FOUR LITTLE WORDS
BY KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL
WALL STREET JOURNAL
"You didn't build that" is swelling to such heights that it has the president somewhere unprecedented: on defense. Mr. Obama has felt compelled—for the first time in this campaign—to cut an ad in which he directly responds to the criticisms of his now-infamous speech, complaining his opponents took his words "out of context." ... The Obama campaign has elevated poll-testing and focus-grouping to near-clinical heights, and the results drive the president's every action: his policies, his campaign venues, his targeted demographics, his messaging. That Mr. Obama felt required—teeth-gritted—to address the "you didn't build that" meme means his vaunted focus groups are sounding alarms.
US MUST REMEMBER IT IS NOT JUST ANY COUNTRY
BY CONDOLEEZZA RICE
FINANCIAL TIMES
If Americans want the tectonic plates of the international system to settle in a way that makes the world safer, freer and more prosperous, the US must overcome its reluctance to lead. We will have to stand up for and promote the power and promise of free markets and free peoples, and affirm that American pre-eminence safeguards rather than impedes global progress. ...The American people have to be inspired to lead again. They need to be reminded that the US is not just any other country: we are exceptional in the clarity of our conviction that free markets and free peoples hold the key to the future, and in our willingness to act on those beliefs. Failure to do so would leave a vacuum, likely filled by those who will not champion a balance of power that favours freedom. That would be a tragedy for American interests and values and those who share them.
Must-Read Op-Eds for Thursday, July 26, 2012
Must-Read Op-Eds for Wednesday, July 25, 2012
HOW TO BREAK NRA'S GRIP ON POLITICS
LONDON STRUTS ON THE WORLD STAGE
WHY HE'S GOING WHERE HE'S GOING
