BERLIN — Germany's Angela Merkel announced Monday that she will step down as head of her conservative party in December after 18 years and won't seek a fifth term as chancellor in 2021, launching a leadership transition in Europe's biggest economy. Merkel has led her conservative Christian Democratic Union since...
Kavanaugh to Hear His 1st Arguments as Supreme Court Justice
WASHINGTON — A Supreme Court with a new conservative majority takes the bench as Brett Kavanaugh, narrowly confirmed after a bitter Senate battle, joins his new colleagues to hear his first arguments as a justice. Kavanaugh will emerge Tuesday morning from behind the courtroom's red velvet curtains and take his...
Liberalism Has Evolved Into Closed, Elitist System It Once Replaced
"Liberalism made the modern world, but the modern world is turning against it." So begins a thought-provoking essay from The Economist magazine analyzing the growing global shift away from long-standing Western democratic values to a more widespread acceptance of nationalism and authoritarianism. "Western voters have started to doubt that the...
Trump Stands by Warning of 'Violence' if Dems Win Midterms
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump urged evangelical leaders this week to get out the vote ahead of the upcoming midterm elections and warned of "violence" by opponents if they fail. Trump made the dire warning at a White House dinner Monday evening attended by dozens of conservative Christian pastors, ministers...
Justice Kennedy's Exit Triggers Epic Supreme Court Clash
WASHINGTON — Justice Anthony Kennedy's retirement is setting off a momentous confirmation battle for President Donald Trump's next Supreme Court nominee that is certain to consume the Senate, inflame partisan tensions and shape the outcome of the midterm elections. All sides quickly mobilized Wednesday after Kennedy — a singular voice...
Trump Gets Another SCOTUS Pick. Justice Kennedy Is Retiring.
WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy said Wednesday that he is retiring, and that presents President Donald Trump with the opportunity to cement the bench's conservative majority. The 81-year-old Kennedy is stepping down after more than 30 years on the court. Hs retirement will take effect at the end of July....
Et Tu, George Will? A Debate on Abandoning the GOP
For more than four decades, George Will represented the voice of conservative thought, through his Washington Post column and television appearances. But, the tenure of Donald Trump in the White House may have broken the Pulitzer Prize winning columnist. In his recent Post piece, Will said maybe a Blue Wave...
Legendary Conservative Voice Charles Krauthammer, 68, Dies
NEW YORK (AP) — Charles Krauthammer, the Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and pundit who helped shape and occasionally dissented from the conservative movement as he evolved from "Great Society" Democrat to Iraq War cheerleader to denouncer of Donald Trump, died Thursday. He was 68. His death was announced by two organizations...
Moral Leadership? It Evaporated With Clinton and Trump.
"Democrats surrendered this standard in their defense of President Bill Clinton. Republicans are abandoning this standard in their defense of President Trump. There is apparently no remaining constituency for the belief that high office should involve moral leadership." These are the powerful words of conservative Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson,...