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JD Vance gets America’s creed and heritage right

Columns

With America’s 250th birthday as an independent nation coming up in 2026, the big debate on the right this season about what it means to be an American couldn’t be more timely. Vice President JD Vance and Vivek Ramaswamy — the 2024 presidential aspirant who hopes to be elected Ohio governor next year — have both weighed in. The two extremes in the debate are the “creedal nationalists,” who emphasize America as an idea, and those who boast of being “heritage Americans” with lineages in this country stretching back generations or centuries. Aren’t ...

We Must Celebrate Christmas By Taking It Seriously

Columns

We all know that God works in mysterious ways. Recently, I was deeply moved at a theatrical production of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” This is the famous and popular tale of the transformation and redemption of Ebenezer Scrooge from a rasping, grasping old miser into a lovable, generous old man who, late in life, becomes determined to make amends for all his extreme selfishness and his public denunciations of charity. After tossing and turning in bed on Christmas Eve night, during which he has dreams showing self-imposed loneliness in his youth and present-day ...

Looking at increasing government control as digital age expands

Columns

Politicians push government IDs. In a TSA announcement, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem sternly warns, “You will need a REAL ID to travel by air or visit federal buildings.” European politicians go much further, reports Stossel TV producer Kristin Tokarev. They’re pushing government-mandated digital IDs that tie your identity to nearly everything you do. Spain’s prime minister promises “an end to anonymity” online! Britain’s prime minister warns, “You will not be able to work in the United Kingdom if you do not have digital ID.” Queen Maxima of ...

Trump plays New York Mr. Christmas only in the movies

Columns

Fifth Avenue swarms with tourists grinning at the fabulous scene as retailers cash in on the cheer. Christmas in New York is a Rockettes kick line of store windows awash in fantasy and light spectaculars. But something is missing from the big show this year. That would be Donald Trump. In truth, the president hasn’t made much of a Gotham showing in years. Sure, Trump Tower still looms over Fifth and just a few steps from the gilded Plaza Hotel. Earlier in his presidency, Trump Tower was itself one of the sights, with tourists taking selfies with the armed guards behind. Now it is ...

It’s hard to hide the dysfunction in the White House

Columns

Will someone please tell President Trump that he’s not running against Joe Biden anymore? That much should be obvious, even to casual observers, but, halfway into his second term, he can’t seem to let his former opponent go. “Eleven months ago, I inherited a mess, and I am fixing it,” Trump said at the start of a televised speech intended to reassure Americans with messages he has been pushing through months of sloganeering. But happy days are not here again in Trump’s latest polling numbers. In the latest PBS News/NPR/Marist poll, 57% disapprove of the job he’s ...

Laws must be followed

Editorials

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has been focused for years on improving literacy in the state; and in 2023, a law was passed to require teaching colleges and universities to align with the Science of Reading in its curricula for those who hope to become teachers. But a recent state audit shows that while most (33) have complied, five are in partial alignment and 10 are not in alignment. Among those 10 are Ohio State University and Ohio University. DeWine says the state has made “great strides” in implementing the Science of Reading in its K-12 classrooms, but that all 10 of the colleges ...