The Spectator World • 20th September 2023

It’s time for President Biden to grant Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Secret Service protection

Presidential candidates don’t normally receive Secret Service protection until the summer before the election. But these are not normal times. They are dangerous ones — for candidates, elected officials and federal judges. When candidates face lethal threats, as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. did last week, it’s time to give them protection.

The decision is up to President Biden. If he orders the Secret Service to protect Kennedy, it’s done. If not, not. And “not” is Biden’s current decision. It’s a dan

The Telegraph • 18th September 2023

Of course Joe Biden backs the auto unions. His green policies made a strike inevitable

The UAW's major demands are meant to compensate for losses under the Biden administration.

The Telegraph • 8th September 2023

The President Is Desperate to Hide His Emails to Hunter

If the emails show Joe Biden was actively helping his son, they will be extremely damaging to his political future.

The Spectator World • 5th September 2023

An impeachment inquiry looms

An investigation falls short of a vote, but it still carries real risks for both Pres. Biden and the Republicans.

Real Clear Politics • 30th August 2023

What if Biden Backs Out of the Race?

President Biden has declared he’s running for a second term, but it’s far from certain he actually will. His infirmity and low poll numbers raise serious doubts. If he does back out, it will send a shockwave through American politics.

The Telegraph • 24th August 2023

Like mercenaries throughout history, Prigozhin became a threat to his client

“Never strike a king,” Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “unless you are sure you shall kill him.” Good advice, but it comes too late for Yevgeny Prigozhin, Russian leader of the Wagner mercenary army. Vladimir Putin, that old KGB man, already knew Emerson’s message, deep in his guts. He also knew the unstated part: if you try to kill the king and you fail, you will be the dead one.

The Spectator World • 21st August 2023

Why does Hunter Biden matter?

Democrats constantly downplay Hunter Biden’s troubles and any felonies he might have committed. The legacy media avoid them entirely. What do they say when they can’t bury the story?

Their most common defense is also their most important: Hunter Biden’s troubles matter only if they can be linked directly to his father and specifically to Joe’s official position. So far, they say, those links are weak and unproven.

What other defenses do they put forward?

First, they say that whatever money Hu

The Spectator World • 18th August 2023

Joe Biden isn’t reactive enough to be president

At tragic moments, like the deadly fires in Hawaii, our nation expects the president to speak to all of us and for all of us. President Roosevelt famously did that on December 8, 1941, referring to the bombing of Pearl Harbor previous day as a “date which will live in infamy."

Real Clear Politics • 14th August 2023

‘Rich Men North of Richmond’ Is Authentic Voice of Populism

Oliver Anthony’s beautiful, angry song about the people who run roughshod over ordinary Americans and seek to control their lives is the clearest expression of populism since Donald Trump used his own voice to reshape the Republican Party.

Although the title refers to “rich men” and makes a great rhyme, it is also a screed against control by unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats, who live in Washington and its wealthy Northern Virginia and Maryland suburbs. “They all just want to have total control.” It is a powerful hymn to the forgotten, put-upon working man.

The Spectator World • 11th August 2023

Hunter’s new special counsel also needs investigating

At long last, Attorney General Merrick Garland decided to appoint a special counsel to continue the investigation of Hunter Biden, his family and associates. His choice: US Attorney David Weiss of Delaware, who has been on the case for several years. He was originally appointed as US attorney by Donald Trump, a point Democrats always highlight without noting that he was promoted by both Democratic senators from the state.

Being named special counsel gives Weiss some authority beyond that of a r

The Spectator World • 10th August 2023

The bipartisan stench in Washington

It’s hard not to weep for the Republic as trust in our institutions collapses — and collapses for good reasons.

Washington cannot retain public confidence when the frontrunners in both parties represent the dregs of public life and are credibly charged with serious malfeasance; when those charges have surrounded both parties’ presidential nominees in every election since 2016 and do so again for 2024.

It can’t retain public trust when the Department of Justice and FBI have sunk in public estee

Real Clear Politics • 1st August 2023

DeSantis Has Only One Path Back From His Failed Launch

To win the primary battle, Ron DeSantis must differentiate himself from Donald Trump and the rest of the field. He still hasn’t done that. He can’t simply list a lot of familiar Republican goals. They all agree on those. His best option—his unique selling proposition—is “DeSantis Doesn't Talk Big. He Delivers Big"

The Spectator World • 27th July 2023

Hunter’s grift was really the whole family’s business

The Biden administration has repeatedly told the public that Hunter’s lucrative consulting business doesn’t matter unless it is directly connected to his father. That’s true. They add the connection cannot be proved because it didn’t exist. That’s false, although the mainstream media has repeated it faithfully. But even the most feckless are finding it increasingly difficult to sustain this awkward lip-syncing with the White House press office.

The Spectator World • 12th July 2023

Why NATO shouldn’t let Ukraine in just yet

Deciding whether Ukraine should eventually join NATO is hotly debated. There are good reasons to favor its inclusion, but not now, while the war is ongoing. It would transform the war into a conflict between nuclear-tipped Great Powers and vastly increase the danger.

Ukraine’s leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, is not happy with the uncertainty over his country’s membership. Actually, that’s an understatement. He is furious, according to reports. But that’s the decision taken by the allies meeting in

Real Clear Politics • 11th July 2023

Ukraine: Q & A as NATO Meets

The immediate issues at the NATO meeting are sending more weapons to Ukraine, forecasting how long the war might last (and how long Western support will continue), and discussing whether some kind of settlement can be negotiated. In the background will be efforts to deter any Russian attack on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Two issues dominate the longer-range future: rebuilding Ukraine and its membership in NATO.

Real Clear Politics • 4th July 2023

Yes, Virginia, America Really Is a Good Country

Every year at Christmastime, news sites reprint the touching letter from a little girl, Virginia O’Hanlon, asking about Santa Claus and the columnist’s reassuring, fatherly response. He doesn’t smack her with the hard fact that Santa is a fictional creation. He points toward a deeper truth about our shared celebrations and the web of fond memories that bind together generations of children, parents, aunts and uncles, and grandparents.

As we celebrate this Independence Day, we desperately need t

Real Clear Politics • 30th June 2023

Supreme Court Confronts the Deep Wound of Discrimination

As public debates erupt over the latest Supreme Court rulings, it is worth reflecting on how those decisions bear on our democracy’s core principles and the court's own responsibility. The rulings Thursday on affirmative action and Friday on coerced speech uphold those principles and adhere to the court's limited responsibility to interpret the laws and their execution, not to write them.

The Spectator World • 27th June 2023

Are the walls closing in on ol’ Joe?

Confronted with devastating evidence of Biden family grifting, the president’s advocates are abandoning their old defenses and trying some new ones.

Some are attempting to change the subject. Nancy Pelosi offers a sterling example. Asked about the latest evidence connecting Joe Biden with Hunter’s corrupt schemes, she replied that she was too busy defending women’s reproductive rights. Not exactly a full-throated defense of the president. Still others are repeating the familiar refrain, “But Tr

The Spectator World • 23rd June 2023

Was Joe Biden in on Hunter’s grift?

The Republicans investigating the Biden family grift had a big week, not that you would know it from reading the New York Times or Washington Post. Just how big a week it will turn out to be depends on whether congressional investigators can actually prove what the two IRS whistleblowers allege.

The allegations, presented at a press conference by Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee Thursday, are based on testimony from those whistleblowers. They make several key points:

Real Clear Politics • 14th June 2023

Trump's Indictment and the Collapse of Confidence in Our Institutions

Democracies cannot thrive – and may not survive – when citizens lose confidence in their basic institutions. That is exactly what is happening in America today. This loss of confidence and a bitter ideological divide are our country’s most profound challenges. Those challenges form the essential backdrop for understanding the controversy surrounding Donald Trump’s indictment.

Before turning to the charges facing Trump, consider their larger political setting, which begins with any democratic go