The Leonine pivot

December 23, 2025

The Leonine pivot

There’s a joke (or perhaps a coping mechanism) among more traditional Catholic circles that embracing ignorance about the goings on in the Holy See and regarding the pope is good for the soul and reminiscent of the “medieval piety” cultivated by illiterate peasants who faithfully attended Mass centuries ago but knew nothing of church governance […]

Will Trump’s Gaza coalition repeat Bush’s Afghanistan and Lebanon mistakes?

President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio want to create a new coalition to staff an International Stabilization Force for Gaza. The idea is simple: To replace or unwind Hamas‘s rule in Gaza, an international force will assume control for security. Trump’s peace plan also requires Hamas’s disarmament, which, given Hamas’s dependence on […]

Sorry, America, but sunrise will keep getting later for two weeks

Sunday, Dec. 21, had the least daylight of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. In Washington, D.C., there were 9 hours, 26 minutes, and 18 seconds of daylight, about 2 seconds less than the day before or than on Monday. Being the winter solstice, Sunday was also the day when the sun was lowest in […]

Deadbeat Newsom passes loan cost off to California businesses

We may never run out of signs that Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) is an utterly incompetent executive who belongs nowhere near power. The latest is that he has not repaid a federal pandemic unemployment loan, effectively creating a new California tax on jobs. During the 2020 pandemic, the Trump administration provided loans to states to […]

Beyond Elf and Die Hard: The most underrated Christmas movies

You know Elf (2003) and Love Actually (2003), The Holiday (2006) and Die Hard (1988), and It’s a Wonderful Life (1946). But do you recall any of the most underrated Christmas movies of all? Holiday cinema has become a remarkably rigid and reliable canon, and if you haven’t seen any of the golden age classics such as It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) or White Christmas (1954), then stop reading and […]

Benefit from insider coverage on all issues,
with the Washington Examiner Magazine.

Hamas weapons and West Bank chaos risk breaking Trump’s peace plan

A ceasefire is just about holding, but the second phase of President Donald Trump‘s peace plan between Israel and Hamas is fraying under two pressure points. The first and most preeminent problem is Hamas’s refusal to surrender its heavy weapons in Gaza. The expanding influence of far-right Israeli settler interests in the West Bank poses […]

We respect your right to privacy - read our Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, or Unsubscribe