The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) instituted its Fairness Doctrine in 1949, requiring that broadcasters, in order to keep their licenses, both present controversial issues of public importance and do so in a manner that — in the FCC’s view —…
Richard Nixon resigned 45 years ago, on August 9, 1974, in the face of certain impeachment by the House of Representatives and probable conviction following a Senate trial. It also seems that he did so to spare the nation further…
Many Americans remain nonplussed over revelations in the House Intelligence Committee’s Impeachment Inquiry Report that its chairman, Adam Schiff, not only secretly subpoenaed telephone records from President Trump’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani, but also obtained responses that detailed dates and lengths…
An earlier essay on today’s dueling accusations of government-sponsored opposition research described past examples of the practice, including how members of the Watergate Special Prosecution Force (WSPF) had assembled investigatory files on all potential GOP presidential candidates going into the 1976…
Opposition research conducted by the government? What a terrifying thought. The very idea that those in power would somehow become so sure of themselves and their right to power that they would direct government agents to conduct research against political…
Comedian Henny Youngman (1906–98) was known as the King of the One-Liners, since his jokes were short, sweet, and very much to the point. Among his most famous was his response to “How’s your wife?,” which was, “Compared to what?”…
In the progressives’ continuing efforts to negate the 2016 election of Donald Trump as our 45th president, they could actually be dreaming of what formerly might have been dismissed as pure fantasy: an impeachment, nunc pro tunc. Nunc pro tunc…
I recently returned from three days in Washington, D.C. — a city consumed by political hatred, unending rumor-mongering and savage news coverage. It was good to come home! It occurred to me that perhaps some poetry might be helpful, to…
This may seem to be a sexist column, but necessarily so. It’s my first essay without allusions to Watergate, which may come as a relief to some. It also contains a sports analogy. See what you think. My only sibling…