For much of last year, a standard trope of President Obama’s speechwriters was that there were certain things only government could do. “That’s how we built this country — together,” he declared. “We constructed railroads and highways, the Hoover Dam and the Golden Gate Bridge. We did those things together.” As some of us pointed out, for the cost of Obama’s 2009 stimulus bill alone, you could have built 1,567 Golden Gate Bridges — or one mega–Golden Gate Bridge stretching from Boston to just off the coast of Ireland. Yet there isn’t a single bridge, or a single dam (“You …
Those Who Can’t, Govern
In This Issue
Articles

Fifty Years after Dallas
Whatever bargain Joe Kennedy struck with the devil, the expiation of it was cruel. The poor man was forced to watch his three gifted boys precede him to the grave, ...

The Christie Challenge
Chris Christie’s victory has predictably ignited talk of his seeking the presidency. Before his backers start reserving the moving van, though, it’s worth stepping back and calmly surveying what he’s ...
The $5 Problem
An examination of Americans’ household balance sheets uncovers something to discourage everyone: For those with preferences for minimalistic government and a maximally free economy, the disastrous state of our private ...

The E-Word
When we were schoolkids, we were taught that the longest word was “antidisestablishmentarianism.” Lately, I’ve been thinking that the most common word is “establishment” — as in “establishment Republican.” I ...
Eric the Red
The history of Western fashion in the 20th century will be very much impoverished if those who come to write it fail to emphasize the seminal importance of something I ...
Features

Schadenfreudarama
To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, you’d have to have a heart of stone not to laugh at the unraveling of Obamacare.
First, the obligatory caveats. It is no laughing matter that millions ...
A New Agenda
What do we do next, not only in the fight to stop Obamacare but, more generally, to advance a larger, positive vision of America and craft a practical plan to ...

Pro-Life, Pro-Animal
In 20 or so years of political speechwriting, the only condition I have ever set down in advance of being hired is that I would never, under any circumstances, assist ...
Books, Arts & Manners
Camelot Revisited
On Sunday, November 22, 1964, some 40,000 Americans — a crowd greater than the capacity at Boston’s Fenway Park — visited Arlington National Cemetery to pay their respects on the ...
The Right JFK
After President Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, his supporters portrayed him as a liberal hero and a martyr for liberal causes. Kennedy loyalists Theodore Sorensen and Arthur Schlesinger Jr. soon published ...
The Road to Roe
Roe v. Wade was a “reasoned statement, elaborated with great care.” So the Supreme Court claimed in 1992, when it reaffirmed its 1973 ruling that all states had to allow ...
Essential Ellington
In a passage quoted by Terry Teachout in this new book, T. S. Eliot writes: “Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take, and good poets ...

Into the Inferno
Twelve Years a Slave, the first non-Tarantino major motion picture in years to offer a slave’s-eye view of the antebellum South, would probably have been guaranteed admiring reviews and a ...
Sections
Letters
Health-Care Hell
I am writing to you regarding the November 11 cover of National Review. The allusion to Canto Three of Dante Alighieri’s Inferno of the Divine Comedy featured on the ...
The Week
‐ We can’t keep insurance policies we like, and we have to keep a president we don’t. Can’t win.
‐ New Jersey is the country’s bluest state with a Republican governor, ...
Bethesda Mental-Health Clinic
Doctor’s Notes
Tuesday: Spent a full session with Client BHO. Spent most of the session hearing how well the rollout has gone for one of his signature pieces of legislation — ...
Killer Elite
Double Down, an insider view of the 2012 campaign, reportedly quotes President Obama saying he’s “really good at killing people” when it comes to picking targets for drone strikes. So ...
Poetry
BOCA RATON
In the rat’s mouth
of wealth
one learns to accept
opulence
as a perk of life
dazed by the depth
and breadth of it
spread on the hyaline
sea sparkle & sky
cluttered with yachts
cutting cream swaths
in a ...
Those Who Can’t, Govern
For much of last year, a standard trope of President Obama’s speechwriters was that there were certain things only government could do. “That’s how we built this country — together,” ...
Recommended

Biden Signs Executive Order Allowing the U.S. to Fund Global Abortions
The policy was first instated by President Reagan to ensure that taxpayers would not be required to indirectly fund abortions in other countries.

The Absurd Criticism of Rand Paul’s Rachel Levine Questioning
How likely is it that this dangerous ideological agenda is about to get worse?

Exclusive: 48 Senators Promise to Oppose Any Bill that Funds Abortion
Pro-life lawmakers pledge to resist spending bills that don’t include the Hyde amendment.

Cruz: Actually, It Is Constitutional to Impeach and Convict a Former President
Never mind how he voted.

What Happened to Officer Sicknick?
Democratic impeachment managers have a duty to explain how Officer Sicknick died.

Minnesota Nasty
Minneapolis is a nice city no longer.
The Latest

Fencing Erected During George Floyd Protests Finally Removed from Washington, D.C., Landmarks
Roughly nine months after the fencing was placed around Lafayette Park and St. John’s Episcopal Church, D.C. residents celebrated the deconstruction of the makeshift borders on Monday.

Hillary Clinton: Cuomo Sexual Harassment Allegations ‘Raise Serious Questions’
'I’m glad to see that there will be a full, independent, and thorough investigation,' the former senator from New York added.

Border Dems Warn Biden Border Policies Will Be 'Catastrophic for Our Party, for Our Country'
One lawmaker noted that the toll of the pandemic makes the border crossings that much more dangerous.

NY AG Receives Permission to Probe Cuomo Harassment Allegations
‘This is not a responsibility we take lightly as allegations of sexual harassment should always be taken seriously,’ the attorney general said.

White House Declines to Release Virtual Visitor Logs
'He’s meeting with members of the Senate virtually today,' Psaki said. 'There, I’ve released it for you.'

New Orleans Archdiocese Asks Catholics to Avoid Johnson & Johnson COVID Vaccine
The Vatican previously issued guidelines which said it was 'morally acceptable' for Catholics to receive shots that used the cells for research.