Matthew Hennessey

2 weeks ago | wsj.com | Matthew Hennessey

From politics and podcasts to sports and TV, everybody’s taking the low road. I’ll bet it’s been a while since you heard someone in public life described as “classy.” The word, and what it represents, has gone AWOL. The culture has time only for outrageous characters—F-bombers, exhibitionists, interrupters, slobs. The sublime has given way to the garish, the sacred to the profane.

3 weeks ago | wsj.com | Matthew Hennessey

He found himself outmatched by the curia, as the Vatican bureaucracy is known. The media will lionize Pope Francis as a reformer, but that isn’t right. To make lasting change in an institution, you need institutional skills. Francis’ disposition was pastoral, not administrative. In the Catholic Church, political power is concentrated in the Roman curia—the practically invisible coterie of busybodies, many of them high-ranking clergy, who administer the vast Vatican bureaucracy.

3 weeks ago | myemail.constantcontact.com | John Hudson |Warren Strobel |Matthew Hennessey

Quotes of the Day:"Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives."– James Madison"I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me... All I ask is that you respect me as a human being."– Jackie Robinson"History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again."–Maya Angelou1. China hawks are losing influence in Trumpworld, despite the trade war2.

4 weeks ago | wsj.com | Matthew Hennessey

Your browser does not support HTML5 video. 0:00Paused0:24 / 6:40There are many negative things to say about President Trump’s tariffs and his ham-fisted approach to policy generally. Most have already been said, and by smarter people. So what’s left? Only the obvious: Nobody knows how all this mishegas is going to turn out. History is contingent. Leaders who make bold and unconventional decisions usually know they are rolling the dice. Success will make them look brilliant.

1 month ago | wsj.com | Matthew Hennessey

The NCAA boxes out the Cinderella stories that made March Madness so much fun. There won’t be any fairy tales at this weekend’s Final Four in San Antonio, Texas. The top-seeded teams at the NCAA men’s basketball tournament bested all comers. What once made March Madness so compelling and watchable—the drama of a miracle run deep into the tournament by a small school—has been swept aside by rule changes allowing student-athletes to transfer between programs and cash in on their college careers.