May 2018

Hosted by Jim Swift.

Greitens, Trump—and us.

Trading partners in Mexico and Europe express disappointment, promise tariffs in response.

Here’s how to get them.

As spellers cross the stage on Wednesday after correctly spelling multi-voweled tongue-twisters during the preliminary round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, a smiling kid among the neat rows of seats can be seen giving fist-bumps to other students. His name is Adom Appiah, and he’s up next.…

The real reasons the latest Star Wars movie flopped.

Our southern border is safe. It’s secure. And the region has far bigger problems than people trying to get across the river to find work. 

We read the big speeches so that you don’t have to.

With Vic sailing the Holy See, Sonny and JVL welcome a very special guest to unpack the disaster that is Disney's Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Sanctions target Iran's infamous Evin Prison and the director of a key state-run media corporation.

A rewriting of history makes for some strained conspiracies.

Outgoing congressman says last week's hearing shows that FBI just doing its Job.

Hosted by Charlie Sykes.

The country is a working model of political Islam capable of coexisting with the West. That makes Indonesia a target for the terrorist group.

Meet Kim Yong-chol.

Psychedelic exploration for the NPR set.

The world body’s leader on disarmament? Syria, of course.

The Missouri governor faced allegations of sexual misconduct and campaign finance violations.

She's not even close to a conservative, but people on the right embraced her anyhow.

One picture leads to a plethora of misleading claims.

Anticipated trade deal is apparently falling apart.

Today on the Daily Standard Podcast, Andrew Ferguson discusses his piece on the reeducation of Starbucks baristas.

Sarah Silverman found a new edge: niceness.

Into the light—or back to the shadows?

It's a foot in the final frontier that America should keep.

South Africa recalled its ambassador to Israel two weeks ago to condemn the “violent aggression carried out by Israeli armed forces along the Gaza border.” Hamas, however, soon admitted that 50 of the 62 Palestinians killed were members of the organization, upending South Africa’s premature claim…

Looking back at Philip Roth.

The pendulum swings.

Ludicrous.

Hosted by Charlie Sykes.

Senate committee approves amendment requiring the reporting in annual defense authorization bill.

The lessons of mid-century Catholic fiction lit crit, and more.

The policy directive calls on the Transportation and Commerce departments to make reforms that would encourage commercial space innovation.

Clickbait headline overblows reality. Water still wet.

Recent events in Gaza demonstrate the growing chasm between reporting and reality.

In many ways, Thursday’s classified Justice Department briefing was the culmination of a year’s work for House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes. For months, Nunes has been demanding that the Justice Department turn over information documenting how and why they first began to investigate…

Why should the U.S. trust Kim ever again?

Noir series now on Netflix vividly captures the contradictions and dynamism of the Weimar era.

The creation of the U-2 reconnaissance plane and its role in two tense Cold War episodes.

Bernard Lewis, 1916-2018.

Like Paul Newman’s chain gang in Cool Hand Luke, Starbucks is suffering from a failure to communicate. First, of course, was the Philadelphia branch manager who had two African-American men arrested on the grounds they were loitering (they weren’t). Then, in a burst of enthusiasm and contrition,…

Democrats are expecting a landslide in the midterm elections, and it’s lulled them to sleep on Capitol Hill. A case in point: Republicans have been using the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to wipe out Obama-era regulations since the Trump presidency began. And Democrats, responding groggily, have…

In Connecticut, a populist pitbull battles a preppy plutocrat.

We needed a review of the new Deadpool movie, and this is it.

Liberals and progressives sometimes complain that Republicans win more elections, and they do. But cheer up, lefties—you’ve got a lock on the nation’s elite colleges. The thought occurred to us when we read through Homogeneous: The Political Affiliations of Elite Liberal Arts College Faculty, a new…

It’s fitting that Sen. Elizabeth Warren should have chosen the Center for American Progress’s ideas conference to declare, as she did last week, that “democracy is crumbling around us.” For the death knell of democracy is one of her party’s oldest ideas, a staple of progressive nightmares from…

Hillary Clinton seems to have made her choice of post-political career: incessant unfunny whining. Consider her address to Yale University’s graduating class of 2018.

In March, Italian voters decided they had more to fear from corruption than from incompetence. Despite the warnings of experts, they voted overwhelmingly for two parties that want Italy to reclaim its sovereignty from the overweening European Union. One of those parties, the League, is on the…

A little parenting heresy on smartphones and screen time.

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A recent New York Times piece took aim at Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (and occasional TWS contributor). A lot of Beltway policymakers are upset at Dubowitz, mainly for his scathing criticisms of the Iran nuclear deal over the last several years but also for the…

Micah Mattix, exterminator.

Or minority leader.

The Department of Justice plays defense.

There is a great deal we don’t know about the case of Stefan Halper, the Anglo-American academic who insinuated himself into the Trump campaign in order to help the FBI learn about any connections to Russian election meddling. The president and his allies claim the FBI planted Halper as a spy with…

Light rail is a very expensive way to move very few commuters.

The art and architecture (and tourist souvenirs) of the Sun King’s palace.

Honoring the animals that work (and sacrifice) alongside our soldiers and sailors.

Hollywood is notorious for taking certain ideas to unpleasant extremes: CGI in Star Wars movies, saccharine romantic comedy tropes, the Fast and Furious franchise. But in our current #MeToo moment, activists intent on remaking the world in a more female-friendly image have gone beyond outing…

Republicans are increasingly fed up with Trump’s protectionist trade agenda.

President Donald Trump persists in vulgarly describing long-time Cambridge professor Stefan Halper as a “spy.” Not so, insists official Washington—not because the old don wasn’t working to get secret information as part of an FBI counter-intelligence operation, but because spy is the wrong word.…

With the National Football League punting on how to handle players kneeling during the national anthem to protest police mistreatment of African Americans, all the owners (and Commissioner Roger Goodell) may have done is trade one headache for another: Accelerating the pending labor Armageddon…

Tom Wolfe was death on intellectual pretension, and he mocked those who always sought out the worst in America.

Hosted by Charlie Sykes

The partial repeal of Dodd Frank could have gone farther, but it's a good start.

In this latest episode, the Substandard breaks down Deadpool 2, much like breaking down a fourth wall. Vic gets grilled by JVL over his fancy new Weber. Sonny envisions Guy Ritchie's Aladdin. Plus the return of fanboy JVL and bonus bleeps!

Republicans praise the president, Democrats call him a poor negotiator.

Pink is keeping the dying genre alive.

Also: The Third Crusade revisited, clocks and productivity, and more.

"The Singapore summit . . . will not take place."

Correspondence between FBI employees Lisa Page and Peter Strzok has been rendered particularly opaque.

On Wednesday that NFL announced that they had come up with a solution to their Kaepernick dilemma: They announced that players could stay in the locker room for the national anthem if they wanted to, but if they came onto the field for the "Star Spangled Banner," they had to stand.

The Justice Department and House Republicans achieve détente Thursday.

In a move that will surprise no one who reads science-fiction, Amazon is now selling a facial recognition tool, called Rekognition, to local police departments, marketing it as a “low cost” way to track persons of interest. According to the company, this tool recognizes “tens of millions of faces”…

A plaintiff complained that being unable to mock the president's tweets affected her "as a public intellectual."

Hosted by Charlie Sykes.

He predicted the moment in which we find ourselves.

The secretary of state tells a House committee that much work must be done.

In what may be the worst micro episode of all time, the Substandard discusses the true meaning behind Warrant's "Cherry Pie" and other suggestive songs from the 1980s. Plus an attempted conversation on the passing of Philip Roth. We warned you!

Also: The Freud fraud, the family affair of Icelandic fiction, and more.

The star Democratic candidate for governor awaits the result of a GOP runoff, one that could help fuel her unique campaign's strategy.

But there's little reason to think the president doesn't want to go to Singapore on June 12.

The arrest of 10 women’s rights advocates is as disturbing as it is mysterious.

Animal testing by cosmetic companies is becoming a thing of the past in the United States, so it might shock you that the government is still forcing taxpayers to pay for cruel, ineffective, and expensive animal tests on cosmetics in government laboratories.

Analyzing a former Trump aide’s claim.

For the first time, a populist coalition has taken over a Western European state.

Dan Crenshaw, a 33-year-old former Navy SEAL, won the GOP primary runoff election in Texas's second congressional district on Tuesday night. With 90 percent of precincts reporting, Crenshaw led his opponent, state representative Kevin Roberts, 70 percent to 30 percent.

'Reportedly' is a key word here.

Hosted by Charlie Sykes.

Also: How Oscar Hammerstein transformed Broadway, what 200,000 stars look like, and more.

Computer programs can be such prudes.

We stand by our reporting.

Mick Mulvaney says he'd take the chief of staff job if offered, and Michael Anton defends the upcoming North Korea summit.

The deadly police tactics, insulting oratory, anti-Americanism, and overwhelming popularity of Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte.

Pompeo is right: You can’t separate a rogue regime from its roguery.

On Sunday, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney strongly endorsed the idea that House speaker Paul Ryan should step down in order to trigger an election that would force House Democrats to vote for unpopular Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi.

Secretary of state lays out new Iran strategy in first major foreign policy address.

Houston's police chief should stick to policing crime in his city rather than the political views of the people for whom he works.

So here’s a crossover we didn’t see coming. After a year of keeping a low profile, Barack and Michelle Obama are stepping back into the public square to try their hand at a new enterprise: film production. The pair on Monday announced a multi-year production deal with streaming giant Netflix, which…

Hosted by Charlie Sykes.

What exactly was the FBI ‘informant’ who engaged with George Papadopoulos doing, anyhow?

Last week John Bolton remarked that the end game of the nuclear negotiations with North Korea was to replicate the “Libyan model.” Later, Bolton spelled out that what he meant was that all of North Korea’s nuclear devices should be turned over to us and “stored at Oak Ridge.” President Trump was…

Also: The greatest French museum you've never heard of, why a copyright term extension is a bad idea, and more.

In first major foreign policy address, the secretary of state does an about-face on Obama-era efforts to downplay ties between the two.

The president surfaces concerns about "infiltration" of his campaign by the FBI.

Last week, for the first time in months, it looked like President Donald Trump and his legal team might be inching back toward a strategy of cooperation with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. According to presidential lawyer Rudy Giuliani,…

It wasn’t a real election. But for the Chavistas, there was definitely a point.

Top Republicans consider amping up the pressure on Paul Ryan to step down as Speaker of the House before midterm elections.

The eminent scholar who helped the West understand itself and its adversaries

Remember the good old days when experts decided that the power of the OPEC oil cartel to control oil prices had come to an end? That fracking had made the United States the swing producer, ramping up production any time prices started to rise? That the future of the world’s economy would be based…

Hosted by Charlie Sykes.

The American government has already sanctioned Nicolas Maduro. But as Russia eyes the socialist dictator’s nearly certain reelection, the U.S. must pursue a further, multilateral response.

Also: What is Poet Voice?

Michael Warren is out of town today for The Weekly Standard's Broadmoor Summit in Colorado Springs, and Andrew Egger is filling in for him on White House Watch. Michael will be back in the saddle on Monday.

Sequel to ‘The Karate Kid’ is a hit, may be good for some kicks.

Unsettled questions of Ireland’s past and hope for its literary future.

Hugs, handshakes, kisses, and grabs—the tricks and traps of greetings.

What today’s navalists can learn from the Allied success at sea in WWII.

Pleasure, war, and the mad torment of Lord Byron.

Longtime readers of the Washington Post, among whom The Scrapbook numbers itself, will be familiar with the Post’s quaint custom of observing anniversaries and holidays with what might be called counterintuitive stories. For example, on the anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (2,403…

Last month, after two men were asked to leave a Philadelphia Starbucks on the grounds that they were loitering, the Starbucks Corporation announced that it would close more than 8,000 stores for a day in order to impose “unconscious bias training” on its employees. (Readers contemplating the wisdom…

On May 15, Facebook released its first-ever “Community Standards Enforcement Report.” Despite its numbingly bureaucratic title, the report contains startling details about the scope of the challenge facing the company as it tries to monitor violent, extremist, and false content on its platform;…

Is Donald Trump a masterful negotiator or an unqualified bumbler? The truth likely lies somewhere in between, but we want to avoid closed-mindedness here and accept the possibility that a mercurial president can secure a beneficial agreement by means of wrong-footing the other side’s negotiators.…

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The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the organization that licenses EU television broadcasts and hosts the annual Eurovision Song Contest, has terminated its contract with a Chinese broadcasting company. The company, Mango TV, cut one of the songs from the contest’s broadcast—the gay-themed…

There were a handful of primary elections last week in Ohio, Indiana, and West Virginia, and while the results from Middle America were more or less predictable—“establishment” Republicans prevailed against some Trumpier-than-thou candidates—the headlines were revealing in their way: “Parties’…

On May 25, the people of Ireland are set to vote on repealing the eighth amendment of their constitution, which recognizes that children in the womb have a right to life. As you can imagine, this has sent a country long riven by passionate disputes over religion into a frenzied debate. Naturally,…

Joseph Epstein's neighborhood.

His legal arguments are tenuous, but they may be enough to convince the president.

Is there a constitutional confrontation in the offing?

What will Jeff Bezos do with his fortune? The Amazon chief has amassed around $130 billion, and there’s really no practical way to spend more than a fraction of it. “The only way that I can see to deploy this much financial resource is by converting my Amazon winnings into space travel,” Bezos said…

A futile and stupid gesture from Starbucks.

One year ago—on May 17, 2017—deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein signed Order 3915-2017. To “ensure a full and thorough investigation of the Russian government’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election,” he appointed former FBI director Robert Mueller to be special counsel for the…

A debased national movement at 70.

This week we learned, via BuzzFeed, about a new trend in weddings: bouncy castles. A wedding company has opened an initially successful line of wedding-themed inflatable trampolines. Photos depict shoeless groomsmen and bridesmaids bouncing and giggling like first-graders at a birthday bash.

The executive action is based on a 1988 Reagan regulation, but can't eliminate most of Planned Parenthood's federal funding.

Ranking Democrat on the Intelligence committee Mark Warner noted she has widespread support at Langley.

It’s always infrastructure week somewhere.

Charlie LeDuff anticipated all the problems that Trump’s election made plain to the rest of us—then he fell into the Hole himself.

Hosted by Charlie Sykes.

In this latest episode, the Substandard previews the blockbusters of Summer 2018—what are we looking forward to most? And what were the great movie summers of our past? JVL's son is already talking like an MLB player. Sonny reveals his star-rating system. Vic discovers corn hole. Plus problems…

Also: Lars von Trier trolls Cannes, restored pages of Anne Frank’s diary, and more.

Woke progressives have created a permanent storm of superiority and conceit.

The special counsel is everything we want in a public servant, but Americans need to see a conclusion.

The wedding, this weekend, of Britain's Prince Harry and the American actress Meghan Markle has already generated a number of Pavlovian, and entirely predictable, responses.

Looking back at the day that changed the Trump presidency.

Allies, committed to deal and looking to preserve economic benefits to Tehran, risk U.S. sanctions

As new economic indicators attest to the economy’s strength, Democrats continue to insist that last year’s tax law is a big failure.

The American bishop preaching at the royal wedding will bring pizzazz—and prove the church is modernizing.

On this latest micro episode, the Substandard reflects on the passing of actress Margot Kidder and provides a ranking of Lois Lanes. But what exactly is that ranking based on?

Hosted by Charlie Sykes.

Also: Henry Kissinger on the dangers of AI, the myth of the mad genius, and more.

She is expected to get enough support in the full Senate to be confirmed.

Reading into "current understandings" of the document would allow our constitutional rights to be sacrificed to the gods of political correctness, political expediency, and political fear.

Testing, testing.

Democrats won’t find pickups as easy as they hoped.

But is it just sound and fury from Kim?

Senator Ron Johnson is unhappy about the amount of redactions appearing in documents sent to Congress by the FBI, and he’s doing something about it.

An unfortunate hallmark of our hyper-partisan age is the temptation to use the levers of government as a weapon against ideological foes. When one side loses an election, some conclude the next best thing is to cast a specter of misconduct and illegality over the winners or their allies. But the…

Tributes to cancer-stricken Arizona senator dominate Freedom Award dinner.

The psychologist and intellectual might be controversial, but he's not 'enabling Jew hatred.'

Carrots, sticks, and fashion diktats.

American joins Delta, United, and Alaska airlines in strictly regulating exotic animals on its flights.

Hosted by Charlie Sykes.

Also: William Trevor’s style, how to remember words, and more.

They’re not protests. They’re suicide-riots.

Paul Ryan's deadline fast approaches.

The organization that says it’s disinterested in its clients’ reproductive choices has almost no information on its website about adoption, for some reason.

Demand a purpose-driven space program.

MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Bryan Steil isn't intimidated by talk of a blue wave. To the contrary, he finds the challenge "invigorating."

The judge ruled that the circuit attorney could end up being called as a witness by the defense.

Hosted by Charlie Sykes.

Scott Shane had an interesting piece over the weekend in the New York Times on a topic I wrote about last year: What should journalists do when they receive “authentic and newsworthy” information from a foreign intelligence service? The question has become salient again because of Amy Chozick’s…

Also: Thomas Cole’s conservative conservationism, and more.

And Gina Haspel picks up another Democratic vote.

We like what he’s done. But the time has come.

Sometimes the First Amendment isn’t enough.

There's no escape.

It started with Larry Bird, the hick from French Lick. And now Brad Stevens has the team on the cusp of greatness once again.

For over a decade there has been a trade war between China and America, with America playing the role of passive victim. China has required American firms investing in its country to take on a Chinese partner and turn over their technology, which it agreed not to do when it joined the World Trade…

Hosted by Charlie Sykes.

No. It's a cruel conspiracy that shamelessly, and repeatedly, uses the death of an actual person.

A timely conversation with the former Israeli prime minister.

It's not that I agreed with their ideas. It's that they encouraged me to think.

Also: Roger Scruton’s Britain, William Trevor’s last stories, and more.

The president may be prematurely spiking the football.

We learned this week from the Harvard Business Review of a study alleging that mild intoxication can enhance “creative thinking.” “You often hear of great writers, artists, and composers who claim that alcohol enhanced their creativity, or people who say their ideas are better after a few drinks,”…

Once Utah high-schooler Keziah Daum tweeted several charming pictures of herself on prom night, it was just a matter of time until the grievance and outrage industry found out about it. When it did find out it dealt with her in the usual way. Miss Daum’s offense? Her outfit: a high-necked,…

From the London Daily Telegraph: Schools in Britain are removing their analogue clocks from examination halls because students can’t read them. “Teachers are now installing digital devices after pupils sitting their GCSE and A-level exams complained that they were struggling to read the correct…

The New York Post reports that Rosie O’Donnell, the former actress and talk show host who’s now best known for erratic behavior, has been breaking the law. It seems that she’s given a total of $5,400 over the legal limit to five different Democratic congressional candidates. Federal Election…

Every once in a while, as you work your dreary way through the Washington Post, a strange thing happens: You notice something! It can be refreshing but also, just as often, puzzling.

The shadow chancellor thinks Marxism is a force for change today.

What induces someone to run against Mitt Romney in Utah?

The ‘Chit Chat Live’ tour is light on politics and heavy on nostalgia.

The daring exploits and beguiling charm of the 20th century’s greatest travel writer

The right fell for the myth of Pajama Boy, and it disregards young adults at its own peril.

How fake news enters the mainstream.

Mark Hemingway, guitar addict.

President Trump cancels the Iran deal. Now comes the hard part.

It is far from clear that Mueller can compel Trump to testify before his grand jury.

Lessons from Aristotle for American self-government.

The Justice Department has won a small but significant victory in the campus free-speech case of Young America’s Foundation and Berkeley College Republicans v. Napolitano. Justice didn’t have to get involved in the case, but it did so and has helped the cause of free speech. Justice’s work in the…

President Obama’s legacy is rapidly vanishing. The decision by President Trump to withdraw from the nuclear deal with Iran is the biggest blow, but it’s only the latest. The elimination of the individual mandate and canceling the yearly bailout of insurance companies have left Obamacare in a…

Quality candidates made it through the Republican primaries this time.

Paul Ryan’s attempt at institutional reform resulted only in sectarian and ideological strife.

Early on the morning of May 10, Donald Trump tweeted a dramatic 32-second video celebrating the return home of three U.S. citizens held until last week in North Korea. It was a made-for-TV moment, and the slick video ensured that millions of Americans who didn’t stay up until 3 a.m. to watch it…

A memo circulating on Capitol Hill recommends several steps to deter Europe from potentially evading U.S. sanctions.

Hosted by Charlie Sykes.

Ben Shapiro's cover story in the magazine is getting all sorts of attention today and you should absolutely, definitely read it. It's a defining piece about why conservatives are losing young voters and what they need to do to win them back.

It’s quite possible.

Come for the usual hypocrisy, stay for the bracing honesty.

The vice president calls for an end to the special counsel investigation into Russian meddling.

Also: Hunter S. Thompson’s gonzo philosophy, Beethoven’s genius, and more.

With the delusion of U.S.-Iran harmony now over, what’s possible?

Michael Cohen's alleged misdeeds are lamer than collusion—and worse.

Meet the new swamp.

The former clandestine officer said she would not allow the CIA to engage in morally objectionable behavior under her watch.

And for good reason. Need more proof? Look at their actions, not just their internal polls.

Hosted by Charlie Sykes.

Or, Pyongyang, or Beijing, or Ulan Bataar…

What you should know about discharge petitions and the 'Queen of the Hill' rule.

Republicans are pushing a budget-cutting process Democrats say punishes the vulnerable. The real problem is that it's pointless.

Ehud Barak was Israel’s 10th prime minister. Before and after that, he was Israel’s minister of defense. He also served as minister of foreign affairs, and chief of the General Staff of Israel’s defense forces. Today Barak and I had a wide-ranging conversation in which we spoke about Iran, Lebanon…

Fake News. Here’s “What Happened.”

Also: Wikipedia’s most-cited article, and more.

The nominee to be the agency's first female director helped tear down an old-boys culture.

Trump's CIA pick to face a tough Senate hearing.

North Carolina Republican Robert Pittenger was upended on Tuesday.

Solar perplexus.

Hannah Arendt proves indispensable in understanding the Trump era.

Both Republicans and Democrats avoided elevating bad candidates in marquee races.

The Republican businessman prevails in a divided primary field to face Senator Joe Donnelly in November.

The White House released a proposal to "rescind" past funds on Tuesday, but speculation about such an idea had met with skepticism from some Senate Republicans.

President says U.S. will work with allies, who are staying in the deal, on a ‘lasting solution.’

Hosted by Charlie Sykes.

Also: Rodin and the art of ancient Greece, and more.

The president of Columbia University this week criticized Israel for expelling an American professor who endorses Palestinian terrorism. That’s the same Columbia University which has never apologized for expelling a student who protested the university’s friendly relationship with the Nazis in the…

Haspel has ringing endorsements from top former intelligence officials, but Democrats aren’t impressed.

A sober, quantitative analysis of a completely bonkers primary.

Why can’t Democratic grandees admit that somebody else is in charge?

The president will speak from the White House Tuesday afternoon to announce a decision that will affect the future of the Iran nuclear deal.

Stormy Daniels’s turn on Saturday Night Live is a microcosm of what’s wrong with comedy in the Trump era.

Charlie Kirk and Candace Owens of Turning Point USA, the influential conservative student group with more than 350 chapters on college and high school campuses nationally, canceled a speaking engagement hosted by students from Virginia Tech and Liberty University because of unforeseen travel…

President Trump has a history of making big—very, very major—promises. No surprise there. If there’s any professional class more prone to exaggerated promises than politicians, it’s real estate developers. Last year, the Upshot tried to compile a list of things Trump promised would happen “soon”…

The White House is expected to release a plan on Tuesday for Congress to cut spending that has already been approved, using a decades-old law giving the president certain budget authority.

It might be bad that the former secretary of state is meeting with foreign diplomats, but it shouldn't be illegal.

A new documentary illustrates how the transracial pretender is doubling down on delusion.

Hosted by Charlie Sykes.

Also: Feelings in the Age of Reason, and more.

Republicans are panicking as internal polls show Don Blankenship, a coal baron who spent time in jail for a mining disaster that killed 29 workers, surging into the lead in the West Virginia Senate GOP primary over Attorney General Patrick Morrissey and Congressman Evan Jenkins.

In Sierra Pacific v U.S., the court can undo an injustice committed by the DoJ.

The Washington Post reports Gina Haspel tried to withdraw on Friday.

Progressives are free to remit their savings to the U.S. Treasury.

Imagine that in a few days, or maybe a few years, the United States suffers an unprecedented ransomware attack.

Americans work hard for their money and expect their tax dollars to be spent wisely. Yet most Americans would be rightly upset to learn that Washington has allocated billions of dollars to be spent on autopilot for programs that are no longer necessary or even in use.

How much will the economy matter to voters in November?

An "outsider businessman" looks poised to knock off rising-star politicians in Indiana's GOP Senate primary. And it all has to do with Trump.

Just stop and think about it for a second. Seriously.

The concept of evil is hard to define with precision. Ethical arguments swing back and forth. Consensus is elusive. What seems right in one context appears wrong in another.

Stamping out the next great cure is one bad economic policy away.

Hosted by Charlie Sykes.

Plus: Will identity politics ruin the musical?

Gaming out Congress's role in continuing the investigation—if it comes to that.

Scott Gottlieb is Trump's "star" at the FDA who even has liberals singing his praises.

A yearly Government Accountability Office report on NASA’s major projects outlined on Tuesday several challenges that the space agency faces, including cost growth and launch schedule delays. But the report also addressed a more complex topic: NASA’s aging workforce.

America’s biggest partner in Africa faces a host of internal crises—and its approach to security only makes matters worse.

His latest novel is a romp through 17th-century New England.

A tip of The Scrapbook homburg to our friend Michael Ramirez, whose dazzling cartoons grace this section every week. Michael, a two-time Pulitzer winner, has added to his laurels by winning first place in the National Headliner Awards contest this year for editorial cartoons. We’re very proud of…

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The intuition and integrity of the influential physicist.

Last week, law enforcement officers in California arrested former cop Joseph James DeAngelo and charged him with committing a series of rapes and murders in California in the 1970s and 1980s known as the work of the “Golden State Killer.” The case has generated enormous attention beyond the…

Trump’s FDA chief hasn’t been much in the news—and that’s a good thing.

If Democrats love the United States and loathe Donald Trump as much as they claim—and we have no reason to doubt their sincerity in these regards—they ought to express delight and gratitude when the president appoints someone with none of his own odious qualities to a high-level position. Instead,…

On April 26, Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, threatened to organize protests against President Trump on Twitter: “If he comes to London, President Trump will experience an open and diverse city that has always chosen unity over division and hope over fear.” He’ll also see, the mayor boasted, that…

One hundred and fifty years ago this month, the Senate put the president on trial. Nobody emerged with his reputation enhanced.

Marvel’s funny, grand, tragic extravaganza.

The strategic savvy of an underestimated leader.

Kids used to goof off by playing video games instead of doing their homework. Today, Junior might want to hone those gaming skills—some colleges are now trying to recruit “athletes” in what are euphemistically called “e-sports.”

Big news from the publishing world. As print journals search for ways to adapt to evolving attitudes and new technologies, the New York Times Magazine has taken a bold step. The Times Magazine has been edited since 2014 by Jake Silverstein, formerly editor of the Texas Monthly, who upon joining the…

Victorino Matus chows down.

Break into journalism’s top tier with the Joseph Rago Memorial Fellowship, which provides nine months’ experience with the Wall Street Journal’s opinion section in New York, beginning this fall. Fellows receive pay of $5,000 per month through our good friends at the Fund for American Studies. To…

In Kentucky, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Arizona, and Colorado, teachers have refused to teach until lawmakers agree to raise their pay. Some have stormed statehouses; others have closed their schools and walked out. The mainstream press affords them lavish and highly sympathetic coverage, and…

Pius IX, the creation of modern Italy, and the transformation of the papacy.

Unreliable memories of a passionate affair and its aftermath.

A commoner speaks.

"Rachel Weisz is glowing. That’s not unusual. I’ve interviewed her before and seen her at movie and theater parties, and she’s always glowing. I know that if you ask the hazel-eyed, raven-haired 48-year-old how she gets more beautiful every year, defying Hollywood’s propensity to push actresses in…

The above-named Alfie Evans was the subject of a curious work of analysis in the Washington Post on April 28. The headline: “How Alfie Evans Became the Latest Weapon in the Conservative Attack on Universal Health Care.” The piece, by Ben Zdencanovic, purports to explain that conservatives have long…

Today’s church provides plenty of targets for the satirical publication.

The SPLC’s haphazard reporting.

Every week brings news of some fresh campus absurdity—tenured professors saying and doing idiotic things, students cursing and attacking speakers while college authorities do nothing about it, schools proudly denying students due process. When news circulated recently that Penn State has forbidden…

Missouri’s Eric Greitens puts his fellow Republicans in a terrible spot.

Far be it from me to say whether Donald Trump’s diplomacy on the Korean peninsula entitles him to join Al Gore, Jimmy Carter, and Barack Obama among our recent Nobel Peace Prize laureates. But Condoleezza Rice is surely correct to suggest that the Trump administration—including ex-secretary of…

So much of any week’s White House news falls under the category of palace intrigue that it’s easy to overlook the crucial revelations. This week’s report by NBC News that White House chief of staff John Kelly regularly calls Donald Trump an “idiot” and has cast himself as the country’s “savior”…

Not at all.

Seattle Mariners hurler James Paxton is what you would call a “monster” only in the statistical sense. First, he’s from Canada, which has a centuries-old ban on literal monsters, first proposed by Sir John Goodfellow in the 19th-century pamphlet “Apologies, Niceties, and Other Best Traits of Common…

He says he’s never been an anonymous source for a news story. Is that true?

The vehement sneering of Ezra Klein, and how it echoes Freudianism.

There is no proof of a quid pro quo with a government wary of "irritating the top American officials."

The Eurozone had a slow recovery from the Great Recession, and now that recovery is slowing down.

Hosted by Charlie Sykes.

Also: Evelyn Waugh's Put Out More Flags reconsidered, further details on Wolfe firing, and more.

New numbers speak to Nixon’s growing strength—but so does her campaign strategy.

I wasn’t going to write anything about Matt Schlapp this week but I think it’s never a good idea pass up the opportunity to use the word “oleaginous.”

Kasich is a more interesting as a third party candidate than he is as a primary challenger

The newest Trump legal team member makes a stunning admission.

Whatever he may say, Kim Jong-un wants the Americans gone.

Netanyahu’s address triggers heated rhetoric from opponents and detractors of the deal.

Today on the Daily Standard Podcast, senior writer Michael Warren and reporter Andrew Egger discuss the raid of the office of President Trump's personal doctor, the leak of special counsel Robert Mueller's questions for President Trump, and Vice President Pence's embrace of Arizona senate candidate…

Get ready for West Virginia's Republican primary

In this latest mega episode, the Substandard tackles Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War. JVL reminds his son there’s no crying in baseball. Vic loves a good buffet and Sonny ranks them.

Also: The beauty of math, how to curtail crony capitalism, and more.

Mike Pence’s callout to Joe Arpaio was shameless and the sign of a larger problem.

Credible sources suggest that he has.

The House speaker credits Trump administration's pressure campaign for progress with Kim regime.

ESG guidelines are no longer sacrosanct tools of coercion, department rules.

In Arizona and elsewhere, teachers aren’t getting rich—but are they as poor as the media claim?

Boomerang kids, in-house "gender experts," cigarette revisionism, and more.

Also, the president should think long and hard before sitting down with the special counsel.

Indeed he did.

Top executives average $25 million in compensation in 2017.

(And why Baker Mayfield was a great choice.)

Also: Medieval abbeys, the first recording of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” and more.

The D.C. Council member passed out copies of the Nation of Islam’s publication featuring 9/11 truther theories.

A record number of signal-callers goes top-10. Plus: Misleading studio flicks, and breaking down the world one decimal point at a time.

Heads, Iran wins. Tails, the U.S. Loses.

It turns out projecting 435 House Races using one polling number is tough

Scott Walker said Monday he would be willing to campaign alongside President Trump in the run-up to the 2018 midterm elections. The Wisconsin governor, who is running for a third term this fall, spoke at THE WEEKLY STANDARD’s Midwest Conservative Summit in Milwaukee and told my colleague Charlie…