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Soon-to-be-Former (hooray!) President Obama made history this week. He became the first President in history to commute the prison sentence of a fictitious person who was never convicted of a crime. PFC Bradley Manning sits in a cell at Leavenworth, convicted of espionage. But according to all the news reports on the story, Obama has decided to let Chelsea Manning…

Donald Trump enters the White House on Friday just as he entered the race for president: defiant, unfiltered, unbound by tradition and utterly confident in his chosen course. In the 10 weeks since his surprise election as the nation’s 45th president, Trump has violated decades of established diplomatic protocol, sent shockwaves through business boardrooms, tested long-standing ethics rules and continued…

The Political Atmosphere When Mr. Trump takes office on Friday, he will be less popular than any new president in modern American history, according to a series of surveys published in recent days. The numbers suggest that rather than unifying a divided electorate, his transition to power has continued the polarization from the campaign. Polls released on Tuesday by CNN…

Fake news or conspiracy theory? Or the most epic troll since Dan Rather was conned into accepting forged documents about George Bush? Or a hilarious amalgam of all three? All elements of this story are as yet unknown, but what is unfolding has the makings of historical high comedy. Here’s a rundown. Buzzfeed, a website whose specialty is celebrity tittle-tattle,…

For the first time ever, the United States was included in the International Christian Concern’s annual “Hall of Shame Report.” In the 2016 edition, released last week, the U.S. appeared in the “New and Noteworthy” category. “The persecution in these countries is not anywhere near the same level of persecution as those in the rest of the list,” the report explains, “but…

Actress Meryl Streep’s political diatribe at the Golden Globes awards isn’t the only surprise attention-getting provocation from the event. Nominee film “Hidden Figures,” a box-office hit about the true story of three black women mathematicians who played important roles at NASA in the early days of the space program, is also generating unexpected controversy. The controversy surrounds Kim Burrell, the…

Donald Trump, the Johnson Amendment, and the Question of Christian Cowardice Michael Brown If President Trump succeeds in removing the oppressive Johnson Amendment, which limits freedom of speech from the pulpits, will Christian leaders be more outspoken on controversial moral, cultural, and political issues? I have my doubts, since I don’t believe it is the Johnson Amendment that has muzzled…

Listening to the President’s farewell address was a surreal experience. His perceptions are so skewed that analyzing his remarks comprehensively would be like starting at the beginning of a long buffet and then listing the ingredients of every dish. At least extemporaneously, it is an overwhelming task. One thing he said about the American founding was especially troubling. Mr. Obama…

When you’re a political writer, journalist, or reporter, you’re a rumor magnet. The amount of information that flies at you can be truly staggering, and much of it is pure garbage. Trust me when I say that almost every prominent politician, no matter how squeaky clean, is the subject of salacious and bizarre scandal-mongering. And if there’s a prominent politician…

During Sunday’s Golden Globes ceremony in posh Beverly Hills, California, celebrities preached diversity and tolerance, some of them subtly or not-so-subtly denouncing U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Hollywood has traditionally been an important force for America around the world, a “soft power” export of U.S. culture, influencing hearts, minds and values. That role has eroded over time. What exactly happened to…

The Washington Post published an article Friday reporting that American taxpayers will have to pay for the promised wall between Mexico and the southern U.S. border, despite President-elect Donald Trump’s earlier claims that Mexico would be forced to fund the project. There is still a way that Mexico could pay for the wall, however. How Illegal Immigrants Receive Hefty Tax…