Long after President Trump’s term in office ends, there will be lawfare about what he has done. When the dust settles on his war against the drug lords, there will still be a lot of litigation on things such as the announcement he made on Friday that all things that were done by former president Biden via the “autopen” were cancelled. Trump wrote on Truth Social that, Any document signed by Sleepy Joe Biden with the Autopen, which was approximately 92% of them, is hereby terminated, and of no further force or effect. The Autopen is not allowed to be used if approval is not specifically given by the President of the United States. The Radical Left Lunatics circling Biden around the beautiful Resolute Desk in the Oval Office took the Presidency away from him. I am hereby cancelling all Executive Orders, and anything else that was not directly signed by Crooked Joe Biden, because the people who operated the Autopen did so illegally. Joe Biden was not involved in the Autopen process and, if he says he was, he will be brought up on charges of perjury. How far back does that go? In 2024 alone, Biden signed 19 executive orders, granted 39 pardons and commuted about 1,500 sentences. In total, Biden “signed” 162 Executive Orders, 89 pardons and and 4,165 commutations. From what Trump wrote we have to conclude that he wants to wipe the slate clean of all Biden’s EOs, pardons, and commutations. That’s more pardons and commutations than any other president. Trump excels at throwing everything up in the air and seeing how it settles to earth. He’s done it again with his Friday declaration. Biden’s Executive Orders range from the first, “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government” to the last, “Adjustments of Certain Rates of Pay.” In all these cases, it will be up to the Justice Department to prove, in the resulting lawsuits, that Biden signed them with the autopen and didn’t specifically approve each one. How will they prove that? Well, first off they don’t have to. The burden of proof will be on the plaintiffs. They’ll have to prove that Old Joe either signed the document in question or specifically authorized the use of the autopen for that purpose. In defense, the Justice Department may be able to start with forensic evidence showing that Biden didn’t actually sign the documents in question. It may be that an autopen signature is different from an actual one. We don’t know if there is such evidence or how it can be derived. There may be videos showing which were — and were not — signed by Biden in person. But that doesn’t conclude the inquiry. Lawsuits will go back and forth, and to the higher courts, about whether Biden knew and specifically intended that the EOs, pardons, and commutations and such were going to be effective. Will Trump and the Justice Department try to re-imprison people who were pardoned or had their sentences commuted? If so, each of those people will be entitled to a trial on the circumstances surrounding the pardons and commutations. This is a huge mess for which lawyers will find employment for years to come. It’s much less clear that each person — or class of people — affected would have the right to a trial on the question of Trump’s action cancelling Biden’s Executive Orders. Trump could have saved himself the effort by — as this column recommended — cancelling all of Biden’s Executive Orders by his own EO on the first day he resumed office. A further problem is in that a future Democratic president who could (and probably would) cancel the defense of any or all of the lawsuits that are brought against Trump’s action, presuming that the litigation isn’t concluded by the time Trump leaves office (and presuming his successor, Heaven help us, is a Democrat.) There are problems, too, for those challenging Trump’s order. How can they counter evidence that Biden was overcome with senility at the time he supposedly signed the documents? How could that Biden have actually signed them and knew what he was doing when he did? These people cannot rely on Old Joe’s testimony. He’s reportedly too far gone into senility for that. Trump’s threat of a perjury indictment against Biden in the event of such testimony might be something to dissuade all involved to not try to obtain Biden’s testimony. So where does that leave us? If the Justice Department tries to re-imprison those pardoned or had their sentences commuted, that will definitely lead to lawsuits to sustain the pardons and commutations. Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Justice Department must have been consulted before Trump made his Friday declaration. How will they act to pursue it? And how will they sustain Trump’s erasure of all of Biden’s executive orders? There are any number of other documents Biden signed with the autopen including presidential directives that are still secret. How will they be treated under Trump’s new order? Trump excels at throwing everything up in the air and seeing how it settles to earth. He’s done it again with his Friday declaration. READ MORE from Jed Babbin: Striking the Unknown William F. Buckley, Jr. and Tucker Carlson Happy Birthday, Marines

And in despair I bowed my head; ‘There is no peace on earth,’ I said, ‘For hate is strong and mocks the song. Of peace on earth, good will to men. I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow / Jean Baptiste Calkin This past weekend brought the first Sunday in Advent. Liturgically, Advent is not part of the Christmas Season, which begins on Christmas Eve. Quite the contrary, it’s a time for vigilance rather than joy, based on the belief that something or Someone wonderful is coming to uplift men’s souls. But in the corporeal world, the Christmas Season has already begun, with decorations everywhere, nonstop cable Christmas movies, and Yuletide music all around. The last category gave me an idea. There may not be Peace on Earth right now, but there are more peaceful spots than last year. All my life, I’ve heard the most common cliché of the season — Peace on Earth and goodwill toward men. This is a secularized misrepresentation of the actual Luke Gospel line, Glory to God in the highest and on Earth peace to people of good will (Luke 2:14). Specifically, men in general shouldn’t get a blanket best wishes — only good men and women. However, I dismissed the phrase for a long time, aware that on the Tolstoyan scale, War far exceeded Peace on Earth. I was too young to fight in Vietnam, but a couple of older kids in my orbit were scared to — and of — death in 1972. I remember one friend looking ashen when ordered to report to the draft board with a low lottery number. He came back beaming. “I don’t have to go,” he said. “That’s great, Jerry,” I said. “How come?” “I told them I was allergic.” “Allergic to what?” I asked. “Little yellow men trying to kill me,” said Jerry. It was a politically incorrect time. I paid some attention to the Vietnam War after that. I recall feeling disgusted watching the 1975 fall of Saigon on the news, sorry for the men who died for nothing, and glad Jerry wasn’t one of them. But nothing enraged me more in college than nightly viewings of Ted Koppel on ABC’s Nightline citing day number something of America Held Hostage. That is until the then worst President in American history announced the deaths of eight servicemembers in a catastrophic hostage rescue attempt in Iran. But then came the 80s, and a kind of Pax Americana for the whole decade. If you didn’t count the Cold War, which our President won, and a four-day firefight in Granada, which our country won. Maybe I should’ve given more thought to the Christmas carols at the time, and the peace on Earth bit, but the decade’s other music and the movies were too good. You couldn’t say the same for the 90s, or the goofball President that led into them. The New Year had barely started in 1991 when the Gulf War did. U.S. troops performed magnificently, better than the President did in stopping it. Later that year, he was totally surprised by the most momentous event of the second half of the 20th Century — the fall of the Soviet Union, from the strategic blows his predecessor had dealt it. “We were stunned,” wrote Bush National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft. “The coup was a complete surprise.” A worse surprise came 10 years later, at the turn of the century. Nearly 3,000 people murdered in New York and Pennsylvania by 19 jihadists. The military response by the President lasted a lot longer than his father’s Gulf War — nearly 20 years of war. It ended much like Saigon, with Americans fleeing and people falling off aircraft wings, under the command of the now worst President in American history. And while he was President, two more major wars broke out — one in Europe, another in Gaza, after Hamas slaughtered 1,200 Israelis and brutalized more innocents. The current President ended that last war, and is working hard to end the other. He has also helped to stop several other military conflicts, such as India versus Pakistan and Thailand versus Cambodia. There may not be Peace on Earth right now, but there are more peaceful spots than last year. Tragically, one of them is not Nigeria, where, so far this year, 7,000 Christians have been killed. The jihadists responsible aren’t men of good will and don’t merit our own. They deserve a less cheerful American response. But America itself is plagued by mindless hatred. I’m not referring to the godless educated class that dominates the Democratic Party, like those who celebrated Charlie Kirk’s assassination and murder their own unborn children. Only God can help or punish them. But the lost black youth for whom life has little meaning, who blast each other every night in Democrat-run cities, who assault helpless white people in packs and hurt them to the point of death — many of them know no other way. There are no fathers at home to teach them. But if I could give them some advice, it would be this, as ridiculous as it may sound to them: This Advent-Christmas season, apart from guttural antihuman rap music, listen to a few classic Christmas carols of the sacred kind. Before your teachers and leaders indoctrinated you into the hopeless pit of racism, your grandparents and great grandparents created and sang Gospel, the most gorgeous, angelic American music ever heard. Some of the Christian carols have the same soul–stirring poetry put to brilliant melody to welcome, not darkness and death, but something or Someone wonderful. READ MORE from Lou Aguilar: A Great American Thanksgiving The Wreck of Feminist Hollywood A Gut Punch in the Culture Fight Have yourselves a romantic little Christmas. Get your love interest my Yuletide romance fantasy novel, The Christmas Spirit. Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or wherever fine books are still sold.

Italy gave the world Caravaggio, Verdi, and the sort of architecture that makes tourists weep into their gelato. A place of operas, cathedrals, couture, and cuisine. And yet, this week, its parliament passed a law more at home in a nation struggling with social collapse: a statute defining femicide, the intentional killing of a woman or girl because she is female, as a separate crime, punishable by life imprisonment. A country famous for worshipping its mothers and grandmothers is now reading out statistics that belong in a crime thriller. The vote was unanimous. Italy’s famously quarrelsome parliament suddenly agreed on something — the political equivalent of a taxi in Naples using a turn signal. Giorgia Meloni welcomed the law, calling it overdue. Few disagreed. Italy recorded 106 femicides in 2024, roughly one every three days. That’s a rhythm no civilized country should ever grow accustomed to. Especially not Italy, a nation that has spent centuries perfecting beauty only to find itself tallying bodies at a pace that would shame much poorer and less stable states. This forces a blunt, unavoidable question: why would a supposedly refined Western nation need a specific law for something so barbaric? Why must a country of galleries and grandmothers now legislate against the murder of women as if drafting instructions for a failing state? One thing is obvious: ordinary Italian men (and women) aren’t suddenly possessed by some murderous mania. The average Italian male is far more interested in football lineups, family lunches, and finding a stretch of sidewalk not colonized by Vespas. And yet the killings continue. That contradiction tells us the violence isn’t rising organically from Italian culture. Something else is colliding with it. For well over a decade, Italy has absorbed large waves of unchecked immigration, particularly from North Africa and parts of the Middle East — regions where violence against women is a grim routine. Countries like Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, and Libya repeatedly rank high for domestic violence, forced marriage, and gender-based killings. In many of these societies, often shaped by deeply traditional interpretations of Islam, “honor” dictates what women may do and “dishonor” is treated as an offense punishable by the family itself. Femicide there isn’t concealed. It’s treated as part of the moral order, not a violation of it. A daughter speaking to a boy her father disapproves of, a wife seeking divorce, a sister refusing a forced marriage — these are the decisions that can cost a woman her life. In Italy, these patterns don’t magically vanish at the border. A culture that normalizes male ownership doesn’t evaporate because someone has filed for asylum. A worldview shaped by the belief that a woman’s disobedience is a provocation doesn’t evaporate at the border or dissolve in a police queue. Add the shock of migration — poverty, humiliation, status turned to dust — and those old norms can grow even stronger. Just like people, norms travel. Customs cling. People don’t wash off their worldview in the Mediterranean Sea. Many arrivals come from regions where a woman’s independence is seen as an insult, where the idea of female autonomy threatens not just one man’s authority but the entire social order. When those men arrive in a country where women dress as they like, walk where they like, choose whom they love, and say “no” without hesitation, the cultural collision is destined to turn ugly. Italy is a nation shaped by Catholicism. Family loyalty may be loud and overbearing, but it has never carried the logic of blood punishment. Italian culture has many sins, but femicide as a moral duty isn’t one of them. The idea that a woman’s choices could stain a family’s name or demand violent “correction” has no roots in Rome, Naples, Florence, or anywhere else on the peninsula. That mindset is a foreign import, and Italy’s now paying the price for pretending all cultures treat women the same. Immigrant-perpetrated violence against women is disproportionately high. Over the last ten years, as migration surged, so did the numbers most politicians refuse to say aloud. Rape cases spiked, sexual assaults climbed, and the profile of offenders shifted in ways no amount of earnest speeches can hide. Cities like Milan, Turin, and Bologna have seen marked rises in attacks carried out by young men from North Africa and parts of the Middle East — men arriving from places where boundaries between “courtship” and coercion barely exist. Italian women report being harassed in parks, on public transport, outside nightclubs, and increasingly in small towns that once saw little more than petty theft. The new femicide law is Italy’s attempt to break that cycle. By naming the crime directly, the state is admitting that women are being targeted for a specific reason: because they are women living in a society that allows them choices unimaginable in the countries some perpetrators come from. Freedom, here, is the provocation. Autonomy, the insult. This is Italy, at last, telling the truth. A nation that spent centuries sculpting order and beauty can no longer ignore the violence now spreading through its streets and homes. But a law, however strong, cannot undo years of reckless policy. It can’t demand assimilation after years spent refusing to ask for it. It can’t fix the consequences of importing communities with profoundly different views on females, family, and social hierarchy. And so Italy now stands in a strange, shameful paradox. A country famous for worshipping its mothers and grandmothers is now reading out statistics that belong in a crime thriller. A nation built on family and fellowship is confronting a kind of brutality that feels torn from another century and imported into the present. The new law is necessary. It may even save lives. But unless Italy confronts the cultural roots of this crisis with the same honesty it finally showed in parliament, the measure will become another well-intentioned plaque on a wall that keeps cracking. READ MORE from John Mac Ghlionn: The Discipline Dividend: How Conservatives Defend What Liberals Dismantle A PSA to Women: This Type of Man Won’t Save You When It Counts The Hedge-Fund Arsonist Now Campaigning as California’s Savior

Somerset Maugham once said that the well-dressed man is the one whose clothes you never notice. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy would probably settle for “no slippers at TSA.” Has America turned into a nation of slobs? Duffy seems to think so. He recently launched a campaign encouraging travelers to dress like adults, arguing that sartorial choices influence behavior, especially on airplanes. “Whether it’s a pair of jeans and a decent shirt, I would encourage people to maybe dress a little bit better, which encourages us to maybe behave a little better,” he said. And, more bluntly: “Let’s try not to wear slippers and pajamas as we come to the airport.” He’s spot-on: sloppy dress reflects a lack of self-respect and projects immaturity, which, in turn, sets a poor example for youth. Maybe the novelty attire should stay in the hamper, and the kids should get dressed. Modeling maturity is the right thing to do. But Duffy’s proposals transcend air travel. Too many adults dress as if childhood never ended. Pajamas, hoodies, sneakers, and far too many ironic novelty tees have become standard — especially for men, who no longer see value in presenting themselves as grown-ups. There was a time when appearance conveyed responsibility, discipline, and self-respect. Today, comfort and irony carry the day. What do we make of the 48-year-old father/accountant wearing a Pokémon T-shirt to parent-teacher night, or the 31-year-old commuter programmer sporting a Saquon Barkley jersey at 8 o’clock Mass? These attacks are too easy, and too fun, and seem almost too mean-spirited to be justified. But they are not — and Duffy is on to something. Dressing like a sixth grader conveys a lack of attention to what it means to be an adult. Men of earlier generations dressed like adults because they wanted to be grown-up. Little boys wore shorts to signal childhood, and when they came of age, they aspired to look the part: shoes polished, trousers pressed, ties carefully knotted. Shoes were investments, worn for decades and broken in with care. Socks were smooth, over the calf, and never crumpled. Shirts were dry-cleaned and hung neatly in closets. Coats were substantial, enduring, heavy with presence. Hats completed the ensemble — fedoras, Homburgs, flat caps procured on travels. The clothes made the man and conveyed a sense of thoughtfulness, discipline, and responsibility. If you doubt it, watch almost any film from Hollywood’s golden age. Cary Grant, Sean Connery, William Powell, David Niven — men who could hail a cab, solve a crime, drink a martini, and still look like adults while doing it. We don’t need every dad in a cul-de-sac to dress like he’s walking onto the set of The Thin Man, but come on, maybe give a little effort! No one is asking Little League coaches to show up in a three-piece and a fedora. But there’s a big stretch of common sense between Cary Grant in a chalk-stripe suit and a dad who looks like a hobo tumbling out of a boxcar. Once you start noticing these choices, it’s hard to unsee them. Today, comfort has replaced discipline. Hoodies, sweatpants, sneakers, flip-flops, and casual tees dominate. Fathers in goofy garb, sporting clothes branded with “I Paused My Game to Be Here” and “The Dadalorian: This Is the Way,” have replaced dressing like an adult. When did everyone decide they had to be “cool”? These novelty tees are not doing the job. You’re a financial advisor, married with kids, living in a suburban cul-de-sac — you’re not cool. That’s okay. Stop trying so hard. As Duffy observes, proper attire could improve behavior and just might have a much wider cultural knock-on effect. In short, adults need to grow up and dress with more intent. There once was a standard. Grown men tried to present themselves as adults: cops, firemen, farmers, bellboys, salesmen, clerks — they tried to look the part. Trousers — yes, they used to call them that — never sagged, shoes were not sneakers, and ties — yes, people used to wear them — were subdued yet versatile. Sure, there were outlier slobs, but at least they were outliers; now they are the norm. So next time you see little kids in the supermarket in pajamas, look at their fathers. Chances are they’ll be sporting a “DILF: Devoted Involved Loving Father” tee. Maybe the novelty attire should stay in the hamper, and the kids should get dressed. Modeling maturity is the right thing to do. Dressing consciously, with a bit of respectful attention, signals to kids a standard worth maintaining. Suppose just a few men reclaim even a portion of that discipline — it might signal something to themselves, to society, and to the next generation that little things matter. Sean Duffy is onto something: a little formality could go a long way. So the moral is this: Dress like a grown-up — your kids, your neighbors, and the TSA will thank you.” READ MORE from Pete Connolly: The Great Gatsby at 100 Yes, New York Times, A Christian Can Be Both Pro-Life and Pro-Secure Borders When Youth Sports Stopped Being Fun  

Thanksgiving weekend ranks as the nation’s busiest travel period with an estimated 81 million on the move and nearly 90 percent doing it by roadway vehicle. This yearly ritual is nothing new. Granting licenses without proper documentation creates serious security risks and erodes the integrity of immigration enforcement. America’s highways, already a patchwork of potholes and billboards, face a deeper crisis with illegal drivers. This made headlines before quickly vanishing from the mainstream news’ cycle after a series of deadly crashes involving tractor-trailers. From coast to coast, these tragedies have claimed lives and revealed that illegal immigrants who obtained commercial driver’s licenses (CDL) illegally were the cause of these accidents. Borko Stankovic in the country illegally since 2011, caused a fatal crash in Indiana last month when he swerved into oncoming traffic after failing to slow for congestion. He held a suspended CDL issued in Illinois under another person’s name and now faces reckless homicide and criminal recklessness charges. Harjinder Singh, who entered the U.S. illegally in 2018, killed three in August while making an illegal U-turn in a tractor trailer on a Florida turnpike. Despite failing his written exam 10 times, Singh still obtained a CDL from Washington state in 2023.  After the crash, Singh failed an English proficiency test, answering only 2 of 12 verbal questions correctly and was only able to identify one of four traffic signs. In 2022, Jashanpreet Singh is another illegal who entered the U.S. and caused a deadly crash on a California freeway this summer while driving a trailer under the influence of drugs. Dashcam video shows Singh plowing into multiple vehicles before veering off the road as his cab caught fire. The collision killed three and seriously injured four. New York has gone as far as issuing CDLs to illegals under “No Name Given.” One such case involved illegal immigrant named Anmol Anmol, who was arrested in September while driving an 18 wheeler in Oklahoma. The arrest was part of a three-day enforcement operation on threats to public safety along I-40 in Oklahoma. There have been documented cases of human traffickers, smugglers and drug cartels using these truckers. According to the Department of Transportation, California is the worst offender where more than 25 percent of CDLs were illegally issued. Sanctuary states are more interested in defying federal laws by offering licenses and jobs to illegals than they are about assuring highway safety or jobs to Americans.  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Florida does not recognize drivers’ licenses from other states since many states issue them to illegals who have not passed the necessary safety tests. Many illegals obtain several CDLs so they can keep driving if one is revoked. Deceitful trucking companies have recruited illegal drivers to satisfy contracts with shippers. They exploit both the drivers and the system while endangering the lives of everyone on the road. The mainstream media continues to ignore these stories that compromise public safety. Granting licenses without proper documentation creates serious security risks and erodes the integrity of immigration enforcement and state licensing standards, while rewarding the unlawful. Today’s journalists prefer the faux tragedies of illegal aliens being arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Licensing means safer roads, healthier supply chains, and continued economic growth. If trucking companies have a shortage of qualified drivers, they should be training Americans and legal immigrants and using work-visa programs to fill the void. Most truck driving schools are a 320-hour affair that includes 160 hours on the road, a written and driving exam, a detailed vehicle inspection, a signs test, a vision test, and a physical. Moreover, federal law requires that the road testing is in English which is often not enforced. In some states, the written portion of the testing is offered in many languages.  The Trump administration has already taken steps to require English proficiency for all states issuing CDLs. Training and licensing must be reserved for citizens and legal immigrants who meet the requirements, not for those who bypass them. To remain a nation of laws, accountability is a must from states that undermine federal standards. A society that abandons its own standards in favor of political agendas not only is in decay but is driving itself toward a head-on collapse. Pursuing the common good through common sense must be the rule, not the exception. READ MORE from Greg Maresca: Penny for Your Thoughts The $40 Million Mulligan Habits May Fade, the Marine Remains

It was 20 years ago on November 21, 2005, that Hugh Sidey died at age 78 while vacationing in Paris. As Washington Bureau Chief and White House correspondent, Sidey wrote about every American president from Eisenhower to George W. Bush for Life and Time magazines. His regular column for Time titled “The Presidency” appeared from 1966 to 1996. He was a regular guest on the weekly, half-hour Public Broadcasting television show “Agronsky and Company,” where he verbally jousted with Carl Rowan, George Will, and James J. Kilpatrick. His fair-minded, unbiased reporting and assessments of presidents and their policies would be unrecognizable among today’s Washington press corps with their leftist, pro-Democratic Party ideological biases and Trump Derangement Syndrome. Today, there are no Hugh Sidey’s in the Washington press corps. Sidey was born in Iowa in 1927, earned a degree in journalism from Iowa State College in 1950, and worked for local newspapers in Iowa and Omaha, Nebraska. In 1955, he was hired by Life, and two years later joined the Washington staff of Time. His Midwest roots and local reporting experience mostly helped to inoculate him from the Beltway hive of reporters who view Washington, D.C. as the center of the universe. Unlike the mostly liberal presidential scholars that mostly spew their liberal theories and praise Democratic presidents and their policies from their ivory towers, Sidey chronicled presidents as a beat reporter. In his columns and news stories, events, policies, and personalities trumped ideology. He analyzed how presidents used their power both at home and abroad. He understood how the personalities of presidents and their close advisers shaped their administrations for good or ill. He understood both the majesty of the office and the constitutional, political, and practical constraints on a president’s powers. Sidey’s “The Presidency” columns for Time were fair-minded, non-ideological, fact-based reporting coupled with usually shrewd judgments about the men who occupied that office. He had a great respect for the office — its importance, its demands, its complications, and its pitfalls. In the introduction to a retrospective book titled Portraits of the Presidents (2000), Sidey described the nine presidents he covered as “triumphant political figures, but … wildly differing human beings, whose leadership styles were shaped by their individual characters and backgrounds.” He admitted that often his initial impressions of the presidents he covered were wrong, and described his reporting as a “constant voyage of learning and correcting my views.” “The cauldron of the presidency,” he explained, “reveals unknown strengths in a person, just as it exposes hidden weaknesses.” Sidey wrote that one of a president’s greatest strengths is “intuition” because when crucial decisions are made presidents rarely have all the information they need. So, presidents often exercise judgments based on experience, education, intelligence, gut feelings, and hope. After initially viewing Dwight Eisenhower as a passive president (a common view among Washington reporters and early scholars of his presidency), Sidey came to appreciate Ike’s judgement — keeping us out of the war between France and Vietnam; ending the Suez Crisis before it got out of hand; sending troops to enforce civil rights. In a 1968 article in Life (reprinted in Portraits of the Presidents), Sidey predicted that historians would come to appreciate Eisenhower’s steady, prudent, and patient leadership — as indeed they have. Like many among Washington journalists, Sidey was beguiled by John Kennedy, and he never got over it. He accepted much of the mirage that was Camelot, overlooked or downplayed Kennedy’s personal recklessness and presidential failures. Sidey was fascinated by Lyndon Johnson, but understood that Johnson was “driven by his pride” and “haughty in his power.” Johnson’s legislative skills and political manipulation, Sidey wrote, helped pass important civil rights legislation, but those skills were useless in Vietnam, the debacle that he led America into, wasting treasure and lives. Sidey wrote more about Richard Nixon than any other president. He called Nixon a “global strategic genius,” referencing the opening to China, détente with the Soviet Union, the airlift to Israel during the Yom Kippur War, and Nixon’s general understanding of world events and personalities. Sidey blamed Nixon for Watergate, but then he didn’t have access to the materials Geoff Shepard has gathered that tell a very different tale than the Woodward-Bernstein version. In a memorable 1978 Time column reflecting on the Nixon presidency, Sidey wrote that he wondered whether another dimension of the Nixon tragedy would get more attention — “the loss of a man to the world … a man who understood the men, the ingredients, the glory, the brutality, the action and reaction of power as well as anyone else of our time.” Nixon’s successor, Gerald Ford, Sidey wrote, “was never intimidated by power and its responsibilities.” Nor was he “blinded by pride or arrogance.” Sidey misjudged Jimmy Carter, writing that Carter was “almost too idealistic for the job” of president, though he gave Carter high marks for the Camp David Accords and the Panama Canal Treaties. Carter had a mean streak that eluded Sidey’s normally perceptive gaze. His presidency was a dismal failure — Sidey understood that, but appreciated Carter’s post-presidential ministry of good works. Sidey liked Ronald Reagan (they were both Midwesterners) and understood that even if Reagan sometimes got the details wrong, he mostly got the big picture right — never more so than with respect to the Cold War, which Reagan brought to a peaceful end. Some journalists during Reagan’s presidency caricatured him as a front man for his advisers, just as they had caricatured Eisenhower. They were wrong about Ike and wrong about Reagan. Sidey quoted then-Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger in a Time column in 1985 (also reprinted in Portraits of the Presidents) about the successful military strike on the terrorists responsible for the Achille Lauro murder, that Reagan “has better judgment than all the rest of us put together.” “George Bush ran the government better than any other of the modern presidents,” Sidey judged in Portraits of the Presidents. He wisely managed the end of the Cold War. He also fought a short and successful war in the Persian Gulf, wisely refusing “to enlarge and prolong the war,” as his son George W. Bush would do a decade later. And Sidey was much too gracious in his judgment and estimation of Bill Clinton, calling him a “survivor” who disgraced the presidency but was slick and flexible enough to “shed his liberal skin” and make the era of limited government his mantra. Sometimes Sidey was too fair-minded. Today, there are no Hugh Sidey’s in the Washington press corps. We cannot know for sure how Sidey would have covered the Trump presidency, but he surely would have covered it more fairly than the Trump Deranged “journalists” who inhabit the D.C. swamp. READ MORE from Francis P. Sempa: Missionary Ridge and a Legacy of Courage The Liberal Crack-Up 2.0 National Review Turns 70    

In an ancient Greek play, a deluded woman carries the head of a Greek King onto the stage, whom she has just beheaded. And in June of 2025, during the “No Kings” protest, an equally deluded woman proudly carried an effigy of a severed head through the streets — that of President Trump. Is there a connection between these two events? In today’s world, we can only ask ourselves in what direction our madwomen are leading us. Hegel and Karl Marx warned us that the Iron Law of Farce states that history often repeats itself — the first time as tragedy, the second as farce. To take an example, ancient Greece was the cradle of modern democracy, and its decline and fall was an outright tragedy. But, fast-forwarding to today, we ask ourselves if the current backsliding of America, visible in the attacks on Trump, doesn’t exhibit aspects of a farce. Since Trump was elected, the antics of the Democrat party — devoid of wit, satire, or irony — manifest a darkly comic side that goes beyond horseplay, fun-loving buffoonery, or mere political posturing. It is farce, perhaps bordering on the theater of the absurd, and it is particularly prominent among women. And it is dangerous — both for the women and for America. At the No Kings rallies in June and October, it is a fact that women were the majority — mostly “affluent white female liberals,” who have been nicknamed Awfls. There were the usual references to Trump as Fascist, Nazi, and Hitler by women dressed in animal costumes. Some carried effigies of a severed head representing Trump. These protests — with their “king must die” syndrome — embody impulses not only of farce, but also of a pathological hate disorder. And here is where we hark back to ancient Greece and the great Greek playwright Euripides. He wrote his last play, The Raving Ones, or The Bacchae, in exile from his beloved city of Athens, reflecting on the end of its golden age of democracy, and the downfall of a civilization. At the center of the play are the Maenads or Bacchae, the female followers of the dissolute god Dionysus: The play opens with Dionysus — also going by the name of Bacchus — appearing on stage and vowing vengeance on Pentheus, the King of the Greek city of Thebes, for refusing to worship him. Dionysus wreaks vengeance on the King by driving his own women followers into an insane fury. Attired in animal skins, signifying their wildness and their break from civilized society, the Bacchae flee to the mountains, and practice strange rites. So violent and frenzied are the Bacchae that they actually end up gruesomely killing the King. And in a horrific twist, the woman who leads this act, the leader of the Bacchae, is the King’s own mother. After she tears one of his arms from its socket, the other women join in, ripping the body to pieces in a ritual dismemberment. In the grisly conclusion, the King’s mother impales her son’s severed head on her ritual staff, and in her delusion, proudly carries it aloft, believing it to be the head of a lion she has hunted. When sanity finally returns to her, and she realizes what she is carrying, she collapses in shock. I am not suggesting that today’s female protestor groups are equivalent to the Maenads, but I am saying that a certain segment of leftist women, obsessed with politics and Trump hatred, may actually be promoting real violence among unstable people, and may also be a symptom of civilizational decline, just as they were in ancient Greece. Critic Helen Andrews points to such behavior as being a typically “feminine” approach. Rather than promoting a new policy or a more progressive curricular reform, they reacted with extreme emotion. As an example she cites the case of how a group of feminist extremists cancelled a male president, Larry Summers, at Harvard. The case began with a casual remark that the president had made, that there were fewer advanced female mathematicians than male ones. As he later clarified, he had been referring to statistics indicating that, “at the high end,” there are more men than women (and, interestingly, at the lowest end there are more men than women). Rather than address the reality of the statistics, the protesters went on the attack, and demanded that he be fired — in what Andrews describes as a very feminine form of protest: “they made emotional appeals rather than logical arguments.” The press, also with no knowledge of the actual performance of female mathematicians, agreed. I myself would add that the protesters apparently had no interest in promoting great real-life female mathematicians, such as Emmy Noether, whom Einstein characterized as one of the most significant geniuses in mathematics and physics in history. So the protest event turned out to be all feminine feelings in play, not realities. A second critic is Jonathan Alpert, a New York psychoanalyst, who has written in the Wall Street Journal about Trump Derangement Syndrome. Making the case that the Trump syndrome is indeed sadly real, and often dangerous to the patient, he describes the female protests as “public therapy” sessions, having nothing to do with advancing enlightened political policies. One of his patients confessed that she was so obsessed with her hatred and fear of Trump, that “she couldn’t enjoy family vacations anymore, because it felt wrong to relax while Trump was still out there. Others reported panic attacks or trouble sleeping after seeing him in the news. Their anxiety had outgrown politics and become a way of being — a screen onto which their unresolved fears and insecurities were constantly projected.” I might add that our mass media’s 10-year pathological fixation on satanizing Trump should be listed in the DSM mental disorders manual, and perhaps Trump should also be receiving commissions from the pharmaceutical companies for the added anti-anxiety drugs that they are selling. And, perhaps, because “Satan” is obviously roaming our countryside, maybe there should be an exorcism. So where are the No Kings mobs pointing us today? When the curtain falls on The Bacchae, silence falls on the stage, and also historically on Greece’s Golden Age. It was 400 B.C., and the Golden Age would never return again. In today’s world, we can only ask ourselves in what direction our madwomen are leading us. America is hovering over a dangerous cliff. Having had a glorious past, it now finds itself with its democracy and civilization in danger. We should heed the final words of the leader of the Bacchae: Gods, please lead me to some place far from the Wilderness of Mount Citharon: “I have had my fill of Mountain Ecstasy.” It is a rejection of the violent ecstasy that had possessed her, and had led to such destruction. Many of us have also had our fill of mountain ecstasy, and wish instead to focus on more common-sense practices: a renewed study of science, technology, and math in our schools; a governmental practice of creating business solutions for social problems; and daily lives that value concrete outcomes rather than empty rhetoric. These are what America needs, not a continuing stream of unending hate. READ MORE: Democrats for Sedition Burisma, Meet Your Brother Binance Why Releasing the Epstein Files Will Likely Undermine Justice  

from Dr. Jane Ruby: TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/

by Cristina Laila, The Gateway Pundit: Did Joe Biden forget that he is no longer in the White House or is he engaging in shadow diplomacy? The Biden family took over Nantucket against this year and enjoyed a lavish Thanksgiving vacation while staying at billionaire David Rubenstein’s sprawling mansion. The Bidens completely shut down Main […]

This broccoli cheese soup is my idea of comfort in a bowl. It’s thick, creamy, and full of tender broccoli and sharp cheddar flavor. I love how it warms up the whole kitchen on a chilly day. I make this Broccoli Cheese Soup when I want something warm and satisfying without a lot of fuss. In This Article Amy’s NotesKey Recipe IngredientsSubstitutions And VariationsStep-By-Step Recipe InstructionsHow To Prep AheadWhat To Serve with Broccoli Cheese SoupVideo: Watch Us Make This RecipeBroccoli Cheese Soup RecipeFrequently Asked QuestionsMore to Cook and Eat View more This post may contain affiliate links, at no additional cost to you. Amy’s Notes I make this Broccoli Cheese Soup whenever I want comfort food in a bowl. Here’s what makes it special: Rich, Creamy Texture: The mix of half and half, butter, and melted cheddar gives this soup a velvety smoothness that’s pure comfort. Big Cheesy Flavor: Using extra sharp cheddar makes all the difference here. It adds a bold, savory bite that balances perfectly with the tender broccoli and sweet carrots. Quick and Easy: From start to finish, this soup takes about 30 minutes. It’s simple enough for a weeknight but still feels special enough to serve guests. Incredible Texture: I like to blend it just enough to keep a few chunks of broccoli for texture. Perfect for Leftovers: This soup reheats like a dream. The flavors deepen overnight, making tomorrow’s lunch even better than tonight’s dinner. Key Recipe Ingredients Broccoli Florets – The star of the soup. Fresh or frozen both work great; just thaw frozen broccoli first for even cooking. Butter – Adds richness and helps soften the onions and garlic for a flavorful base. Salted butter works best, but unsalted is fine if you prefer more control over seasoning. Tarragon – Gives a light herbal note that brightens the creamy soup. You can swap it for thyme or parsley if that’s what you have. Carrots – Add color and a touch of natural sweetness. Matchstick carrots cook quickly and blend easily into the soup. Half and Half – Creates a creamy texture without being too heavy. You can use heavy cream for a richer soup or milk for a lighter version. Vegetable Broth – Forms the main liquid base and keeps the soup vegetarian. Chicken broth works too if that’s what you have on hand. Bay Leaves – Infuse the soup with subtle, earthy flavor while it simmers. Remember to remove them before blending. Cornstarch Slurry – Thickens the soup to a smooth, velvety consistency. Mix it well with water before adding to avoid lumps. Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese – Melts into the soup for bold, cheesy flavor. Freshly grated cheese melts better than pre-shredded. Substitutions And Variations Here are some of our favorite substitutions and variations: Cheese Options: I like using extra sharp cheddar for bold flavor, but mild cheddar, Colby Jack, or even a bit of Parmesan can change things up. You can mix cheeses for a deeper, more balanced taste. Protein Add-Ins: Try stirring in cooked chicken, ham, or crispy bacon for a heartier version. It turns this cozy soup into a full meal fast. Veggie Boost: Add cauliflower, spinach, or peas along with the broccoli. They blend right in and make the soup extra colorful and nutritious. Step-By-Step Recipe Instructions Sauté the onions, garlic, carrots, and tarragon in butter until tender and fragrant. Stir in the half and half, broth, and bay leaves, then bring to a gentle boil. Add the cornstarch slurry and stir until the soup thickens slightly. Add broccoli, salt, and pepper, then simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Pick out and discard the bay leaves to prepare for blending. Carefully blend the soup to your preferred texture, keeping some chunks. Stir in the shredded cheddar just until melted and smooth. Serve hot with extra broccoli or cheese on top. For full list of ingredients and instructions, see recipe card below. How To Prep Ahead Take a look at our best prep-ahead strategies for this recipe: Prep the Veggies: Chop the onion and garlic, and measure out the broccoli and carrots a day in advance. Keep everything in airtight containers in the fridge so you can start cooking right away when you’re ready. Make the Base Early: You can cook the soup up to the point before adding the cheese. Let it cool, store it in the fridge for up to two days, then reheat gently and stir in the cheese just before serving for the best texture. I love how this Broccoli Cheese Soup turns a few basic ingredients into something so comforting. What To Serve with Broccoli Cheese Soup Starches A warm bowl of Broccoli Cheese Soup is even better with something fresh from the oven. We love pairing it with Savory Scones for a buttery, flaky bite that soaks up every drop. For something light and airy, try it with Cheese Popovers Recipe or go all in with the gooey goodness of Cheesy Bacon Pull-Aparts. If you prefer something crispy, Parmesan Roasted Potatoes make a hearty side that fits right Salads We like to balance this creamy soup with something fresh and crunchy. Broccoli Apple Salad adds a sweet, crisp contrast, while Kale Brussel Sprouts Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing brings a tangy, hearty touch. For something a bit different, Farro Salad adds a nutty, wholesome flavor, and Crunchy Asian Cabbage Ramen Salad gives a refreshing crunch that pairs beautifully with the rich soup. Video: Watch Us Make This Recipe Print Broccoli Cheese Soup This Broccoli Cheese Soup Recipe is supremely flavorful and comforting. It's easily done in 30 minutes, and happens to be gluten-free. Your people will quickly gather around a pot of this cozy soup. Course Dinner, MainCuisine AmerianDiet Gluten FreeMethod Stovetop Prep Time 10 minutes minutesCook Time 15 minutes minutesTotal Time 25 minutes minutes Servings 8 Calories 379kcal Author Amy Dong Ingredients4 tablespoons butter salted1 whole onion roughly chopped6 cloves garlic chopped1 teaspoon tarragon1 cup carrots matchstick 1 cup half and half or heavy cream4 cup vegetable broth2 large bay leaves4 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 4 TB water5 cups broccoli florets fresh or frozen/thawed1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more as needed½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper plus more as needed4 cups cheddar cheese extra sharp, freshly grated and lightly packed InstructionsIn a large Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic, stirring 2-3 minutes until tender. Add tarragon and carrots, and stir 3-4 minutes. Gently stir in the half & half, vegetable broth, bay leaves, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, immediately stir in the fully dissolved cornstarch and keep stirring until mixture thickens; if you want it even thicker, add another 1-2 TB of fullly dissolved cornstarch.Add broccoli florets, 1 tsp kosher salt, and 1/2 tsp black pepper and bring to a simmer. Simmer 10 minutes uncovered. Pick out bay leaves and carefully set pot in empty sink, for mess-free blendingUsing an immersion blender, carefully blend the soup a little at a time, just until soup reaches desired texture with some chunkiness; go slowly, as soup can quickly turn into puree.Place pot back on stove over medium heat. Add freshly shredded cheese and stir just until melted. Serve with additional broccoli florets and/or cheese for garnish, if desired. Leftovers keep well covered in fridge. Video Notes Use freshly grated cheese. It melts more smoothly than pre-shredded cheese, which often contains anti-caking agents that can make the soup grainy. Don’t overblend. Pulse the immersion blender just enough to break down the broccoli while keeping some texture for a heartier soup. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can blend soup in a normal blender in batches.  Add the cheese off the heat. Stir it in once the soup is hot but not boiling to prevent separation or curdling. Adjust thickness easily. If the soup feels too thin, stir in a little more dissolved cornstarch. If it’s too thick, add a splash of broth or half and half. Taste before serving. The cheese adds salt, so wait until the end to adjust seasoning. Use frozen broccoli for convenience. Thaw and drain it first so the soup doesn’t become watery. Keep the heat moderate. High heat can cause dairy to scorch or separate, so simmer gently once the cream and cheese are added. This recipe is part of our Soup and Stew Recipes Collection. Pair with crusty bread, crackers, or Savory Scones for a satisfying finish.   If you enjoyed this recipe, please come back and give it a rating. We hearing from you!  Join our Free Recipe Club and get our newest, best recipes each week! NutritionCalories: 379kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 82mg | Sodium: 1225mg | Potassium: 362mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 4139IU | Vitamin C: 54mg | Calcium: 478mg | Iron: 1mg Frequently Asked Questions Can I use frozen broccoli instead of fresh? Yes. Frozen broccoli works perfectly in this recipe. Just thaw it first and drain any excess water so the soup doesn’t get too thin. What kind of cheese melts best for this soup? Freshly grated extra sharp cheddar is ideal because it melts smoothly and adds strong flavor. Pre-shredded cheese can sometimes make the soup grainy due to added starches, so I don’t recommend using it. What if I don’t have an immersion blender? No problem. Carefully transfer the soup in batches to a regular blender, leaving the lid slightly open to let steam escape. Blend until it reaches your preferred texture. How can I make the soup thicker? If you prefer a thicker soup, stir in an extra tablespoon or two of dissolved cornstarch while it’s simmering. You can also let it cook a few minutes longer to reduce slightly. How long does it keep? Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3–4 days. Reheat slowly over low heat, stirring often so the cheese stays smooth. Add a splash of broth or half and half if it thickens too much. More to Cook and Eat Best Lentil Soup (Vegan) – Vegan ingredients including fresh veggies, tender lentils, and plenty of flavors to create the best lentil soup recipe! Curry Butternut Squash Soup – This curry butternut squash soup is my idea of autumn in a bowl. It’s rich, smooth, and layered with just the right amount of spice. Roasted Tomato Soup – This Roasted Tomato Soup is full of healthy nutrients and succulent flavors. It’s both light yet rich in flavor. Ham Bone Soup – This Ham Bone Soup is made is super easy, made in the slow cooker or stovetop. Turn your leftover ham into a delicious new meal.