Archive: The Wall Street Journal

Common Sense Points to a Lab Leak Denials from authorities seemed political all along, and public trust will take a long time to recover.

-- The Wall Street Journal:

Government finagling and misdirecting, especially in crises, are destructive to the long-term public good. And in the end they’re always destructive to personal reputations. The Journal last Sunday upended an old debate with a big exclusive: The Energy Department has told the White House it believes a lab leak was the most likely source of […]

Jimmy Carter’s ‘Malaise’ Speech Aged Well He aptly described the demoralization that preceded today’s hatred and polarization.

-- The Wall Street Journal:

I’ve been meaning for the longest time to write about Jimmy Carter’s “malaise” speech, long derided by history and cited to explain his landslide drubbing by Ronald Reagan 16 months later. It was, in fact, a good speech—brave, original and pertinent to the moment. It failed because he was exactly the man who couldn’t give […]

America’s Longing for Authenticity Reflections on Nikki Haley’s announcement, Super Bowl ads and Will Smith’s humiliation.

-- The Wall Street Journal:

This is about how we present ourselves and our thoughts these days. On Wednesday Nikki Haley announced her presidential campaign in Charleston, S.C. I found myself thinking not about her candidacy but about the launch itself, which was creepily stuck in the past. A horrible, blaring song from a Sylvester Stallone sequel pumped her in […]

Our Political Parties Are Struggling The Democrats need normality; the Republicans need coherence. They both need to pull themselves out of the 20th century.

-- The Wall Street Journal:

A look, from 30,000 feet, at both parties: The Democrats are making a historic mistake. With the fraught issue of abortion devolving to the states and moving, in the next few years, toward local settlement, the national party is free to understand itself, and present itself to the public, in a different way. For half […]

Why Do Officials Filch Classified Documents? One suspects they want a memento of their time in power. That doesn’t make the matter less serious.

-- The Wall Street Journal:

It is a scandal that has intermittently consumed the attention of the press, and I think of a lot of regular people too, because they immediately apprehend the meaning of words like “unlawfully possessed top secret documents.” But people don’t quite know what to make of it. Everything gets so politicized so fast. You don’t […]

The Half-Madness of Prince Harry In his new book, he violates his own privacy as he tells us too much about himself, his wife and others.

-- The Wall Street Journal:

Prince Harry’s book is odd. There’s even something half-mad about it. He opens with a dramatic meeting at Frogmore, his former mansion on the grounds of Windsor. It is just after the death of Prince Philip, Harry’s paternal grandfather. For months Harry has been estranged from his father, Charles, and his brother, William—a “full-scale public […]

Normal Republicans, Stand Up to the Fringe The party is struggling to become something new. It has to find a way to restore its peace and poise.

-- The Wall Street Journal:

Two stories. I suppose they have to do with navigating one’s professional life, though they could apply personally too. One stayed with me for decades, the other is recent; either might be helpful to a reader as the new year begins. The first is about David Letterman. In 1992 he was famously passed over to […]

Why George Santos’s Lies Matter The New York representative-elect effectively committed election fraud and took advantage of voters’ trust.

-- The Wall Street Journal:

What do we learn from the George Santos story? Samuel Johnson observed that men more frequently need to be reminded than informed. The Santos story reminds us that the integrity with which we conduct our lives matters. At first the lies of the newly elected congressman from Long Island, revealed in the New York Times, […]