David Frum

It's not exactly clear whether David Frum knew that his phrase "axis of evil" would send shudders of fear and anger throughout the world when President Bush uttered it in the State of the Union address in January. But, says Frum, who coined the unforgettable invective to describe North Korea, Iraq and Iran, "I had a pretty good idea it would be remembered." What came next, though, could've been a bit of a surprise.

Short of announcing the discovery of a zero-calorie potato or juggling piglets at the state fair, a mid-level bureaucrat for the USDA wouldn't stand much chance of breaking into the national news conversation. That would have been true if not for the work of a furiously partisan Internet operator and a group of all-too-credulous media accomplices, namely some Fox outlets, that made sure this week that we all knew the name of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's rural development director for the state of Georgia.

Combating conservative malaise at the end of the Bush era, David Frum offers a sprightly retort in "Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again." A former speechwriter for President Bush, Frum funneled his disillusionment into the book and his outline for a freshly reprioritized GOP. Aloud at Central Library presents Frum in conversation with Arianna Huffington, editor in chief of the Huffington Post. 7 p.m. Wed. Central Library. 213-228-7025; www.aloudla.org

Re "Conserva-care," Opinion, Sept. 20 What nonsense. William Frist wants to "incentivize" folks to live a healthy life, thereby shrinking costs. OK -- but try getting couch potatoes to do it. And those like me -- living the healthiest of lives, yet I've fought back cancer twice only because Medicare authorized the right tests. David Frum wants non-state-regulated insurance companies that will "squeeze" their suppliers. If doctors like my son are squeezed any further, most will quit medicine.

A conservative author and former speechwriter for President Bush has raised money to finance a TV advertising campaign aimed at sinking Harriet E. Miers' nomination to the Supreme Court. David Frum of the conservative American Enterprise Institute said Friday that he expected the first ads to air next week.

Re "Enforcement before amnesty," Opinion, June 9 When you sift through all the verbiage, David Frum's formula for a successful immigration policy seems to boil down to this: Boot out the low-skilled immigrants performing the lower-paying jobs and import highly skilled immigrants to take the higher-paying positions, leaving Americans to mow lawns, flip burgers, clean homes and wash cars for minimum wage. I wonder if this is what the 70% of Americans who he suggests support his views had in mind.

In "Democrats' Deja Vu (Commentary, March 24), David Frum scolds Democrats for past hatred of Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Newt Gingrich and George W. Bush. "Hate," "hated" or "hatred" appear six times. Democrats are hate, hate, hating all the live-long day, and those who are in the antiwar movement are "more ambitious and more sinister -- than the antiwar movement of the 1960s." People who want soldiers to come home and not be killed just hate Bush. People who want clean air and clean water just hate Bush.

Re "Conserva-care," Opinion, Sept. 20 What nonsense. William Frist wants to "incentivize" folks to live a healthy life, thereby shrinking costs. OK -- but try getting couch potatoes to do it. And those like me -- living the healthiest of lives, yet I've fought back cancer twice only because Medicare authorized the right tests. David Frum wants non-state-regulated insurance companies that will "squeeze" their suppliers. If doctors like my son are squeezed any further, most will quit medicine.

The tumultuous 1960s usually get the credit, or the blame, for shaping contemporary American culture. It was the decade of Woodstock and marijuana, of student unrest, protests over Vietnam and civil rights and the days when President Johnson's Great Society battled poverty and the Supreme Court created Miranda rights.

Short of announcing the discovery of a zero-calorie potato or juggling piglets at the state fair, a mid-level bureaucrat for the USDA wouldn't stand much chance of breaking into the national news conversation. That would have been true if not for the work of a furiously partisan Internet operator and a group of all-too-credulous media accomplices, namely some Fox outlets, that made sure this week that we all knew the name of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's rural development director for the state of Georgia.

Combating conservative malaise at the end of the Bush era, David Frum offers a sprightly retort in "Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again." A former speechwriter for President Bush, Frum funneled his disillusionment into the book and his outline for a freshly reprioritized GOP. Aloud at Central Library presents Frum in conversation with Arianna Huffington, editor in chief of the Huffington Post. 7 p.m. Wed. Central Library. 213-228-7025; www.aloudla.org

Re "Enforcement before amnesty," Opinion, June 9 When you sift through all the verbiage, David Frum's formula for a successful immigration policy seems to boil down to this: Boot out the low-skilled immigrants performing the lower-paying jobs and import highly skilled immigrants to take the higher-paying positions, leaving Americans to mow lawns, flip burgers, clean homes and wash cars for minimum wage. I wonder if this is what the 70% of Americans who he suggests support his views had in mind.

A conservative author and former speechwriter for President Bush has raised money to finance a TV advertising campaign aimed at sinking Harriet E. Miers' nomination to the Supreme Court. David Frum of the conservative American Enterprise Institute said Friday that he expected the first ads to air next week.

Readers old enough to have enjoyed the John Birch Society's 1950s attacks on the Eisenhower administration -- the suggestions that President Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles were conscious dupes of the internationalist communist conspiracy -- will be delighted by the new book "An End to Evil: How to Win the War on Terror."

In "Democrats' Deja Vu (Commentary, March 24), David Frum scolds Democrats for past hatred of Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Newt Gingrich and George W. Bush. "Hate," "hated" or "hatred" appear six times. Democrats are hate, hate, hating all the live-long day, and those who are in the antiwar movement are "more ambitious and more sinister -- than the antiwar movement of the 1960s." People who want soldiers to come home and not be killed just hate Bush. People who want clean air and clean water just hate Bush.

George W. Bush is an unlikely political colossus. Bush drifted without apparent success well into middle age; he didn't win his first elected office until he was 48, when he defeated Ann Richards for the Texas governorship in 1994. His victory over Al Gore in the 2000 presidential election was as narrow as any in American history.

Readers old enough to have enjoyed the John Birch Society's 1950s attacks on the Eisenhower administration -- the suggestions that President Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles were conscious dupes of the internationalist communist conspiracy -- will be delighted by the new book "An End to Evil: How to Win the War on Terror."

"Devolution offers Republicans the chance to say, 'That's it! The national contribution to the relief of poverty is--pick a number--and not a dime more. It will be that same amount next year, or quite possibly less, but it will be a number set as the result of democratic choice, and not by some out-of-control budget mechanism.' What would that mean in practice? Picture a dog on a long chain that spots a cat across the road.

It's not exactly clear whether David Frum knew that his phrase "axis of evil" would send shudders of fear and anger throughout the world when President Bush uttered it in the State of the Union address in January. But, says Frum, who coined the unforgettable invective to describe North Korea, Iraq and Iran, "I had a pretty good idea it would be remembered." What came next, though, could've been a bit of a surprise.

The tumultuous 1960s usually get the credit, or the blame, for shaping contemporary American culture. It was the decade of Woodstock and marijuana, of student unrest, protests over Vietnam and civil rights and the days when President Johnson's Great Society battled poverty and the Supreme Court created Miranda rights.