346 articles
Below is a transcript of an interview of House Speaker Paul Ryan by Stephen F. Hayes, editor in chief of THE WEEKLY STANDARD at the TWS Midwest Conservative Summit earlier Monday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and concision.
The retiring speaker addressed the Midwest Conservative Summit.
The porn actress has also sued Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen.
Today on the Daily Standard Podcast, editor-in-chief Stephen F. Hayes, contributing editor Charlie Sykes, senior writers Michael Warren and John McCormack, and reporter Haley Byrd come to you live from the Weekly Standard Midwest Conservative Summit in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
A Democratic super PAC is boosting its spending against Rep. Evan Jenkins, R-W.V., in an effort to prop up Don Blankenship's campaign for the GOP nomination to take on Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V.
The Israeli prime minister said his country has obtained thousands of the Islamic Republic’s secret documents.
The Secret Service trumps the NRA's Second Amendment predilection.
The New York Times's Amy Chozick, in campaign memoir Chasing Hillary, makes Clinton’s failed campaign personal.
Also: Romian Gary’s idealism, a self-centered guide to writing poetry, and more.
Two events over the weekend illuminate the issue of norms and the media in the Trump era.
An executive order about Gitmo reaches a deadline.
Not a great weekend for the American news media.
2.7%, 3.9%, 3%, and 4.7%.
How that might have been the act that got us the special counsel investigation.
Today on the Daily Standard Podcast, editor in chief Stephen F. Hayes joins host Charlie Sykes to discuss the handshake between Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un at the DMZ, Bret Baier's interview with former FBI Director James Comey, the fate of Michael Cohen, and Pat Buchanan's troubling curtain call.
“Birtherism”—the ugly term for the even uglier charge that Barack Obama was not born in the United States—always suffered from one fatal flaw: a birth announcement that appeared in the Honolulu Advertiser on August 13, 1961, declaring the arrival of young Barack.
The rapper has always been crass and annoying. But now he's the "wrong kind" of crass and annoying.
Also: Jason Matthews’s thrilling end to the Red Sparrow series, and more.
Pompeo gets the Senate nod, but the headaches over confirmations may only get worse.
What sort of nuclear cooperation has been taking place under the auspices of the deal?
The Senate majority leader is not depressed.
It wasn’t with shock but with relief that The Scrapbook greeted the news that a Washington tradition is coming to an end: “After nearly 15 years, The Hill is bidding a beautiful bye-bye to its annual 50 Most Beautiful list.”
"The military mission to eradicate ISIS in Syria is coming to a rapid end, with ISIS being almost completely destroyed,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced on April 4. “The United States and our partners remain committed to eliminating the small ISIS presence in Syria that…
Leonard Bernstein prophesied an American classical music; his disillusionment and disappointments mirrored the nation’s.
Britain’s military should be growing. It’s not.
You’ve got to admit it’s getting better.
Journalists in the mainstream media often sound as though they have no idea why anybody would entertain skepticism about the news media. The term “media bias” is, to them, a ruse. Complaints about “fake news” are evidence of stupidity or delusion.
‘Pasta for Nightingales’: A charming Renaissance collection of birdlore and beauty.
“We suffered with Obamacare,” Trump said. “Make no mistake. This is a repeal and replace of Obamacare. Make no mistake about it,” he declared before pausing for a personal boast. “I predicted it a long time ago. I said it’s failing and now it’s obvious that it’s failing. It’s dead—it’s essentially…
Bumping an idol of French cinema off his pedestal.
The problem is entitlement spending, not appropriations
By happy coincidence, on the very day that ex-FBI director James Comey published his self-serving memoir, my wife and I happened to be rummaging around in the George C. Marshall research library on the campus of Marshall’s alma mater, Virginia Military Institute, in Lexington. It was entirely…
There’s nothing the media love more than a story about themselves. And if it isn’t about them, they’ll make it so.
It’s springtime for Pat Buchanan.
Cumulus Media, the third largest terrestrial radio chain in the country, is bankrupt, and it’s making some drastic moves. Earlier this spring, it dropped Don Imus, the legendary—if now fossilized—morning host. And now there are rumors that Cumulus is looking to cut Michael Savage, one of talk…
Jeremy Corbyn’s Jewish problem.
Euler’s identity: Genius, discovery, elegance.
"When the audience of more than 300 began to clap and howl, Madeleine K. Albright entered the Georgetown University auditorium. She waved. She winked. The clapping grew louder, especially from young women in the room. They smiled giddily, checked to make sure their phones were on silent and opened…
Priscilla M. Jensen, at the fair.
The challenges of teaching poetry.
Readers may remember Fearless Girl, the 50-inch-tall bronze statue of an intrepid young girl, placed in front of the famous Charging Bull sculpture in Lower Manhattan. The girl, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio recently announced, will be moved to a new location nearby—in front of the New York…
Most Americans can name only one local politician from Washington, D.C., and that happens to be the city’s “mayor for life” Marion Barry, famously busted in 1990 for smoking crack in an FBI sting operation (“bitch set me up!”). In March, the city unveiled a bronze statue to Barry on Pennsylvania…
It has different math, geography, and history. And Hillary is president.
The politics of applause.
And would the disgraced host pad around in a bathrobe interviewing his subjects?
Constitutional concerns were at the center of some conservatives' opposition.
The report is from last year.
Today on the Daily Standard Podcast, senior writers John McCormack and Michael Warren discuss the Dr. Ronny Jackson withdrawing himself from consideration to run the VA, EPA Secretary Scott Pruitt's grilling in the House of Representatives, President Trump's appearance on Fox & Friends, and the…
In an attempt to drum up even more attention for their 'censored' Facebook and YouTube accounts.
Seven Democratic caucus members voted for Donald Trump’s pick to lead the State Department.
Notes from the IMF spring meetings.
In Trump v. Hawaii, activists want to curtail presidential authority over foreign policy because they don’t like President Trump.
I’m in the middle of a long-term project—I’m building a Senate election model and writing about the process as I go (see previous posts here). At this point I’ve written a lot of the code and I was tempted to devote this update to how I’m aggregating polls, forecasting final vote shares, or…
Also: Why the The Seagull is so hard to adapt, a life of Enzo Ferrari, and more.
On this latest episode, the Substandard discusses Super Troopers 2 and stoner flicks. JVL lectures on drug policy, Sonny has a hot take on Kanye, Vic embarks on a Reduced Gluttony Diet.
The president called into his favorite TV program for a free-wheeling interivew.
It may be all up to Trump.
A bracing reminder of an easily forgotten commonplace.
It doesn’t look that way.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday reiterated support for the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in his address to the U.S. Congress. His remarks drew cheers from Democrats but a chilly reception from Iran hawks who want to withdraw from the deal.
Some of them don't even know who the rapper is.
I’m grateful for James Freeman’s kind words about my recent essay in the Guardian warning about Deep State leaks, and relieved that he thinks I am “not nearly as far to the left as most Guardian editors.” We agree that there is a serious danger in the Deep State leaks of classified intelligence…
Also: The end of The Avengers, there is no such thing as suburbia, and more.
David Frum is a senior editor at the Atlantic and a contributing editor to THE WEEKLY STANDARD. Frum is a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush and the author of nine books, the most recent of which is Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic. This week we exchanged emails,…
Mike Braun, Luke Messer, Todd Rokita are all running for a chance at a rare GOP pickup in the upper chamber.
Today on the Daily Standard Podcast, senior writer Michael Warren and deputy online editor Jim Swift join host Charlie Sykes to discuss whether or not Dr. Ronny Jackson, President Trump's pick to lead the VA stands a shot at getting confirmed by the Senate, Mick Mulvaney's views on lobbyist…
There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of by our medical and scientific professionals.
Slapdash personnel decisions haunt the president and frustrate his party.
Debbie Lesko underperformed Trump by about 16 Points—that's not a great result.
'Suicide of the West' is a big, baggy, sometimes brilliant case for gratitude and perpetuation.
If you had hopes of launching a nuclear weapon into orbit, we have bad news.
Progressive lawmakers—several of whom are eyeing 2020 presidential bids—are increasingly embracing sweeping guaranteed jobs proposals. But many of their Democratic colleagues remain hesitant to offer a full-throated endorsement of the concept.
Today on the Daily Standard Podcast, Gregg Easterbrook joins host Charlie Sykes to discuss the latest Tuesday Morning Quarterback column previewing the NFL draft, tackling cheerleader pay and time travel.
The word du jour is “denuclearization.”
While Andrew Cuomo plays identity politics, Nixon steals his supporters.
Also: Is pottery art? Is music a human right?
A possible record number of QBs will be taken in the NFL Draft's first round (and there's a chance that analysts will really, really like the picks). Plus: Why teams make seemingly inconsequential trades.
The Most Special Election Yet
Enough with the Randstanding already.
The retired general was passed over for Trump's national security adviser twice.
The Trump era has been very good for the group’s fundraising efforts.
In my recent Wall Street Journal essay on the politics of Twitter mobs, I noted that the episode was accompanied by a great deal of sloppy journalism—remarkably lazy journalism. Of all the mostly denunciatory articles about me that appeared in the big-name press (at least four in the New York Times…
Kentucky senator reversed his opposition to Trump’s secretary of state pick and helped move him out of committee.
Nellie Bowles, a New York Times technology reporter recently claimed that it is a “far-right conspiracy” that the “Palestinians Pay $400 million Pensions For Terrorist Families.” She’s wrong.
Hosted by Charlie Sykes.
The president got quite an education last week from the Supreme Court and the 7th Circuit.
This isn't a story about Donald Trump's takeover of the GOP.
Also: The diversions of Dollywood, Anthony Burgess’s unpublished essays, and more.
Albright denounces fascism but not its precondition.
There's no sign Kim has agreed to "denuclearize" yet.
Israeli teens learn to be paramedics through a volunteer program called United Hatzalah. It's establishing a presence here.
WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — Mitt Romney on Saturday suffered a disappointing but ultimately meaningless snub from grassroots Republicans when delegates to the state party convention declined to endorse his bid for U.S. Senate.
Never say Never. That’s what some of the Never Trumpers are saying, and even more are thinking. Both in private. They are afflicted with a nagging suspicion. Trump might, how shall they whisper it, Make America Great Again.
Did the former FBI director try to give himself an advantage with the way he categorized his material?
Tom Perez and the DNC file suit against Donald Trump, the Russian government, and Wikileaks.
Hosted by Charlie Sykes.
Whatever you're doing right now you should stop it and go read Kevin Williamson's long essay in the Wall Street Journal about what, exactly, happened to him at the Atlantic. It is fantastic and a perfect reminder of just what the Atlantic gave up when Jeffrey Goldberg capitulated to the Twitter…
Marijuana sellers have cute ways to get around D.C.’s legal loopholes, but trying to bank their cash becomes money laundering in the eyes of the feds.
Also: Download 16,016 BBC sound effects.
The former FBI director explains himself to a Manhattan audience that wants to like him but can’t forget his handling of Hillary’s emails.
There remains a divide within the Trump administration about the goals and aims of the planned tariffs on Chinese imports. In the new issue of the magazine, I explore this tension between free-traders and protectionists within the White House, but I start by looking at the public comments, required…
More Republicans are embracing legalized marijuana, for medicinal or recreational use.
Turmoil, generations, and starpower in the 1956 film classic.
Seeking redemption in subtle, everyday quiet.
‘Life ain’t as simple as it used to be’—except at Dolly Parton’s amusement park.
The there-and-back-again tale of a brain researcher turned cancer patient.
The darkest show on TV—Netflix’s tech-dystopian ‘Black Mirror’—is itself a sign of hope for a human future.
Tight messaging and internal discipline don’t make a presidency—the Obama administration was extremely disciplined in its public pronouncements and a disaster in almost every other respect. But the present administration suffers from an almost total lack of coherence in its statements to the…
Even the headline of the short essay in the New Yorker was meant to offend, and it did: “Chick-fil-A’s Creepy Infiltration of New York City.” The piece, by Dan Piepenbring, has been read, attacked, defended, and ridiculed by far more people than ordinarily read the New Yorker. If the editors’ goal…
Colleges foster smugness on the left and resentment on the right.
When diversity morphs into discrimination.
The Pulitzer Prize recipients were announced on April 16, and there were few surprises. The awards for journalism were unobjectionable (although we wonder how many more Pulitzers the New York Times and Washington Post really need). It was the Pulitzer for music that grabbed the most attention: It…
It occurs to us that we don’t read much anymore about outlaw motorcycle gangs. A few decades ago, when The Scrapbook was young, movies and television and newspapers teemed with fearful reports about the Hells Angels, the Outlaws, and the Pagans. We wonder what became of the original “1 percenters.”…
Twenty-four years after a horrific genocide, Rwanda has made an astonishing recovery.
The strike on Syria.
"Let’s just cut to the chase: There’s not likely to be a more meaningful, absorbing, forceful and radical performance by an American musician this year, or any year soon, than Beyoncé’s headlining set at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on Saturday night. It was rich with history,…
A spirited GOP primary in North Carolina.
Political observers are understandably focused on November 6, 2018—Election Day. What happens then will be important for the next couple of years: a Democratic wave, carrying that party to control of the House for the first time since 2010, and perhaps even to a majority in the Senate? A strong…
For 16 months, Democrats have complained that Republicans have put their political party over the best interests of the country by rationalizing and normalizing the unbecoming behavior of Donald Trump. We’ve often agreed with those assessments. Republicans, sadly, have made a habit of putting…
PETA is no friend of STEM.
Since the rise of the counterculture in the 1960s and the idealization of rebellion for its own sake, it’s been awfully hard for young people to rebel. How are you supposed to be a rebel or a maverick when everybody else is one too? The Scrapbook solved this problem, as a university student on a…
Writers and editors at the Denver Post recently did what more than a few journalists have only dreamed of doing: They denounced their proprietor in the pages of the Denver Post. So audacious was their action that the gesture made the front page of the New York Times, which reported approvingly that…
I have never had, nor felt the need of having, a hobby. When I was a kid, friends of mine collected stamps or miniature cars or made model airplanes. I did none of these things. When I was 11 or 12, a shop moved into our neighborhood called Hobby Models, catering to hobbyists of all sorts. I found…
Can West Virginia Republicans take down Joe Manchin?
The White House aims at Chinese trade practices, hits Americans.
Senate Democrats try to block Pompeo.
If the Hells Angels have softened somewhat, others are toughening up—and we bless them for it. A school district in Erie, Pennsylvania, faced with the increasing frequency of school shootings, has passed out baseball bats to its teachers. That strikes us as a neat compromise between, on the one…
Democrats are largely opposed to Trump’s pick for secretary of state. Do they think they will get someone better?
Hosted by Charlie Sykes.
Ending NASA's longest stretch without a permanent leader since it was first created
A bombshell of a fact check.
Also: The heart of Queen Anne of Brittany has been stolen.
On this latest episode, the Substandard discusses Rampage and the Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's oeuvre. Is he truly a bankable star? Vic goes rummaging through his closet. JVL has a movie date with his mother in law. Sonny takes a stroll with William Friedkin through Georgetown.
With the death of Barbara Bush, much, though maybe not enough, has been made of her once-famous commencement address to the Wellesley College class of 1990. Read today it has the feel of an antique. But her voice is strong in it, and she was always worth listening to.
It was a technical decision about vague language and due process, and Gorsuch quoted Scalia in his concurrence.
Don’t stress about just one poll – fundamentals still favor Republicans in Texas
A senseless headline shrouds some legitimate news.
Diplomacy matters.
Kellyanne Conway and Tom Cotton go to bat for the CIA director.
Jeff Flake switched his vote from 'no' to 'yea,' and John Thune says the Arizona senator was 'negotiating another matter'
Missouri's governor is facing invasion of privacy charges related to a sex scandal, but a wholly separate claim about computer tampering will be tricky to get out of.
Hosted by Charlie Sykes.
Also: The misleading New York Times best-seller list, and more.
One creature’s selfie is another creature’s suffocation.
Evidence of delusion?
What makes the mayor of highly polluted, crime-ridden, poorly run Los Angeles think he should run the country?
And Kudlow pulls back from TPP tease.
The intent is to refocus Congress and the White House on a long-term solution for DACA.
With Greitens already facing invasion of privacy charges, AG Josh Hawley alleges he might have illegally obtained a donor list.
In this latest micro episode, Sonny and Vic discuss the politics of Chappaquiddick (JVL is out of town). Sonny explains the difference between dead Democrats and dead Republicans. Vic remembers meeting Ted Kennedy.iFrame Object
It’s almost as if a tight labor supply helps workers.
Hosted by Charlie Sykes.
Grant arrives at the Gulf of Mexico, where the bird-watchers are unimpressed.
Welcome to 2018, people: Nixon’s the one.
Customers were sparse, but reporters plentiful, at a midnight sale of Jim Comey’s new book.
Also: An altered memoir of a kidnapped Jewish boy, addiction in early modern England, and more.
Lawmakers on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee introduce legislation to do just that.
The CBO has said the cuts will cost $1.9 trillion over a decade, before some provisions hit a sunset clause.
Promises of 'community engagement' don’t go far when managers call police on black men waiting for their friend.
News you might have missed:
And the Cohen circus continues.
It’s mean and unreasonable, but maybe the base likes it
The Fox News host railed against the raid on Cohen's office last week.
Yes. Twenty-two people have already been affected.
Between McAllen and Brownsville, only a river separates the U.S. from a war zone.
Asking why the president might care about attorney-client privilege is the latest head-smacker.
Hosted by Charlie Sykes
Also: Are English professors to blame for Donald Trump?
Free markets work through competition. Sellers offer an array of goods and services and buyers tell them what works. So when protectionist legislation favors one group of competitors over another, there’s a problem. That’s what’s happening to E. Glen Porter, who owns a cemetery in New Berlin,…
What another set of special elections tells us about the Trump Era.
The false panacea of taxing online retail sales.
It's time for the FBI to release them.
And a "Never Trump" aide backs out of Pence aide job.
Seers at the Congressional Budget Office are guessing that due largely to the recent tax cuts, the economy will grow at an annual rate of 3.3 percent this year and 2.4 percent in 2019. Federal Reserve Board monetary policy gurus agree, and expect the tax cuts and the recent budget deal to give the…
UK and France join U.S.-led effort.
When outgoing FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was fired on the eve of his retirement last month, many Democrats protested that he was being cheated out of his pension for purely political reasons. But the administration’s official line—that McCabe had been fired for “lack of candor” after lying…
There hasn’t been a drop of rain on this entire trip, but I woke up in Rio Grande City to find sheets of water coming out of the sky. South Texas’s prayers have been answered. Cattle ranches won’t have to sell off cows, and all the onions, cabbage, and corn I’ve passed will make it from farm to…
Today on the Daily Standard Podcast, Weekly Standard co-founder and editor at large William Kristol joins host Charlie Sykes to discuss the latest with President Trump regarding a potential pardon of Scooter Libby, the Mueller probe, the crisis in Syria, and retirement of Paul Ryan.
Also: Why Robert E. Lee was never tried for treason, how the sweet potato took over the world, and more.
In pardoning Scooter Libby, President Trump does the right thing.
The president zigs and zags on tariffs and TPP.
The secretary of state nominee faced repeated questioning about Mueller.
Once upon a time, before the advent of Google and WebMD, medical information was dispensed by medical professionals in doctor’s offices. These were dark times, at least if you believe fans of the infamous “women’s health bible,” Our Bodies, Ourselves.
Speakers of the House of Representatives don’t ordinarily retire before they’re turned into minority leaders. But on April 11, Paul Ryan announced he would leave his seat at the end of this term. His decision, which had been rumored for months, wasn’t entirely surprising. His children are still…
Although he is best known for his landscapes, there is a power and tense stillness in Paul Cézanne’s depictions of his family, neighbors, and friends.
Washington shouldn’t neglect Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Ending the law’s injustice to Indian children—and parents.
I recently wrote in these pages about a conundrum that has long fascinated lawyers and legal scholars, the blackmail paradox (“You’ve Got Blackmail,” Feb. 5). If I know damaging information about you and that information was not acquired under privileged circumstances—that is, I’m not your priest…
It’s fitting that Speaker of the House Paul Ryan announced his retirement during what was a very disturbing week in the White House, even by the chaotic standards that have prevailed under President Trump. Some suggested Ryan’s leaving means the Republican party has now become a Trumpist party. But…
A rare left-right agreement in Washington: disliking the attorney general.
It’s the defining mark of left-liberal crime policy: Deal mainly with the tools, not the people who use them. Hence American liberals’ obsession with gun control. Of course, there are more guns than people in the United States—upwards of 300 million, in fact—and so any attempt to regulate their…
Didn’t you hear? The libertarian billionaire Charles Koch recently declared his support for the Communist leader of China over the leader of his own country! We learned it from a tweet by Lou Dobbs: “Outrageous Oligarch: Billionaire Charles Koch Admits He’s Working for China instead of America, for…
Christopher Caldwell sneaks into a movie.
In foreign affairs, there’s a lot to be said for unpredictability. Puzzlement can induce one’s enemies to hold back or make stupid decisions. Henry Kissinger famously portrayed Nixon as acting “somewhat crazy” to keep the Soviets guessing—even to the point of dramatically elevating the readiness…
But at least Paul Ryan told some hard truths about entitlements.
Can a new system of voting really deliver civility?
Facebook’s unofficial approach to violating the privacy of its users has always been “ask for forgiveness, not permission.” This week’s testimony by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg before a joint Judiciary and Commerce Committee in the Senate on Tuesday and the House Energy and Commerce Committee on…
A touch of old Washington passed away March 30 with the death of 94-year-old Anna Chennault.
A teenage citizen-journalist battles the bureaucracy over the Parkland shooting.
New documentary series pushes back at Kenneth Clark’s 1969 classic
Did Robert E. Lee commit treason?
The Scrapbook is old enough to remember when socialism was popular the first time. It went out of fashion when even liberal intellectuals noticed that it produced only misery wherever it was tried, but now it’s popular again. An avowed socialist captured the hearts of young voters in 2016 (and…
At the Masters, the former great struggled against golfers who grew up watching him.
Al Pacino plays Penn State’s ‘JoePa’ in an HBO movie about the rape scandal.
Yes, and the number is growing.
Plus, Title IX... forever?
New movie approaches the grisly story non-ideologically.
Hosted by Charlie Sykes.
The doomed measure is a nod toward fiscal responsibility.
Let's roll the tape.
In this twee episode of the Substandard, our hosts discuss Isle of Dogs and the Wes Anderson oeuvre. Sonny gives us rankings. JVL goes back to the minors. Vic orients his kids with Chinese food. Plus "Gene" unleashed!
Also: Why literature matters, remembering J. D. McClatchy, and more.
Let’s be honest: Congress was never really going to reform entitlements under House speaker Paul Ryan. The subject is campaign poison—the only way lawmakers would act proactively is if congressional terms were measured in decades instead of years.
The state shifted right during the Trump Era, and the gubernatorial race is a toss-up
Tumult continues to plague the National Security Council and President Trump’s broader natsec team. On Wednesday, deputy national security adviser for strategy Nadia Schadlow tendered her resignation, just a few months after being tapped for the position to succeed Dina Powell. Schadlow had been a…
Lawmakers will discuss impeachment; many have called on Greitens to resign.
Plus, the British Virgin Islands Marlins?
Yes, actually: A sensational headline, but accurate info.
Hosted by Charlie Sykes
A leading Hungarian journalist discusses the mechanics of Viktor Orban's "illiberal democracy."
A distinctive border city.
On this latest micro episode, the Substandard discusses the second trailer for Solo: A Star Wars Story. It's actually pretty good (JVL wants more Donald Glover!). Sonny calls Emilia Clarke "a nothing." Vic uses the word "luscious." Plus a discussion of fonts!
The outgoing speaker's district will be in play this November.
Also: The early days of Buckley’s National Review remembered.
Today on the Daily Standard Podcast, managing editor Christine Rosen discusses Mark Zuckerberg's testimony before Congress.
The Wisconsin Republican took over as leader in 2015, replacing John Boehner.
The one big thing Zuckerberg's testimony didn't address.
Muhammad Yunus, the father of microcredit, thinks he knows how to fix capitalism, end poverty, and even get rid of carbon emissions. Here's what he’s missing.
From hero to zero.
If Tom Bossert had any sense beforehand he would be out of a job on Tuesday, he didn’t show it over the weekend. President Trump’s homeland security adviser spoke on behalf of the White House about Syria and national security on ABC News’s This Week Sunday. And in an appearance later that day at…
“There are two journalistic activities that will always bring you a come-back,” George Orwell wrote in 1944. “One is to attack the Catholics and the other is to defend the Jews.”
Let’s start with the obvious: Andre the Giant, subject of a new documentary from HBO, was huge. The wrestler seemed almost to have stepped out of legend or myth. Billed at a whopping 7-foot-4 and 477 pounds, he was a veritable Grendel, with deep-set eyes, frizzy hair, and a protruding jaw. Dubbed…
The Facebook founder faced five hours of questioning by senators; on Wednesday he's back to face the House.
Plus, a celebrity gets arrested.
Houston, we have a falsehood.
Grant hears tales of danger about traversing the unforgiving border as he bikes an unforgiving stretch.
Today on the Daily Standard Podcast, senior writer Michael Warren discusses the latest with the Mueller investigation, what experts are saying about the raid of his personal attorney Michael Cohen's office and hotel room, and how new National Security Advisor John Bolton is shaking things up.
House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer said on Tuesday morning that recent efforts on the part of the White House and Republican lawmakers to retroactively cut already-authorized spending would undermine future bipartisan negotiations.
The raid on Michael Cohen's offices required layers of approval including a judge and the Justice Department.
Also: The monasteries of Meteora.
Bloomberg reports that the resignation came at the request of new National Security Adviser John Bolton
The U.S. must bring hellish consequences on the dictator of Damascus.
Peter Schweizer is the president of the Government Accountability Institute and the author of Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich. Schweizer recently published Secret Empires: How the American Political Class Hides…
The wisdom of tax reform rests on two simple principles: Lower rates, and broaden the base.
The president leaves open the possibility he'll fire the special counsel.
Special counsel Robert Mueller referred the case to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
Speculations swirled Monday that Trump would respond to the Assad regime’s chemical attack on a Damascus suburb.
The U.N. ambassador slams Putin’s regime and Iran for abetting Bashar al-Assad.
Plus, the new New York time.
Federal authorities seized and shutdown Backpage.com
A chance meeting with Keith Bowden, writer of "The Tecate Journals."
Hosted by Charlie Sykes.
The answer appears to be an emphatic "no."
Rick Scott is running to unseat Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson in Florida.
Also: Why are there so many mirrors in Victorian paintings?
Democratic luminaries Tony Podesta, Greg Craig, and Bob Shrum weigh in on Chappaquiddick.
Perhaps more secure than he should be.
Michael Anton, the spokesman for the National Security Council and an important intellectual force in the Trump administration, is leaving the White House. Eliana Johnson of Politico first reported Anton’s departure on Sunday, on the eve of John Bolton’s first day as national security adviser.…
Why should we care about the opinions of aspiring doctors?
In 2015, the Association of American Medical Colleges revised the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) for the first time in nearly 25 years, stretching the full exam-day experience from around five hours to eight or more. The test drew attention at the time for its sheer length; less widely…
Seattle
B.D. McClay reviews 'Sharp'—a book about controversy-courting creators, critics, and cultural commentators.
Horrific images from the aftermath of a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria are once again circulating online. The scene of this gassing is the eastern Ghouta suburb of Damascus. Both the location and the timing of this apparent war crime are symbolically important. And while the immediate…
Russia, Iran, and North Korea all play a role in the Syrian regime's chemical attacks on its own people.
Hosted by Charlie Sykes.
Drawing on the wisdom of history, philosophy, and literature to inform foreign policy.
"I will do such things, what they are yet I know not, but they shall be the terrors of the earth."
Museums have traditionally served as repositories for the past. But younger generations are avoiding the chance to slow-walk through history, so museums are exploring new ways to attract visitors.
Plus, why Trey Gowdy hated his time in Congress.
A first grader at Latta Elementary School in Ada, Oklahoma was very excited when she realized one of her textbooks appears to have belonged to country singer and "The Voice" judge Blake Shelton.
The Trump administration's decision to go after Russian leader Vladimir Putin's inner circle with sanctions is being praised as a long-awaited, highly significant response to the Kremlin's destabilizing activities.
Getting to know Sanderson, Texas, through the way it celebrates Easter.
With our politics in 2018 transformed into a cartoonish version of Caesarism, one wonders: Could this experience lead to a revival of a healthy and robust republicanism in America? Given certain aspects of the Obama presidency as well, we're now closing in on a decade of vaguely authoritarian,…
Reviews and News:
"Ura!" tweeted the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta April 5.
Although this magazine has frequently lamented President Trump's tendency to praise Vladimir Putin and his regime in public, we've also applauded the administration for its punitive actions against the Kremlin's dictator. And we've urged the administration to go further by, for instance, listing…
Musings from Susan Kristol on two new translations of the ‘Odyssey.’
They are emails designed to grab you by the lapels. "CRISIS AT OUR SOUTHERN BORDER," announced one. "MS-13 Is 'Taking Over the School' One Teen Warned Before She Was Killed," read another. The subject lines are always over the top:
The Trump administration on Friday announced a new set of sanctions against 38 individuals and entities in Russia in response to a "consistent pattern of malign activities" by the Russian government.
Keeping up with the news out of Russia has been like trying to drink from a firehose for at least the last month, though that would be seriously inadvisable considering what might have been added to the water.
There was a snowstorm in Washington, D.C., a few days before the arrival of spring, and while it deposited a handful of inches on the ground and closed area schools for the day, the evidence was gone nearly as soon as it had arrived—and largely forgotten. Not, however, by a 33-year-old first-term…
For the most part, centrism gets a bad rap.
What has the White House been tellings friendly voices in the media? I explore this in the new issue of the magazine. Here's an excerpt:
Let it be said at the outset that James Lewis's The Burr Conspiracy is a superb work of contemporary historical craftsmanship. The question for everyone interested in its subject is how to understand it.
A new book recently caught our attention: It's Time to Fight Dirty: How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics by David Faris, an associate professor of political science at Roosevelt University in Chicago. We weren't aware that Democrats needed the advice of the title, having…
"How many of you drive for a living? How many of you want to?" That's the question Michael Crow, the president of Arizona State University, posed recently to an audience assembled in Washington, D.C., to learn about the future of driverless cars. Crow, who participated in a discussion called…
On March 29, California superior court judge Elihu Berle ruled that most coffee sold in the Golden State will have to bear a warning label stating that it may increase the likelihood of cancer. Roasted coffee contains traces of the carcinogen acrylamide, and so Californians, if the ruling stands,…
To the editor:
Why is Steven Spielberg devoting so much of his time to making cartoons? Ready Player One, his mammoth new movie, is the third film he's made since 2011 using motion-capture animation. The first two—The Adventures of Tintin and The BFG—were simultaneously hyperactive and dispirited. Spielberg is…
"Long before Fun Home (2006)—perhaps the greatest, most consequential graphic memoir since Art Spiegelman's Maus—Alison Bechdel published a comic strip following the entanglements of a group of queer women living in the Midwest. The comics were funny, sexy and very frank—"half op-ed column and half…
Whenever I need to check out of the world, I head to a place called Satan's Creek. I go there to catch-and-release—or maybe catch-and-ogle—God's most perfect creatures: wild brook trout. They come small in these mountain runs. An 11-incher would be considered trophy-size. Still, bringing one to…
Give her credit: Ann Coulter is a woman of strong convictions. Those convictions may be wrongheaded, bizarre, and even bigoted, but she knows what she believes and is willing to hold Donald Trump accountable. Unless he builds the wall (and not just some candy-ass fence) she's done with him—ready to…
There were many decades when the visit of a crown prince of Saudi Arabia to the United States didn't cause much stir in world affairs. But these are different days for the Middle East and for the globe. The three-week visit of Mohammed bin Salman, in which he met with the president and an array of…
The borders around the 140-square-mile Gaza strip are guarded heavily by both its neighbors, Israel and Egypt, and the sea lanes are blockaded. Israel has lately managed to stop the rockets that the Palestinian radical group Hamas, which runs Gaza, has been firing into its southern cities. Israel…
In the era of gesture politics, when political discourse consists of an endless sequence of symbolic protests and counterprotests, there are few winners. The shouting and sign-waving protesters look bitter and sanctimonious, the objects of their disgust are obliged to defend themselves against…
The White House declared on April 4 that the "military mission to eradicate ISIS in Syria is coming to a rapid end, with ISIS being almost completely destroyed." While the United States is "committed to eliminating the small ISIS presence in Syria that our forces have not already eradicated," the…
Republicans are just over six months away from the 2018 midterm elections, and there's plenty to worry about. Midterms almost always favor the party out of power, and Democratic voters are far more enthused about the coming elections than their Republican correlatives. And although one should never…
I always wanted a nickname, a moniker to set me apart and give voice to the familiar fondness that everyone who knows me feels towards my special character—you know, that way I have, that unmistakable something about me.
You can get arrested for spanking an unruly tot these days, but flogging the immortal bejesus out of once-revered ancestors can pay significant dividends. Pounding the Founders and other historic villains not only affirms one's purity and moral superiority but can help achieve social dominance over…
Today on the Daily Standard Podcast, editor in chief Stephen F. Hayes discusses the embattled EPA chief, the latest on the trade war, our recent editorial on the economy, Charlie Sykes's recent opinion item "The Conscience of Ann Coulter" and the firing of Kevin Williamson.
Be careful what you wish for. Comedian Owen Benjamin spent yesterday on Twitter saying very not-nice things about one of the survivors of the Parkland school shooting. I won't link to them here because this is a family-friendly newsletter, but part of his schtick was taunting that he can't be…
In less than three weeks, the 2018 election will head to Arizona. Republican Rep. Trent Franks resigned late last year amid a scandal involving money, staffers and surrogacy (it's a bizarre story), triggering a special election in Arizona's 8th District. In a normal year, this district would be…
Give her credit: Ann Coulter is a woman of strong convictions. Those convictions may be wrongheaded, bizarre, and even bigoted, but she knows what she believes and is willing to hold Donald Trump accountable. Unless he builds the wall (and not just some candy-ass fence) she's done with him—ready to…
After sleeping in a ditch on US 385, Devon and I biked 30 miles to Marathon, Texas. It was a short distance, and Devon was as cheery to get on the road as he had been the entire trip: "Dude, every day there's a new pain that makes me forget about the old pain." If Devon has taught me anything, it's…
On this latest episode, the Substandard discusses Ready Player One, which all four of them went to see. JVL prefers the book, Sonny prefers the movie, and Vic found all the pop culture references heart warming. Vic also gets a close shave and JVL remembers calling the Nintendo hotline.
Reviews and News:
As far as people-watching goes, you could do worse than the third hole at Augusta National. The rope line separating the gallery from the green is to the right of the putting surface, which is also just behind the tee box of the Homeric par-3 fourth. With no sand traps or obstructive trees around,…
Republicans are just over six months away from the 2018 midterm elections, and there's plenty to worry about. Midterms almost always favor the party out of power, and Democratic voters are far more enthused about the election than their Republican correlatives. And although one should never…
The Trump administration is sending the National Guard to the southern border, per a presidential memorandum issued on Wednesday. Citing a "drastic surge of illegal activity on the southern border" including drug trafficking, illegal border crossings, and gang activity, President Trump authorized…
A 12-year-old girl in Baltimore County, Maryland, complained to her teachers, her guidance counselor, and her middle school principal when a boy wouldn't stop harassing her. He leered at her in class, and, she says, touched her out on the playground in a way state law classifies as a sexual…
Silicon Valley has long been the Wild West of capitalism, but we may finally be reaching a point where Congress feels both entitled and justified in starting to regulate monopolistic tech giants. Exhibit A: The announcement Wednesday that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg would be testifying before…
Today on the Daily Standard Podcast, senior writer Michael Warren discusses the latest with the Mueller investigation, the latest from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and the Wisconsin special elections.
Why is Steven Spielberg devoting so much of his time to making cartoons? Ready Player One, his mammoth new movie, is the third film he's made since 2011 using motion-capture animation. The first two—The Adventures of Tintin and The BFG—were simultaneously hyperactive and dispirited. Spielberg is…
The White House said in a statement Wednesday that the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria is approaching completion, but did not indicate any change for the time being in troop levels, despite suggestions to that effect from the president in recent days.
On Tuesday, Mississippi Democratic Senate candidate Mike Espy's campaign released an internal poll showing him in the lead in Mississippi's upcoming Senate election. The headline might sound like good news for Democrats—every candidate obviously prefers to be ahead, and Mississippi is extremely…
Reviews and News:
President Trump will attend a private dinner Wednesday night in Washington, hosted by America First Action, a pro-Trump super PAC. Also attending the dinner, which is listed on the president's official schedule as an event "with supporters," is House majority leader Kevin McCarthy, the White House…
Here's one more indication the White House's infrastructure proposal is stuck in a ditch: D.J. Gribbin, the National Economic Council's point man on the project, is leaving the administration—for "new opportunities" as a White House official put it. The official added Gribbin does not have a set…
President Trump's use of the presidency to pursue a private vendetta with Amazon is appalling. But that doesn't mean policymakers shouldn't take a close look at the internet giant's power and competitive tactics.
Republicans have been awfully quiet over the last few days, and they probably should have been. The question is why they were so quiet.
Whenever I need to check out of the world, I head to a place called Satan's Creek. I go there to catch-and-release—or maybe catch-and-ogle—God's most perfect creatures: wild brook trout. They come small in these mountain runs. An 11-incher would be considered trophy-size. Still, bringing one to…
In his final public remarks as White House national security adviser, H.R. McMaster offered a stinging rebuke of Russian violations of sovereignty and attempts to sow discord in free societies, activities for which he said the U.S. and its allies must impose higher costs.
The upcoming parliamentary election in Hungary appears only marginally more exciting than the recent Russian presidential election. Although the number of undecided voters is substantial, it would require a minor miracle for the ruling Fidesz Party to be voted out of power this Sunday.
A headline from the blogsite "David Harris Jr." claimed that "David Hogg [was] mocked for giving Nazi/Socialist salute to end march."
To say antisemitism is on the rise in Europe is commonplace. A dismayingly high percentage of Europeans (often in the 40s, according to surveys) believe Jews are too powerful in their countries' governments, too influential in their media, and probably more loyal to Israel than to the countries in…
Today on the Daily Standard Podcast, Jonathan V. Last, Rachael Larimore, and Jim Swift discuss why America fell hard for 16-seed UMBC and Sister Jean's Loyola Ramblers and whether this was the best March Madness ever.
Big Bend National Park is a tough sell because there isn't any one scene or location that's especially notable or so beautiful that it deserves to be your desktop background. But the park does have an overall effect on people that keeps them coming back year after year. I said in the previous entry…
Reviews and News:
President Trump's National Security Council will convene at the White House Tuesday. Among the topics up for discussion: the American military's future in Syria, where around 2,000 troops are stationed as part of a mission to contain the growth and influence of ISIS. Syria has been torn apart for…
The basketball term "jump shot" describes the act of a player springing from their toes and flicking the ball toward the rim. Its form was perfected by Ray Allen: body oriented toward the basket with the exactness of a NASA flight path, feet quickly off the ground with token resistance from…
When Terry Bollea walked to the front of the courtroom on the fourth floor of the Pinellas County courthouse on March 7, 2016, he was just a shadow of the man he used to be—the man the world knew him as: wrestling superstar Hulk Hogan. Orthopedic surgeries had reduced his once-plucky stride to a…
The Russian Cultural Center, which sits in a restored mansion on a quiet, leafy block in Washington's Kalorama neighborhood, hosts language classes, lectures, and concerts with the stated goal of maintaining positive relations between Russians and Americans. For the second time in five years, it…
The tenor saxophone has always been seen as jazz's muscle instrument. It so often provides the brawn of any ensemble's attack. Were we to contextualize this particular make of horn in sports terms, it would be the home run, the slam dunk, the slap shot.
Amtrak ends charter rides. Did you know that you can hitch your own train cars to an Amtrak train? Granted, not many among us have privately-owned rail cars, a novelty for the richest among us, but some do. Anyways, this practice, the Wall Street Journal reports, is going bye-bye:
For the past week, Trump's approval rating in the RealClearPolitics average has hovered close to 42 percent. That's an improvement from early March, when the average briefly dipped below 40 percent. FiveThirtyEight didn't shift as much in that interval, but its aggregate shows that Trump gained…
What better time to cover satirical news than in the immediate wake of April Fool's day?
Big Bend National Park is one of the largest, most biologically diverse parks in the country—and you've probably never heard of it. Stuck all by its lonesome in the bendy part of southwest Texas, along 118 miles of the Rio Grande river, Big Bend is famously isolated and inaccessible. Out of all the…
In this latest micro episode, Sonny and Vic discuss one of their favorite shows, The Americans on FX. As the show enters its final season, Vic and Sonny look back on what makes it compelling television. It is also a JVLess episode because of schedule conflicts, but the gang should all back on…
Today on the Daily Standard Podcast, Charlie Sykes talks to deputy online editors Jim Swift and Chris Deaton about the president's Easter message ("NO MORE DACA DEAL!") and advertiser boycotts.
It shouldn't take the popularity of Jordan Peterson or the presidency of Donald Trump to tell us masculinity has been in a bad place. Better evidence abounds. Look no further than long term demographic decline concurrent with the culturally ascendent denial of gender differences. Or consider the…
Reviews and News:
The international effort to punish Vladimir Putin for the March 4 attempt to assassinate Sergei Skripal and his daughter is an enormously encouraging sign that free nations are at last turning against the Kremlin and its dictator. Britain has expelled 23 Russian diplomats from their posts in the…
What should be done about human gene editing? Should it be used by scientists to help parents voluntarily choose to have the best possible children, leading to an all-around improvement in the gene pool? Or would such efforts render people with disabilities "unfit" for the human germline, further…
Before heading to church on Easter Sunday, President Trump took to Twitter to complain about America's "dumb immigration laws," saying he was no longer interested in making a deal with Democrats to reinstate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and threatening to end the North…
In 2001, Australia's governing coalition, led by John Howard's Liberal party (who are, in fact, the country's conservative party) looked set to lose its majority. The opposition, led by the Labor party, had been leading in the polls for most of the year.
The Trump era, if nothing else, has shown that ideological alignments can be fluid and inconsistent. So fiscal conservatives can find themselves backing massive deficits, while evangelicals hand out mulligans for presidential payoffs to porn stars. But even by those fluctuating standards, the…