Holidays
March 31, 2024 — John Hinderaker
Happy Easter to those among our readers who are celebrating the Resurrection rather than, say, Transgender Day of Visibility. Of course, it is not a time when one wants to be political, but these days that can be hard to avoid. So–just to spite Joe Biden–here are some Easter eggs with religious messages. All of that aside, I hope you and your family are enjoying the day.
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March 30, 2024 — Steven Hayward
Our supposedly devout “Catholic” president at work on this Easter holiday weekend: Can picking Easter Sunday for this proclamation be a mere coincidence? Meanwhile, for Monday’s traditional Easter egg hunt on the White House lawn, we have this: Pretty sure I know the thinking behind this, too, though to be sure around our household we refer to the preposterous Easter Bunny as the “Resurrection Rodent.”
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March 29, 2024 — Steven Hayward
I was looking through an old hard drive for an academic paper of mine from more than 20 years ago, and I happened to stumble across a long book review I wrote for the Acton Institute in 2000 on “Christian ‘leadership’ books,” and I thought it might be suitable on this Good Friday for a Holy Weekend reverie. I can’t believe I actually read all these books. Anyway: The church
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December 27, 2023 — Lloyd Billingsley
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
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December 24, 2023 — Lloyd Billingsley
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.
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December 14, 2023 — John Hinderaker
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
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June 18, 2023 — Scott Johnson
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.
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December 25, 2022 — John Hinderaker
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
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November 22, 2022 — John Hinderaker
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
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October 4, 2022 — Scott Johnson
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
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July 9, 2022 — Steven Hayward
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
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July 4, 2022 — John Hinderaker
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
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June 19, 2022 — Scott Johnson
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
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December 25, 2021 — John Hinderaker
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
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October 11, 2021 — Steven Hayward
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
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July 5, 2021 — John Hinderaker
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
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July 4, 2021 — Steven Hayward
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,
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