My friend in Omaha, Nebraska, assures me that a disturbing phenomenon once focused on the coasts has invaded the heartland. He speaks of young couples where the woman is nicely dressed and her male date or mate is in slob mode. The women are neat and stylish, often wearing some (or a lot of) makeup, […]

For 68 years the National Prayer Breakfast has been a political oasis, a chance for Republicans, Democrats, national and world leaders to assemble and pray for each other and the nation. Not this year. One could tell where things were headed when President Trump arrived later than most other presidents and held up two newspapers […]

The rich are different from you and me — they can buy themselves instant presidential campaigns. Former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg has elbowed himself into the Democratic nomination race solely on the basis of his fortune. His campaign is high-handed as only a billionaire many times over could even contemplate. He entered late, is […]

Let’s try a thought experiment. Suppose your friend invites you to play Monopoly. But suppose she insists on a set of special rules applicable only to her. Like when she lands on your property, she only has to pay half the required rent. And for every house she buys, she gets one free. And when […]

The president’s State of the Union speech Tuesday night resembled a campaign rally. Some Republicans shouted “four more years” as he approached the lectern. Democrats mostly looked glum, shook their heads, pursed their lips, laughed in response to some of his remarks and in the case of Speaker Nancy Pelosi appeared to be talking to […]

The Iowa caucuses have long been nearly useless as a measure of Americans’ preferences for the next president. This year it has been more useless than usual. The next star of the Democratic contest will be New Hampshire, whose people are also overwhelmingly white and whose Democrats are more liberal than average. At least there, […]

And so 2016 finally draws to a close. It’s been the longest election year in American history. It ran from Feb. 1, 2016, the date of the Iowa caucuses, to the Senate vote to acquit President Donald Trump in early February 2020. It’s true that Nov. 6, 2016, was a signal event in this long […]

Sometime in December 2019, Dr. Li Wenliang decided he must act. His clinic in the Hubei province capital, Wuhan, had too many patients with viral pneumonia symptoms. In a private online chat, he warned a few other doctors that analysis indicated a “SARS coronavirus.” The SARS epidemic erupted in 2002 and still embarrasses Beijing. On […]

Certainly, if it’s moral failures you’re after, you can take your pick. Just last weekend, after all, Republican senators finally admitted that Donald Trump is guilty of the offenses for which he was impeached. They conceded this as they prepared to acquit him. Sen. Lamar Alexander assured us the president learned his lesson and won’t […]

Just because the Senate has acquitted President Trump of charges Republicans believed never rose to the level of “high crimes and misdemeanors,” don’t think Democrats will raise the white flag of surrender. They (and their media allies) have only just begun. Next is a campaign to defeat enough of the 23 Republican senators up for […]