ArcaMax

President Donald Trump has opined that Jewish Americans who vote for Democrats -- as 79% did in the 2018 midterms -- are demonstrating "either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty." At first, he didn't say to whom. An eager Trump explainer, Matt Brooks of the Republican Jewish Coalition, leapt to clarify. The president wasn't accusing ...Read more

The protests in Hong Kong are heartbreaking to witness. I recall the gloom that accompanied the handover of sovereignty ceremony in 1997. Prince Charles was there. So was Tony Blair. Only eight years had passed since the communist Chinese government had mowed down an estimated 10,000 democracy demonstrators in and around Tiananmen Square. And ...Read more

It seems necessary to begin every discussion in America today with a reminder to show a little charity. If you oppose gun control, don't assume that those proposing restrictions on gun purchases are merely using the latest atrocity as an excuse for confiscation. Likewise, gun opponents should rid themselves of the notion that, but for the evil ...Read more

These "debates" are to serious policy discussions as a kazoo is to an orchestra. You can say a kazoo is an instrument, and you can say that these truncated thoughts are proposals, but you'll invite smirks.

This is not a slam on Democrats. The Republican "debates" in 2016 were no better. When a stage is sardined with candidates, there is no ...Read more

On a high wall overlooking the central court of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., the words of novelist James Baldwin are etched in stone: "The great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it within us, are unconsciously controlled by it ... History is literally present in all that we do...Read more

The Claremont Institute was part of the flowering of intellectual conservatism that graced America in the 1970s and '80s. Founded by students of Lincoln scholar Harry Jaffa, the California think tank was devoted to teaching "the principles of the American Founding to the future thinkers and statesmen of America." Through their various programs, ...Read more

Sen. Kamala Harris demonstrated rare skill during the debate -- managing to shiv Joe Biden and look nice doing it. By adopting the language of "hurt" instead of anger, she finessed the problem that usually attends launching an unprovoked attack: that it may harm the perpetrator as much as the target -- think Chris Christie and Marco Rubio in ...Read more

With metronomic regularity, some well-motivated billionaire announces that he wishes the government would increase his taxes. The latest entrant is Eli Broad. Writing in The New York Times, Broad praises private philanthropy and the capitalist system "that's yielded some of the greatest gains in prosperity and innovation in human history." Still...Read more

Senator Elizabeth Warren is being lauded as the serious candidate in the race. Her motto, "I have a plan for that," is accepted as proof that she is thoughtful and conscientious. That's too generous.

One should expect a grown-up to evaluate costs and benefits, to understand tradeoffs, and to pay for what they propose. By that standard, Warren's...Read more

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who, like nearly everyone, is running for president, presides over the largest and most media-centric city in America. His national name recognition is respectable, but his support is undetectable. Literally. He's at 0%, lagging behind such Democratic titans as Tim Ryan, Andrew Yang and John Delaney -- all of whom ...Read more

On the morning of April 28, 1986, an employee of the Forsmark nuclear power plant an hour north of Stockholm was returning from a restroom break when his shoes set off the radiation alarm. Soon klaxons were sounding everywhere. Technicians scoured the plant. No leak. After performing chemical and other analysis, they determined that the ...Read more

With several septuagenarians competing for the presidency, the ghost of the 1990s looms over the 2020 race. Joe Biden has faced criticism for his sponsorship of the 1994 crime bill. President Donald Trump tweeted, "Anyone associated with the 1994 Crime Bill will not have a chance of being elected."

Here's some context. Violent crime rates in ...Read more