Michael McKenna

The legacy of Kent State

On May 4, 1970, a company of Ohio National Guardsmen fired 67 bullets into a crowd of protesting students at Kent State University, killing four and wounding nine.

May 3, 2026

Political propaganda erodes independent thought on left and right

I am starting to think that the constant need to defend the increasingly absurd political stances of one's allies is making people mentally less agile.

April 29, 2026

Gerrymandering arms race threatens foundation of American democracy

Before we consider the bonfire into which Democrats in Virginia are throwing the republican values of American governance, it might be worth reminding everyone how we got here.

April 26, 2026

What the AI fight’s really about

The artificial intelligence fight isn't about cost or electricity. It's about who controls the future.

April 22, 2026

Amid division and uncertainty, Americans celebrate Independence Day with quiet confidence

A definite vibe indicates that the semiquincentennial is not likely to be a wild celebration of all that is good in the United States.

April 19, 2026

Pope Leo XIV and Trump clash as Catholic faith pushes back against culture and government power

It has been a good week or so for Roman Catholicism.

April 15, 2026

Virginia Democrats stealing Republican residents’ access to representative government

For the past few years, this column has argued that the Civil War -- had it been only or even mostly about slavery -- was unnecessary, the product of incompetent leadership.

April 12, 2026

Whatever happened to American inventions?

The Artemis II trip around the moon has generated a lot of enthusiasm in the past few days.

April 8, 2026

College decisions matter less than families think despite rising costs and anxiety

I'd like to focus on the real crisis absorbing the attention of millions of households this spring: Where will the children go to college?

April 5, 2026

Madman or son of God: Easter calls a busy world back to the question of Jesus

Starting Friday, the world's 2.5 billion Christians will celebrate the torture, execution and resurrection of an obscure itinerant preacher.

April 1, 2026

Democrats only offer taxes and big government if they take control of the House

Partisans on both sides are anticipating the November elections, although for very different reasons.

March 29, 2026

Trump’s crime initiative, Memphis homicides and Tito Porter

President Trump went to Memphis, Tennessee, at the top of this week to talk about law and order and crime and punishment.

March 25, 2026

White House’s ‘banger memes’ trivialize Iran war

George Orwell was rude enough to point out the truth about political rhetoric: "Political language ... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable."

March 23, 2026

From Paul Ehrlich to today’s alarmists, doom predictions keep missing reality

At the beginning of this week there were predictions of a weather-borne apocalypse, replete with torrential rains, ferocious winds and tornadoes.

March 18, 2026

Sen. Cornyn’s filibuster flip shows self-preservation, not principle

A week ago, Sen. John Cornyn wrote a letter to the editors of the New York Post explaining that, after 24 years in the Senate, he had come to the sudden epiphany that the filibuster had to go.

March 15, 2026

Carbon border tariffs threaten to become America’s next energy tax

Last week in these pages, Sen. Kevin Cramer, North Dakota Republican, offered a few thoughts with respect to my column about his attempt to create the foundation for a tax on carbon dioxide.

March 11, 2026

To win in November, Republicans must focus on seniors

The news at the end of last week that employment actually fell by 92,000 in February underscored the strong possibility that November may bring difficult midterm elections for Republicans.

March 8, 2026

Trump checks Iran off presidential punch list previous leaders avoided

The administration has given a lot of scattershot and ad hoc reasons for attacking Iran.

March 4, 2026

Miracle on Ice 1980 revived American confidence; 2026 men’s hockey gold medal entertained a nation

The staging of the American hockey team during the State of the Union was pretty good.

March 1, 2026

Why are we still doing State of the Union addresses?

Like most of us, I watched the State of the Union (well, some of it) Tuesday night.

February 25, 2026