Donald Trump and Elon Musk are an unusual team. Has this ever happened at the White House? 6 Apr 6:00 AM (11 days ago)
Elon Musk's high-profile role in the Trump administration is dominating headlines. His DOGE recommendations are roiling the Washington establishment. His young staffers with backpacks are looking at waste in multiple government agencies, and he himself...
Review of Like Silicon From Clay 30 Mar 6:00 AM (18 days ago)
Will AI Be Our Golem or a Dybbuk? Reading the latest news about the future of artificial intelligence is like experiencing whiplash. Predictions run from the promise of AI to transform the economy to its existential threat to humanity. It's such a new...
There's precedent for White House Signal chat leak and it's more than 100 years old 27 Mar 6:00 AM (21 days ago)
The revelation that top U.S. national security officials used Signal to discuss classified battle plans against the Houthis emerged because Atlantic Magazine journalist Jeffrey Goldberg was somehow on their Signal chat. This remarkable security breach is...
The Power and the Cost of Sacrifice 26 Mar 6:00 AM (22 days ago)
This week, the annual Jewish Torah reading cycle brings us to the book of Vayikra, or Leviticus. Many see this as the "plotless" part of the Torah, detailing sacrifices and many other laws that do not have explicit modern applicability. But at a time...
Oval Office confrontations are rare and unpredictable but not unprecedented 7 Mar 5:00 AM (last month)
The Oval Office is an intimidating place. More than once, I heard President George W. Bush talk about people waiting in the West Wing reception area who he knew were gnashing their teeth and waiting to give him a piece of their mind. But once they were...
A White House Unified: Trump's second term is so far a marked contrast to the turmoil of his first 21 Feb 5:00 AM (last month)
In a recent interview, White House special counsel Alina Habba raved about the collegial atmosphere in the West Wing to reporter Jessica Rosenthal. According to Habba, "Everybody is collaborating. There is zero drama." To this, Rosenthal said, "Events,...
The Deep-Blue County Defying the Nation's Rightward Turn 16 Feb 5:00 AM (2 months ago)
Living in Maryland means recognizing that Maryland is one of the bluest of blue states. It is a state with a large population of federal government workers and has not voted for a Republican for president since 1988. Maryland has not had a Republican...
Natural Disasters Can Reshape Politics 10 Feb 5:00 AM (2 months ago)
California's recent wildfires provided a master class on how not to respond to a disaster. They also reminded us that preparing effectively is the most important step in handling a disaster. That didn't happen. State and local officials appeared to focus...
Hollywood should remember what villains really look like 17 Jan 5:00 AM (3 months ago)
In Top Gun: Maverick, Tom Cruise's character must train a team of hotshot pilots to take out a facility in an unnamed country with snow-covered mountains. Were they training for a mission in Switzerland? Hollywood was so wary of having any villains...
How the White House Makes Policy 5 Jan 5:00 AM (3 months ago)
One of the president's most important responsibilities at the outset of his term is organizing the White House. Unlike most of the federal bureaucracy, the White House consists largely of political appointees who serve at the pleasure of the president...
Books of 2024: A Year in Reading 30 Dec 2024 5:00 AM (3 months ago)
This year proved to be one of the wilder presidential election years in our nation's history. As I followed the constant ups and downs, I found, as always, that the most soothing balms in tumultuous times are good books. Fortunately, 2024 gave me many...
Jimmy Carter's Legacy 30 Dec 2024 5:00 AM (3 months ago)
Jimmy Carter, America's oldest ex-president, has died at 100. Carter was known around the world not just for his one term as president, but for his four decades as a globe-trotting ex-president. His achievements in his one White House term aren't...
Review of The Price of Power 22 Dec 2024 5:00 AM (3 months ago)
Mitch McConnell is perhaps the most important conservative politician of the post-Reagan era. Both George W. Bush and now Donald Trump have been reelected president as Republicans, but McConnell has wielded power for far longer than eight years in office...
Conservatives We Lost in 2024 13 Dec 2024 5:00 AM (4 months ago)
It's a bit of a strange year for lamentations. Conservatives are generally bullish over the election results, and the most prominent deaths of the year are ones that are perhaps more causes of celebration than anything else. I am thinking here of Hamas's...
Advice for CEOs on the New Administration: Consult the Playbook 29 Nov 2024 5:00 AM (4 months ago)
With Tesla stock spiking to over $300 and Elon Musk being tapped for a role driving government efficiency in the Trump administration, it seems that Musk made a good bet going all-in on Donald Trump. Most CEOs, however, did not make that same bet, and...