2012_09_10 postal_cover61404-postal.qxd 8/21/2012 10:56 PM Page 1 September 10, 2012 $4.99 CONVENTIONSPECIAL ISSUE GOP 689 REASONS TO DEFEAT OBAMA TheThe CaseCase forfor RomneyRomney MICHAEL KNOX BERAN w JAMES C. CAPRETTA w NOEMIE EMERY w VICTOR DAVIS HANSON STEVEN F. HAYWARD w KEITH HENNESSEY w FREDERICK M. HESS w ROB LONG ANDREW C. MCCARTHY w JOHN O’SULLIVAN w RAMESH PONNURU w MICHAEL RUBIN REIHAN SALAM w GEORGE WEIGEL w KEVIN D. WILLIAMSON w THE EDITORS www.nationalreview.com base_milliken-mar 22.qxd 8/20/2012 1:41 PM Page 1 WESTINGHOUSE AP 1000 RECEIVES Final Design Certication. A N Y L L C WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC COMP First andnd stills rst. Sixty y ears a go, WWesestinghouse Electric Company established its r epuutation ffoor n uclear en ergy t echnologlog y leader ship w ith th e de velopment of t he w orld’s r st pressurized wa teerr r eactor. TToodaayyy,, that o ngoing tradiradi tion of in vestment a nd inn ovation is a gain r eaffrrmed. e US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has grantted Final Design Certicication to the WWesestinghouse AP1000 design, t he s affesest a nd m ost ad vanced n uclear energyer plant aavavailablele in tthe gglolobal markketetplace. rough t he u se of ad vanced-p assive s affetety sys tems, the AP1000 reactoor is deemed to be 200 times safferere thant regulations requiree. Modular design and standardizadization result in s table a nd p redic table co nstruction, ffueuel a nd operating and mainintenance costs. Plus, deploymentt ofo the AP1000 reactor will createe ttens of t housands of g oood j obs, in cluding 700 w ell-p ayying permanent j obs to o pera te e ach p lant. e WWesestinghhouse AP1000 plant is r eeady to p rovide ffuuture g enera tions w ith saffee, clean and reliliable electricityy.. Check us out at wwwwww.w.westinghousenuclear.com toc_QXP-1127940144.qxp 8/22/2012 2:03 PM Page 1 Contents SEPTEMBER 10, 2012 | VOLUME LXIV, NO. 17 | www.nationalreview.com REPUBLICAN CONVENTION SPECIAL 18 ROMNEY’S REVELATION by Michael Knox Beran He knows the president is burying the American Dream. 22 FAREWELL TO ALL THAT by Noemie Emery There will never be another FDR. 23 PROGRESSIVISM’S WORST NIGHTMARE by Steven F. Hayward Paul Ryan can make the case against it as no one else can. 24 ENERGIZING THE ECONOMY by Kevin D. Williamson Leash the regulators and unleash the oilmen. 28 OBAMA VS. THE CONSTITUTION by Ramesh Ponnuru The rule of law is on the ballot. 34 THE ENTITLEMENT CROSSROADS by Reihan Salam Do we want a system based on centralization or competition? 35 A STARK TAX CONTRAST by Keith Hennessey COVER: ROBERTO PARADA Romney believes in incentives; Obama doesn’t. 38 ALL IN FOR THE FIRST AMENDMENT by George Weigel BOOKS, ARTS The stakes for our fundamental freedom. & MANNERS DECONSTRUCTING THE LAND OF OPPORTUNITY 40 by John O’Sullivan 64 RUBIO RISING The errors of Obama’s immigration policy. Sean Trende reviews An American Son: A Memoir, by Marco Rubio, 42 THE FOREIGN POLICY THAT WASN’T by Victor Davis Hanson and The Rise of Marco Rubio, It would be nice to have one for a change. by Manuel Roig-Franzia. 44 OBAMA AND THE ISLAMISTS by Andrew C. McCarthy 66 FILM: REGIME CHANGE The president’s disastrous policy of appeasement. Ross Douthat reviews The Queen of Versailles. 46 IRAN ENDGAME by Michael Rubin Romney could bring strategy where it has dangerously lacked. 67 CITY DESK: IMPORT-EXPORT Richard Brookhiser evaluates the 47 WHAT TO SAY ABOUT HEALTH CARE by James C. Capretta transatlantic exchange. Romney and Ryan can offer a compelling alternative to the president’s massive entitlement. SECTIONS 49 A PRIMER FOR EDUCATION POLICY by Frederick M. Hess What the GOP ticket has right; what more it could do. 2 Letters to the Editor 4 The Week 50 DATA, INSTINCT by Rob Long 62 The Long View . Rob Long Mitt Romney appreciates the value of both. 63 Athwart . James Lileks 65 Poetry . Lee Oser 52 689 REASONS TO DEFEAT BARACK OBAMA 68 Happy Warrior . Mark Steyn NATIONAL RevIeW (ISSN: 0028-0038) is published bi-weekly, except for the first issue in January, by NATIONAL RevIeW, Inc., at 215 Lexington Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016. Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y., and additional mailing offices. © National Review, Inc., 2012. Address all editorial mail, manuscripts, letters to the editor, etc., to editorial Dept., NATIONAL RevIeW, 215 Lexington Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016. Address all subscription mail orders, changes of address, undeliverable copies, etc., to NATIONAL RevIeW, Circulation Dept., P. O. Box 433015, Palm Coast, Fla. 32143-3015; phone, 386-246-0118, Monday–Friday, 8:00 A.M. to 10:30 P.M. eastern time. Adjustment requests should be accompanied by a current mailing label or facsimile. Direct classified advertising inquiries to: Classifieds Dept., NATIONAL RevIeW, 215 Lexington Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016 or call 212-679- 7330. POSTMASTeR: Send address changes to NATIONAL RevIeW, Circulation Dept., P. O. Box 433015, Palm Coast, Fla. 32143-3015. Printed in the U.S.A. RATeS: $59.00 a year (24 issues). Add $21.50 for Canada and other foreign subscriptions, per year. (All payments in U.S. currency.) The editors cannot be responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or artwork unless return postage or, better, a stamped self-addressed envelope is enclosed. Opinions expressed in signed articles do not necessarily represent the views of the editors. letters--ready_QXP-1127940387.qxp 8/22/2012 2:04 PM Page 2 Letters SEPTEMBER 10 ISSUE; PRINTED AUGUST 23 The Iraqi Rotary EDITOR Yuval Levin hit the nail on the head with “The Hollow Republic” (August 13). Richard Lowry I was reminded of a speech I heard in 2004 by an administrator in Paul Bremer’s Senior Editors Coalition Provisional Authority after the Iraq invasion. He said that one of the Richard Brookhiser / Jay Nordlinger Ramesh Ponnuru / David Pryce-Jones biggest problems to overcome was the absence of a tradition among the Iraqi Managing Editor Jason Lee Steorts people of doing things for themselves, at the local level. Literary Editor Michael Potemra Executive Editor Christopher McEvoy The Iraqis had no Rotary clubs, no PTAs, no Little League baseball in which Roving Correspondent Kevin D. Williamson people selected leaders for themselves and solved problems peaceably through National Correspondent John J. Miller Political Reporter Robert Costa voting or consensus. All they knew was the family patriarch and the supreme Art Director Luba Kolomytseva leader, who for a generation had been Saddam Hussein. His dictatorship decid- Deputy Managing Editors Nicholas Frankovich / Fred Schwarz ed and directed everything. Under President Obama and the Democrats, this Robert VerBruggen Editorial Associate Katherine Connell would be our fate: an all-powerful federal government controlling everything Research Associate Scott Reitmeier about the lives of its residents. (“Citizens” is too meaningful a term to apply to Assistant to the Editor Madison V. Peace the subjects of such a government.) Contributing Editors Robert H. Bork / Shannen Coffin This tendency of socialists was perfectly summarized in an essay called “The Ross Douthat / Roman Genn Law” by the Frenchman Frédéric Bastiat, written over 150 years ago. Socialists Jim Geraghty / Jonah Goldberg Florence King / Lawrence Kudlow / Mark R. Levin claim, he wrote, “that we reject fraternity, solidarity, organization, and associa- Yuval Levin / Rob Long / Jim Manzi tion; and they brand us wi th the name of individualists. We can assure them that Andrew C. McCarthy / Kate O’Beirne David B. Rivkin Jr. / Reihan Salam what we repudiate is not natural organization, but forced organization. It is not NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE free association, but the forms of association that they would impose upon us. It Editor-at-Large Kathryn Jean Lopez Managing Editor Edward John Craig is not spontaneous fraternity, but legal fraternity. It is not providential solidar - National Affairs Columnist John Fund ity, but artificial solidarity, which is only an unjust displacement of responsibil- News Editor Daniel Foster Editorial Associates ity. Socialism . confounds Government and society.” Charles C. W. Cooke / Katrina Trinko Unjust displacement of responsibility—it’s hard to say it better. Technical Services Russell Jenkins Web Developer Wendy Weihs Web Production Assistant Anthony Boiano Derek Lane EDITORS- AT- L A RG E Via e-mail Linda Bridges / John O’Sullivan Contributors Hadley Arkes / Baloo / James Bowman Eliot A. Cohen / Brian Crozier Romney, Evolved Dinesh D’Souza / M. Stanton Evans Chester E. Finn Jr. / Neal B. Freeman In “Like a Boss” (August 27), Kevin D. Williamson uses evolutionary biology James Gardner / David Gelernter George Gilder / Jeffrey Hart to assert Romney’s superiority as a presidential candidate—especially where Kevin A. Hassett / Charles R. Kesler women are concerned. Noting that the man has great wealth and five sons, David Klinghoffer / Anthony Lejeune D. Keith Mano / Michael Novak Williamson concludes that “from an evolutionary point of view, Mitt Romney Alan Reynolds / Tracy Lee Simmons should get 100 percent of the female vote.” Terry Teachout / Vin Weber Chief Financial Officer James X. Kilbridge Actually, from an evolutionary point of view, at his age, Mitt Romney should Accounting Manager Galina Veygman be dead. From an evolutionary standpoint, America would be run by the biggest, Accounta nt Zofia Baraniak Business Services strongest male. We could settle the presidential race in the UFC Octagon. Alex Batey / Kate Murdock I know, I know: Williamson isn’t being literal. He does say that “given that Elena Reut / Lucy Zepeda Circulation Manager Jason Ng we are no longer roaming the veldt for the most part, money is a reasonable WORLD WIDE WEB www.nationalreview.com stand-in for social status.” But that’s the problem with using evolutionary biol- MAIN NUMBER 212-679-7330 SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES 386-246-0118 ogy to score points in debate: There’s always a “reasonable” exception to its WASHINGTON OFFICE 202-543-9226 ADVERTISING SALES 212-679-7330 harsher laws for the people you want to win.