to build an economy... more
I Think I Owe an Apology to George W. Bush.
By
Jonah Goldberg (Nov 16, 2012)
William F. Buckley once noted that he was 19 when the Cold War began at the Yalta conference. The year the Berlin Wall came down, he became a senior citizen. In other words,... more
The Right Isn't Waving A White Flag
By
Jonah Goldberg (Nov 14, 2012)
The conservative Gotterdammerung is finally here. "Like dazed survivors in
a ravaged city, America's conservatives are wailing and beating their
collective breasts," opines... more
A Victory for Creatures of the State
By
Jonah Goldberg (Nov 09, 2012)
The Progressives won on Tuesday.
I don't mean the people who voted Democrat who call themselves
"progressive." Though they won, too.
I mean the Progressives who've... more
Nate Silver's Numbers Racket
By
Jonah Goldberg (Nov 07, 2012)
In the last week or so, an intense kerfuffle broke out over the
poll-prognosticator Nate Silver and his blog at the New York Times,
FiveThirtyEight. Silver, a statistician,... more
Storm Saves Obama From Himself
By
Jonah Goldberg (Nov 02, 2012)
If President Obama had the time for some introspection on the campaign
trail, he might take offense at all the media speculation (and in many
cases wishful thinking gussied... more
Benghazi -- No Mere 'October Surprise'
By
Jonah Goldberg (Oct 31, 2012)
If you want to understand why conservatives have lost faith in the so-called mainstream media, you need to ponder the question: Where is the Benghazi feeding... more
A Vote for Election Day
By
Jonah Goldberg (Oct 24, 2012)
I suspect most voters watching Monday night's debate found it pretty
boring. President Obama wanted to force Mitt Romney into saying something
stupid. Romney didn't take... more
Obama's Economic Spin: A New Pony or Manure?
By
Jonah Goldberg (Oct 19, 2012)
It was arguably Ronald Reagan's favorite joke. In one version, two kids -- one an optimist, the other a pessimist -- rush downstairs on Christmas morning. The pessimistic... more
Red, Blue and Faithful
By
Jonah Goldberg (Oct 17, 2012)
Apparently, Paul Ryan and Joe Biden are both theocrats willing, nay eager, to use state power to impose their religious views on the rest of us.
In last week's vice... more
Quit Blaming Bush
By
Jonah Goldberg (Oct 10, 2012)
"Now Gov. Romney believes that with even bigger tax cuts for the wealthy,
and fewer regulations on Wall Street, all of us will prosper. In other
words, he'd double down on... more
The Undoing Of The Storybook Man
By
Jonah Goldberg (Oct 05, 2012)
It was the Puss in Boots eyes.
If you've seen the "Shrek" movies or the spin-off cartoon starring the storybook cat voiced by Antonio Banderas, you know... more
Obama's Foreign Policy Follies
By
Jonah Goldberg (Oct 03, 2012)
We're now entering the fourth week of the "CSI: Benghazi" hostage crisis. That's how long an FBI forensic team has been trying to gain access in Libya to what the State... more
Tribe of Liberty
By
Jonah Goldberg (Sep 28, 2012)
We like tribalism for the same reason we like to eat fatty foods: We
evolved that way. Homo sapiens didn't survive long on the African savannas as rugged
individualists.... more
What Has Obama Learned?
By
Jonah Goldberg (Sep 26, 2012)
The Oval Office isn't the place to learn on the job. That was the line from both Hillary Clinton and John McCain in 2008. In fairness, that's always the argument the more... more
Free Speech Isn't the Problem
By
Jonah Goldberg (Sep 21, 2012)
"No One Murdered Because Of This Image."
That was a recent headline from The Onion, the often hilarious parody newspaper.
The image in question is really not... more
Don't Misplace Blame for Middle Eastern Mayhem
By
Jonah Goldberg (Sep 14, 2012)
An incendiary video about the prophet Muhammad, "Innocence of Muslims," was blamed for the mob attacks on our embassies in Libya and Egypt (and later, Yemen). In Libya,... more
Forward to What, Democrats?
By
Jonah Goldberg (Sep 12, 2012)
"Forward" is a perfectly appropriate slogan for progressives.
Progress suggests forward or upward motion. That's why revolutionaries and radicals as well as liberal... more
Obama Sells Old Ideas as New
By
Jonah Goldberg (Sep 06, 2012)
CHARLOTTE -- A few years ago, it was fashionable for Democrats to describe themselves as "members of the reality-based community." These days, it seems the foreclosure crisis... more
The Question Nobody Wants to Answer
By
Jonah Goldberg (Sep 05, 2012)
You have to feel a little sorry for Team Obama as they squirm to explain why the question "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?" is so unfair.
After... more
Liberal Media Brings Out the Hockey Pucks
By
Jonah Goldberg (Aug 31, 2012)
In 2004, Arnold Schwarzenegger, then a popular figure in the Republican Party, gave an exciting, upbeat and surprisingly funny speech at the GOP convention. He covered a... more
Akin's Idiocy is Infectious
By
Jonah Goldberg (Aug 24, 2012)
Todd Akin's idiocy appears to be infectious.
The evil genius of the Missouri congressman's comments is that they lend themselves to such broad interpretations -- and... more
The Politicization of Violence
By
Jonah Goldberg (Aug 22, 2012)
If it hasn't completely vanished down the memory hole, you might recall that last week a man walked into the headquarters of the conservative Family Research Council with a... more
A Storied Presidency
By
Jonah Goldberg (Aug 17, 2012)
In 1995, Barack Obama released "Dreams From My Father," a compelling memoir full of stories about his life that -- though often not exactly true -- persuaded many people that... more
Mitt, More Gaffes Like This, Please
By
Jonah Goldberg (Aug 09, 2012)
One of the few things Americans on both sides of the partisan divide can agree on is that this election is shaping up to be vexingly petty. The hunt for gaffes -- some real,... more
No More Boring White Guys for the GOP
By
Jonah Goldberg (Aug 08, 2012)
"A friend of mine, a Hispanic entrepreneur, asked me a question some time ago. He said, 'When is the last time you saw a Hispanic panhandler?' I think it's a great question.... more
De-Bushing Romney
By
Jonah Goldberg (Aug 03, 2012)
This is shaping up to be the second election in a row that's about someone who isn't on the ballot: George W. Bush.
In 2008, Barack Obama won in no small part by... more
What's Behind Hatred of Obama?
By
Jonah Goldberg (Aug 01, 2012)
What drives Barack Obama's "doubters and haters"?
So asks Obama biographer David Maraniss in a recent op-ed article for the Washington Post. By doubters and haters he... more
Brian Ross' Brain Cramp
By
Jonah Goldberg (Jul 25, 2012)
If ABC News does fire Brian Ross, he could always find a job working for Aaron Sorkin.
Ross, a veteran investigative reporter for ABC News, blew it Friday morning when he... more
Co-Sponsoring Your Success
By
Jonah Goldberg (Jul 20, 2012)
"If you've been successful, you didn't get there on your own. ... If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in... more
Romney's Hysteria Bubble
By
Jonah Goldberg (Jul 18, 2012)
It was one of Barack Obama's best lines -- and best moments -- in the 2008 presidential campaign.
He had said we could save as much oil as we could get from domestic... more
Tilting at the UN Windmill
By
Jonah Goldberg (Jul 13, 2012)
Those of us who believe the United States would be best served by pulling out of the United Nations and starting up a more morally and politically serious clubhouse for... more
Blame Barclays, Not Capitalism
By
Jonah Goldberg (Jul 11, 2012)
Why aren't more people furious about the Libor scandal?
That's a question mostly being asked on the political left these days, and they're right to ask it.
Here are the... more
Symptoms of a sick culture
By
Jonah Goldberg (Jul 06, 2012)
The late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan famously remarked that, "The central conservative truth is that it is culture, not politics, that determines the success of a society.... more
Live Free -- And Uninsured
By
Jonah Goldberg (Jul 04, 2012)
In the wake of the Supreme Court ruling upholding the Affordable Care Act (aka "Obamacare"), NPR's "Talk of the Nation" held a seminar of sorts at the Aspen Institute's... more
Roberts' Ruling Took Guts
By
Jonah Goldberg (Jun 29, 2012)
Why not just cut open a goat and be done with it?
In ancient Rome, a special kind of priest called a haruspex would "read" the entrails of sheep to divine the will of the... more
Voter Apathy Isn't a Crime
By
Jonah Goldberg (Jun 27, 2012)
It's a sure sign someone is losing when he demands that the rules be changed.
That might explain the renewed interest in forcing people to vote against their will. Peter... more
Obama's Truthiness
By
Jonah Goldberg (Jun 22, 2012)
It's becoming increasingly clear that President Obama is not burdened with too heavy a commitment to honesty.
This is hardly a shock about any politician, but revelations... more
Are the Dems Doomed?
By
Jonah Goldberg (Jun 20, 2012)
Is it time to start talking about the inevitable demise of the Democratic Party?
Since the 1990s there's been a thriving cottage industry of doomsaying about the... more
Obama's 'Fine' Mess
By
Jonah Goldberg (Jun 13, 2012)
The 1990 Italian film "Everybody's Fine" is one of the most depressing films I've ever seen. Starring the late Marcello Mastroianni, it's the story of an old man who tells... more
Searching for a Surrogate
By
Jonah Goldberg (Jun 08, 2012)
Watching Bill Clinton act as Barack Obama's "No. 1 surrogate," in the words of National Public Radio, is as exquisitely painful as watching a runaway monkey with a paintball... more
'Compromise' Is Not a Dirty Word
By
Jonah Goldberg (Jun 07, 2012)
Compromise has always been a holy word for the Washington establishment. But against the backdrop of ever-increasing anxiety over our fiscal dysfunction, most particularly... more
The Upside of the Downside
By
Jonah Goldberg (Jun 06, 2012)
One of my heroes, Irving Kristol, used to say that there's nothing wrong with the country a bad recession couldn't fix.
Kristol (father of the more famous Bill, by the... more
All (Green) Thumbs
By
Jonah Goldberg (Jun 01, 2012)
It was interesting while it lasted. But it looks like the "green revolution" has entered the long slide into "What was all that about?"
In January, the Spanish... more
Big Business Gets the Hollywood Treatment
By
Jonah Goldberg (May 25, 2012)
Jack Andraka, a 15-year-old kid from Maryland, just won the world's largest high school science competition by creating a new test for pancreatic cancer, one of the nastiest... more
Generation Pap
By
Jonah Goldberg (May 18, 2012)
This is the season of generational twaddle. At graduation ceremonies across the country, politicians, authors, actors and businessmen take to the stage to tell young people... more
Romney's Media Handicap
By
Jonah Goldberg (May 16, 2012)
Perhaps Mitt Romney played it right when he was meek and contrite in response to the Washington Post's front-page allegations that he bullied a kid half a century ago in high... more
'Money Primary' Pushes Obama to the Left
By
Jonah Goldberg (May 11, 2012)
For most of 2012, President Obama has been running in the Democratic primary. I know that seems odd given that he's essentially running unopposed. Though don't... more
Romney Feeds the Crocs
By
Jonah Goldberg (May 09, 2012)
"If Mitt Romney can be pushed around, intimidated, coerced, co-opted by a conservative radio talk show host in Middle America, then how is he going to stand up to the... more
Republicans Have Bad Brains?
By
Jonah Goldberg (May 03, 2012)
"They do that because they were born that way."
If you say that about homosexuals, you are tolerant and realistic. If you say it about blacks, you are racist (unless... more
The False Modesty of 'Nerds'
By
Jonah Goldberg (May 02, 2012)
Washington is full of nerds. I know. I speak nerd, not fluently mind you, at least not anymore. But I certainly know more than a few phrases memorized from a Berlitz... more
My Papers? No Thank You
By
Jonah Goldberg (Apr 27, 2012)
With the Supreme Court taking up Arizona's "show me your papers" immigration law, we're once again thrust into a useful debate over the role of the government and the... more
Obama's Tainted Bundler
By
Jonah Goldberg (Apr 25, 2012)
Jon Corzine left Goldman Sachs with a net worth far exceeding even that of Mitt Romney today. Many accounts of his tenure at Goldman suggest he "failed up" the corporate... more
Issues vs. 'Distractions'
By
Jonah Goldberg (Apr 20, 2012)
It's going to be bait and switch for as far as the eye can see.
That's how it looks now that the smoke has cleared after the recent "Mommy War" skirmish over... more
Obama's Problem? His Record
By
Jonah Goldberg (Apr 18, 2012)
"The choice in this election is between an economy that produces a growing middle class and that gives people a chance to get ahead and their kids a chance to get ahead, and... more
Free the Markets, Mr. Romney
By
Jonah Goldberg (Apr 11, 2012)
In his Wisconsin victory speech last Tuesday, Mitt Romney said, "Washington has to become an ally of business, not the opposition of business."
This to me is a more... more
Obama Energy Policy: Very Few of the Above
By
Jonah Goldberg (Apr 06, 2012)
In his speech before the Newspapers Association of America/American Society of News Editors Wednesday, likely GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney accused the... more
Obamacare Will Be Romney's Savior
By
Jonah Goldberg (Apr 04, 2012)
It looks as if it's going to be Mitt Romney after all. With Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush endorsing the former Massachusetts governor last week, there aren't any white... more
Conservative Interpretations
By
Jonah Goldberg (Mar 30, 2012)
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg likes the Indian Healthcare Improvement Act and other ingredients of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, aka... more
Playing the Race Card Again
By
Jonah Goldberg (Mar 28, 2012)
"White Hispanic." That's how the New York Times, Reuters and other media outlets have opted to describe George Zimmerman, a man who would simply be Hispanic if he hadn't shot... more
A Fawlty Slip of the Tongue
By
Jonah Goldberg (Mar 23, 2012)
There's a great old "Fawlty Towers" scene (if you're unfamiliar with the 1970s British sitcom, hie thyself to YouTube!) in which Basil Fawlty (John Cleese), an innkeeper,... more
The Federalist Solution
By
Jonah Goldberg (Mar 21, 2012)
The bleating about broken government and partisanship continues. "Why can't those boobs in Washington agree on anything?" We're constantly told that the way to fix the... more
Politics: A Never-Ending Game of Hot Potato
By
Jonah Goldberg (Mar 16, 2012)
Warning: What you are about to read is a deeply cynical view of the 2012 election. If you're looking for puppies and rainbows, check back with me another... more
Obama's Pump Debacle
By
Jonah Goldberg (Mar 14, 2012)
As gasoline prices climb, President Obama's poll numbers plummet. In February, a Washington Post/ABC poll had Obama up 6 points against Mitt Romney. Monday's poll has him... more
Someone Take the Wheel
By
Jonah Goldberg (Mar 09, 2012)
There's a great scene in the movie "The Right Stuff" where the original Mercury astronauts are checking out the capsule for their first trips to space. They're horrified to... more
Birth Congrol Agitprop
By
Jonah Goldberg (Mar 07, 2012)
In 1984, Mario Cuomo pioneered the argument that one may be "personally opposed" to abortion, while supporting abortion rights.
Ever since, this convenient locution has... more
Breitbart A Provocateur to the End
By
Jonah Goldberg (Mar 02, 2012)
Andrew Breitbart's heart was too big to fail, but it did anyway.
If you don't know who Breitbart was, you haven't been paying attention. A conservative activist,... more
Lack of Enthusiasm Isn't Just a GOP Problem
By
Jonah Goldberg (Feb 24, 2012)
There's no disputing that Republicans are surly these days.
With the exception of South Carolina, turnout among GOP voters has been tepid. Hordes of commentators,... more
Mr. Right Eludes the GOP
By
Jonah Goldberg (Feb 22, 2012)
"If we could just take a little bit from each of them."
I've lost track of how many people I have heard say some version of this in the last couple of months. The "each... more
Obama's Cynicism For Me, Not For Thee
By
Jonah Goldberg (Feb 17, 2012)
"My rival in this race," President Obama announced early in 2007, "is not other candidates. It's cynicism."
It's now clear that what he meant by this was other people's... more
Liberals are the True Aggressors in Culture Wars
By
Jonah Goldberg (Feb 14, 2012)
If you're not with us, you're against us. President Bush popularized this expression after 9/11 to describe his foreign policy doctrine: Countries couldn't support or indulge... more
The GOP Race Gets Messy
By
Jonah Goldberg (Feb 10, 2012)
OK, I give up.
About a week ago, I wrote a column making a case for Mitt Romney as the GOP nominee. My argument was aimed at fellow conservatives who just can't get their... more
A U.N. -- But for Good Guys
By
Jonah Goldberg (Feb 08, 2012)
The governments in Russia and China very much want to uphold the principle that every now and then the state must crush people who want freedom. That is why they worked... more
The Case For Romney
By
Jonah Goldberg (Feb 03, 2012)
Years ago a friend told me a story from her days living in South America. The movie "Wayne's World" had come out, and she went to see it. She spoke English, but it was... more
Political Finger-Pointing
By
Jonah Goldberg (Feb 01, 2012)
Jesse Jackson is right.
In response to the face-off in Arizona between President Obama and Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer last week, Jackson said, "Even George Wallace did not... more
Obama's Vision for a Spartan America
By
Jonah Goldberg (Jan 27, 2012)
President Obama's State of the Union address was disgusting.
The president began with a moving tribute to the armed forces and their accomplishments.... more
Newtzilla Conquers All?
By
Jonah Goldberg (Jan 25, 2012)
Newtzilla is back.
Six weeks ago, during the last Newt Gingrich surge, I wrote here that "conventional weapons are useless against Newtzilla. ... Everything bad about... more
A Question of Priorities
By
Jonah Goldberg (Jan 20, 2012)
"In the Treasury we do not speak of tons of silver. Our unit is the troy ounce."
That was the response from some bureaucrat when Leslie Groves, the man who oversaw the... more
People Inc.
By
Jonah Goldberg (Jan 18, 2012)
"Corporations are people, my friend," Mitt Romney declared in a testy back-and-forth with hecklers last summer in Iowa.
It was among the first of what appears to be a... more
Romney's Authenticity Problem
By
Jonah Goldberg (Jan 11, 2012)
Mitt Romney is the most improbable of presidential candidates: a weak juggernaut.
He is poised to sweep every primary contest -- a first for a non-incumbent. And yet, in... more
An Imperial Sham
By
Jonah Goldberg (Jan 06, 2012)
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a man whose political success is largely attributable to the aura of befuddled incompetence he uses to disarm his adversaries, was a... more