I drove back from San Francisco not long ago to the rural San Joaquin Valley. It is only 200 miles. But in fact, it can feel like Odysseus trying to get back home to Ithaca from Troy. Walking to the car in San Francisco was an early morning obstacle course dotted with the occasional human … Continued
This has been a week of massive layoffs at the online magazines of our era, Huffington Post and BuzzFeed. Having evolved from mere opinion journals, many of their news desks are being removed, perhaps 1,000 of their employees have been pink-slipped, and a flood of self-pitying tweets, which include a combination of calls for sympathy, … Continued
How is the current partial government shutdown going to end? That’s the question echoing down the halls of empty congressional chambers, talk radio, and cable news shows. On Thursday, the Senate made a part of the outcome obvious. After retreating for the Christmas holiday, the Senate returned to work—for all of three minutes. The Senate … Continued
Washington is staring into the abyss of its third shutdown in two years. Say what you want about the political utility of a shutdown (and, believe me, the talking heads will spare no words), but one significant advantage they provide is to clarify the field of battle. Thanks to the ongoing shutdown theater, two things … Continued
A major reason that George H. W. Bush was elected in 1988 was his pledge, dramatically enunciated at the Republican National Convention in August of that year, not to raise taxes. Congress will push me to raise taxes, said Bush, and I’ll say “no”; they’ll push again, and I’ll say “no”; and they’ll push again … Continued
President Trump, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer met for a televised Oval Office meeting on Tuesday and it was arguably the greatest 20 minutes of television that Washington has ever seen. There was bickering, sighing, eye rolling, finger pointing, ridiculing, cross talk, and repeated pleas from Chuck and Nancy to take this “away from the … Continued
President Trump’s challenges are not really his economic policies and foreign affairs agendas. For the most part, they are supported by the American people and are resulting in prosperity at home and security abroad. The economy continues to deliver near-record-low unemployment, wage gains, strong growth and unmatched energy production. No nation can remain sovereign and … Continued
All summer long, Republicans have been touting their success in passing spending bills. The problem? There are no Republican policies in them. The bill the Senate passed earlier this week—which combines three spending bills into one package and extends government funding through December 7—fails to address any Republican policy priorities. It somehow manages to spend … Continued
Americans keep dividing into two hostile camps. It seems the country is back to 1860 on the eve of the Civil War, rather than in 2018, during the greatest age of affluence, leisure and freedom in the history of civilization. The ancient historian Thucydides called the civil discord that tore apart the fifth-century B.C. Greek … Continued
In a report from the Army’s Command and Staff College detailing a tactical success during the French Counterinsurgency in Algeria, we learn the following: In the spring of 1957, the French began construction of an elaborate barrier–the Morice Line–along 200 miles of the frontier with Tunisia. Anchored by the Mediterranean Sea in the north and … Continued
