By: CNN Library – cnn.com – December 31, 2018 Here is a look back at the events of 2018. Notable US Events: January 4 – The Dow closes at 25,075.13, the first ever close above 25,000. January 11 – During a White House meeting on immigration reform, President Donald Trump reportedly refers to Haiti and African nations as “shithole countries.”...

By: Joe Palazzolo – wsj.com – Dec. 27, 2018 5:39 The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of prayers during state legislature sessions and town council meetings. Now the justices may be asked to clarify the separation of church and state in a new forum: school board meetings. The high court has long held that prayer in public schools...

By: Mark Joseph Stern – slate.com – December 27, 2018 Few presidents have done as much to reshape the federal judiciary during their first two years in office as Donald Trump. Aided by the Federalist Society and former White House Counsel Don McGahn, Trump has packed the courts with staunch conservatives in record time. He has already installed two Supreme...

By: Kevin D. Williamson – nationalreview.com – December 27, 2018 Recapping the closing days of 2018 is worse than one of those “previously on . . .” television-program montages. The stock market is recovering a bit after its worst Christmas on record. The president of the United States blames the recent volatility on the chairman of the Federal Reserve, and...

By: Alex Parker – redstate.com – December 27, 2018 On Wednesday, I covered the touching story of a serviceman’s encounter with President Trump during the surprise SCOTUS&FLOTUS visit to American military personnel in Iraq for Christmas (please see it here). Apparently, CNN wasn’t so touched with the whole scenario: CNN Politics✔ @CNNPolitics Troops bringing President Trump “Make America Great Again”...

By: Michael Brown – stream.org – December 27, 2018 Over the years, I have rarely addressed the question of immigration. That’s because I have no expertise in the matter and find it much better to solicit the wisdom of experts. Why give my opinion if it’s no better than yours (or, perhaps, less worthy than yours)? So, this article has...

By: Staff – newsmax.com – December 28, 2018 The partial U.S. government shutdown is likely to continue well into 2019 after House Republicans said Thursday they didn’t plan any votes this week and President Donald Trump said most federal employees losing pay because of the closure are Democrats. There was no sign of any progress toward a plan to fund...

By: Peter Canellos – politico.com – December 25, 2018 The new Ruth Bader Ginsburg biopic “On the Basis of Sex” begins grandly, with an all-male chorus singing “Ten Thousand Men of Harvard,” the university’s storied—and flagrantly sexist—fight song. The men sing in that peculiarly reverential tone used for a collegiate alma mater, their creamy tenors caressing every syllable. On the...

By: Andrew C. McCarthy – nationalreview.com – December 22, 2018 Unlike my colleagues, I’ve been a bemused spectator during this week’s Syria follies. As readers of these columns know (see, e.g., here, here, here, here, and here), I believe the United States has less interest in Syria than in the persistence of drought in Burkina Faso. That is why I...

By: Michael Dorstewitz – newsmax.com – December 23, 2018 Opinions vary over how serious a prolonged government shutdown would be. The confusion and misinformation over the shutdown has been rampant. Here are nine myths that have been promoted over the years regarding the possible coming shutdown. Myth 1: It is a Shutdown: If the deadline is missed, the lights of government...