From the Right
/Politics
Quiet Quitting: Joe Biden's Disappearing Presidency
WASHINGTON -- The Wall Street Journal ran a story Thursday under the banner "How the White House Functioned With a Diminished Biden in Charge." Tuesday's New York Times story "A Weary Biden Heads For the Exit" told a similar tale, as departing staffers have starting spilling the beans.
If this were a game of "Tell me something I didn't know,"...Read more
It Feels Like Trump Already Is President
WASHINGTON -- President-elect Donald Trump said so many things on the campaign trail that critics warned would hurt him in November. Yet he won the popular vote.
Now, a little more than a month before Trump takes the oath of office, President Joe Biden is limiting his public appearances to such an extent that it feels like Trump already is ...Read more
Biden Pardons 1,500 on His Way Out Oval Office Door
WASHINGTON -- When President Joe Biden issued an unconditional pardon for his son Hunter Biden earlier this month, he took another step in his long walk to placing his presidency on the bottom 10% list.
The unusual blanket pardon covered any and all crimes the president's son, who had been found guilty on federal gun charges and had pleaded ...Read more
New York Jury Acquits Penny
WASHINGTON -- It's no surprise that a jury of his peers acquitted Daniel Penny, 26, Monday on a charge of criminally negligent homicide that stemmed from a May 1, 2023, encounter with fellow New York subway passenger Jordan Neely. Neely reportedly had been yelling that he was going to kill people on the train, that he was willing to go to jail...Read more
Joe Biden's COVID Nation
WASHINGTON -- "Washington is still operating as if it's March 2020. The headquarters of most agencies remain largely abandoned," Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, wrote in a report released Thursday that paints a dystopian picture of the federal workforce inside the vaunted beltway.
It's been nearly five years since COVID knocked on America's door. ...Read more
Smear the Conservative. Episode 2761, Pete Hegseth
WASHINGTON -- President-elect Donald Trump's pick to serve as secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, is in the hot seat.
I fear Hegseth, a combat veteran and "Fox & Friends" weekend anchor, is not up to the job. I'd rather see someone like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who successfully has run the Sunshine State.
But the campaign to slime Hegseth ...Read more
Joe Biden Flips, Pardons Son Hunter. No One Is Surprised
WASHINGTON -- I am glad President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter. I don't think it would be good for the country if a president's son were put behind bars for a nonviolent crime.
Besides, I never believed Biden when he said he wouldn't pardon his son. I don't take the president at his word. In 2019, Biden said he had "never spoken" to ...Read more
Transgender Activists Look in the Mirror and See a Movement That Helped Defeat Kamala Harris
WASHINGTON -- There's been a change in Washington since Donald Trump won the election. Democrats have begun to wonder about some of their more extreme messages.
The New York Times reported Tuesday on regrets among transgender activists who now question the movement's confrontational approach -- as they realize their overboard rhetoric helped ...Read more
Don't Be a Turkey on Thanksgiving
WASHINGTON -- "My Mom Voted for Trump. Can We Let It Go?" Read the headline for The New York Times' "The Ethicist" piece Friday.
The family dynamic no doubt is familiar to New York Times readers -- the writer's wife's family members are committed Trump haters, except his mother voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020.
The writer isn't sure if his ...Read more
Sanctuary Cities, Venezuelan Gangs and Suicidal Empathy
WASHINGTON -- If you think of Joe Biden as a nice old man who was kicked to the curb, consider his administration's jaw-dropping efforts to sabotage Donald Trump.
The president-elect plans to actually enforce federal immigration law starting Jan. 20, when Trump takes the oath of office. As the New York Post reported Thursday, Team Biden "is ...Read more
Trump Picks His Cabinet, Breaks China
WASHINGTON -- Mike Waltz, Donald Trump's choice to serve as his national security adviser, is a brilliant pick. A decorated combat veteran who boasts that his wife served more combat tours than he did, Waltz is the first Green Beret to be elected to Congress.
Rep. Waltz, R-Fla., has worked in the Pentagon and at the White House, so he knows ...Read more
The Transition That Turned Into a Loss
WASHINGTON -- Things got a little testy in the White House briefing room Thursday. It was the first daily briefing since Vice President Kamala Harris lost the presidential election, and reporters wanted to know if President Joe Biden takes responsibility for his starring role in Donald Trump's big win on Nov. 5.
The short answer: No.
Let's ...Read more
Trump Wins. Harris Loses, as Does the DC Establishment
WASHINGTON -- What happened?
In June, President Joe Biden fumbled through his one debate with Donald Trump. Then Biden stopped running for reelection and handed the reins to his vice president without a single primary vote in her favor.
Kamala Harris showed that she didn't have the necessary spine when she chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be...Read more
Kamala Harris, You're Not in California Anymore
WASHINGTON -- Over the many years when I wrote a column for the San Francisco Chronicle, political insiders had their eye on one local official who, they figured, could be president someday. That person was Gavin Newsom.
It was not Kamala Harris.
Because Newsom, San Francisco's former mayor, had his eye on the governor's mansion, Harris ...Read more
2 Media Giants, No Endorsement
WASHINGTON -- Will Lewis, publisher of The Washington Post, announced Friday that the newspaper will not make an endorsement in the 2024 presidential election.
The WaPo nonendorsement came on the heels of news that the Los Angeles Times would not endorse in the race for the White House.
Two blue-city newspapers owned by two billionaires -- ...Read more
There's a 2024 Angle to Menendez Brothers Saga
WASHINGTON -- Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon is the sort of progressive prosecutor who thinks it is his job to curb mass incarceration. Last week, the L.A. D.A. announced he is reviewing the sentencing of Lyle and Erik Menendez, who were convicted for the savage shotgun killing of their parents in 1989 and sentenced to life...Read more
Don't Interrupt Kamala Harris With Questions
WASHINGTON -- In the middle of Kamala Harris' Fox News interview Wednesday night, anchor Bret Baier brought up the vice president's failure to articulate how she would govern differently from President Joe Biden during previous appearances on "The View" and "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert." Both times, Harris was asked how she would ...Read more
Why I'm Voting for Donald Trump
WASHINGTON -- Joe Biden is a much better person than Donald Trump. But that didn't keep Biden's poll numbers from tanking -- and ultimately driving him off the 2024 campaign trail.
Kamala Harris' performance as vice president? I don't recall ever hearing that Harris was a great U.S. senator or great California attorney general or great San ...Read more
Who Wants to Increase the National Debt? Both Trump and Harris
WASHINGTON -- It's been a little over a week since the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget sent a letter to Kamala Harris and Donald Trump suggesting they get serious about "skyrocketing" national debt, which now exceeds $35 trillion.
Washington is spending $1.8 trillion more than it collects annually.
"Our publicly held debt will ...Read more
CBS Gave Itself 2 Black Eyes
WASHINGTON -- Mark Memmott, senior director of standards and practices at CBS News, advised his team not to refer to Jerusalem "as being in Israel," The Free Press reported Wednesday.
The warning was included in an email sent to network news staff in late August that directed employees to be "careful with some terms when we talk or write ...Read more