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David Keene

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.
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Columns by David Keene

Removing the military mindset in police departments

Reforms that will reign in the misuse of the police as well as the tactics and strategies employed by police agencies that don't understand this are long overdue.

June 24, 2020

John Bolton’s opinionated style never a good fit for Trump administration

When Ambassador John Bolton joined the administration as President Trump's national security adviser, I wondered just how long he would last. I would have guessed three months; that he lasted 18 surprised me.

June 18, 2020

BOOK REVIEW: ‘Dumb Luck and the Kindness of Strangers’

Eric Engberg, one of my fishing buddies a couple decades ago, was an on-the-air reporter for CBS News for 26 years until he had emergency bypass surgery, bagged his television career in 2002, bought a used trawler and retired to Florida to fish and enjoy the good life.

June 5, 2020

Governors can not ignore state constitutions to impose COVID-19 restrictions

When the Wisconsin Supreme Court found an extension of Gov. Tony Evers' lockdown unconstitutional, the governor blamed a "partisan" conspiracy between Republican legislators and the court.

May 25, 2020

What Algeria can teach about coping with an economic crisis

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune is committed to a course that may make Algeria a modern example of how to both weather a crisis and come out of it stronger than when it began.

May 11, 2020

China’s inexcusable attempts to cover-up ‘Wuhan Virus’

President Xi Jinping almost single-handedly mismanaged China's response to the virus and is making his country a pariah rather than a respected and near-dominant power.

May 6, 2020

Easing COVID-19 restrictions: Desperate citizens dismissed as deplorable Trumpsters

Demonstrators demanding that the COVID-19 restrictions on the way they live their lives so they can earn a living and avoid economic ruin have been condemned by many as short-sighted because we have not yet rid the country of the virus.

April 27, 2020

Ignore crazy conspiracies about COVID-19 origin

It doesn't take a conspiracy theory to acknowledge that sometimes, to clean up an oft repeated truism, bad things just happen.

April 17, 2020

Ambitious politicians like Andrew Cuomo and Gretchen Whitmer try to out-perform President Trump

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo appears daily to comfort the afflicted, warn the public of dangers still lurking out there and, hopefully, perform better than the current occupant of the White House who he apparently hopes viewers will conclude is far less sympathetic, dishonest and perhaps dangerous.

April 15, 2020

No one got COVID-19 right early on, but critics now bend over backwards to blame Trump

America's liberal politicians and their media supporters want to survive the Wuhan pandemic, but seem just as interested in creating a narrative they can use against Donald Trump and his supporters.

April 7, 2020

Henry Hyde would have been proud of pro-life Democrat Dan Lipinski

Congressman Henry Hyde, who shared Mr. Lipinski's views on abortion but probably disagreed with the man on much else, would have been proud to know that Illinois is still capable of producing such politicians.

March 31, 2020

Surrendering American values during the COVID-19 pandemic could destroy the Republic

The American Republic may be dying. The U.S. Constitution, federalism and freedoms we have too often taken for granted have all fallen victim to a virus from far off Wuhan and the panic of our leaders and people.

March 24, 2020

Current version of Joe Biden should not be running for president

It's time to ask whether former Vice President Joe Biden is up to the job he's after.

March 15, 2020

Playing coronavirus politics: China puts Taiwan and world at risk

Nowhere are the potential risks of putting politics above all else more acute than in dealing with the various flu-like pandemics that have a tendency to emerge first in China and then spread to surrounding countries and the rest of the world.

March 3, 2020

Democratic presidential wannabes pander to Bernie Sanders and the crazy leftists

Love him or hate him, Vermont socialist Bernie Sanders is the genuine article. He believes what he believes while the rest of the contenders look like what they are; panderers espousing views they adopted not out of principle, but for this campaign.

February 27, 2020

The depressed, dismal Democrats have forgotten how to have fun

For whatever reason, the current Democratic field isn't entertaining and certainly doesn't seem to have much fun. Their parties, like their debates, must be dismal affairs.

February 22, 2020

Iowa Democrats may turn to Michael Bloomberg

Voters may turn to former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg of all people if Mr. Biden is seriously wounded in the early going and no one emerges from Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina as a clear front-runner.

February 1, 2020

The people of Taiwan have a country and are dedicated to keeping it

Communist rulers in Beijing have vowed since 1949 that they will retake Taiwan which they describe as a "breakaway province" by force if necessary,

January 20, 2020

Virginia’s ‘Second Amendment Sanctuaries’

Elections have consequences. Virginia, which for decades had been considered reliably conservative, is now firmly in "progressive" hands and quickly morphing into one of the most liberal states in the East.

January 7, 2020

The trouble with wind farms

Wind farm operators have routinely overestimated the salvage value of their windmills and underestimated the costs involved in removing them to get permitted jurisdictions to lower how much they are required to put aside.

January 1, 2020

WATCH: The American dream priced out of reach? Michael Burkentine joins Kelly Sadler

WATCH: The Sitdown With Alex Swoyer Monica Crowley on a year of historic diplomacy

LISTEN: What if China beats the U.S. in a war? Threat Status podcast