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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

Remains of the Pentagon after a terrorist attack on Tues. September 11, 2001. (Gerald Herbert/ The Washington Times)

As a target for terrorists, U.S. ranks No. 41 in world

The United States is not the biggest terrorist target on the planet, ranking 41st on a new index tracking global terrorism trends released Wednesday that ranks 158 nations according to the severity of terrorist activity within their borders, plus the death, destruction and economic damage that accompanies it.

December 4, 2012
Former Congressman, Cabinet member and football player Jack Kemp died in 2009 at age 73. The Jack Kemp Foundation dinner will be held Tuesday near the White House. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: Looming, plunging, dreaded

No wonder the American public gets jittery. The phrase "fall off the fiscal cliff" has appeared in news coverage more than 184,000 times since early November, according to a casual Goggle News search. The press likes nothing more than a cliffhanger story that alarms the American public but allows journalists to weigh in with much drama and authority, even when there's little to report.

December 3, 2012
Drones used for news-gathering? It’s not so far-fetched. The University of Missouri has awarded a $25,000 grant to public radio station KBIA to explore drone journalism in places “reporters can’t go or reach.” Here comes the fly-by media. (Courtesy of Microdrones)

Inside the Beltway: Drones for journalists

Here comes the fly-by media. Preliminary use of diminutive drones is under way among those who see the potential of drones in news gathering, not to mention invasive "gotcha"-style journalism.

December 2, 2012
Gennifer Flowers says her old paramour Bill Clinton sought to rekindle the flame in 2005. She added that she turned him down cold with a “No way.” (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: Bill and the hoodie

Two decades have passed since nightclub entertainer and blond bombshell Gennifer Flowers stepped before cameras and announced she had a 12-year affair with then-Gov. Bill Clinton, joining a roster of attractive women who reported similar dalliances, wanted and unwanted. Miss Flowers has stepped forward once again to reveal that in 2005, Mr. Clinton offered to come visit her once again.

November 28, 2012
Korean “Gangnam Style” rapper Psy is among 40 candidates for Time magazine’s Person of the Year. Associated Press

Inside the Beltway: Fluke, PSY and the Rover

Brace for impact: Time magazine's annual search for the Person of the Year is under way, seeking the person, idea or entity that most influenced the news in 2012.

November 27, 2012
Andrew W.K. attends the 35th anniversary screening of "Taxi Driver" in New York, Thursday, March 10, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes)

Party’s over for would-be U.S. rock diplomat

Forget talk of ambassadors and national security. The State Department had a glittering flirtation with the Office of Party Hearty. It was brief. It was sensational. It failed.

November 27, 2012
** FILE ** In this Feb. 11, 2012 photo, anti-tax activist Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: Vilifying Norquist

Looks like it's Grover Norquist's turn to ride the insult wagon. The founder of Americans for Tax Reform is under scrutiny after seven lawmakers revealed they are not so keen about his long-standing "Taxpayer Protection Pledge," currently signed by 279 members of Congress, including three Democrats.

November 26, 2012
Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III is more of a team player than President Obama, some observers say. (Preston Keres / The Washington Times)

Inside the Beltway: The RG3 playbook

It was inevitable that a heroic quarterback in the nation's capital gets politicized: some now say President Obama could take a few political pointers from Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III.

November 25, 2012
** FILE ** Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney shakes hands with a supporter while collecting donations at a storm relief event, Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012, at James S. Trent Arena in Kettering, Ohio. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)

Inside the Beltway: Normal guy Romney

It is the ultimate political irony: Mitt Romney has been out and about in public after his defeat in the presidential election, doing all the normal stuff that appeals to voters. Mr. Romney filled his own car with gas, wore jeans and a plaid shirt, and went with his wife, Ann, to see "Breaking Dawn Part 2," the big finale of the "Twilight" vampire movie series. He went to Disneyland, drank chocolate milk, had pizza and chatted casually with nearby customers. He grinned. His hair was tousled.

November 22, 2012
A presidential Thanksgiving past: President George W. Bush prepares to serve dinner to U.S. troops in Baghdad after paying a surprise Thanksgiving Day visit to Iraq in 2003. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Inside the Beltway: The pies have it

"Oysters on half shell, cream of chicken soup, fried smelts, sauce tartare, roast turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, baked squash, boiled onion, parsnip fritters, olives, chicken salad, venison pastry, pumpkin pie, mince pie, Charlotte russe, almond ice cream, lemon jelly, hickory nut cake, cheese, fruits, coffee." And so dictates the 1899 presidential Thanksgiving Day menu.

November 21, 2012
**FILE** Sen. Marco Rubio, Florida Republican, speaks Nov. 17, 2012, during Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad's annual birthday fundraiser in Altoona, Iowa. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: Shalom, America

"In the Middle East, are your sympathies more with the Israelis or more with the Palestinians?" asks a CNN survey released Monday. The simple question has multiple answers. Overall, 59 percent of Americans side with the Israelis, 13 precent with the Palestinians. Three percent sympathize with both, 11 percent with neither, and 13 percent have no opinion.

November 19, 2012
The military’s high-calorie version of fast food with lots of salt and sugar arrived in storm-damaged areas of New York City to feed the hungry. Not exactly the diet that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg advocates. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: Beware the bargain bin

While politicians dream of a blockbuster holiday shopping season that could blunt public fear of the "fiscal cliff," some creative rivalry is brewing among competitive retailers. "Violent shopping tactics" could await eager consumers in major cities, such as Los Angeles, New York and Chicago, warns Buy.com, a major online retail site.

November 18, 2012
Image: Associated Press

Inside the Beltway: Staying conservative

Though the mainstream media and certain elected officials are advising the Republican Party to gut itself and re-emerge as a spiffy, contemporary, compliant, agreeable and infinitely more charming new political entity, the majority of Republican voters essentially reject that idea. They're at home with the Grand Old Party as it is.

November 15, 2012
Fox News “Redeye” host Greg Gutfeld has written a book for everyone fed up with phony outrage, scolds and finger-pointing. (Crown Forum Books)

Inside the Beltway: Herding Republicans

The liberal media are "shamelessly" using President Obama's re-election to steer the Republican Party away from the conservative mindset, says a pithy new Media Research Center study on recent national news coverage. Indeed, conservatives have been painted as a moldering, deranged bunch in the last week.

November 14, 2012
Simon & Schuster “Heroes Proved,” the second military thriller novel from Oliver North, paints an America in 2032 that is supposedly “safe” from terror and Iranian weaponry because of United Nations treaties and innovative technology.

Inside the Beltway: General quarters

"Too many generals are taking orders from their privates," summarizes Rush Limbaugh regarding the ever-mutating news about former CIA Director David H. Petraeus. Alas, there is collateral damage from all the bombshells, however.

November 13, 2012
The National Geographic Channel will air “Superstorm New York: What Really Happened” on Thursday, even before power is completely restored to New York and New Jersey. The erstwhile hurricane took at least 113 lives in the U.S. alone. (NASA)

Inside the Beltway: Fifty shades of bimbo

The mutating "Petraeus affair" has conveniently filled the media vacuum left after the presidential election ended, providing press, pundits and assorted officials a veritable gold mine of material.

November 12, 2012