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Jan 17, 2025 | 
thespectator.com | Charles Lipson |Reem Ibrahim |Joseph Moreno |Justin Brierley
Joe Biden is not going gently into that dark night, politically or cognitively. He is going down with large, bold actions. The latest is a mass commutation for some 2,500 “nonviolent drug offenders.” Biden’s justification is that they were sentenced under laws that have now been overturned as the country has moved to more lenient treatment of all drug offenses and eliminated differences between laws penalizing crack cocaine and powdered cocaine.
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Jan 16, 2025 | 
thespectator.com | Reem Ibrahim |Joseph Moreno |Juan P. Villasmil |Kate Andrews
On Wednesday, the Biden administration announced a bizarre proposal to cap the amount of nicotine in cigarettes. This change could see as much as 95 percent of the total nicotine content removed, aiming to “save many lives and dramatically reduce the burden of severe illness and disability,” according to FDA Commissioner Robert Calliff. Reducing the harms posed by cigarettes is a noble public health aim, but this particular measure is simply not based in fact.
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Jan 14, 2025 | 
thespectator.com | Ben Domenech |Anatol Lieven |Stewart McDonald |Joseph Moreno
Pete Hegseth was the first cabinet nominee to the breach, leading Donald Trump’s collection of outsiders, populists and hellraisers into the Capitol Hill combat they can all expect to navigate in the coming weeks. And in terms of a first confrontation with the opponent, Hegseth handled his mission manfully — taking the slings and arrows from the Democratic side of the aisle with relative ease.
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Jan 14, 2025 | 
thespectator.com | Juan P. Villasmil |Stewart McDonald |Joseph Moreno |Justin Brierley
President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon, military veteran and former Fox News personality Pete Hegseth, had his first hearing in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday. In his opening remarks, the author of The War on Warriors admitted that he is an unorthodox pick. “It is true that I don’t have a similar biography to defense secretaries of the last thirty years.
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Jan 13, 2025 | 
thespectator.com | Stewart McDonald |Katja Hoyer |Joseph Moreno |Justin Brierley
Donald Trump doesn’t take office for another week, but the Trump show starts in earnest this week with a confirmation hearing for Pete Hegseth, followed shortly by Pam Bondi, Kristi Noem, Doug Burgum, Doug Collins and others. While some drama is to be expected, Trump’s current nominees have mostly run the gauntlet unscathed. Not all were so lucky, however.
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Jan 13, 2025 | 
thespectator.com | Anatol Lieven |Joseph Moreno |Toby Young |Justin Brierley
In one place at least, the reaction to Donald Trump’s threats to annex Greenland, Canada and the Panama Canal has been one of unequivocal joy. That is Russia — and for obvious reasons. Most Russians have long seen US language about the “rules-based order” as a mere mask for US empire and US national interests. In their view, Trump has now removed the mask.
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Jan 10, 2025 | 
thespectator.com | Joseph Moreno |Kate Andrews |Ben Domenech |Edward Howell
One of the outcomes of November’s election is that Americans can once again trust their own eyes and call out the obvious when they see it. President Biden long ago lost the mental acuity to serve as the nation’s chief executive. Progressive causes like climate change, diversity hiring and transgender men participating in women’s sports are ridiculous. And highly dubious prosecutions seemingly launched as political weapons are exactly what they appear to be.
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Jan 10, 2025 | 
thespectator.com | Joseph Moreno |Lionel Shriver |Kate Andrews |Ben Domenech
One of the outcomes of November’s election is that Americans can once again trust their own eyes and call out the obvious when they see it. President Biden long ago lost the mental acuity to serve as the nation’s chief executive. Progressive causes like climate change, diversity hiring and transgender men participating in women’s sports are ridiculous. And highly dubious prosecutions seemingly launched as political weapons are exactly what they appear to be.
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Jan 1, 2025 | 
thespectator.com | Will Collins |Katja Hoyer |Joseph Moreno |Ben Domenech
“Very fine people on both sides” was one of the first Trumpisms to enter our national lexicon. In the heady days of 2017, when Donald Trump’s presence in the White House was still a novelty and liberal resistance at its peak, the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Virginia precipitated a full-blown political crisis.
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Nov 27, 2024 | 
thespectator.com | Svitlana Morenets |Sara Wheeler |Grace Curley |Joseph Moreno
After the Harris/Walz campaign blew over $1 billion, its top managers joined their first interview post-election on Pod Save America to explain what went wrong. Their excuses range from having less than 107 days instead of a year and a half, the fact that Harris wasn’t elected via the “traditional” route, the “political environment” — meaning Biden and Kamala’s poor approval ratings — along with Donald Trump, Donald Trump and Donald Trump.
