The following interview with Rev. John A. Hardon, S.J., by Anita Crane, appeared in the Dec. 1997 edition of Crisis Magazine. Father Hardon died on Dec. 30, 2000, and the cause for his canonization has already been introduced. John Hardon, S.J., has fought the good fight for some time. He has published more than … Read more
If Newt Gingrich were being nominated for sainthood, many of us would vote very differently from the way we would vote if he were being nominated for a political office. What the media call Gingrich’s “baggage” concerns largely his personal life and the fact that he made a lot of money running a consulting … Read more
The media elite and the Republican ruling class are remarkably similar in their political projection for the coming year. Journalists spent the entire year savaging every fast-rising challenger to Mitt Romney. The GOPs power pundits became equally agitated at the sniff of a conservative anywhere near the top of the GOP pack. It’s the … Read more
Time magazine didn’t mind ruffling feathers in religious America with a cover this summer that asked “Is Hell Dead?” Never mind that America is overwhelmingly Christian. Then Time found only one letter worth plucking out to feature in large, bold type from a man in Dallas: “Hell is easy to define. It would be … Read more
From the breaking news, one might think that with a woman who claims she had a 13-year affair with presidential candidate Herman Cain, someone is being seriously exposed as a hypocrite. That would be the press. The media can’t deny they continue to display a lousy double standard. For Republican candidates, scandalous news is … Read more
I have to admit that it really didn’t impress me very favorably the first time I read it: “Silence and Word: Path of Evangelization”—that will be the theme of next May’s World Day for Social Communications, the Vatican announcement said. That’s really strange, I thought. After all, even as it stands World Communications Day isn’t … Read more
The mainstream news media is filled with awe that Newt Gingrich showed some “compassion” for illegal aliens in the recent GOP presidential debate. A look at his record while in Congress shows this is nothing new. In fact, Gingrich’s leadership in Congress is one of the reasons we have so many illegal aliens today … Read more
Americans who follow the workings of our government — even if only casually — presumably know that the Republican Party took control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the November 2010 elections. Fewer likely know that the Republican-controlled House gained a veto over federal spending on March 4, 2011. Fewer still may know that … Read more
One of the things that has struck me, when I have gone on luxury cruise ships, is that most of the passengers look like they are older than the captain — and luxury cruise ships don’t have juveniles as captains. The reason for the elderly clientele is fairly simple: Most people don’t reach the … Read more
Herman Cain, beleaguered by charges of sexual harassment, was all over Washington last week — an odd choice of venue, considering that the Iowa precinct caucuses are now just 58 days away and the New Hampshire primary 65. But as I learned when I sat next to Cain Friday morning during a long-scheduled taping … Read more
It’s hard to know how to react to the apparently escalating protests on Wall Street. On the one hand, you can just roll your eyes. The numbers aren’t very big, especially for New York, and every generation has its “useful idiots.” I’ve been one myself. The demonstrations appear to be just another float passing by … Read more
Twenty years ago, hysteria swept through the media over “hunger in America.” Dan Rather opened a CBS Evening News broadcast in 1991 declaring, “one in eight American children is going hungry tonight.” Newsweek, the Associated Press and the Boston Globe repeated this statistic, and many others joined the media chorus, with or without that unsubstantiated … Read more
Should a 13-year-old be able to purchase a school-shooting simulator without parents’ knowledge or consent? The Supreme Court says that freedom of speech requires that 13-year-olds have that opportunity. In a 7-2 decision, the court struck down a California law barring the sale of graphically violent video games to people under 18. I have not … Read more
And so, the pope tweeted. What he said far less important than the fact that he tweeted — but what he said is nonetheless revealing. His tweet: “Dear Friends, I just launched News.va Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI.” What is significant about this comes down to the … Read more
One of the common misconceptions about our country’s economic condition today is the assertion that we will have to accept a lower standard of living in the future than we have had in the past. It is often phrased in different ways, such as we will have to work harder to get less, or … Read more
Unexpectedly! As megablogger Glenn Reynolds, aka Instapundit, has noted with amusement, the word “unexpectedly” or variants thereon keep cropping up in mainstream media stories about the economy. “New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly climbed,” reported cnbc.com May 25. “Personal consumption fell,” Business Insider reported the same day, “when it was expected to rise.” “Durable … Read more
Those who regard government “entitlement” programs as sacrosanct, and regard those who want to cut them back as calloused or cruel, picture a world very different from the world of reality. To listen to some of the defenders of entitlement programs, which are at the heart of the present financial crisis, you might think that … Read more
A little over a week ago, hockey player Sean Avery set off a tempest in a teapot by releasing a video spot in support of same-sex marriage (SSM). This was initially surprising to some observers, who only know Avery as one of the NHL’s biggest loudmouths and on-ice miscreants — though perhaps not to … Read more
My father, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, has been in politics as long as I can remember. And as long as I can remember, media coverage about him has contained misstatements of facts. The vast majority are simple mistakes that are easily corrected, understood and rewoven into an ongoing storyline. But one of … Read more
It’s inevitable that the joy and national unity over the killing of that monster bin Laden would cool. Already we’re debating the journalistic and political ramifications. On Wednesday, President Obama told CBS he wouldn’t “spike the football” by releasing photos proving Osama is dead. I agree with the president, as much as that pains … Read more