ArcaMax

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

The Dow plunged 450 points on the opening bell May 6 in response to this presidential tweet: "The Trade Deal with China continues, but too slowly, as they attempt to renegotiate. No! The 10% will go up to 25% on Friday." Economists eye this brinkmanship fearfully. Bank of America/Merrill Lynch's global research team, among many others, has ...Read more

Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., tweeted in response to anti-abortion legislation passed by the Alabama legislature: "I refuse to believe that these Republican men represent the views of most Alabamians. Their action is both unconstitutional and shameful. The people of Alabama deserve to be on the #rightsideofhistory -- not the side of extremists. Women...Read more

Many Democratic voters are worried that a female candidate cannot win the presidency in 2020. "I don't think they're strong enough to carry it for themselves," an Iowa voter told The Washington Post. Amber Phillips reports that "female politicians are held by voters to a much higher standard than men," and points to polls showing that today's ...Read more

Every Republican remembers with disgust the video of Bill Clinton glowering into the camera and declaring: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky. I never told anybody to lie, not a single time; never. These allegations are false."

It's worth revisiting why that statement was so infuriating. It wasn't because we -- well...Read more

The conservative media world, along with all but a few Republican members of Congress, are in the process of handing Vladimir Putin his greatest victory yet. They are ignoring the copious evidence in the Mueller report that Russia interfered in our election -- and continues to do so. Pace Jared Kushner, it was a whole lot more sinister than a "...Read more