Commentary

COMMENTARY

In the U.K. and U.S. alike, the conservative movement is falling apart before our eyes

BY: - November 20, 2023

LONDON — The British government now has a Minister for Common Sense. Esther McVey, a former talking head on GB News (a kind of low-rent Fox), has been installed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to “tackle the scourge of wokery.” She wants to stop diversity training, keep combustion engines around forever (to hell with the […]

COMMENTARY
Donald Trump pointing with his mouth open in front of several American flags

Casualties of the culture wars

BY: - November 18, 2023

I don’t recognize North Carolina today. It is not the state I’ve loved and lived in all my life. We’ve changed from being “where the weak grow strong, and the strong grow great” to a state where we select the ones we choose to hate. We are casualties of the culture war, both here and […]

COMMENTARY
Speaker Mike Johnson

Weekend humor from Celia Rivenbark: New House Speaker is quietly frightening

BY: - November 18, 2023

With the recent death of Matthew Perry, I’m picturing how his always sarcastic “Friends” character, Chandler Bing, might have viewed new Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. “Could he BE any worse for the country?” Nope, Chandler, he could not. Mike Johnson looks bookishly harmless for sure. He’s got the kind of forgettable appearance that […]

COMMENTARY

It’s the guns that are to blame

BY: - November 17, 2023

COMMENTARY
Donald and Melania Trump in front of the White House Christmas Tree

Bookman: Unholy night – A Trump White House Christmas coup caper

BY: - November 16, 2023

It was a Christmas party at the Trump White House, and despite the festive decorations, the trees and the wreaths and the red-and-green bunting, the mood must have been grim. A few days earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court had firmly rejected a lawsuit filed by the state of Texas seeking the overthrow of election results […]

COMMENTARY
a distressed person sits in shadow on the floor of a room

Conservative hypocrisy on the rights of parents hits a new low

BY: - November 14, 2023

There are a lot of excellent reasons to oppose laws that require parental approval when young women under the age of 18 seek abortion care. Several years ago, I had the opportunity to meet an Indiana couple who lost their teenage daughter to such a law. Terrified of admitting her pregnancy to her parents as […]

COMMENTARY

Resigned to the facts

BY: - November 13, 2023