Good morning. It’s Friday, August 24, 2018. On this date in 1979, two Las Vegas-based defense lawyers filed an emergency application for a stay of execution in the case of a Western outlaw and gunsel named Jesse Walter Bishop. “Stay of execution” is legal jargon, but in this case it was literal language: The state of Nevada intended to send […]

Ranking the 2020 Democratic Candidates by Media Coverage. Kalev Leetaru compares the number of mentions on TV news and online. John Durham Must Investigate “Unmasking.” Gene Schaerr urges the prosecutor appointed to examine how the FBI came to investigate suspected Russia-Trump collusion to focus on surveillance abuses under both Republican and Democratic administrations. Why the GOP Should Pay Attention to Gen Z. Hannah Scherlacher Blair […]

Good morning, it’s Thursday, Aug. 22, 2019. Seven years ago today, as the presidential election contest between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney entered the home stretch, Vice President Joe Biden spoke at three events in Detroit. Biden was in the news that week because of an intemperate assertion that Republicans desired to put African Americans “back in chains.” Such rhetorical […]

Trump Unmasks the Media’s Liberal Advocacy. Steve Cortes writes that the forces of anti-conservative bias have met their match in President Trump. “Ball of Collusion”: All Obama’s Anti-Trump Loyalists. RealClearInvestigations spotlights Andrew McCarthy’s new book with an excerpt detailing the Obama administration’s response to Trump’s surprising election. Is It Possible the Yield Curve’s “Inversion” Isn’t Man-Made? Amid recession worries, RealClearMarkets editor John […]

Good morning, it’s Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2019. Race and racism are back in the news — more or less continuously, it seems — but has the topic ever not been part of our culture and national discourse? I bring this up because on this date 62 years ago, “West Side Story” appeared on stage for the first time. The premiere […]

Good morning. It’s Monday, August 20, 2018. On this date in 1804, a U.S. Army sergeant in his early 20s named Charles Floyd died and was buried on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River in present-day Sioux City, Iowa. The first U.S. military man to give his life in service to his country west of the Mississippi, Floyd was laid […]

Good morning, it’s Monday, Aug. 19, 2019. Bill Clinton turns 73 today. That’s right, the “Comeback Kid” is no kid anymore. Neither is George W. Bush, also born in the summer of 1946. Nor Donald Trump, who arrived in mid-June that year. All three of these U.S. presidents were in the first crop of the Baby Boom generation. Hillary Clinton, […]

Good morning. It’s Thursday, August 9, 2018. On this date in 1791, an aspiring American author was putting the final touches on a book that would introduce him to the world as a man of science — and much more. But the budding writer would need help getting his work into print, and so he sent the manuscript — an […]

Good morning, it’s Monday, August 5, 2019. Seven years ago today, regular Sunday activities were getting started at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, located in the normally peaceful Milwaukee suburb of Oak Creek. Although worship services weren’t set to begin until 11:30 a.m., some congregants were already gathered in the main temple. In the basement kitchen, women were preparing roti […]

Good morning, it’s Friday, August 3, 2018. On this date in 1981, America’s 13,000 air traffic controllers went on strike. Four hours later, Ronald Reagan walked into the Rose Garden flanked by Attorney General William French Smith and Secretary of Transportation Drew Lewis to announce that any controller who did not return to work in 48 hours would be fired. […]

Good morning, it’s July 27, 2019. Fifty one years ago today, Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey delivered a stump speech at the state Democratic Party convention in Utah. Although not particularly newsworthy, even at the time, reading it half a century later is instructive for reasons I’ll discuss in a moment. But to offer a teaser, I spotted rhetorical precursors […]

Good morning, it’s July 25, 2019. On this date in 1943, the United States Navy launched a new ship, a destroyer escort named USS Harmon. The warship was the first in the nation’s fleet to be named after an African-American. His name was Leonard Roy Harmon, a native of Cuero, Texas. Harmon enlisted in the Navy in June of 1939, […]

Good morning, it’s July 23, 2019. One hundred one years ago today, a letter from a U.S. Army captain stationed in France began making its way to his girlfriend in Missouri. The officer’s name was Capt. O’Truman — at least that’s what his military adjutant half-jokingly said it ought to be, since he was the battery commander in an artillery […]

Good morning, it’s Thursday, July 18, 2019. On this date 79 years ago, Franklin Delano Roosevelt accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination for the third time. His reelection wasn’t assured, and even running for a third term was an extraordinary break with American history. But the times, as one beloved Democrat reminded Americans, were not ordinary. The United States was in […]

Backlash Ensues After RNC’s WinRed Fundraising Hammer Falls. Susan Crabtree explores the controversy that’s erupted since the GOP mandated a new way for candidates and state parties to raise small-dollar donations. Klobuchar Would Only Reveal Judges List After Taking Office. Susan has this story too. The Ways and Wages of Stefan Halper. The academic who may have helped the FBI […]

Good morning, it’s Tuesday, July 16, 2019. Fifty years ago today, at 9:32 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, Apollo 11 was launched from Cape Canaveral atop a 34-story Saturn V rocket. The destination for Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and Michael Collins was, as the entire world knew, the moon. If NASA could return the astronauts safely to Earth, it would be […]

Good morning, it’s Thursday, July 11, 2019. Twelve years ago today, a great woman died of natural causes at age 94. Although christened Claudia Alta Taylor, we knew her — the whole world knew her — as “Lady Bird.” Lady Bird Johnson served as first lady of the United States from November 1963 until January 1969 before returning home to Texas […]

Failed “Avenger”: Swalwell Is First to Drop Out of 2020 Race. Phil Wegmann has the story. Five Facts: Humanitarian Relief for the Border Crisis. In RealClearPolicy, No Labels provides this overview of the $4.6 billion bill passed by Congress. Kushner’s Peace Plan: A Car Without an Engine. In RealClearWorld, Charles Ries writes that the White House proposal did not mention the political context or address the […]

Good morning, it’s Tuesday, July 9, 2019. Tonight in Cleveland, Major League Baseball showcases its luminaries in its annual All-Star Game. Last year’s festivities were held in the nation’s capital, where Washington Nationals slugger Bryce Harper won the Home Run Derby in dramatic fashion. His feat enticed Nats fans into hoping that Bryce would stay in the town named after […]

Good morning, it’s Monday, July 8, 2019. Sixty years ago today, a small continent of American soldiers anticipated an evening of R&R at a base camp in the town of Bien Hoa. Located 20 miles north of Saigon, the military outpost housed the South Vietnamese 7th Infantry Division as well as an eight-man detail of the little-known U.S. Military Assistance […]