The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Priorities: Plastic Straws or Fentanyl?

Did you know that the idea of banning plastic straws was inspired by a nine-year-old boy’s science project? After reading that startling fact, I found myself going down a research rabbit-hole, during which I discovered that in 2018, Seattle became “the first major U.S. city to ban single-use plastic straws and utensils in food service.” […]

‘All I Wanted Was a Pepsi’

So you’re gonna be institutionalized. You’ll come out brainwashed with bloodshot eyes. You won’t have any say. They’ll brainwash you until you see their way. For many years, I’ve complained about the “Compulsory Approval Doctrine” of the gay-rights movement, which seeks to forbid anyone from expressing disapproval of homosexual behavior or, for that matter, criticizing […]

Violent Chaos in Chicago and … Alabama?

First, the “teenager” problem in Chicago: Hundreds of teenagers flooded into Downtown Chicago on Saturday night, smashing car windows, trying to get into Millennium Park, and prompting a major police response. At least one person in a car was attacked. Shots were fired near the corner of Madison and Michigan, and FOX 32 Chicago decided […]

Whose ‘Democracy’ Is This?

Since January 6, every liberal on cable TV news has been declaring that “our democracy” is endangered by Trump voters who don’t believe Joe Biden won the election fairly. The latest outburst, by New York Times columnist Mara Gay, depicted the American flag as a racist symbol of this alleged threat to “our democracy.” Having […]

You Can’t Say ‘Rigged’

One of the things you learn, if you spend as many years in the news business as I have, is that the news is not random. That is to say, the question of what stories will appear on the front page of the New York Times is not merely a matter of what happened the […]

‘Something for Everyone to Hate’

It would be interesting to know how many high-school students in Loudon County, Virginia, would be able to identify Col. Edward D. Baker. If you are a student of the Civil War, you know that Baker’s death in the Battle of Ball’s Bluff was the chief inspiration for the creation of the Joint Committee on […]

Poised on the Brink of the Abyss

If you have not yet subscribed to The American Spectator, I’ll urge you to do so now, so that you’ll get our upcoming print edition in which I spend more than 3,000 words contemplating the prospects of another civil war in America. Permit me to say what should not need to be said, namely that […]

Good News: Democrats Are Worried

People keep telling me their predictions about the election, and I don’t want to hear them. I have done the Electoral College arithmetic and know that it is easily possible for President Trump to win, even if it’s going to be close and we might have to wait for late returns. More than that, however, […]

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