Here is CNN: Rep. Steve Scalise has won the House GOP’s nomination for speaker during a secret ballot vote, according to multiple sources familiar. The final vote tally was 113 for Steve Scalise and 99 for Jim Jordan. The threshold […]
Archives for October 2023
Evangelical pastor John MacArthur in 1998: “When a ruler is given to lies, he will accumulate around him people who can tolerate lying.”
Back in 2015 I started collecting quotes from Christian leaders who made bold statements about presidential character during the 1998 Clinton impeachment and then seemed to ignore their own principles when Donald Trump was running for president. I called attention […]
U.S. intelligence doubts that Iran was directly involved in the Hamas attack on Israel, but a full conclusion on the matter is pending
CNN is reporting: The United States has collected specific intelligence that casts doubt on the idea that Iran was directly involved in the planning, resourcing or approving of Saturday’s bloody attack on Israel by Hamas, according to several sources familiar with the intelligence. Still, […]
Palestinian Christian journalist: It’s time for the U.S. to recognize a Palestinian state
Daoud Kuttab is a Palestinian Christian and award-winning journalist who was the first Palestinian to interview former Israeli prime ministers Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres. He has spent much of his career fighting for a free media in Palestine under […]
REVIEW: Free Souls
For the great Russian writers, wonder was the pathway to freedom
Ideas in Progress: Pearl J. Young on southern religion and the Civil War
A physics major turned historian tells about her research.
Princeton historian Kevin Kruse is done with Twitter (X)
Back in 2018, in Episode 34 of The Way of Improvement Leads Home Podcast, we talked with Princeton historian Kevin Kruse about his use of Twitter to engage with the public. At the time, he had over 84,000 followers. A […]
Historian Michael Kazin remembers his life as a Weatherman
Michael Kazin is one of the best political historians working today. Check out our interview with him in Episode 41 of The Way of Improvement Leads Home Podcast. We discussed his work on populism. Back in 2021, Current published his […]
The New York Times: “America’s duty as Israel’s friend is to stand firm in its support”
A taste of yesterday’s New York Times editorial page: President Biden is right to express America’s full support for Israel at this painful moment. The United States, as its closest ally, has a critical role to play. Moderate Israeli opposition leaders said […]
Gallup: 63% of Americans want a third major political party
Here is Jeffrey Jones at Gallup: WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sixty-three percent of U.S. adults currently agree with the statement that the Republican and Democratic parties do “such a poor job” of representing the American people that “a third major party […]
LONG FORM: You’ve Written Two Long Books—So What?
Two long books about one sacred book take us to the heart of the nation’s past—and present
Barry Manilow: not so bad
Responding to John Haas: on the merits of Barry Manilow.
Jonathan Greenblatt of the Anti-Defamation League rips MSNBC over its coverage of the Hamas-Israeli war
Greenblatt is angry. He should be. David French is right. Moral clarity indeed:
Michael Oren: Don’t compare the current Israel-Hamas war to the Yom Kippur War of 1973
Since war broke out in Israel and the Gaza strip over the weekend, writers and journalists are comparing it to the 1973 Yom Kippur War. (For those unfamiliar with the Yom Kippur War of 1973, get up to speed here.) […]
Members of the Robert and Ethel Kennedy family continue to denounce Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential run
Robert Kennedy Jr. announced today that he will not run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, but will rather run for president in the general election (November 2024) as an independent. Here is Kerry Kennedy: Who are these Kennedys denouncing […]
Former Harvard president Lawrence Summers on the school’s silence on the Israel-Hamas war
In an earlier post today I noted that 31 Harvard University student groups have blamed the ongoing Israeli-Hamas war entirely on Israel. Lawrence Summers, the former president of Harvard University and Secretary of the Treasury at the end of the […]
What I am reading and watching to stay up to speed on the Israeli-Hamas war
Nothing very systematic or comprehensive here, but I’ve found these pieces helpful as I process all of this: Heather Cox Richardson offers a nice summary. We have already called your attention to this BBC explainer piece. Joe Biden condemns the […]
Political thinkers weigh-in on the ousting of Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthy is no longer the Speaker of the House. What happened? Politico has gathered some experts to discuss the current state of the Republican Party. Contributors include historians Mary Frances Berry, Joanne Freeman, and Joshua Zeitz. Here is Freeman: […]
What is happening in Israel and the Gaza Strip?
The BBC answers all of your questions, including: Read more here.
What is going on at Grand Canyon University?
Grand Canyon University, a Phoenix-based private evangelical university, is one of the largest Christian universities in the world. It is now claiming that United States government is “coordinating attacks against it.” Here is Katherine Knott at Inside Higher Ed: Grand […]