Holidays

Kwanzaa Kickback

Featured image Jill and I wish a very Happy Kwanzaa to all those celebrating across America and around the world. May your homes be filled with hope, peace, and light. And in 2024, may we carry with us the wisdom of the seven principles of Kwanzaa — especially those of unity and faith. That was a December 26 post from White House resident Joe Biden. The Delaware Democrat failed to mention anything »

An AK Christmas to Remember

Featured image Christmas celebrations are in full swing but worth remembering that it wasn’t that way in the Communist dictatorships of Eastern Europe. Romania’s Nicolae Ceaucescu, for example, banned the holiday and bulldozed churches in Bucharest. Nicolae and wife Elena lived like royalty as the people lined up for the barest necessities. Midnight arrests, torture and assassination were common, and by the late 1980s the people weren’t going to take it anymore. »

Merry Christmas?

Featured image Jill Biden released this Christmas video, which is getting a lot of negative attention. See what you think of it: Jill Biden releases a new White House Christmas video What do you think of the performance? pic.twitter.com/y7pklOuL5M — TheBlaze (@theblaze) December 14, 2023 Admittedly, it is a long way from a stable in Bethlehem. On the other hand, in its defense, I think the video is not especially weird by »

Color him father

Featured image I wrote this on Father’s Day in 2010. It is a post that struck a chord with at least a few readers. I amplified it in 2020 and am taking the liberty of reposting these reflections in honor of the day. My father was a thoughtful man in his own way. In the last years of his life he recited for me the things for which he was most grateful. »

Merry Christmas!

Featured image Merry Christmas to all of our Christian readers and friends. We hope you are enjoying the holiday. Ours is highlighted by the presence of grandchildren, who motivated us to get our tree decorated: This Nativity scene has been put up every year since 1954 or 1955. Someday I suppose I will pass it on to one of our kids. When we were young, my older brother and I used to »

An American Abroad [Updated]

Featured image I do plan on commenting on the news later today, but this is pure tourism. My wife and I walked toward Buckingham Palace this morning, but found the Mall blocked and an expectant crowd lined up. Which reminded us that the South African head of state is in town for meetings with royals and politicians. So we stood and watched for a while. First a band marched toward us from »

Leo Baeck, Berlin, 1935

Featured image Jews begin the observance of Yom Kippur at sundown tonight with the Kol Nidre prayer service. Ten years ago our friend Rachel Paulose asked to join us at our service. Since then she has regularly attended the service with us and joined my family when we break our fast, although she is at work out of town this year. Next year in the Twin Cities! The first time around at »

Guest Post: Gratitude and America

Featured image I am thrilled to have Emina Melonic contributing to Power Line in my absence. Long time readers and podcast listeners will recall our fondness here for the late Peter Schramm, the Hungarian who fled to America after the failed anti-Soviet revolt of 1956. “Why are we going to America, father?,” he asked at the age of ten. “Because we were born American, but in the wrong country.” That was all »

Happy Independence Day? [Updated]

Featured image I am so old, I can remember when liberals at least pretended to be patriotic. And some of them really were. George McGovern, for instance, was a legitimate World War II hero, flying a B-24 Liberator in combat. He was wrong about many things, but he wasn’t wrong because he hated his country. Fast forward to now. We have been seeing poll data for some years, indicating that liberals generally »

Color him father

Featured image I wrote this on Father’s Day several years ago. It is a post that struck a chord with at least a few readers. I have amplified it since then and am taking the liberty of reposting these reflections in honor of the day. My father was a thoughtful man in his own way. In the last years of his life he recited for me the things for which he was »

Merry Christmas! [Updated]

Featured image This is the 20th time we have wished our readers a merry Christmas. We have had a rather low-key holiday, compared to the years when the kids were kids. But we did manage to get a tree up, even if it is artificial: A Christmas Eve highlight was hanging out with our two oldest grandchildren: Christmas dinner is yet to come, with two of our four children–a pretty good ratio »

Columbus Day in Pictures

Featured image John has already dilated the self-abuse of liberals with regards to Indigenous Peoples Day Columbus Day, so I won’t add more here (except to say that when it comes to the supposed sin of “assimilation,” people ought to meditate on the deeper meaning of the seldom-noted clause in the Constitution which reads “excluding indians not taxed”—there’s a serious principle embedded in that seemingly technical phrase that is totally lost on today’s »

From the Land of the Free

Featured image We often go to South Dakota for the Fourth of July, in part because fireworks of pretty much all kinds are legal here, and in part to enjoy the general air of patriotism and freedom. We didn’t have any kids with us this year, so we enjoyed others’ fireworks rather than setting off our own. We went for a long boat ride on Lake Kampeska, where I spent summers as »

Normal America Returns [Updated]

Featured image Last year in the small rural town where I’m temporarily residing while the COVID-delayed major renovations on my house get started, the town “officially” canceled the July 4 parade, but the town mostly ignored officialdom and held a spontaneous parade anyway, mostly without masks. This year’s parade was more than “back to normal,” with a huge crowd, and lots of great small-town spirit.  I made a short highlight reel: Meanwhile, »

Happy July 4!

Featured image It is especially worth repeating, in Year 2 of Our Lord and Savior George Floyd, Ronald Reagan’s great quip that July 4 is every conservative’s favorite day of the year, while the liberal’s favorite day is April 15. Meanwhile, did you see that the White House is fighting back against inflation worries with the calculation that your July 4 barbecue is SIXTEEN CENTS cheaper than last year? Sixteen whole cents! »

Happy Easter! [Updated]

Featured image Happy Easter to all of our Christian readers! I confess to feeling surly about the fact that this is the second consecutive Easter on which we have not been able to actually go to church. In many quarters, the covid shutdown persists. I think that our collective reaction to the coronavirus will be studied for many years to come as an instance of terrible public policy, driven by emotion and »

New Years News You Can Use—In Pics!

Featured image By the time the regular TWiP is posted Saturday morning, New Year’s eve and New Year’s Day will be receding in the rear view mirror already. So in the spirit of this quasi-holiday, here’s some news you can use today: And for breakfast tomorrow morning: Cheers! »