Paul Kengor Columns category, Page 2

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

SB 1, the statute of limitations constitutional amendment that would allow a two-year window for victims of childhood sexual abuse to seek justice in court, is just two votes away from being placed before the voters. Alternatively, HB 2, languishing in Sen. Lisa Baker’s Judiciary Committee since March 2023 (this...

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...

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...

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...

It has been about a month since United States Steel (USS) announced it’s being acquired by Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp. I’ve watched curiously for reactions. I find it interesting that local reaction has seemed somewhat subdued, even underwhelming. To the contrary, I’ve heard from older, relocated Pittsburghers who greeted the...

Vladimir Putin this week gave his customary year-end speech. What he said should give us pause. Interestingly, the speech was considerably shorter than usual; in fact, it was quite brief, running just under four minutes. Also quite curious, some media sources noted that Putin “made little mention” of Ukraine, at...

In 1946, legendary director Frank Capra teamed up with legendary actor Jimmy Stewart to make a legendary Christmas movie, the iconic “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Indiana, Pa. native Stewart was Capra’s favorite actor and the favorite of many. The film, of course, is filled with scenes leaving you laughing and...

Any discussion of sports in Western Pennsylvania leads to the Steelers, the Penguins, the Pirates — our reigning triumvirate of football, hockey, baseball. Also high on the list is Pitt football, or any local football, high school included. There’s also Pitt basketball. What am I missing? The vast majority wouldn’t...

Last week, I admiringly but grimly eyed up the seven turkeys I’ve raised over the past six months. I literally hatched them. Well, maybe not literally I. That credit goes to their mother. The hen conceived them — with help from the male — and laid them. After she did...

Football is in the bloodstream of Western Pennsylvania. We bleed black and gold for our beloved Pittsburgh Steelers. Steelers mania starts early summer with training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe and typically runs into January with a team that makes the playoffs more than just about any other....

Be prepared for bloody scenes to come in the Gaza Strip, as Israeli forces ready for a land invasion and as Hamas readies to mercilessly exploit hostages. It will be ugly. A tragedy of Hamas’ rule of the Gaza Strip isn’t merely what you’ve seen on TV this October. Since...

On June 5, 1967, at 7:45 a.m. Jerusalem time, the young nation of Israel sent nearly its entire Air Force on a top-­secret bombing run. In total, that was almost 200 fighter aircraft. Only about a dozen planes were left behind. In mere hours (if that), the Israelis wiped out...

Last week in Downtown Pittsburgh, the Institute for Faith & Freedom at Grove City College hosted a fascinating talk by Dr. Gene Kopelson. Kopelson is an oncologist, with credentials that include an M.D. from Columbia University, residency at Harvard University’s Department of Radiation Oncology, an affiliation with the Yale University...

During the end of my time at Pitt in the late 1980s, I lucked into a prized possession, coveted by many a Pittsburgher. Courtesy of my good friend Scott Fedorek, I secured my share of the local holy grail: Steelers season tickets. In those days, you waited decades for such...

As Donald Trump strolled into Georgia for a mugshot for alleged misdeeds in challenging the 2020 election, I was walking through the nation’s capital, where I was struck by this Washington Times headline: “Democrats deny wrongdoing with stolen elections claims.” Those claims weren’t from Trump supporters, but from Democrats, and...

The 20th century was known for some colossal figures in the sciences. One such figure is currently receiving a surge of interest: physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb. That’s because of a major new film by Christopher Nolan. The film has opened old debates about Oppenheimer’s...

I don’t often agree with John Fetterman, Pennsylvania’s junior Democratic senator, but I found myself nodding vigorously at his recent assessment of Donald Trump’s prospects in Pennsylvania for November 2024. In a respectful, non-snarky, sober analysis, Fetterman responded to a question from The New York Times about whether he believes...

My previous dispatch to you, faithful readers, came from far away, in Italy, where I reported on the strangeness of spending July 4 abroad. I mentioned in that column being inspired by the sites and traditions of the old country, including its churches. That thought inspires me again. I received...

VERONA, Italy — For the first time ever, I missed July 4. I was an American abroad, in Italy. I spent the day in Verona and Venice. I missed the fireworks. At one point late in the evening, longing for my Independence Day celebration, we heard distant music that sounded...

I recently attended a Pirates game. As readers know, that’s no small step for me. I boycotted Major League Baseball after its ideological commissioner, Rob Manfred, needlessly thrust our beloved national pastime into the nastiness of partisan politics. Manfred and MLB boycotted the city of Atlanta in protest of Georgia’s...