A Little Common Sense, A Little Patience
For years, conservatives tossed around the Richard Weaver phrase that “ideas have consequences.” Someone needs to write a book, Elections Have Consequences. Cue, now, the […]
American Conservatism
‘Hamilton’ Shames Running Mate of Man Who Believes the Same Things as Alexander Hamilton
In what is sure to be one of the most predictable and least encouraging stories about the state of politics in America today, Vice President-elect […]
Trump’s Triumph Should Signal an End to ‘Checklist Conservatism’
Conservatives who supported Donald Trump for president are going to be disappointed eventually. Perhaps even pretty soon. And that’s a good thing. While liberals obsess […]
Dear Repentant NeverTrumpers: No One Else Could Have Won
Conservatives are taking their lumps with more grace than I thought they would. Perhaps the pleasure of seeing Hillary and the entire Clintonone Family go […]
Why Trump Was the Fairness Candidate
This time, America not merely surprised but shocked the pundits. The polls were wrong, the projections were off, the media was biased, and Donald Trump’s […]
A Time for Choosing
Last month I threw away nearly all my old National Review magazines. Watching the decline of a publication once home to a conservative intellectual elite […]
A Vote For Hillary Is a Vote for Permanent Decline
When the Second World War ended and the hard work of reconstruction began, Sir Winston Churchill—a Conservative—found himself thrown out of office and replaced by […]
A Second Look at Trump’s Magnificence and Possible Magnanimity
There has been a great deal of commentary on character in this election. In my opinion much of that commentary confuses the teaching of Emily […]
The Bankruptcy of Conservative Intellectuals
Writing—no matter how many times you say the same thing, no matter how often—inevitably entails being misunderstood. In general, the causes are, first, obscurity from […]
Clarence Thomas’s Constitutional Mentor
In a recent interview with Bill Kristol and in a speech at the Heritage Foundation, Justice Clarence Thomas twice mentioned his first mentors on the […]
The Art of Conservatism’s Deal
Donald Trump is either a day away from being the next president, or from being the most consequential nominee for the Republican Party brand since Barry […]
The Magnificent Mr. Trump
On the eve of the election I want to express my gratitude to Donald Trump. The election of 2012 cast me into deepest gloom about […]
Great Reads for Thursday, November 3, 2016
Five days until the election. Only at American Greatness: Scott Morefield argues that Donald Trump has made it possible for Americans to discuss some big […]
A Fool’s Errand: The Case for Trump and the Vindication of the Republic
I’ve never felt so flattered to be called a fool. Nathan Pinkoski—a doctoral student at Oxford whom I don’t know and had never heard of […]
Great Reads for Monday, October 31, 2016
Eight days until the election. Carve out 30 minutes or so, pour yourself a nice, hot cup of coffee (or a tumbler of whiskey, depending on […]
The Political Science of Publius Decius Mus
In “The Flight 93 Election” and subsequent writings, Publius Decius Mus presents the argument of voting for Donald Trump. Decius is a fool. In calling him […]
The Tory Chimney
Earlier this week, Bill Kristol retweeted CNN’s Kristen Holmes (@Kristenhcnn) tweet of a clip of angry baseball fans hollering “CNN sucks!” with this charming caption: […]
Delusional Originalists Against Trump
More than 50 originalist legal scholars and practitioners recently earned praise from the Left in signing a statement supporting Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump. These […]
This Election Year is No Time for Gentlemen
“This is a revolution, dammit! We’re going to have to offend somebody!” — John Adams, 1776 After this election, conservatism is washed up . . . and it’s about time. […]
Seven Degrees of Jonah Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg has—if my memory is correct—responded at length to my writings six times, in his National Review columns and in the Corner. And only […]