Back From the Dead
“Back From the Dead,” editorial cartoon by Jon Russo for The American Spectator on Nov. 9, 2026.
American Spectator
Conservative · RSS · up to 100 stored headlines
Text size100%
Why Communism Is a Dead End: Lessons From Communist Romania
As a child in school, I discovered that communism is a dead end. In 1950s Romania, the propaganda was pasted...
Nights of Broken Glass, 1938 and Today
On the night of November 9, 1938, the streets of German cities exploded into an epic orgy of anti-Jewish violence....
Eisenhower’s Warning About Communist Subversion Still Matters Today
“…protect themselves and their institutions against any organization … actually a conspiracy dedicated to the violent overthrow of our entire...
Will Democrats Bring Down Trump as They Did Nixon?
The old saying that in the United States “politics stops at the water’s edge” has never been true. Sometimes there...
The Boys’ Reading Crisis: Publishers Are Ignoring Male Readers
In my last article here, I wrote I’d be avoiding hardcore political analysis for a year to focus on trying...
Trump’s Midterm Disaster: Blaming Iran Won’t Save the GOP
President Trump and Vice President Vance were quick to blame the horrific midterm defeat on the Iran war. Mr. Vance...
Democrats’ New Plan to Bypass the Electoral College
Among the many regrettable outcomes of last week’s midterm elections is a significant increase in the number of states in...
America’s Debt Crisis Was the Biggest Loser in the 2026 Midterms
The headline item from Tuesday’s elections is that Democrats wiped out Republicans in the House and the Senate. Congratulations. But...
Trump’s Pressure on NATO Is Finally Making Europe Stronger
When Ursula von der Leyen flew to Trump’s Turnberry golf resort in Scotland in July 2025 to end a trade...
Do Americans Suffer From Islamophobia?
In the wake of the September 11 attacks on the United States, Hamas’s bloodthirsty assault on Israeli civilians on October...
Methodist Decline and Post-Denominational America
Once America’s biggest church and the biggest Protestant denomination for most of the 20th century, the United Methodist Church has...
Glossary of the Postmodern and Pretentiously Intelligent Home
The “smart home” is smarter than artificial intelligence, which is highly artificial but not very intelligent. The smart home, by...
Catholic Faith Is No Excuse for Political Surrender
In the face of major losses, it is common, I’ve noticed, for many Catholics to remind themselves and everyone else...
When Antisemitism Goes Mainstream: The Warning of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
A little more than 30 years ago, our family went to visit relatives in England. My wife’s cousin was a...
The Weekend Spectator Ep. 64: Midterm Madness!
The 2026 Midterm Elections were quite the wake-up call for Republicans across the country. Voters sent a loud message about...
Swimming in Defeat
So, the day after the GOP bloodbath a few days ago, I was sitting by my super pool feeling sad....
Gen Z, Darwin, and the Decline of the Fittest
Natural selection, a central principle of evolutionary theory, describes how organisms become better adapted to their environments over successive generations....
Can An Indian Save Harley?
Maybe the better question is: Can the new (2027) Sprint 440 save Harley? As you may already know, Harley is...
When Generals Wander Into the Swamp
It remains for Pentagon investigators and the military legal system to determine if Lieutenant General Brett Sylvia actually committed the...
Full Steam Ahead
Dover, OH — Driving south along I-77 into this rural community in central Ohio on a picturesque autumn day, one...
The MAGA Movement Forgot What Populism Is
Tuesday’s election wasn’t a blue wave or even a blue tsunami: It was a blue apocalypse. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.),...
Even Californians Rejected a Billionaire’s Tax
SACRAMENTO — Before you worry that some of the nuttier ideas from the Democratic Socialists of America will instantly take root...
Elections Have Consequences
So. The results of the 2026 midterm sound and fury — aka a midterm election — are in. And as...
The Spectacle Ep. 486: Poland Is Unraveling, and Is a Worldwide Disaster Coming?
While the rest of Europe is up in flames and riots, Poland is now under pressure as a recent dispute...
JD Vance Is Absolutely Right and Completely Wrong
There’s no shortage of analysis explaining the disaster for Republicans this past Tuesday. I don’t for a second believe that...
Gavin Newsom Messed Up
The midterms are over, and eyes are turning to the 2028 presidential race. Gavin Newsom — who led the betting...
Why Is There No Accountability for John Thune?
I suppose I’ve become cynical enough that it’s very rare to read something that shocks me into a cough or...
The Spectacle Ep. 485: The Post-Charlie Kirk World: Campus Activism Meets Violence
Two college students — one from the University of Michigan and the other from the University of Texas at San...
The Meaning of the 2026 Election
The next two years are not about passing legislation. They are for highlighting the costs and damage of Democrat proposals...
Tuesday Didn’t Bring Good News for Unborn Babies in Three States
Twenty-one weeks’ gestation is very early. A baby typically weighs about a pound, sometimes less, and is no longer than...
Becerra Takes the Gravy Train
Xavier Becerra, California’s governor-elect, is on record that he would finish the state’s high-speed rail project “on budget and on...
Cuba’s Castro Regime Wins New Life
Despite almost a year of oil blockades, tightened sanctions, and other economic pressures, Cuba’s communist regime doesn’t seem to budge....
What Now, America?
This will be one of my last politics-centric articles for a while, at least well into next year, when the...
Golden Lessons and Silver Linings After a Well-Deserved Cataclysm
Earlier today, Melissa and I had a long discussion about what happened Tuesday night on our absolutely perfectly-named Continuing Crisis...
The Midterms Were the Ass-Kicking Republicans Deserved
The midterm election results delivered a massive loss for Republicans, who lost their majority in Congress by over 20 House...
Here Come the Court-Packing Democrats
Trump supporters must concede that they suffered a terrible defeat. Mind you, it would have been worse if control of...
Trump Looms Over GOP’s Midterm Failure — And His Tweets Show Where He Went Wrong
November 6, 2018 was a very different world. Democrats won control of the House of Representatives, but the Senate remained...
A Modest Proposal Explaining the Midterm Rout
Donald Trump implored voters to “pretend that I’m on the ballot.” To that end, he held an unusual midterm Republican...
Trump’s Tariffs Are Behind Republicans’ Midterm Disaster
President Trump’s tariffs, one of the largest peacetime tax increases in history, worsened inflation and just cost Republicans both houses...
Candidate Quality Mattered
A lesson for both Democrats and Republicans pertains to candidate quality. If Democrats had nominated that weasel Alexander Vindman instead...
The Rout
Democrats won back both the House of Representatives and the Senate last night. The historic triumph gave Democrats a U.S....
The Marines Deserved Better Than This
Perhaps you missed the news of the attack by an illegal immigrant who took a sledgehammer to the Iwo Jima...
While the Public Fears AI, These Ohio and Iowa Business Owners Are Finding Relief
COLUMBUS, Ohio — On a recent afternoon, April Polk was driving to a doctor’s appointment when her assistant flagged something...
Republicans Shouldn’t Have to Work This Hard to Beat Crazy
Midterm elections are like a first date with a girl you like, the very day before she leaves to study...
The Spectator P.M. Ep. 258: The Iowa, Kansas, and California Elections Are Must-Watch Races
Candidates up for this year’s midterm elections have been working around the clock to reach their party base and beyond...
The Spectator P.M. Ep. 257: Haley Stevens Betrays Abdul El-Sayed, and High School Students Can’t Write
In a surprising turn of events, Michigan Democrat Haley Stevens revoked her endorsement for Abdul El-Sayed, instead supporting El-Sayed’s rival,...
Don’t Expect a Blue Wave This Tuesday
If you had asked me over the last few months about the Republicans’ chances in the midterm elections, I would...
Poland’s Return to the Bad Old Days?
In Poland, Nov. 1 marks All Saints’ Day, a national holiday in which Poles customarily visit the graves of deceased...
The Trump Era Marches On
The headline from CNN was as basic as it was bold. It read: “Trump ramps up attacks on Democrats as...
Generic Polls v. Specific Races
Generic polls give generic results; they do not give specific outcomes. Obvious as this may seem, it bears remembering that...
Michigan Choices
“Michigan Choices,” editorial cartoon by Tom Stiglich for The American Spectator on Nov. 2, 2026.
Dems Turn to Misogyny Against Haley Stevens, Say She Is Controlled by Her Fiancé
Democrats are absolutely furious that Michigan Rep. Haley Stevens endorsed Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers and made known her opposition...
The Democrats’ Black-Pill Cult Is on Full Display in Michigan
Last Friday, I published the final installment of The Five Black Pills, a series on the tools of civilizational destruction...
Dem Party Bullies
“Dem Party Bullies,” editorial cartoon by Tom Stiglich for The American Spectator on Nov. 2, 2026.
Germany’s Green Dream, America’s Industrial Gain
Natural gas now costs roughly 10 times as much in Europe as in the United States. While consumers and small...
‘Islamophobia’ Is Used to Silence Critics of Political Islam
The suffix “phobia” means an irrational fear. Arachnophobia, for example, is an irrational fear of spiders, while claustrophobia is an...
Why Do So Many Countries Seem To Be Preparing for Disaster?
Being an information hoarder, I am in the habit of looking for patterns in just about everything, which often helps...
The Trump Doctrine: A Foreign Policy Without Illusions
Is there a “Trump Doctrine” that describes or explains the foreign policy of the Trump administration? Yes. It is best...
Did Army General Brett Sylvia Betray His Country’s Secrets?
A Leaky General? Army Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia has been relieved of his former job as a top Defense Department...
A Republican Victory Could Drive the Left to Bedlam
In 18th century London, the Bethlehem Royal Hospital, better known as Bedlam, was a popular attraction. Visitors paid a penny...
Alaska’s Ranked-Choice Voting Experiment Takes a Sinister Turn
If you look at the history of Alaska’s elections since it was admitted to the Union in 1959, it becomes...
The UN Human Rights Council’s Vendetta Against Israel
What must a country do to earn a permanent place in the dock of world opinion? Commit the worst atrocities?...
The NFL Wants to Conquer the World — and the Afterlife
Over the past year, the NFL has demonstrated its willingness to play football just about anywhere on this third rock...
Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Warfare: Can the U.S. Military Keep Up?
Back in the last decade of the last century, all of the services were — each in its own way...
School Choice Is Bringing Back America’s Founding Values
On October 7, Secretary of State Marco Rubio gave a widely covered address in Athens, Greece, which warned that the...
In America’s Priciest Cities, Belonging Is the New Mortgage
For the first year of his life, Giles R. and Lis H.’s son slept in a wardrobe. The couple had...
Barack Obama’s Politics of Deception: From Obamacare to Iran
Our American political life is noisy and messy. Providing simplicity can be a winning strategy. Most prefer order to noise...
Catholics Have a Moral Obligation to Vote in the Midterm Elections
American Catholics have a moral obligation to vote in the upcoming midterm elections on Tuesday, Nov. 3. The Catechism of...
Repeated Ethical Shortcomings at Instacart Hamper the Task of Those Defending Capitalism
Instacart’s repeated instances of unethical business behavior are giving ammunition to the critics of capitalism. Those of us who defend...
Israel’s Election Results Still Far From Conclusive
Voter turnout for Israel’s parliamentary elections reached a record high as Israelis took to the ballot boxes on Oct. 27...
The Individual’s Choice: Everything I Reject in the Collective Swamp
I do not like shouting choruses, ranks of people marching in lockstep, group slogans, or trendy movies. I do not...
Pete Buttigieg Wants to Be the Democrats’ Radical Man
Pete Buttigieg adopted fairly radical positions during his first bid for the presidency, feeling he had to match the radical...
The Tyranny of #BeNice
On the eve of the midterm elections, one searches in vain for a coherent expression of the ideology that animates...
Move the NFL Out of Manhattan
I took the bait and clicked the headline, “Super Bowl LXI halftime headliner announced.” And the headliner is … Jay-Z,...
The Left Is Jealous of Elon’s Success
While sore Leftists (namely, Robert Reich) shake their fists at Elon Musk and demand that SpaceX and Starlink become “nationalized,”...
New 9/11 Memorial Vandal Underscores Left’s Deep-Rooted Hatred of America
America’s left-wing fringe, which is increasingly indistinguishable from the Democratic Party mainstream, absolutely hates our nation. You’d have to be...
Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest and the Danger of Erasing History
Adolph Hitler’s former Bavarian mountain retreat, the Eagle’s Nest, was burned to the ground by an alleged arsonist on October...
2028 Begins!
The race is on. That would be the 2028 race for president. With President Trump unable to run again, both...
Alaska Dem Bait-and-Switch
“Alaskan Dems Bait-and-Switch,” editorial cartoon by Jon Russo for The American Spectator on Oct. 29, 2026.
The Weirdo Factor Quells the Blue Wave
Many Americans do not vote Democrat on Tuesday for the simple reason that so many Democrats do not represent them....
Horror Sequel
Snopes Determines That Claim Ilhan Omar Married Her Brother Is ‘Unfounded’
It’s been obvious for a pretty long time that Ilhan Omar married her brother. All the way back in 2019,...
The 5QT Presents: The Five Black Pills, Part 5 — What You Hate About AI Is Not Really About AI
AI is here. We’re all using it. And like everything else, it seems, we’re finding reasons to dislike what we...
Polymarket or Kalshi Markets Don’t Decide the Election
The midterm elections are bringing high-priced bets on Polymarket and Kalshi, impacting voter sentiment across the board in different races....
The Spectacle Ep. 484: Anthropic’s IPO Problems, and the Rise of Local AI
Anthropic’s initial public offering, which is set to roll into the stock market in mid-November, released information regarding its nearly...
Let’s Pass the ‘A River Runs Through It’ Act
When I was a boy, the fishing expeditions to Montana’s Blackfoot River launched from our family cabin at nearby Seeley...
Gov. Newsom’s Election Guide
California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently went on record that closing beaches during the COVID pandemic was “insane” and he regretted not...
Catholic Bishops Should Pray at the White House. No Apology Was Necessary.
Dialogue. For better or worse, it’s quite possibly the defining attitude of the modern Catholic prelate. He is supposed to...
Billionaires Compensate Us Many Times Over. Wealth Taxes Endanger That.
No matter what happens in Tuesday’s elections, support for wealth taxes keeps growing. Its justification is based on the idea...
At Last, Officials Question ‘Housing First’
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom announced this week that California has made significant progress in reducing its homeless population, with...
The Spookiest Interview in American Political History
You probably have seen this X post. It’s Ed Markey, the utterly cracked senator from Massachusetts, in an interview with...
The Spectacle Ep. 483: Here’s Why Brazil’s Election Matters to America
Brazil is in a big uproar over Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s being ‘re-elected’ this past Sunday. President Trump even...
Bad Night for Netanyahu
It looks as though an unusually high percentage of Israelis — estimated at 78 percent — turned out to vote....
‘Settler Violence’ Narrative Vilifies West Bank Jews
“All Jews currently living in various parts of the city … are bound to go at once to live together...
The Iron Chancellor’s Guide to Avoiding World War III
Otto von Bismarck is counted among the most effective statesmen of the 19th century — or, for that matter, any...
The House Is Restless. It Has Been Before.
PITTSBURGH — In April 1894, a ragged column of unemployed men attempted to come through Pittsburgh on the way to...
The Decline and Fall of the Knuckleball
Once more this fall, for the 22nd consecutive year, no knuckleball pitchers will be playing in the World Series. Tim...
Getting Reagan’s Conservative Fusionism Right for Today
Reviews of Stephanie Slade’s fine new book Fusionism: Liberty, Virtue, and the Future of the American Right have produced a...
A Republican Guide to Losing the Midterms
Two weeks ago, I offered some humble advice (as humble as advice from a columnist can possibly be, given that...