he instant Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing was announced, the battle lines were drawn. Or, more accurately, one side girded for battle, while Republicans clucked with confusion about what to do next. Which should be no surprise. If Republicans are good at anything, it’s finding “principled” reasons to betray their constituents and contradict their much […]
had never met Donald Trump when I began serving in his White House. I took the job expecting that I would never meet him. My (former) role—head of communications at the National Security Council—is not one whose occupant traditionally interacts with the president all that much (my immediate predecessor notwithstanding). The NSC comms director’s “principal,” […]
fter “Is 2020 another ‘Flight 93 election?’” the question I most often hear is “What happens if Trump loses?” The answer to the first question, unfortunately, is yes, but more so. The tl;dr summary of the answer to the second is: much more of the same. More of all the trends, policies, and practices that […]
A recent essay of mine on the impeachment farce for the Claremont Review of Books was, by the time it was finished and published, somewhat “OBE” (“overtaken by events,” as we current and former Washington bureaucrats say). But only somewhat. In a way, the wages of print delay have been helpful in illustrating a larger […]
Around a year ago, the editors of this august journal asked me to contribute a piece on the “alt-right.” I hesitated, for a number of reasons, at least two of which are relevant here. First, I did not then—and still do not—quite know what the “alt-right” is. That is to say, I know what the […]
[fusion_text columns=”” column_min_width=”” column_ rule_style=”default” rule_size=”” rule_color=”” ] [fusion_text columns=”” column_min_width=”” column_ rule_style=”default” rule_size=”” rule_color=”” ] What happened? On the one hand, we know what happened: nothing. Neither Donald Trump nor anyone in his 2016 campaign, family, or businesses “colluded” with Russia or with any other foreign power to steal the 2016 election. But, really, […]
[fusion_text columns=”” column_min_width=”” column_ rule_style=”default” rule_size=”” rule_color=”” ] [fusion_text columns=”” column_min_width=”” column_ rule_style=”default” rule_size=”” rule_color=”” ] Over the last three evenings, Americans watched Tucker Carlson refuse to be cowed by the sophisticated, well-funded, coordinated information operation designed to chase him off the air and make him unemployable for life. One of the points he’s raised, […]
[fusion_text columns=”” column_min_width=”” column_ rule_style=”default” rule_size=”” rule_color=”” ] Let’s be completely clear here. Nobody—least of all the leftwing mobs attacking Tucker Carlson right now—cares what he said on the radio a decade ago. Except to the extent that his words can be wrapped around his neck like a noose. All the feigned outrage is exactly […]
In September 2016, the Claremont Review of Books published Michael Anton’s essay, “The Flight 93 Election,” which became one of the most controversial and discussed essays of that most extraordinary election year. This month, Encounter Books published After the Flight 93 Election: The Vote that Saved America and What We Still Have to Lose. The […]
The silver lining of the Kavanaugh show trial, if one may be allowed to speak of such a thing, is that a great many formerly less-than-reliable conservatives finally understand. They have come to realize what the Left has in store for them, for us, and for the nation. Many, but not all. If one pays […]
And the “debate” rages on. Mostly in nitpicky and unproductive directions. But a new attack by Robert Tracinski raises the grave and misunderstood question of the social compact, and so provides an opportunity to reorient ourselves around a true understanding of first principles. But first, to Tracinski’s lesser points. He accuses me of “doctor[ing’]” a quote on the […]
President Trump is, as ever, fortunate in his enemies. Whatever one thinks of what he said in Helsinki, the overreaction is helping him plow through yet another media meltdown. Cries of “treason,” charges that the president is a Russian “asset,” and insistence that remarks at a press conference constitute impeachable offenses fire up the Democratic […]
Sometimes fate tosses you a softball. Recently, I drafted an op-ed asking whether the United States actually needs more people. Is 320 million—give or take, given the birthrates of those already here—enough? If not, why not? If we need more people, why? What do we need them to do? The editorial process being what it […]
As Capitol Hill Republicans attempt for—what, the eighth? ninth?—time in the past two decades to jam through an amnesty that their voters have explicitly, loudly and repeatedly said they do not want, it’s worth asking a question that is rarely raised: Does the United States—population 320 million and rising—need more people? If so, why? To […]