Bill Maher: The Prophet We Need?
Bill Maher, of all people, exposed the lie behind the Republicans’ supposed opposition to abortion.
Time to Hop on the Trump Train
If they want to win, Republican donors need to ditch the bandwagons and support Trump.
Trump or DeSantis?
Conservatives face a real choice in the upcoming Republican primaries. Who will they choose?
Why Economics Alone Will Not Make America Great Again
There is a major problem with books written solely from an economic prism. Consider the fact that the American economy is booming by all major indicators. Unemployment is down to record lows. Inflation is minimal. Consumer confidence is up. We have not seen times like this for decades. Admittedly, wages are still low, and debt … Read more
Lee Edwards, Hero of the Republic
You might say that Lee Edwards is the Zelig of the conservative movement, except Edwards is nothing like the inconsequential eager-to-please character created by Woody Allen. Even so, Edwards has been present and a central participant in every single significant conservative event and development for close to 85 years. I say 85 years because Edwards … Read more
Overlooking the Failings of Catholic Democrats
Elizabeth Stoker Bruenig’s inaugural essay as an opinion columnist at the Washington Post critiques the performance of Catholic Republicans in allowing Church teaching to guide their policies. Bruenig presents a tale of Catholic conservatives abandoning Catholic social teaching and respect for papal and episcopal guidance in exchange for a political alliance with evangelical Christians that … Read more
What Catholic Social Thought Teaches About Conservatism
The popular view—encouraged at every turn by left-leaning analysts and commentators—is that the conservative view on economics is essentially laissez-faire and that conservatives want to eliminate government social welfare programs, even if the needy have to suffer. As a result, some Catholics say that conservatism is at odds with the Church on this. Is this … Read more
On the Meaning of the Election and Its Aftermath
Much ink has already been spilled about what are the implications, big and small, of the 2016 presidential election. I offer a few thoughts as to its meaning and what we can expect from a new Trump administration. The election was certainly a rebuke—it’s far from clear if it was a decisive repudiation—of a corrupted … Read more
Is a Post-Trump Pact of Non-Recrimination Possible?
A former Bush administration staffer writes in National Review that there needs to be a kind of bloodletting in a post-Trump Republican Party. Peter Wehner, now ensconced at the highly respectable Ethics and Public Policy Center run by my friend Ed Whelan, wants to rid the GOP of certain smelly strains, specifically those around Breitbart, … Read more
Is “Pro-life and Gay” Possible?
Can someone who promotes the LGBT agenda ever truly be considered an ally of the pro-life movement? The question may be of considerable importance for Catholic voters in the upcoming elections. The Republican Party has just adopted what has been called the “most pro-life platform ever.” However, if you watched the RNC Convention, you would … Read more
Is Electing Trump Really Unthinkable?
A parish priest that I’ve known for years, though politically savvy, doesn’t follow the Democrat debates. Refreshingly cynical about both parties, he knows that to say the Forces of Darkness are presently arrayed against the Camp of the Saints would be a half-truth; he still insists on distinctions: “That party promotes everything that is evil.” … Read more
Electing Trump Should be Unthinkable
I’ve never felt prouder to be a Minnesotan than on March 1, 2016. Minnesota conservatives rarely get the chance to vote and make a difference. Our politics range from blue to a deep, inky navy. It can start to feel oppressive. In 2012, our house was one of just three on the entire block that … Read more
A Trump Nomination Means Victory for Clinton in November
Politically interested Catholics have been tearing one another apart over the question: would you vote for Donald Trump to stop Hillary Clinton from becoming president? I worry about many things nowadays, but not very much about that. I’m not voting for Trump. He is an awful human being and an awful candidate, and he would … Read more
Donald Trump, George Will, and the Crisis of Conservatism
If every cloud has a silver lining, we can say that the presidential candidacy of Donald Trump has—whatever his detractors may say—served some useful purposes. Those most critical of Trump speak of his followers as delirious, as if they were in the grip of some dreadful political fever. Nevertheless, a fever can be useful to … Read more
How to Strengthen Republican Opposition to Abortion
On January 21, 2015—one day before the 41st March for Life—pro-life activists were met with what Jill Stanek called “a slap in the face.” After weeks of promising that a vote on a bill that would ban most abortions after 20 weeks’ gestation—H.R. 36, the “Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act”—would take place on January … Read more
Abortion, Torture, and the Juice-Box Theologians
There is a movement well underway to convince faithful Catholics they do not have a political home in the Republican Party. The effort is comprised of former political conservatives who now believe they are more Catholic than anybody else and therefore have cast a pox on both political parties, which is just another way for … Read more
Republicans, the Pill, and the War on the Family
Why did Republicans do so well in the 2014 elections? Among the reasons emphasized by pundits and operatives on both sides of the political aisle has been the ability of Republican candidates to counter effectively the charge that they would escalate the so-called “war on women.” A key example cited by both left and right … Read more
When Good People Don’t Vote
Coming up on another Election Day, I notice my neighbors and friends getting a little competitive. They’re not political activists. They’re political apathists. For some, an election is a can’t miss opportunity to broadcast their general contempt and hatred for America’s political scene. It’s actually become a bit of a joke at this point, since … Read more
The GOP Answer to “War on Women”: Capitulation
A little while back in Crisis, I wrote about how supposedly pro-life Catholic candidate for a Virginia Senate seat, Ed Gillespie, when accused of wanting to overturn Roe v. Wade and enact a personhood amendment to the Constitution—as well as to “ban certain forms of contraception”—oddly replied that he actually wanted to make “contraceptives easier … Read more