Reihan Salam

Reihan Salam: Mitt Should Run in 2016, And ‘Let Romney Be Romney’
By Tom Johnson | September 2, 2014 | 11:13 AM EDT

If reform-conservative pundit Reihan Salam gets his way, Mitt Romney will join Ronald Reagan on the list of Republican governors of coastal states who were elected president of the United States on their third try. In a Friday column for Slate, Salam wrote that he’s “delighted” about “speculation” that Romney “is at least considering another presidential run.”

Salam argued that if Romney does mount another campaign, he should present himself as a “populist” wonk opposed to “the outsize power of the megabanks and in favor of a more competitive and inclusive capitalism.” Such a persona, Salam surmised, would be closer to the real Mitt than the self-described “severely conservative” version of two years ago: “I tend to think that Romney’s struggles in 2012 flowed from his defensiveness and his fear of alienating Tea Party conservatives he didn’t truly understand.”

E.J. Dionne: 'Reform Conservatism Is Better Than the Conservatism We Have Had'
By Tom Johnson | June 1, 2014 | 1:09 PM EDT

So-called reform conservatives such as David Frum, Michael Gerson, and Ramesh Ponnuru often get relatively favorable attention from liberal journalists -- relative, that is, to Tea Party types, which in turn reinforces the Tea Party's belief that the reformers aren't really conservatives.  

Two lefty pundits recently examined the state of reform conservatism. Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne penned an article for the spring issue of the quarterly Democracy in which he analyzed the work of certain reformers and discussed how they might pull the Republican party toward the center. He also denounced the GOP's current message discipline in the service of its supposedly extremist agenda -- or, as Dionne put it, "the right’s version of political correctness."

Reihan Salam Slaps Down Stephanie Miller's Hackish Defense of Weiner
By Matt Hadro | May 23, 2013 | 3:16 PM EDT

On Wednesday's Erin Burnett OutFront, lefty radio host Stephanie Miller tried to be funny while downplaying Anthony Weiner's Twitter scandal as just an eighth-grade stunt and a "guy thing."

"Which middle school did you go to, Stephanie?" conservative CNN contributor Reihan Salam shot her down. And host Erin Burnett wouldn't have Miller's hackery, either: "I got to say, Stephanie, I beg to differ with you. This is pretty bizarre."

Maher to Mark Cuban About Internet: 'You Should Send a Royalty Check to Al Gore Every F--king Day'
By Noel Sheppard | August 18, 2012 | 10:59 AM EDT

The ignorance and stupidity of Bill Maher know no bounds.

On HBO's Real Time Friday, in a discussion about who created the internet, Maher actually told billionaire businessman Mark Mogul, "You should send a royalty check to Al Gore every f—king day of your life" (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):

Bill Maher: Romney Has 'A Messiah Complex'
By Noel Sheppard | August 18, 2012 | 1:35 AM EDT

It's become clear that Bill Maher's devotion to Barack Obama is so all encompassing that he's lost any capacity to reason or view things with even an iota of impartiality.

On HBO's Real Time Friday, the host actually accused presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney of having - wait for it! - "a messiah complex" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Joe Klein Shocker: Requiring Insurers to Cover Birth Control 'Major Overstepping of the State's Role'
By Noel Sheppard | March 4, 2012 | 9:45 PM EST

Time's Joe Klein on Sunday took a position that is likely to shock people on both sides of the aisle.

In a discussion about birth control on CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS, Klein surprisingly said, "Why, in a country where we don't require employers to provide health insurance should we require them to - those who do provide health insurance - to provide contraception? Now, I'm all in favor of contraception, but I think that this is a major overstepping of the state's role" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

National Review's Salam Schools Klein, Vanden Heuvel and Zakaria on Tea Party and Taxes
By Noel Sheppard | March 4, 2012 | 8:57 PM EST

National Review's Reihan Salam on Sunday proved once again that liberal media members no matter what their number are no match for one well-informed conservative.

On CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS, Salam took on the host, Time magazine's Joe Klein, and the Nation's Katrina Vanden Heuvel on a far-ranging discussion about how both sides of the aisle view taxes, the Tea Party, and social change with the conservative ending up looking like the only knowledgeable person in the room (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Al Sharpton: 'You Cannot Have Rights Voted On' - It's 'Tyranny By The Majority'
By Noel Sheppard | February 11, 2012 | 12:28 AM EST

UPDATE AT END OF POST: The Confederacy's Jefferson Davis railed against "the tyranny of the majority" wanting to end slavery.

Al Sharpton on Friday said something that every American on both sides of the aisle should totally fear.

"You cannot have rights voted on," the MSNBC anchor actually said on HBO's Real Time. "You have tyranny by the majority" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

MSNBC's Todd Scoffs at Libertarian Ron Paul's 'Raw Milk' Pledge
By Ken Shepherd | December 14, 2011 | 1:11 PM EST

Presidential contender Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) is a libertarian who thinks the federal government is far too much of a national nanny. Regardless of what you think of his views, he's pretty consistent on his libertarian philosophy. As such, it's incredibly easy for dismissive journalists to misrepresent his policy stances and campaign promises.

Take for example, MSNBC's Chuck Todd. After airing a clip of the Texas Republican pledging at a rally in New Hampshire to overturn a federal ban on transporting raw milk across state lines, the Daily Rundown host snarked, "So there it is... don't even regulate milk. You know, that's Ron Paul in a nutshell."

National Review's Salam Schools Andrew Sullivan on Conservatism, Palin and the Tea Party
By Noel Sheppard | January 16, 2011 | 5:48 PM EST

National Review's Reihan Salam this weekend demonstrated exactly why it should be required that there be at least one conservative present during televised political discussions.

Appearing on the syndicated "Chris Matthews Show," Salam had a spirited and at times contentious debate with the Atlantic's Andrew Sullivan about conservatism, Sarah Palin, and the Tea Party (video follows with transcript and commentary):

National Reviewer Smacks Down Bill Maher and Lawrence O'Donnell For Attacking Tea Party
By Noel Sheppard | October 30, 2010 | 3:30 PM EDT

Bill Maher and MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell went to great lengths on Friday's "Real Time" to disparage the Tea Party.

One proud member, National Review's Reihan Salam, admirably put them both in their place for doing so (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Spitzer: Tea Party Endorses 'Path of Hoover,' Will 'Destroy Our Country'
By Matthew Balan | October 6, 2010 | 4:45 PM EDT
Eliot Spitzer, CNN Host | NewsBusters.orgCNN's new host Eliot Spitzer slammed the Tea Party movement on Tuesday's Parker-Spitzer: "I think that that piece of the Republican Party is vapid. It has no ideas....They're going to destroy our country." Spitzer also accused Tea Party members of forwarding a "Herbert Hoover vision of government...saying, we want to take away the very pieces of government that created the middle class."

The former New York governor of "Client Number Nine" infamy launched his attack on the nascent political movement minutes into the 8 pm Eastern, as he and his co-host, Kathleen Parker, discussed Delaware Republican Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell's new ad. After listing what he thought was positive about O'Donnell and her ad, Spitzer gave his "vapid" remark about the Tea Party and made his first mention of former President Hoover: