Abe Greenwald is senior editor of Commentary Magazine.
The COMMENTARY podcast on the endless wait for Joe Biden to enter the 2020 race for the presidency and Donald Trump’s corrupting influence on his allies.
More
The college admissions scandal that captured the nation’s attention has sharpened the critiques of American institutions dedicated to social mobility. When do they succeed, and how have the failed? Also, Beto mania is sweeping… the press. Does the former congressman from Texas have a constituency outside center-left political media?
More
The Democratic Party seems to believe that the country has had a revolutionary turn toward socialism, but there’s little evidence of that. Are Democrats making a bad bet on anti-market policies? More troublingly, what happens to the Democratic Party if that message carries the day in 2020?
More
Democrats wrestle with themselves over how forcefully to condemn anti-Semitism in their ranks. The press publishes a variety of reports that are touted as bad news for Trump but seem only to redound to his benefit. And what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption scandal could mean for his government and his country.
More
On today’s podcast we take up the 2-plus hours of the president’s speech before CPAC and whether it was a triumph or a cry for psychiatric help. Also: Is Bernie Sanders actually going to be the Democratic nominee? Give a listen.
More
The podcast dissects Michael Cohen’s testimony before the House Oversight Committee and sees plenty of silver linings in his scathing indictments of Trump for Republicans. When it comes to the president’s aborted summit with North Korean despot Kim Jong-un, however, there is a little less to cheer about.
More
The COMMENTARY podcast explores the prospects for success as Donald Trump heads to Vietnam for a second summit with North Korean despot Kim Jong-un. Also, the Democratic Party’s leftward drift and how that helps Trump ahead of 2020.
More
Today’s podcast takes up the collapse of the Jussie Smollett hoax before going on to discuss whether it’s illegitimate to discuss the 25th amendment. Give a listen.
More
Today’s podcast takes up the candidacy of Bernie Sanders and his problem with identity politics Democrats, and the case of Jussie Smollett, who told a cockamamie tale that we were ordered to believe. Also: Trump’s emergency. Give a listen.
More
A Senate investigation concludes that there was no collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign in 2016. Will Trump’s opponents accept it? Also, Andrew McCabe claims the Justice Department tried to trigger the 25th Amendment, and the Green New Deal’s dream of national high-speed rail hits the rocks in California.
More
On today’s episode, we look at how the Democrats failed to build on the political success they had holding Donald Trump to account for the government shutdown—instead of melting down in Virginia, with their Green New Deal, and with the continued inability of Elizabeth Warren to escape her own lies about her background. Then we talk about the party’s anti-Semitic breakout star, Ilhan Omar, and the plagiarism scandal affecting the highest-ranking woman in the history of the New York Times. So much pleasure! Give a listen.
More
On today’s podcast, we ask whether Donald Trump’s specific attack on socialism in the State of the Union address—and the strange Democratic response to it—will prove a key issue in 2020. Did he hoist them on their own petard? And is that what is going on with the political meltdown among Democrats in Virginia? Give a listen.
We also discuss Eli Steele’s article “From White Supremacy to Identity Politics.” Give it a read.
More
The Commentary podcast discusses Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s blackface scandal and his party’s calls for him to resign, the death of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty, and dystopian futurism in Super Bowl ads.
More
Today’s podcast takes up the question of the Howard Schultz candidacy and whether it’s frightening Democrats more or thrilling conservatives more. And then we bring up the brave new world of surrogacy, parenthood, and partial birth abortion and wonder whether what we need is an updating of the Oral Law. Give a listen.
More
The government shutdown is over. Did Donald Trump “cave?” What does Roger Stone’s indictment by the Special Counsel’s Office indicate about Robert Mueller’s investigation into Donald Trump’s campaign and the “collusion” narrative? And the United States and the Taliban come to terms on a post-conflict agreement. Has the war in Afghanistan been lost? All that and more on the Commentary podcast!
More
So the data are in, and they show Donald Trump has hurt himself with the shutdown. Period. The question is, why have the Republicans who have withdrawn their support in recent polls done so? And we go into the Venezuelan political crisis and the deft leadership America has shown this week. Give a listen.
More
Is social media evil? Can there be any doubt after this weekend’s disgusting display? And is the online media titan BuzzFeed behaving in ways that enhance media credibility or damage it? Guess! Give a listen.
More
The Democratic Party should be on a roll, but it doesn’t seem to be benefiting from the government shutdown, some of its hot young stars are getting into trouble on anti-Semitism grounds, and the rollouts of its presidential contenders have been rocky. We talk about that and about Christine Rosen’s important February COMMENTARY article, “The Psychological War on Masculinity.” Give a listen.
More
The New York Times reports that the FBI opened an investigation into Donald Trump’s personal ties to Russia under dubious circumstances. Does this demonstrate the truth in the claims made by the president’s defenders about the arrogance and recklessness of the permanent bureaucracy? And, as this becomes the longest government shutdown in history, is anyone “winning” the messaging?
More
Donald Trump’s Oval Office address was a dud because he is not a persuader, and that’s all such speeches are designed to do—to persuade those who can be persuaded. So what happens now that the government shutdown is really starting to bite? And what does the number 42 tell us about the future? Give a listen.
More