September 24, 2018
- The Elephant in the Sacristy, Revisited — Mary Eberstadt
- Swedish Message — Christopher Caldwell
This issue examined the growing crisis within the Catholic Church, with Jonathan V. Last's cover story analyzing the resistance to Pope Francis among American bishops, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, and the Theodore McCarrick scandal. Mary Eberstadt contributed a companion piece on Catholic scandals past and present, while Christopher Caldwell assessed the anti-immigration nationalist movement in Sweden. The issue also featured pieces on John Bolton's stance on the International Criminal Court, the situation in Syria, and H.L. Mencken's enduring relevance.
Articles in the Archive — 24
This Will See Me Out
When the future becomes more finite.
A Narrow Victory for Sweden's Establishment
The anti-immigration nationalists come up short.
The Elephant in the Sacristy, Revisited
Catholic scandals past and present
The Catholic Church Is Breaking Apart. Here’s Why.
Pope Francis, Cardinal Wuerl, Theodore McCarrick, and the crisis of a church divided.
Stop Calling Russia a 'Competitor'
To no one’s surprise, Russia is the main suspect in the mysterious attacks on U.S. diplomatic personnel in Cuba. Since 2016, 26 people at our embassy in Havana have experienced sudden and severe cognitive difficulties, and intelligence officials believe it’s due to attacks engineered by agents of…
The Democratic Crack-Up
It’s a party of scoundrels and ideologues.
Republicans Can Win—But Only When They Try
Aggression in the pursuit of policy victories is no vice.
The Rise of the ‘Senior Officials’ and the Decline of the Presidency
The highest office in the land has become deeply bureaucratized.
Was Christopher Steele Disseminating Russian Disinformation to the State Department?
When Christopher Steele was hired to compile his “dossier” on Donald Trump in 2016, he already had an extensive history of presenting private intelligence analysis to U.S. policymakers. The former British spy had for years been funneling reports on Russia and Ukraine to senior State Department…
Democrats Behaving Badly
Woke emotionalism is not a substitute for sober policy debate.
An Equal Opportunity Offender
Mencken mirrors our own complexities.
'Late Capitalism' Has Become a Polemic. That's Ridiculous.
A guide for the perplexed.
The Vultures are Circling in Syria
The vultures are circling in Syria.
The Problem With Legal Euthanasia and Organ Donation
Keep the ‘dead donor rule.’
John Bolton is Right About the International Criminal Court.
The Trump administration is often accused of swinging wildly—and sometimes with reason. But the speech delivered by national security adviser John Bolton on September 10 was very well aimed. It was a sustained warning to the officials of the International Criminal Court (ICC), delivered at…
American Animals: The Ol’ College Heist
Grant Wishard on why four young men risked prison to steal rare books from a Kentucky university library.
The Kafka Papers
Christoph Irmscher reviews Benjamin Balint’s book on the international legal battle over the fate of Kafka’s manuscripts.
Operation Finale: Evil in the Dock
John Podhoretz on retelling for a new generation the story of Eichmann’s capture and trial.
Fearand Quoting in Trump’s White House
Michael Warren reviews Bob Woodward’s book about life in Trump World
He Was Honest, Eventually
Last week, Barack Obama finally did what Democratic activists had been desperately hoping he would do—he reproached his successor ahead of the midterm election. It was a long, discursive oration, as Obama’s orations usually are, and it contained lots of impromptu gibes and derisive harrumphs that…
The Gipper and the Pictures
In our latter years The Scrapbook has become rather a sucker for books about Ronald Reagan. We own a couple of shelves of them and admit to enjoying even the mediocre ones, so highly do we esteem the modern era’s greatest president.
Shut Up, She Explained
The spectacle of protesters jumping out of their chairs at regular intervals to shout incoherent slogans during the Brett Kavanaugh hearings did not lend itself to the view that those who oppose the judge’s confirmation are especially clearheaded in their beliefs. Their antics, if we may speak…
Nota Bene
Antiquarian-minded visitors to Georgetown may have heard of the Halcyon House, a mansion on Prospect Street. The majestic Federal-style structure was built in the 1780s by Benjamin Stoddert, the first secretary of the Navy, and dramatically expanded in the 1900s by Albert Clemens, the nephew of…
Hate Crime and Punishment
The Scrapbook has never been to South Yorkshire, England, but we are eager to go. The place is evidently so free of crime that the police have nothing to do but make sure people aren’t jerks to each other. The South Yorkshire Police recently advised residents on the subject of “hate crimes”: “In…