Great Profile of DeMuth from AEI

Lest I forget, here's a great profile of Christopher DeMuth of AEI from John J. Miller of National Review. It is extremely well written and delves into the history of AEI. My favorite part is where he unflichingly defended the disgusting attacks on Charles Murray's The Bell Curve. 

Aditya, Laura Sucheski, and I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Miller at the Collegiate Network Conference in Phoenix, AZ this past year. He was sharp, entertaining, and generous with his time. 

Christopher DeMuth of AEI to Come to CMC!

The Ath speaker I'm most looking forward to seeing is Christopher DeMuth, former president of AEI. He'll be here for lunch on February 5. I hope to get head table. DeMuth was recently quoted in The Washington Post on President Bush's legacy. Here is what he is said to have said in December at a talk that included the President in the audience. I pretty much agree with DeMuth's conclusions. 

Institute President Christopher DeMuth did his best to polish the presidential resume during his introduction.

"It'll be many years before it is possible to take a full account of the Bush presidency," he cautioned. "His contemporaries - he, himself - will not have the last word on the matter." 

DeMuth praised Bush's "major reforms" of taxes, his "firm" free-trade position, his "superlative" judicial appointments and even his "most important disappointment," Social Security.

Chavez's last chance? Ending term limits, one last try

A Pomona College history professor was quoted in the press regarding Chavez's newest referendum to eliminate term limits (he hopes to stay in power forever). Here are the relevant sections:

Whatever the outcome, the referendum will have a profound effect on Venezuela and Latin America, said Miguel Tinker Salas, a historian at Pomona College, noting that Chavez’s election in 1998 ushered in a new leftward tilt in the region.

"It will determine whether Chavez stays on the scene and whether the kinds of projects he defined, the regional Banco del Sur and Petrocaribe, and others, remain as well," Tinker Salas said. "The defeat of Chavez would have tremendous repercussions."

The voters rejected this foolish initiative already, and they're likely to reject it again. With a recession -- and when oil prices are likely only to plummet some more -- this might be Chavez's last chance to cling to power indefinitely. We hope the good people of Venezuela swiftly reject any such possibility and reject the anti-American rhetoric coming from Chavez.