Paul Kengor stories, Page 2
Paul Kengor: My Top 5 Most Astonishing Political Moments of 2024
When it comes to politics, 2024 was an insane year. So much so that your faithful columnist has conjured up a list of the Top 5 Most Astonishing Political Moments of 2024. Here we go: Number 5 is President Joe Biden’s shocking appearance at the presidential debate. Pretty much any...
Paul Kengor: The NFL disses Christmas
Count Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback and a devout Christian, among the NFL players not happy about the league scheduling games this year on Christmas Day — a Wednesday no less. The Chiefs will play in Pittsburgh against the Steelers. For the Chiefs, there’s an added affront. Because the...
Paul Kengor: Revenge of the covid rogues
Of all the cast of rebels and rogues selected by President-elect Donald Trump for his incoming administration, few are igniting a meltdown quite like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Jay Bhattacharya. RFK Jr. has been nominated to head the Department of Health and Human Services. Bhattacharya has been selected to...
Paul Kengor: A tragic 9/11 love story
Early in the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Barbara Olson, a Washington-based author and pundit, sweetly gave her husband, Ted, a kiss goodbye. She was 45 years old, a well-known media personality and critic of the Clintons. She was a happy person who knew how to laugh with folks on...
Paul Kengor: Nominating likable presidential candidates
On the eve of Tuesday’s election, RealClearPolitics posted a striking number. Its composite average of presidential polls showed a literal tie between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. Each candidate was at 48.5%. You couldn’t get more even. Still, as my editors here will attest, I predicted that Trump would thus...
Paul Kengor: Trump’s tax cuts for fat-cat billionaires?
Among the annoying ads running in the 2024 presidential campaign, I’m particularly bothered by the Harris-Walz commercials blasting Donald Trump’s alleged tax cuts for “millionaires and billionaires” enacted during his presidential administration. The Harris-Walz campaign promises to “roll back Trump’s tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.” I detest these ads...
Paul Kengor: Where’s the decency in Harris’ claims about Trump?
In my previous column, I wrote about claims from liberals that a reelected Donald Trump will “destroy democracy.” I paused to condemn Donald Trump’s crude rhetoric over the years, but I also challenged those making such claims to 1) define “democracy” and 2) explain precisely how Trump would destroy it....
Paul Kengor: Our nonsensical voices of ‘democracy’
One of the most annoying things in our impoverished public discourse — which has been degraded by all sides — are the howls from liberals about “democracy,” and especially that Donald Trump will “destroy democracy.” This battle cry has become a literal yard sign in 2024, with Harris/Walz supporters planting...
Paul Kengor: Yes, Ronald and Nancy Reagan adored one another
As many readers know, the new Reagan movie starring Dennis Quaid is based on one of my books on Ronald Reagan, “The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism.” The response has been extraordinary, with very high ratings by audience members. Predictably, not all reviews have been positive, especially...
Paul Kengor: Kennedy family values
The Kennedys have dominated American politics unlike any other family. And that’s no small statement. First, there was the Adams family — that is, John and John Quincy, and the brilliant Abigail. Then there were the Roosevelts. More recently, the Bushes. But it’s hard to surpass the Kennedy longevity, given...
Paul Kengor: Picking Shapiro could have been key for Harris
Kamala Harris’ choice of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz over Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was a shock. The wide consensus was that she would pick Shapiro, especially with her announcement coming in Philadelphia. Everyone was stunned by the unknown Walz, including Donald Trump, who said he was “thrilled,” and rightly so....
Paul Kengor: Remembering when we were family
Are you sick of politics? Tired of the bickering and division, including from politicians preaching “unity?” If so, then join me as I harken back to a better time, at least for those of us alive in the summer of 1979 who lived in this region. It was a time...
Paul Kengor: Protecting presidential candidates, protecting the public
The day after the Trump shooting Saturday in Butler — which happens to be my hometown — I got a message from a friend who loathes Donald Trump (he doesn’t like Joe Biden either). As we struggled to assess the security failure that nearly led to Trump’s assassination, my friend...
Paul Kengor: The Founders, Trump-Biden, and our coarsening culture
Last week’s Trump-Biden debate was historic, unforgettable, immensely entertaining, at times even hilarious and yet sadly pathetic. It showed just how far our nation has fallen since July 4, 1776. If I had to pick one exchange from the evening that captured all of those adjectives in one outlandish fell...
Paul Kengor: GPS is making us geographically stupid
The GPS in Global Positioning System ought to stand for Geographically Pretty Stupid. Relying on GPS, even with its indisputable benefits, is making us a nation of geographic illiterates. Not that geography was a strong point for Americans. We’ve all heard horror stories of the dismally low percentage of Americans...
Paul Kengor: Our cursing culture
This week, I came across a profanity-laced tirade from the singer Adele aimed at an audience member she sharply disagreed with. I’ll try to sanitize her statement for this community-friendly publication, which isn’t easy and which, well, underscores the point of this column: “Are you (expletive) stupid?” shouted Adele. “Don’t...
Paul Kengor: Pearl Harbor and the vanishing WWII vet
I think often of my late friend Charles Wiley. My colleague David Ayers and I plotted to bring Charlie to Grove City College every spring semester for years. Students were enthralled by this extraordinarily colorful old guy holding forth with stories from his incredible life, beginning as a childhood actor...
Paul Kengor: The debate over a Trump-Biden debate
The judge at the Trump trial in Manhattan might like to muzzle the Donald, but that isn’t easy. In fact, Donald Trump one day last week emerged from his trial as feisty as ever. A reporter asked if he would like to debate President Joe Biden. Trump didn’t hesitate. He...
Paul Kengor: Things that aren’t there anymore
Remember as a kid listening to old people reminisce about this or that thing that isn’t there anymore? You figured you’d probably be doing the same someday. Increasingly nowadays, I’m surprised at how often I’m doing that, and just how many places are disappearing. I do wonder if that’s unique...
Paul Kengor: The obscene cost of higher ed
The “higher” in “higher ed” ought to stand for higher tuition. Sure, everyone knows that tuition prices at colleges have risen to obscene levels in recent decades, but the obscenity just hit new highs (or lows). Four colleges — namely, Boston University, Tufts, Wellesley and Yale — will be charging...
Paul Kengor: On virtue, the Steelers and Kenny Pickett
Cicero insisted that what a citizenry needs above all is virtue, which he defined as prudence, practical wisdom, one that eschews vice. In his excellent 2009 book, “Politics for the Greatest Good: The Case for Prudence in the Public Square,” Clarke Forsythe notes that prudence is concerned with right action,...
Paul Kengor: Remembering true civic leaders — Jim Roddey and Andy Russell
In early 1995, my wife and I, recently married, were looking to come back to Pittsburgh. We were working and living in the Washington, D.C., area. There were appealing things about the area, but it undeniably felt like the proverbial “rat race” to us. It got worse when our house...
Paul Kengor: Of course, Nikki Haley should stay in the race
When Donald Trump defeated Nikki Haley in New Hampshire about a month ago, I wrote a piece titled, “We’ve Got a Ballgame.” Though Trump won New Hampshire, Haley did much better than projected. The numbers told the story: The morning of the vote, the final composite polling projection by RealClearPolitics...
Paul Kengor: Putin’s twisted history
Vladimir Putin’s two-hour-plus conversation with Tucker Carlson was fascinating and terribly troubling. It was quite a lesson in history, or at least Putin’s twisted, dangerous history. Putin began with an eye-opening historical discourse. He politely replied to Carlson’s opening question on Ukraine by asking, “If you don’t mind, I will...
Paul Kengor: Growing bipartisan opposition to U.S. Steel deal
What do Republican senators J.D. Vance, Josh Hawley and Marco Rubio and Democratic senators John Fetterman, Sherrod Brown and Joe Manchin have in common? They’re part of the strong bipartisan opposition to Japan’s Nippon Steel’s acquisition of U.S. Steel. Expect that opposition to grow larger and louder. In my previous...
