Conservatism
December 4, 2025 — Scott Johnson
The reader who clicked on “Personal & confidential: William A. Rusher” has outed himself. Rusher biographer David Frisk wrote to comment on my quotation of the striking Yeats poem Rusher had recited when I saw him debate the colorless Massachusetts liberal Rep. Michael Harrington at Dartmouth in 1971 or 1972: Many thanks for your post about William Rusher at Power Line. In my biography If Not Us, Who? William Rusher,
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December 2, 2025 — Scott Johnson
William A. Rusher was the publisher of National Review from 1957 through the magazine’s glory years. He died on April 16, 2011. In his honor NR published a symposium online and a fitting set of reminiscences in the magazine. The editors also published an old toast by William Buckley upon Rusher’s retirement from his post at the magazine. For years Mr. Rusher held down the conservative side of the terrific
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November 28, 2025 — John Hinderaker
I have been feeling pessimistic about our country’s future lately. Consider this, for example: “51% of Likely U.S. Voters ages 18 to 39 would like to see a democratic socialist candidate win the 2028 presidential election.” Sometimes I think the most optimistic scenario would be to part company with the liberals. Is there any common set of goals or values, such that it makes sense for us to share a
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November 26, 2025 — Scott Johnson
The death of William F. Buckley, Jr. on February 27, 2008, deprived the modern American conservative movement of its founder, for Buckley was preeminently the founding statesman of the movement that gained its political expression first in Barry Goldwater and then Ronald Reagan. When Buckley founded National Review in 1955 at the age of 29, he lit the fire that sparked the movement. Yesterday was the centennial anniversary of his
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November 22, 2025 — John Hinderaker
The short political career of Marjorie Taylor Greene has flamed out, as she has announced that she is resigning from the House of Representatives, effective January 5, 2026. Her seat will be filled by a special election: My message to Georgia’s 14th district and America.Thank you. pic.twitter.com/tSoHCeAjn1 — Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) November 22, 2025 Greene typified one unfortunate element of the MAGA movement. Inexperienced and erratic, without a
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November 20, 2025 — John Hinderaker
As I assume all of our readers know, I serve as President of Center of the American Experiment, the principal conservative organization in Minnesota. We lead the fight to turn Minnesota away from its leftward drift and return it to the position of respect that it enjoyed for many years. And the battle is closer than most people realize: for example, in the 2024 Congressional elections, Democrats received 50.2% of
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November 18, 2025 — Scott Johnson
Andrew E. Busch is associate director and professor at the Institute of American Civics in the Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He is also a frequent contributor to the Claremont Review of Books. In “The Outsiders,” Professor Busch reviews When the Clock Broke: Con Men, Conspiracists, and How America Cracked Up in the Early 1990s (“One of the Washington Post’s Ten
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November 17, 2025 — Scott Johnson
Robert George is the highly regarded McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals & Institutions at Princeton. Following up on “A fight for the soul of the right,” I want to add that Professor Geroge has just announced his resignation from the board of the Heritage Foundation. This is the statement he has posted on Facebook: I have resigned from the board of
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November 17, 2025 — Scott Johnson
A poltical/intellectual battle is underway for the future of the conservative movement. Tucker Carlson and his friends stand on one side of the divide. On the other stands, well, my exemplar of the day — Babylon Bee chief executive Seth Dillon. I’ve been saying Carlson has forced the issue with his recent promotion of neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes, but this is only his most recent effort to inject anti-Semitic poison into
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November 12, 2025 — Scott Johnson
Douglas Murray appeared as a featured speaker at PragerU’s West Coast Gala in Los Angeles this past Saturday. Someone in the audience took the video below. Eve Barlow and several others have tweeted it out on X. It’s the only such video I can find online. [UPDATE: YouTube video below via Rick Richman.] As always, Murray is the voice of decency and reason. There is much that is worth hearing
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November 7, 2025 — Scott Johnson
Megyn Kelly has made herself a fool for Tucker Carlson. She holds herself out as a friend of Carlson who is therefore unwilling to criticize his present manifestation, or for that matter to acknowledge it. The same applies to her nontreatment of Candace Owens even though she is not a friend — because, according to Megyn, she is a young mother. On her current road show Kelly hosted Carlson in
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November 6, 2025 — John Hinderaker
Scott has been following the controversy over Kevin Roberts, President of the Heritage Foundation, and his entanglement with Tucker Carlson. Roberts went so far as to denounce those who have criticized Carlson for anti-Semitism as a “venomous coalition,” a phrase that Roberts has tried to walk back. So far, Roberts’ efforts, including throwing overboard his former chief of staff, have only seemed to dig the hole deeper. Today economist Stephen
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November 5, 2025 — Scott Johnson
Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts has been out defending the substance of his statement last week refusing to “cancel” (sic) Tucker Carlson and harshly denouncing “bad actors” who wish to dissociate him from the conservative movement. Today behind closed doors in a meeting with foundation staff Roberts has backtracked. He states that he “made a mess” that he now wants to clean up. My daughter Eliana reports on today’s Heritage
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November 2, 2025 — Scott Johnson
Mark Levin spoke yesterday to the Republican Jewish Coalition’s 40th anniversary summit in Las Vegas. Tucker Carlson and his friends were of course top of mind. Mark takes up the path Carlson has gone down over the past few years and other matters we have noted here. Except for his optimism, I identify with just about everything Mark has to say in his patented style. I especially appreciate his discussion
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November 2, 2025 — Scott Johnson
Robert George is the highly regarded McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals & Institutions at Princeton. He is also a member of the Heritage Foundation board of trustees, whose president is making his stand with Tucker Carlson after Carlson’s friendly chat with neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes. Professor George does not directly address Roberts’s statement of continued support for Carlson, but he was clearly
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November 1, 2025 — Scott Johnson
Preston Brashers is a research fellow in tax policy at the Heritage Foundation. Mr. Brashers has posted the photo of Tucker Carlson and Nick Furentes below with a concise message that must be aimed at his Heritage boss as well as Carlson: “This isn’t conservatism.” It’s shame he had to say it. A crying shame. Have fun with your new friend, Tucker. This isn't conservatism. pic.twitter.com/WV7U7e92Rf — PrestonBrashers (@PrestonBrashers) October
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November 1, 2025 — Scott Johnson
Michael Doran efficiently demonstrates three qualities of Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts’s diehard defense of the think tank’s relationship with Tucker Carlson in a few short paragraphs on X: Roberts’s statement is dishonest, bigoted, and stupid. The guy leading one of America’s preeminent conservative think tanks is unfit for the job. As it turns out, Roberts’s statement may have served a constructive pupose in making that clear. In the Wall
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