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Jennifer Harper

Jennifer Harper

jharper@washingtontimes.com

Jennifer Harper wrote the daily Inside the Beltway column for The Washington Times.

Articles by Jennifer Harper

Filmmaker kills idea for Hillary Clinton documentary

So much for one of the three "Hillary" film projects destined for American audiences. Charles Ferguson, the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind the project, has backed out following his encounters with Hillary Rodham Clinton's associates.

September 30, 2013
An exuberant Scott Brown rocks out in New Hampshire ballroom Cheap Trick in August, prompting some to wonder if the ex-U.S. senator will run for office in the Granite State. (Scott Brown)

Inside the Beltway: Festering anger at the federal government

Confusion over Obamacare, shutdown hysteria and continued partisan discord have yielded results: Public anger at the federal government is at the highest point on record. So says a Pew Research Center survey gauging the ire and frustration of Americans.

September 30, 2013
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback told members of the Conservative Political Action Conference in St. Louis on Saturday, "We just need to be America again." (American Conservative Union)

Inside the Beltway: Conservatives with grit

What? Something else was going on besides the House Republican war on Obamacare? Well, yes. Conservatives displayed newfound resolve and grit at the Conservative Political Action Conference in St. Louis on Saturday, an intense one-day gathering in Missouri that attracted scores of lawmakers, public officials and astute heavyweights. Among their messages to an enthusiastic audience:

September 29, 2013
CPAC arrives in St. Louis on Saturday for an intense one-day session featuring 59 speakers and some grass-roots zeal. (American Conservative Union)

Inside the Beltway: Republicans ready to rumble at CPAC

"The nation is looking for a change in leadership. Many Americans wake up every day wondering if we are descending rather than ascending as a nation. And most of our citizens want to rally behind hopeful alternatives to our current path," American Conservative Union Chairman Al Cardenas tells Inside the Beltway.

September 26, 2013
Gretchen Carlson (Fox News) **FILE**

Inside the Beltway: Conservatives value their values

The mainstream press continues to rant about the divisions in the Republican Party and the bodacious behavior among certain conservatives. But those very same conservatives will soon gather in a show of unity and resolve, boasting an all-star lineup. Lest critics forget, the Values Voter Summit is scheduled for mid-October in the nation's capital, and the tenacious heavyweights are ready to rumble, whether journalists pay attention or not.

September 25, 2013
The Conservative Political Action Conference says a screenshot that appeared to confuse South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott (pictured) with Dr. Ben Carson is a Photoshopped fake.

Inside the Beltway: Observations du jour

"The GOP establishment is so mad they have momentarily stopped attacking Sarah Palin," declares National Review contributing editor Jeffrey Lord, commenting on Republican reaction to Sen. Ted Cruz and his determination to derail the Affordable Care Act.

September 24, 2013
Example: White House press secretary Jay Carney is one of several ex-journalists who now work for the Obama administration. (Associated Press)

News media’s revolving door to Obama White House blurs lines of objectivity

News media and politics in the age of Obama have grown uncomfortably close. So many journalists have found employment in the Obama administration that the phenomenon has become a story itself, with a dozen news organizations tracking the cross-pollination between the two and speculating on the implications.

September 24, 2013
Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, is facing a moment of truth in his fight to defund Obamacare, according to many media outlets. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Inside the Beltway: Cruz crucible

The press has proclaimed that it's the moment of truth for Sen. Ted Cruz — the day of reckoning, the week that will make or break his career. Or words to that effect. Journalists have pulled out the handy dramatic narrative that places the Texas Republican in a high stakes trial by fire as he seeks to defund the Affordable Care Act, while keeping the federal government open for business.

September 23, 2013
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, unleashed a torrent of criticism against Republicans for their stance on Obamacare and the budget. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Inside the Beltway: GOP adults in the room

"Anti government ideologues," "wolf in wolf's clothing," "legislative arsonists," "totally irresponsible, completely juvenile," "destructive." And so goes House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's assorted descriptions of some Republicans or Republican activities, uttered by the California Democrat in a single interview with CNN on Sunday.

September 22, 2013
What press honeymoon? President George W. Bush was dealing with an unfriendly news media from his first 100 days in office. (George W. Bush Presidential Library)

Inside the Beltway: Obama’s lousy press

Presidential historians often say that unfriendly news coverage typically comes with the territory for a second-term president. Indeed, President Obama has been negotiating an unfamiliar, unfriendly media landscape in recent days, one that has sprouted negative reviews of his leadership, and not necessarily from his conservative critics.

September 19, 2013
The Media Research Center — the nation's conservative media watchdog — doles out annual "dishonors awards" to members of the liberal press Thursday. (T Media Research Center)

Inside the Beltway: In God they don’t trust

Will they lean left and favor progressive Democrats? A political phenomenon has emerged with the launch of the Freethought Equality Fund, the first political action committee that supports candidates who are humanists, atheists or agnostics — and advocates for the rights of "nonbelievers" and the separation of church and state.

September 18, 2013
Russian President Vladimir Putin's much ballyhooed New York Times op-ed condemning U.S. intervention in Syria and American "exceptionalism" was actually placed in the newspaper by a public relations giant that has been around for 90 years. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: The ‘nontheists’ get political

Arriving this week: the Freethought Equality Fund PAC, the creation of the Center for Humanist Activism. Organizers say the new political action committee will support candidates ready to advocate for the "equal rights of nonbelievers."

September 15, 2013
Elisabeth Hasselbeck debuts Monday on the Fox News Channel's "Fox & Friends" with co-hosts Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade and a visit with Korie, Willie and "Miss Kay" Robertson of "Duck Dynasty" in Louisiana next week. (Fox News Channel)

Inside the Beltway: Fox News amps it up

Though they have dominated national cable news ratings for the past 140 months, Fox News is upping its game. Consider chief news anchorman Shepard Smith, who appears to be morphing into the proverbial newsman-of-the-future. He has just been named managing editor of a newfangled breaking-news division, headquartered on a reinvented set that has even warranted its own title: the Fox News Deck.

September 12, 2013
"The ruling elite in the House, and their shell-game with our money, aren't fooling us," says Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots, perhaps displaying a snippet of the ongoing "internal dissent" in the GOP. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: Airing the GOP’s laundry

These were once internal family squabbles, dismissed as growing pains for a Republican Party in search of itself. Now they are public family squabbles under the careful scrutiny of major pollsters who ponder the ongoing "internal dissent" in the GOP, and its potential side effects.

September 11, 2013
House Speaker John A. Boehner "is using a procedural trick called 'deem and pass' to pass a continuing resolution defunding Obamacare in the House," says Matt Kibbe, president of FreedomWorks. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: 4,383 days after 9/11

"Twelve years ago this month, nearly 3,000 innocent men, women, and children lost their lives in attacks meant to terrorize our nation. … On Sept. 11, 2001, amid shattered glass, twisted steel, and clouds of dust, the spirit of America shone through. We remember the sacrifice of strangers and first responders who rushed into darkness to carry others from danger. We remember the unbreakable bonds of unity we felt in the long days that followed." — from President Obama's proclamation issued Tuesday, recognizing the anniversary of 9/11.

September 10, 2013
Fox Business Network's Washington correspondent Rich Edson predicts that an extended Capitol Hill argument over Syria could complicate the next round of serious budget discussions between Republicans and Democrats. (Fox Business Network)

Inside the Beltway: Will Obama go Oval on Syria?

The enormous lead up to President Obama's prime-time speech to the nation Tuesday night has reached a crescendo, leaving the historically minded to wonder whether Mr. Obama will use the ultimate White House backdrop to make his case for a military strike against Syria. That would be the Oval Office, of course, the bulliest of the bully pulpits and a place of much gravitas.

September 9, 2013
Conservative analyst S.E. Cupp joins Newt Gingrich, Van Jones and Stephanie Cutter as the quartet of hosts for CNN's reinvented "Crossfire," which debuts Monday night.

Inside the Beltway: The Obama media blitz

It is industrial strength media and a methodical broadcast blitz. President Obama will grant separate sit-down interviews on the Syria matter to NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox News, CNN and PBS on Monday afternoon at the White House, all to air on the respective networks Monday night. Ideally, the interviews will function like trailers of an upcoming blockbuster — namely, Mr. Obama's live, prime-time speech to the American public on Syria about 24 hours later.

September 8, 2013