RealClearPolitics Articles

GARDNERVILLE, Nev. (AP) — In a western battleground state that could decide which party controls the U.S. Senate, Republican Adam Laxalt has early on targeted those who feel angered and afraid, telling them the stakes of next year’s race against Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto are no less than existential. From rural towns to Las Vegas, people he’s met campaigning ask: “What in the world has happened to this country? And so fast,” he said Sunday in Gardnerville, near where cattle lined the highway. “We have a role to play in saving the whole country with this...

Back in 2016, when formerly distinguished conservatives were suddenly lining up to issue glassy-eyed endorsements of a half-mad reality TV figure, Jonah Goldberg wrote a brilliant column comparing the experience to "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." He captured the sense so many of us had that nearly an entire party and, eventually, nearly an entire intellectual movement had been lobotomized. "People would go to sleep violently opposed to Trump and everything he represented," he recapped for Vanity Fair, "but by morning they'd start telling me how under comrade Trump, we were going to have the...

White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain recently endorsed the idea that inflation and supply-chain struggles Americans are struggling with are "high class problems." I'm in no position to comment on whether the inflation spike we're experiencing is "transitory" or not (though, metaphysically speaking, isn't everything!). Maybe it will be a short-term problem sparked by supply shocks and pent-up post-COVID demand, or maybe inflation will linger for years and become a self-fulfilling prophecy due to expectations. Whatever the case, a president who feels comfortable with taking credit for...

"When sorrows come," said King Claudius, "they come not single spies but in battalions." As the king found out. So it seems with President Joe Biden, who must be asking himself the question Merle Haggard asked: "Are the good times really over for good?" Consider the critical issue with voters today: the state of the economy. Inflation in September stood at 5.4% year on year. With prices of food and fuel rising, the supply chains for goods entering the country and headed for stores, shelves and showrooms before Thanksgiving and Christmas are clogged. Container ships are backed up in ports,...

The U.S. Supreme Court in the 1968 case of Terry v. Ohio granted police officers the limited right to stop and ask questions of someone engaged in unusual behavior and reasonably believed to be armed and presently dangerous. If the answers given do not dispel an officer's reasonable concern for safety, he may inspect the outer garments of the individual for weapons. Commonly called Terry stops or "stop-and-frisk," these became routine in New York City in the '90s. Now Democrats intend to deploy them to your bank account. We are all suspects now. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg...

As his two terms as New York's mayor approach their end, and long after his presidential campaign ended with a whimper, Bill de Blasio has chimed in with one last act of destruction: a proposal to end the public schools' entry-by-exam gifted and talented program for first graders. De Blasio's gripe is that selection by tests results in a student body that is, as New York Times reporter Eliza Shapiro slyly put it, "widely criticized for exacerbating segregation." Of course what de Blasio, Shapiro and the anonymous critics she repeatedly references are complaining about is not actually...

Last week, Republican state Sen. Mike Regan changed his mind on marijuana legalization and joined Democratic state Rep. Amen Brown to announce a new bill to commercialize pot in Pennsylvania. Regan would do well to listen to his former colleagues in law enforcement who see through the marijuana industry’s false promises.    Legalization is no longer about the 5% THC ditch weed of Woodstock. Instead, today’s marijuana “buds” regularly contain up to 30% THC – the main, psychoactive compound in marijuana that makes a user feel “high” –...

In A.D. 286 the Roman emperor Diocletian split in half the huge Roman Empire administratively -- and peacefully -- under the control of two emperors. A Western empire included much of modern-day Western Europe and northwest Africa. The Eastern half controlled Eastern Europe and parts of Asia and northeastern Africa. By 330 the Emperor Constantine institutionalized that split by moving the empire's capital from Rome to his new imperial city of Constantinople, founded on the site of the old Greek polis of Byzantium. The two administrative halves of the once huge empire continued to drift apart....

DC Comics recently revealed that in an upcoming issue titled “Superman: Son of Kal-El,” the son of Lois Lane and Clark Kent would be bisexual, and that he’s going to fight “real-world problems” such as climate change, that he’ll protest the deportation of refugees, and date a “hacktivist.” What exactly is a “hacktivist”? Isn’t hacking illegal? Is Superman supporting  criminal activity? It’s a chore to keep up with all the different iterations of the current superheroes, but DC Comics is calling  it a...

Stop the presses: Facebook seeks to maximize profits.  Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee, appeared on "60 Minutes," where she slammed Facebook, a publicly owned corporation, for "optimizing for content that gets engagement." In other words, FB tries to keep users on its platform as long as possible to make money, something that a publicly held company has a fiduciary obligation to shareholders to do. "Whistleblower" Haugen worked at Facebook headquarters in what the company called Civic Integrity, which, according to "60 Minutes," deals with "risks to elections, including...

When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for a private employer to get rid of a worker deemed bad for business, he or she can. Such appears to be the fate of Jon Gruden, who resigned as the Las Vegas Raiders football coach after a trove of racist, sexist and homophobic utterings came to light.  An American has an unalienable right to be a jerk, within the bounds of the law. But a company has the right to separate itself from a public figure it feels sullies its reputation. Whether you or I agree with -- or are offended by -- the sentiments expressed is not very relevant...

Hello, it’s Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021. On this date in 1781, a joint operation of French and American soldiers captured two small forts in the Virginia Tidewater area that determined the course of the Revolutionary War -- and world history. I’ll have more on the Battle of Yorktown, and the remarkable French officer who fought under George Washington's command, in a moment. First, I’d direct you to our front page, which aggregates, as it does each day, an array of columns and stories spanning the political spectrum. We also offer a complement of original material from...

After months of deliberation behind closed doors, the Heritage Foundation board has decided on a new president. The selection for the prestigious post is Kevin Roberts, RealClearPolitics is the first to report. Formerly the head of another think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Roberts (pictured at right, with Texas Gov. Greg  Abbott) has been described as a “cowboy Catholic.” An academic with a doctorate in American history, he is not, however, a seasoned political operator by inside-the-Beltway standards. And that, sources say, is by design. Barb Van Andel-Gaby,...

NEW YORK (AP) — The Republican fundraising committee dedicated to flipping the House in next year’s midterm elections said Thursday it raised more than $105 million this year through September. The record haul for the nine-month period marks a 74% increase over last cycle and includes $25.8 million raised in the third quarter of the year. The group said it now has $65 million cash on hand, nearly triple what it had at this time four years ago. “House Democrats are sprinting toward the exits because they know their days in the majority are numbered and we look...

Hello, it’s Wednesday, Oct.13, 2021. This morning, 90-year-old William Shatner is scheduled to enter low-Earth orbit aboard the Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin rocket. This event comes 55 years after Shatner was launched by NBC into our imaginations as “Star Trek” captain James Tiberius Kirk. If all goes according to plan, Shatner will become the galaxy’s oldest space traveler, at least among Earthlings. In other news, snags in the supply chain continue to disrupt the U.S. economy, Americans are voluntarily quitting their jobs in record numbers, and travel experts warn...

Understanding the possible implications of Special Counsel John Durham's recent indictment of prominent Democratic lawyer and Perkins Coie partner Michael Sussmann requires a refresher course on one of the most notorious examples of mass hypnosis in American history. Perkins Coie is the international law firm based in Seattle that represented Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign. Sussmann was recently indicted by a federal grand jury on evidence provided by Durham. The charge is  lying to the FBI in an effort to mislead investigators regarding...

This week, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro will formally announce his candidacy for governor. Shapiro is the lone Democratic gubernatorial candidate facing what remains a crowded Republican field ahead of next year’s primary. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate seat is up for grabs with the retirement of Republican Pat Toomey. Ahead of 2022, Shapiro and fellow Democrats should carefully watch Greater Philadelphia’s Delaware County, which could determine if their party can retain its Trump-era suburban gains. In fact, Delaware County – a unique mix of...

Amid growing bipartisan agreement that increased regulation of social media platforms and their content moderation policies is needed, the path forward remains murky. Should Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act be discarded or strengthened? Should companies be broken up using antitrust laws? Should government set speech rules for the web? Should users decide them? Or should there be no rules at all? There is no shortage of solutions being put forth to solve the challenge of social media censorship. The problem is that without a better understanding of how social platforms invisibly...

It’s common these days to hear people complain that the system is broken. It doesn’t matter what their issue is or which side of the aisle they’re on, they’re equally disenchanted. When they talk about “the system,” they mean the American way, the Republic, our democracy. As a journalist I hear a lot of these complaints firsthand when I’m out in the community, traveling, giving speeches, playing golf or at my kids’ sporting events. People are worried. The belief in the brokenness of our system is so pervasive that it’s easy to despair, and...