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David Keene

David Keene

keene123@washingtontimes.com

Editor at Large — David Keene, a trusted adviser to presidents, a longtime champion of personal liberty and one of conservatism’s most respected voices, is the former opinion editor of The Washington Times. An author, columnist and fixture on national television, Mr. Keene has championed conservative causes for more than five decades while offering advice to Republican presidents and countless candidates. He additionally served as chairman of the American Conservative Union and president of the National Rifle Association.
To read his obituary, please CLICK HERE

Columns by David Keene

Illustration on second thoughts about nation building by Alexander Hunter/The Washington Times

DAVID KEENE: Rand Paul counters GOP’s nation-building mindset

The junior senator from Kentucky drives his colleagues nuts. They don't like Rand Paul or his positions on domestic spying and international adventurism. Arizona's John McCain warns that Mr. Paul would be "the worst possible [Republican presidential] candidate of the 20 or so [who] are running" because of his positions on these issues and he admitted that choosing between his GOP colleague and Hillary Rodham Clinton would be "tough." Mr. McCain's hostility is nothing new; last year his daughter Meghan told a television interviewer that Mr. McCain "hates" Mr. Paul and assumed that the feeling is mutual.

June 9, 2015

NRA: Debunking the gun control myths with real voter polling

As president of the National Rifle Association during the days following the tragic school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, I was on the front lines defending Second Amendment rights against President Barack Obama, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and a network of gun control advocates who used that tragedy to promote a gun control agenda that, had it been in place on Dec. 14, 2012, would not have prevented the tragedy.

May 19, 2015
Illustration on rioting and civil response by Linas Garsys/The Washington Times

DAVID KEENE: Halt Baltimore riots with threat of military force

As Baltimore burned on Monday evening, I was reminded of the riots that swept Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and other cities in the wake of the tragic murder of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, and of the rioting a year earlier in Cambridge, Maryland, and dozens of other cities around the country.

April 28, 2015

DAVID KEENE: Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush are disappointing candidates

The "common wisdom" among politicos these days is that when the smoke clears, next year's presidential election will pit former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush against former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. They're both far better known, better financed with a wider network of activist supporters and more national experience than the rest of the wannabes.

April 6, 2015
Phyllis Schlafly of Alton, Ill., in Chicago on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 1977, says that she won?t seek the U.S. Senate seat held by Charles H. Percy, also a Republican, in the March 21 primary. Mrs. Schlafly, allied with several conservative causes, conducted the press conference outdoors in Chicago?s subfreezing weather. (AP Photo)

Phyllis Schlafly: The queen of the conservative movement

As conservatives gather this week to celebrate Phyllis Schlafly, we should take a moment to reflect on the impact this truly remarkable woman has had and is continuing to have on the country, the Republican Party and the conservative movement.

February 24, 2015
Loretta Lynch and the Constitution Illustration by Greg Groesch/The Washington Times

DAVID KEENE: Loretta Lynch moves toward Senate endorsement

Attorneys general are forced by the nature of their job to walk a tightrope. Some have been cronies of the president or even, as in the case of Robert Kennedy, relatives of their White House patron. They serve as the nation's top law enforcement officer, but when adhering to their oath threatens the administration, the president who selected and appointed them expects some special consideration.

February 2, 2015
Getting your Ducks in a Row Illustration by Greg Groesch/The Washington Times

DAVID KEENE: Presidential candidates have motivation, but no clear plan

As John Sears prepared to wing his way west for a 1975 meeting with former California Gov. Ronald Reagan at which he intended to convince Reagan to hire his team to run Reagan's 1976 campaign against President Gerald R. Ford, I asked him what made him think that Reagan would turn things over to him. Mr. Sear's answer proved prophetic. He said, "because he's had a hundred people tell him that he ought to be president, but I'll be the first to tell him how to do it."

January 27, 2015
Joni Ernst at Work in Washington Illustration by Greg Groesch/The Washington Times

DAVID KEENE: Joni Ernst breaks stereotype that women can’t be Republicans

Some years ago, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in responding to personal attacks on him as an "Uncle Tom" or worse observed that to the left, being black had less to do with skin color, genes and ancestry than with one's political ideology. That is certainly true for today's "progressive" Democrats who believe that they not only have a right to the support of every minority and female voter ever born, but that the apostasy of any who reject them makes them worthy of derision and attack as somehow inauthentic.

January 21, 2015
Illustration on competition between Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney for campaign funding by Alexander Hunter/The Washington Times

DAVID KEENE: Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush vie for Republican establishment endorsement

The word last week that 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney is thinking about a third run for the Oval Office took many Republicans and particularly many establishment Republicans by surprise. The Bush family's latest contender had already made it clear that he will run and his friends were working to clear the field for him, the talking heads were anointing him as the "adult" in the race, and other wannabes were supposedly reining in their ambitions.

January 13, 2015
Protesters chant as they rally outside Gracie Mansion in New York City on Dec. 15.

DAVID KEENE: Police shooting blame in New York points in wrong direction

Last week's police shootings in New York City have rather predictably set off an epidemic of finger-pointing. In the 1990s, when Timothy McVey blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, President Clinton hinted not very subtly that the real fault lay with the "militia" movement. Later, politicians and some pundits blamed Sarah Palin, of all people, for the shooting of Rep. Gaby Giffords of Arizona, and when an emotionally disturbed Adam Lanza killed his mother, stole her guns and wreaked havoc in Newtown, Connecticut, two years ago, a chorus of finger-pointers blamed not Lanza, but the National Rifle Association and the manufacturer of the guns he used.

December 25, 2014

NRA shooting sports: The shooting sports, the AR-15 and a veteran close to my heart

My daughter enlisted in the Army not too long after Sept. 11, 2001. Before she was through, she managed to survive two tours in Iraq and a year in Afghanistan. Upon her return, she bought herself an AR-15, the semi-automatic version of the rifle she carried while on active duty. She takes it to the range and enjoys shooting.

December 16, 2014

NRA shooting sports: A happy marriage between war veterans and the shooting sports

The American Revolution, and all that has followed, serves in many ways to explain the history of Americans and guns. From the farmers who confronted British regulars at Lexington and Concord to the men and women on the front lines fighting today as part of the War on Terror, Americans have relied on and developed a unique relationship with and appreciation for firearms and the shooting sports.

December 16, 2014
"Bumpering" Hillary 2016 Illustration by Greg Groesch/The Washington Times

DAVID KEENE: Elizabeth Warren progressive crusader against Democrat establishment

Barack Obama is so yesterday. The elitists who supported him as the great "progressive" hope are abandoning him in droves as his popularity plummets. The Washington Post describes him as having the "worst" year of anyone in Washington, and as Republicans prepare to take over the Senate, he looks more and more like a lame duck incapable of delivering much more of anything to his base.

December 16, 2014
Illustration on the coming presidential race by Alexander Hunter/The Washington Times

DAVID KEENE: The race for the 2016 presidency

Republican and Democratic presidential wannabes are beginning to focus on 2016, evaluating their chances and building on the contacts and chits they've accumulated over the last few years. Some have been at it for some time, some are still thinking about running. While many candidates are being discussed or having their supporters see about getting them discussed, this long list will shorten in the months ahead.

December 8, 2014