Column

"There are no libertarians in a global pandemic." So goes the smug punchline of large-government advocates who point to the necessity of collective action in the face of an unprecedented global crisis. Without government, they say, we'd all be dead. Few libertarians would disagree. The hardcore libertarians at Reason magazine aren't spending their days fulminating over the evils of government-…

I'm not sure whether COVID-19, first identified in Wuhan, China, in the U.S. qualifies as a true disaster. Putting the disease in perspective, we might look at current influenza illnesses. According to Centers for Disease Control estimates, between Oct. 1, 2019, and March 14, 2020, there have been 390,000 to 710,000 hospitalizations as a result of the flu, 38,000,000 to 54,000,000 flu illnesses…

There is nothing abhorred more by the mandarins of the 24-hour news cycle than hope. Reporting must beget more reporting. If not, viewers lose interested and change channels and teleprompter readers like Don Lemon and Rachel Maddow get less face time. Hence, broadcasts of chaos, doom, and gloom must end with a promise of more doom and gloom to follow.

The enormous coronavirus “stimulus package” was festooned with goodies for key Democratic constituency groups, including $75 million in “emergency” funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which offers grants to PBS and NPR stations. That’s on top of the half-billion the Congress already authorized for the year. They call it “public” broadcasting, but it’s niche broadcasting by…

Even in this time of crisis and death, some in the news media launched partisan attacks on Republican governors regardless of actual data, including how many people have died. We see this in the media all the time: journalists often cherry-pick commentary and data to support the side they like and attack the other. Here we see an example on the left. Last week, CNN's "The Point with Chris…

Call me crazy. But I had this strange idea that Americans ran America. I was under the apparently mistaken impression that every four years Americans elected a president. And that when times of crisis hit, as they occasionally do, the American people turn on their televisions, radios or, in today’s world, their computers - and listen to their freely elected leader update them on the crisis.

Two things are certifiably true about producer Jason Blum. He’s as left of center as his Hollywood peers, witness his previous comments about President Donald Trump. Blum’s films reflect that progressive spirit. Think Get Out and the Purge franchise as prime examples. But he’s not a fan of the woke mob, nor does he want to silence his ideological foes. He’s ready to talk to conservatives and…

The extra-large pack of journalists who equate liberalism and professionalism in their work product cannot stand that Fox News exists. They believe everything elected Republicans do should be effectively “fact checked” and routinely punished.  For Democrats, the elite media offer damage control; for Republicans, only damage. The onset of coronavirus is simply another occasion for the usual…

This week, President Donald Trump began openly considering at what point the American government ought to take steps to reopen the American economy. He explained: "Our country wasn't built to be shut down. America will again and soon be open for business," suggesting that the timeline will be weeks instead of months.

A recent report by Chris Stewart has shed new light on some of the educational problems faced by black youth. The report is titled "The Secret Shame: How America's Most Progressive Cities Betray Their Commitment to Educational Opportunity for All." Stewart is a self-described liberal and CEO of Brightbeam, a nonprofit network of education activists who want to hold progressive political leaders…

One of the more tiresome partisan polkas we’ve witnessed in the Trump years is the herky-jerky dancing around the White House briefing. First, journalists insist it’s a dangerously undemocratic practice to avoid a daily briefing. Then when suddenly there are daily briefings for a public-health crisis, journalists insist it’s a dangerous practice to air these briefings live because the president…

If anything good can come from the coronavirus pandemic, it is the revelation of America's overreliance on China, especially when it comes to drugs. Interviewed by NBC News, retired Brigadier General John Adams said, "Basically, we've outsourced our entire industry to China. That is a strategic vulnerability." Adams spent his 30-year military career as an intelligence officer, a military attache…

Silver linings accompany most catastrophic events, and one major one with the coronavirus is the remarkable way Americans (and people throughout the world) have come together to fight this outbreak. Though the stock market has reflected a nation in panic, in other respects Americans, for the most part, have reacted responsibly, unselfishly and cooperatively, and I pray we are making substantial…

It is a remarkable thing to read. Hop into the wayback machine and park it in front of this article that appeared as part of a China series in The New York Times Magazine on November 18, 2018. The author is Philip P. Pan, he the Asia editor of The New York Times. The title of the piece?