When Mike Dukakis was asked by CNN’s blunt Bernard Shaw during the 1988 presidential debates whether he would support the death penalty if his wife, Kitty, had been raped and murdered, the Massachusetts governor famously responded, “No, I don’t, Bernard, and I think you know that I’ve opposed the death … Read More

Sometimes it is difficult to explain why freedom of speech is so important. Why should someone say something that might cause offense or upset? Surely it is better to restrict dangerous words in the same way you would restrict dangerous behavior? The problem with this stance is severalfold. Once you start proscribing objectionable words or

NRPLUS MEMBER ARTICLE P resident-elect Joe Biden has pledged to reverse the immigration policies implemented by the Trump administration. His campaign site’s immigration page says he will “take urgent action to undo Trump’s damage and reclaim America’s values.” As Rich Lowry has written, “Biden will move on all fronts to loosen immigration controls.” Despite what

When Mike Dukakis was asked by CNN’s blunt Bernard Shaw during the 1988 presidential debates whether he would support the death penalty if his wife, Kitty, had been raped and murdered, the Massachusetts governor famously responded, “No, I don’t, Bernard, and I think you know that I’ve opposed the death … Read More

Former CIA director John Brennan was once hailed as “Obama’s conscience,” because Brennan personally made the solemn judgments about who lived or died in the expansion of our drone-warfare program. In the years since, Brennan has revealed himself as a voluble lunatic personality on Twitter. I try not to think about men such as Brennan

President Donald Trump listens with Vice President Mike Pence as Attorney General William Barr addresses the coronavirus task force daily briefing at the White House, March 23, 2020. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) Attorney General William Barr will leave his post shortly before Christmas, President Donald Trump announced Monday. “Just had a very nice meeting with Attorney General

Dr. Michelle Chester from Northwell Health prepares to administer a Pfizer coronavirus disease vaccine at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, N.Y., December 14, 2020. (Brendan Mcdermid/Reuters) Mainstream journalists celebrated news of the country’s first COVID-19 vaccinations on Monday after claiming for months that the Trump administration’s push to deliver a vaccine

If there is one lesson conservatives claim to have learned from the last few election cycles, it is that the Democrats are the party of elites. In both 2016 and 2020, President Trump performed well among voters, especially non-Hispanic white voters, without a college degree. This has led to some speculation that … Read More

NRPLUS MEMBER ARTICLE I t’s hard to change the Constitution. But it’s not so hard to get legal experts to talk about how they want to change the Constitution. So in a fun exercise, the National Constitution Center (NCC) recently asked teams of heavy-hitting conservative, liberal, and libertarian scholars to rewrite the document however they

Oracle Corporation’s headquarters in Redwood City, Calif., in 2010. (Robert Galbraith/Reuters) Legions of entrepreneurs are fleeing the Golden State’s high taxes and suffocating regulations. With the news that yet another Silicon Valley software innovator, Oracle, is moving its headquarters and most of its employees to Texas, cynics are declaring that California should adopt a new

NRPLUS MEMBER ARTICLE T he most telling aspect of the Wisconsin federal district court’s rejection of another Trump campaign lawsuit on Saturday is so obvious it is easy to miss. And no, it is not that the rejecting was done by a Trump-appointed judge, Brett H. Ludwig, or that it was done on the merits.

NRPLUS MEMBER ARTICLE W ouldn’t you like to fight back tyranny by drinking wine? Not just any kind of wine — Australian wine. The Australian wine industry is currently suffering. China’s recently imposed tariffs on Australian wine imports range from 107 percent to more than 200 percent. Australia used to export US$1 billion worth of

(Pixabay) 1971—The initial Supreme Court oral argument in Roe v. Wade takes place. The case ends up being carried over to the next term and re-argued in October 1972. In the meantime, the Court will issue its ruling in Eisenstadt v. Baird, which extends a right to contraception to unmarried persons. (See This Day for

A woman wearing a face mask walks in Times Square following the coronavirus outbreak in New York City, March 16, 2020. (Carlo Allegri/Reuters) Earlier this week, the New York Times wrote an article with the headline, “Here’s Why Vaccinated People Still Need to Wear a Mask.” The short explanation is that the vaccines help gear

An email in response to my column from earlier this week: As a Trump-[supporting] psycho whose fact-challenged political editorials I’ve tried to ignore, I would have expected you to understand that innovation only happens when innovators are compensated. Take profits out of a private industry? Seriously? Is this happening with liquor, chocolate, or opiate pills?

The New England Journal of Medicine continues its hard swing to the woke left. Now, it has published an advocacy article that would remove sex designation as an identifiable factor on birth certificates. From, “Failed Assignments: Rethinking Sex Designations on Birth Certificates”: Assigning sex at birth also doesn’t capture the diversity of people’s experiences. About

Joe Biden with his son Hunter as they walk down Pennsylvania Avenue, January 20, 2009. (Carlos Barria/Reuters) Hunter Biden requested keys for “office mates” Joe Biden and an “emissary” for a Chinese firm run by a business associate of Hunter, according to an email reported by the Daily Caller. Joe Biden has repeatedly denied speaking

It drives me nuts when subject-matter experts lapse into the jargon of their fields, so I’m doubly annoyed when I contribute to this menace. Over the past couple of days, discussing news of Hunter Biden’s announcement that he’s under federal investigation, I casually described criminal probes as being … Read More

U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., 2018 (Erin Schaff/Reuters) The Supreme Court on Friday evening rejected a suit brought by the state of Texas seeking to challenge election results in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Georgia. The Court wrote in an order that the lawsuit was denied for “lack of standing under Article III of

At NR, we’ve been writing and internally noodling over Texas’s attempt to get Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election overturned by suing four other states – see, e.g., our editorial, and postings by Jim, John, Kevin, Robert, and me on the homepage. One issue that we haven’t hit yet, though … Read More

NRPLUS MEMBER ARTICLE ‘T his is the big one.” That is how President Trump on Wednesday described Texas attorney general Ken Paxton’s Hail Mary lawsuit against four states that have certified Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election. The president was tweeting an announcement that he would be “INTERVENING” in the suit.

House minority leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., December 10, 2020. (Erin Scott/Reuters) House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) has added his name to an amicus brief requesting the Supreme Court to allow the state of Texas to contest election results in Michigan, Pennsylvania,

(LIgorko/Getty Images) Congressman Tom Suozzi (D., N.Y.) took to Twitter yesterday to do what Democrats representing New York and California do best: Whine about the 2017 tax bill’s capping of the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction at $10,000. In a since-deleted thread, here’s what Suozzi had to say: In New York, a married teacher

Democratic 2020 presidential nominee Joe Biden, his son Hunter and his wife Jill celebrate onstage at his election rally in Wilmington, Del., November 7, 2020. (Jim Bourg/Reuters) Attorney General William Barr has known about investigations into Hunter Biden’s business and financial dealings since at least spring, but tried to conceal the investigations from the public

Joe Biden with his son Hunter as they walk down Pennsylvania Avenue, January 20, 2009. (Carlos Barria/Reuters) A rare public statement from Hunter Biden confirmed Wednesday night that he is the subject of a federal investigation into his “tax affairs.” The revelation sparked a number of reports from the mainstream press — which had mostly

Hunter Biden speaks during the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee, Wis., August 20, 2020. (DNC/Reuters) The Justice Department faces unique challenges in conducting an investigation of the incoming president’s son. It drives me nuts when subject-matter experts lapse into the jargon of their fields, so I’m doubly annoyed when I contribute to this menace. Over

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, accompanied by his wife Pamela Northam makes an announcement during a news conference Richmond, Va., February 2, 2019. (File photo: Jay Paul/Reuters) Virginia Governor Ralph Northam announced new coronavirus restrictions on Thursday and offered an exhortation to Virginians of faith to practice health precautions when attending church services, assuring them that

New York governor Andrew Cuomo delivers remarks on COVID-19 in Manhattan, N.Y., November 15, 2020. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters) Emmy award-winning New York governor Andrew Cuomo announced last night that he will be adding the Edward M. Kennedy Institute Award for Inspired Leadership to his trophy case. That Cuomo has been a caustic, ineffective, self-interested, and all-around

President-elect Joe Biden speaks to reporters following an online meeting with members of the National Governors Association (NGA) executive committee in Wilmington, Del., November 19, 2020. (Tom Brenner/Reuters) For a long time, it has been more or less normal for members of Congress to employ their children in their congressional offices, campaign committees, and political

A police officer stands guard as officers face protesters after the death of George Floyd, in St. Paul, Minn., May 28, 2020. (Adam Bettcher/Reuters) The Minneapolis City Council on Thursday passed a budget that shifts roughly $8 million from the Police Department to other services, though it maintains plans to hire more officers in future