Norman Podhoretz, 1930-2025
Posted By: Dreadnought, 12/17/2025 3:59:17 PM
My father died tonight, December 16, a month shy of his 96th birthday. Norman Podhoretz passed peacefully and without pain, with a new translation of The Odyssey on his desk that had been sent to him by his friend Roger Hertog. It sat next to a copy of Alexander Pope’s legendary translation, which he had asked my sister Naomi to order for him so he could compare the two. At the very end of his life, Norman Podhoretz was his truest self, a man of letters. His greatest teachers, the men who had the most profound effect on him—Lionel Trilling at Columbia and F.R. Leavis at Cambridge
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Dreadnought"
The Washington Post published a deep dive on Tyler Robinson's life and political views prior to the shooting of Charlie Kirk. What they found is that Robinson seemed to have a fairly bland a pox on both their houses view of the two political parties for quite a while. That changed when he started dating his roommate, who was very vocal about trans rights and his disgust at the re-election of President Trump.
But because this is the Post, the story is framed as a rebuttal to Trump and Republicans.
This examination draws on interviews with 21 people who knew Robinson, as well as hundreds
Non-discrimination policies are funny things; in trying to carve out special rights or privileges for one group, another group often finds itself being discriminated against. Such is the case in deep-blue Massachusetts, where, up until very recently, Christian couples who refused to sign a so-called "LGBTQIA+ Non-Discrimination Policy" were forbidden from serving as foster parents.
On Tuesday, all that changed when the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF), which oversees the state's foster program, announced it would no longer require couples to sign the policy after learning from its federal regulator that the requirement was unconstitutional.
Trump Oval Office Address Touts Administration's
Domestic Wins, Announces Christmas Bonus
for Troops 7 replies
Domestic Wins, Announces Christmas Bonus
for Troops 7 replies
On Wednesday evening, President Donald Trump spoke from the White House on the economy, energy, foreign affairs, and more, in an address to the nation just over a week before Christmas. As RedState wrote earlier this afternoon, the president and War Secretary Pete Hegseth, along with First Lady Melania Trump, attended a formal dignified transfer ceremony at Dover AFB in Delaware. Then just before leaving Dover, Pres. Trump gave a teaser on "the message" of Wednesday night's address. He also shared a reminder on the speech tonight as he returned to the White House. Earlier in the day, WH Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt hinted that the speech
Norman Podhoretz, 1930-2025
2 replies
My father died tonight, December 16, a month shy of his 96th birthday. Norman Podhoretz passed peacefully and without pain, with a new translation of The Odyssey on his desk that had been sent to him by his friend Roger Hertog. It sat next to a copy of Alexander Pope’s legendary translation, which he had asked my sister Naomi to order for him so he could compare the two.
At the very end of his life, Norman Podhoretz was his truest self, a man of letters.
His greatest teachers, the men who had the most profound effect on him—Lionel Trilling at Columbia and F.R. Leavis at Cambridge
A federal judge said that he will not temporarily halt the construction of President Trump’s White House ballroom following a lawsuit from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon said on Tuesday that the organization did not adequately show that “great and certain” harm would come if Trump did not temporarily halt construction, noting that below-ground work will not begin until January and above-ground work is scheduled for April, per the Hill.
Leon did, however, put the Trump administration on “fair notice” that it should be prepared to remove below-ground changes if it were to alter the above-ground structure.
The 24-year-old man who allegedly opened fire alongside his father on a Jewish gathering at Australia’s Bondi Beach has been charged with committing a terrorist act, 15 counts of murder and dozens of other offenses, the New South Wales Police said on Wednesday.
Naveed Akram has been charged with 59 offenses, including 40 counts of causing wounding or grievous bodily harm to a person with intent to murder, police said in a statement. Akram, who remains under police guard in a hospital, is expected to appear in court on Wednesday via a video link, police said.
President Trump’s job approval rating has rebounded after a second-term low, according to new polling averages from Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ).
The president’s approval rating in the DDHQ average of polls stands at 44.8 percent, marking a 3.5 point increase from last month. As of Tuesday, his disapproval rating sits at 51.7 percent, per DDHQ. In mid-November, Trump’s disapproval peaked at 55.5 percent. Trump has been dealing with a number of issues in the last two months, most notably concerns about “affordability.”
Ding-Dong! The Obamacare Subsidies Are Dead!
22 replies
The enhanced Obamacare subsidies Democrats shut down the government to protect back in October are officially dead. House Speaker Mike Johnson slammed the door on extending the bloated COVID-era handout, saying the House will focus instead on moving forward with a new Republican healthcare package.
The temporary subsidies, born out of pandemic panic, were supposed to expire at the end of this year. Democrats, of course, wanted them extended indefinitely—because nothing is ever temporary in Washington when it involves taxpayer money. But Johnson made it clear on Tuesday that this was the end of the line.
Vice President JD Vance flipped the script on a Washington Post reporter after the journalist brought up a recent interview White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles gave to Vanity Fair, in which she allegedly referred to him as a “conspiracy theorist.” During the exchange on Tuesday, Vance told the reporter that he only believes in conspiracy theories that are “true.”
You have to give Vance credit—he doesn’t shy away from tough questions from the media. He consistently delivers sharp responses, managing to come across as both likable and tough at the same time. He would make a strong successor
The Trump administration is doing damage control after a new series of extraordinarily candid interviews with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles set the political world ablaze.
In a series of eleven interviews with Vanity Fair conducted throughout the first year of President Trump’s second term, Wiles gave her unfiltered thoughts on Trump’s “alcoholic” personality, Vice President JD Vance’s “sort of political” conversion to Trumpism, Elon Musk’s “odd” behavior and drug use, and Attorney General Pam Bondi’s mistakes in handling the Epstein files.
Wiles, the veteran GOP strategist credited with overseeing Trump’s successful 2024 presidential campaign
Nick Reiner, the son of movie director Rob Reiner, has been arrested in connection with the deaths of his parents, according to two law enforcement sources with direct knowledge of the investigation.
Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner were found dead on Sunday with stab wounds, a source close to the family told NBC News.
It was not immediately knownThe death of Rob Reiner has shocked Hollywood stars and his fans across the world. He built a huge reputation through acting in, producing and directing a string of hit movies in the 1980s and 1990s. if Nick Reiner has legal representation.
Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai was found guilty Monday of violating Chinese national security laws, the culmination of a years-long effort on the part of the Chinese Communist Party to punish Lai for his staunch pro-democracy activism.
Lai was convicted of conspiracy to collude with a foreign country to endanger national security and conspiracy to publish seditious publications. He previously pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
Following a wave of pro-democracy protests in 2019, Beijing rolled back many of the freedoms Hong Kong citizens were promised after China retook the city in 1997,
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Jack Smith tells lawmakers his team developed
'proof beyond a reasonable doubt' against Trump 31 replies
'proof beyond a reasonable doubt' against Trump 31 replies
WASHINGTON — Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith told lawmakers in a closed-door interview on Wednesday that his team of investigators “developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that President Donald Trump had criminally conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 election, according to portions of his opening statement obtained by The Associated Press.
He also said investigators had accrued “powerful evidence” that Trump broke the law by hoarding classified documents from his first term as president at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and by obstructing government efforts to recover the records.
“I made my decisions in the investigation without regard to President Trump’s political association,
The question is: Did Brown University acquiesce under pressure from far-left human rights groups to disable their CCTV systems, in advance of the mass shooting on campus? (image[SOURCE – AUGUST 19, 2025]
As originally reported in August 2025 {SOURCE}, a group of far-left human rights advocates sent a letter to 150 U.S. colleges and universities asking them to disable the CCTV systems to protect “free expression and academic freedom across the country,” because “the Trump administration has launched an aggressive campaign against US academic institutions.”
The motive for the request to disable CCTV systems as stated: “Right now these tools are facilitating the identification and punishment of student protesters, undermining activists’
Fulton County: "We Don't Dispute" 315,000
Votes Lacking Poll Workers' Signature
Were Counted In 2020 23 replies
Votes Lacking Poll Workers' Signature
Were Counted In 2020 23 replies
"When the law demands three signatures on tabulator tapes and the county fails to follow the rules, those 315,000 votes are, by definition, uncertified." Earlier this month, Fulton County admitted that approximately 315,000 early votes were illegally certified but were nonetheless still included in the final results of that election. The admission came during a Dec. 9 hearing before the Georgia State Election Board (SEB) stemming from a challenge filed by David Cross, a local election integrity activist.
Ford’s Felonious Failure
23 replies
At some point, there will be no news about the Ford Motor Company’s electric vehicle fiasco. But we’re not there yet, as the most recent reports show that the automaker is paying dearly for its commitment to a Potemkin market built by a government that promised favors to companies that would follow its agenda.
Ford’s EV misfortunes have reached a nearly unimaginable low. The company announced Monday that it’s taking a $19.5 billion writedown while eliminating a number of its EV models. Reuters calls it “the most dramatic example yet of the auto industry’s retreat from battery-powered models,”
Before getting to the details as released for media consumption, three facets deserve emphasis.
(1) The primary objective of Ukraine/EU has been a publicity campaign to retain influence and support. (2) U.S. Emissaries Witkoff and Kushner are silent on the announced negotiated result. (3) Ukraine’s lead negotiator Rustem Umerov notes, “There is a lot of noise and anonymous speculation in the media right now. Please don’t fall for rumors and provocations. The American team led by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are working extremely constructively to help Ukraine find a way to a peace agreement that lasts.”
I would overlay that within the weeks of discussions it is easy to spot distance
Do you know what a “neopronoun” or a “xeopronoun” is?
The teachers’ unions want to make sure your little kids do.
Earlier this month, the National Education Association held an “Advancing LGBTQ+ Justice” event.
Documents obtained by the education watchdog group Defending Education (full disclosure: I am on the group’s board) contained slides illustrating these neo- and xeopronouns.
Neopronouns are “new” “pronouns” such as “xe/xem/xyr,” and other letters randomly shoved together. Xeopronouns are for “conceptual identities” such as “cat/cats/catself.”
Got it?
No?
But our kids are being force-fed this garbage in America’s public schools.
My family has a long history with Ford trucks. Among my earliest memories is riding in the 1950 Ford F-1 my Dad had when he was farming; the Old Man later kept a 4-wheel-drive F-250 on his place for various chores. I've had a bunch, from a 1984 Ford Ranger, two Broncos, a 1999 Ranger, and now the F-350 Super Duty we call the Behemoth. I like Ford trucks, and reckon I'll keep on driving them.
On Tuesday, Ford gave me more reason to favor them by finally dropping the F-150 "Lightning," an all-electric version of Ford's famous top-seller.
Ford Motor Co. is pivoting away from its once-ambitious electric vehicle plans
Abdul El-Sayed, a candidate in the 2026 Michigan Democratic primary for the state’s open Senate seat, campaigned in 2018 to commute all sentences for juveniles sentenced to life in prison in the state—a policy that would grant early release for a school shooter, a child rapist and murderer, and other heinous killers.
El-Sayed promised the reforms during his unsuccessful bid for Michigan governor, saying he would "commute all sentences for juveniles sentenced to life in prison and raise the age of adult prosecution" from 17 to 18, as well as "explore commutation options" for any juvenile sentenced to more than 25 years
WASHINGTON — FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino is expected to leave his position in the coming weeks — after reportedly packing up his belongings and bidding adieu to his team.
Four sources told The Post that Bongino’s departure is expected soon, with two specifying that they have heard he is likely to depart in January. President Trump confirmed on Wednesday Bongino is heading for the exits. “Dan did a great job. I think he wants to go back to his show,” Trump said of the former TV host. One of The Post’s sources said they believe that reports on Bongino, 51, already packing up his office may be
A federal judge said that he will not temporarily halt the construction of President Trump’s White House ballroom following a lawsuit from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon said on Tuesday that the organization did not adequately show that “great and certain” harm would come if Trump did not temporarily halt construction, noting that below-ground work will not begin until January and above-ground work is scheduled for April, per the Hill.
Leon did, however, put the Trump administration on “fair notice” that it should be prepared to remove below-ground changes if it were to alter the above-ground structure.
Go ahead and file this one under 'You Don't Hate the Media Enough.'
ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Global Affairs Editor Laura Tingle raised eyebrows during a recent podcast where she—not once, but twice—declared that the targeted terrorist attack at Sydney's Bondi Beach on Sunday evening was not motivated by religion.
The target of the attack was a Hanukkah celebration to mark the first night of the Jewish holiday. The alleged perpetrators, as noted by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who himself would love nothing more than to shift the blame onto inanimate guns, were inspired by ISIS. The attackers had an ISIS flag on the window of their car.
Legally armed civilians, we’re told, pose a major danger. They shoot innocent bystanders, justifiably kill others whenever they personally believe “force is reasonably necessary,” and rely on racist self-defense laws.
At least these concerns are the case in several recent news articles in the Wall Street Journal. On Monday, with the story on the front page of the Journal, reporter Mark Maremont continued his attacks on people legally carrying concealed handguns. His article presents four stories from 2021 to the present where citizens who used a gun in self-defense accidentally shot a bystander.
But with more than 1.6 million defensive gun uses each year, almost 21 million permit holders,