Power Line

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Garbage Time Nov 01, 2024

In our last episode before the election, the 3WHH bartenders pour a stiff one in honor of the end of recycling, since were back to pure garbage now, though Biden getting in his last chomps of a baby was a special bonus to end the week.
We spend most of this episode reflecting on the final week of the campaign, arguing about what kind of vote fraud may or may not take place, and offering our final predictions for both the election result and the aftermath. You think it's over Tuesday! Think again. As the great Bluto Blutarsky asked so poignantly, Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: French Fries for the Home Stretch Oct 26, 2024

So it was Hitler week for Democrats, who are still fuming over being cooked by Donald Trump in a McDonald's deep fryer, and covering up their indigestion with an E.coli outbreak. Behind the public polls catching up with the terrible body language of Democrats and the news media lies a growing recognition that Kamala's brat summer has gone splat as election day approaches. The 3WHH team covers this, a few of the Senate races, the underrated scandal of suppressed science about gender bending medicine that appeared in the (checks notes) New York Times! What next—a confession that DEI is a counter-productive waste of time and resources? Oh, wait—that was last week.

Classic Edition: "Agents of a Hostile Foreign Power" Oct 21, 2024

The news out over the weekend that Israel's attack plans against Iran have been leaked by our government and/or European governments ought to be a major scandal and cause for a serious criminal investigation, but in fact the real story to be followed may be much worse: is anyone asking whether Iran has penetrated our government—either with spies inside our intelligence agencies, or agents of influence in the State Department or even the White House?
This seemed like a good excuse to revisit the groundbreaking research on Soviet penetration and influence on American policy during the Cold War, and whether a similar thing is happening now with regard to Iran. This episode recalls the work of M. Stanton Evans on this topic, which he published in his book Stalin's Secret Agents (with Herb Rommerstein) and explained in an excerpt from a talk he gave about the book 20 years ago. I think listeners will spot the parallel, and agree with the conclusion—time for recriminations!

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Back to the Classroom! Oct 20, 2024

The Three Whisky gang were together in person live late today, the culmination of an intensive three-day project that we describe at the opening segment of the show. Fortunately John Yoo's office was well-supplied with Maker's Mark and Glenlivet 15, so everything is right with the world.
After the opening overture, we get down to business, pondering the "body language" of the body politic as revealed by the grinding presidential campaign that suggests a Trump triumph, and then noting the growing signs of an effective backlash against wokery, starting with the New York Times dumping on DEI. None of us had that on our Bingo card!
Listen to the end and you'll hear each of us give our betting market odds on the election. Guess who is the most optimistic and the most cautious!

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Make Citizenship Great Again Oct 12, 2024

Lucretia hosts this week's episode, which takes up exactly where we left off last week's episode—with the topic of vote fraud and whether Democrats might (ahem) steal the election from Trump. Without revisiting the weirdness and irregularities of the 2020 result distorted by the Covind-induced election rules changes, we go over in some detail what changes have been made over the last four years, including serious preparations by Republicans and the Trump campaign not be caught flat-footed by any "irregularities" in the vote result.
Have Republicans ever been any good at this? Actually the contested election in Florida in 2000 gives some reason for optimism, as John (who was there) and Steve reflect. And Steve reminds us of some old history, such as Jimmy Carter warning back in 2005 that mail-in balloting was a recipt for vote fraud, along the way debunking claims—subsequently bolstered by academic political science—that mail voting doesn't increase turnout overall or by minorites. Still sound advice, and Republicans ought to force Democrats into the uncomfortable position of repudiating Saint Jimmy.
We take a couple of digressions, first into John's inaugural experience with the new McDonald's chicken Big Mac (two thumbs up!), and then some explanation of why the public polls and campaign polls are diverging (with all good news for Trump).
The episode culminates with a Lucretia soliloquy on how the central principle of voting ought to be meaningful citizenship, not making voting as convenient as a trip to 7-11.

The Three Whisly Happy Hour: October Surprises Edition Oct 05, 2024

October is not even one week along and we've already had enough "October surprises" to span about five years. First, the epiphany of J.D. Vance, Superstar. If he had been any better we'd need to enlist Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice to score and produce the Broadway musical of Vance the Vanquisher. Come to think of it, that would make a great professional wrestling name. Except Tim Walz wrestled himself to the ground; maybe we should call him the Klucking Knucklehead?
From there we offer some observations about the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, and wonder whether the usual incompetence or malevolence explans the appalling spectacle of the government's recovery efforts there. We won't find out from the mainstream media.
Then, some things to watch for at the first anniversary of October 7 on Monday, and some portents of Iran's missile attack on Israel this week. Where are we on the World War III countdown clock?
Lastly, Jack Smith emerged from his Groundhog Day lair once again to proclaim six more weeks of attempted criminalizing of Trump. Snore or snort—your choice.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Stalking Kamala Edition Sep 28, 2024

The whole gang is finally back stateside and even in the same time zone, but somehow John and Lucretia found themselves being stalked by Kamala Harris on Friday. First the Veep extraordinaire turned up near Lucretia's border town to talk tough on immigration, and then decamped to the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, right across the street from the University Club, where John happened to be styling at the same time.
At least she had a better trip than Ukraine's Zelensky. Or Israel's Simcha Rothman at Berkeley, whose cancelation by an anti-Semitic mob John recounts even as he blames Steve, who managed to miss the excitement.
The bartenders also review the appalling case of Penn's punishment of Amy Wax, and connect it to the obvious cheating elite universities are doing with their admissions in the aftermath of the Harvard case. The point: the toxic DEI ideology may be on the defensive right now, but it is not going quietly into the night.
Finally, Steve notes some curious and hopeful survey data about the election, along with some tips for what to watch for in the early voting states. Cheers!

The Three Whisky Happy Hour, After All Sep 22, 2024

Well, a forensic miracle recovered the lost or rogue audio file for this week's episode, which feature just John Yoo and Lucretia because Steve was in some kind of second-hand smoke daze over in Amsterdam. John and Lucretia do their usual spirited tour through the second Trump assassination, the stubbornly close polls (you can just imagine what Lucretia thinks of "low information" voters), Kamala's embarrassing appearance on Oprah, the latest news about just what happened with President Trump's request for national guard troops on January 6, additional reflections on "Operation Grim Beeper," and finally a philosophical excursion into Lucretia's first contribution to our new "Political Questions" Substack. Warning—no prudence, but Machiavelli is involved!

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: No Garlands for Garland Sep 15, 2024

The whole gang is back together this week with a rousing review of the week's highlights, including a post-modern take on the Trump-Harris debate, and the dogs-and-cats-living-togther-before-being-eaten memestorm out of Ohio that is driving the left out of its mind (or what little mind they have left). Trump may not have won the debate on any of the usual scoring metrics, but maybe it isn't simple as that.
But the heart of the episode is the serious business of Merrickl Garland's tone-deaf speech (even John thinks so) claiming politics never enters into Justice Department decisions, which wouldn't even convince his own mother.
Then on to a brief discussion of Steve's recent article on the revival of the common law, in which the term "prudence" is not mentioned (though he does use the term "Zeitgeist," mostly to annoy Lucretia). John is skeptical, while Lucretia is merely her contrary self (default: Steve is wrong! What's the question?)
Note to listeners: We have tried with this episode to take control of of the timing of ad placements (thought not specific content!) so that ads stop appearing randomly or in the middle of sentences. We'll just have to see how it turns out. It's a laborious process.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Analogy-Free Edition! Sep 07, 2024

With Steve stuck on an ice floe somewhere up around the Arctic Circle, John and Lucretia run wild (also long!) with the microphone in his absence, riffing along about ther latest in lawfare—did Judge Marchan blink by postponing his sentencing of Trump? Is a Hunter Biden pardon in the works? And what the hell is Jack Smith up to now? Etc.
And are we really going to do Russia Hoax 2.0? Gee—if only there was someone on the episode who could offer an analogy from Russia Hoax 1.0, but the usual supplier was banished.
Just imagine how long this episode would have been with some historical analogies, which, let's face it, are the "more cowbell" of the Three Whisky Happy Hour.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Who Is This "Prudence" Person? Aug 31, 2024

After some preliminary discussion of hot dogs and Kamala's stolen fast food valor, this special episode gets down to serious business—a seminar on the topic of political prudence for a thoroughly recalcitrant and skeptical John Yoo. This topic grew out of a long text thread we had following a Power Line post of Steve's passing along a substantive exchange on Twitter between the Babylon Bee's great Seth Barron and Lucretia on the subject of abortion and prudential politics.
In what ways do the parallels between slavery and abortion apply today? Trump's equivocations are causing considerable distress among many Pro-Life advocates, who point to Lincoln as a superior example—as is quite right to do. But is that example correctly understood? Lucretia thinks not. But the prudence Lucretia and Steve impute to Lincoln is hard to define in bright line ways, because at the summit it can't be defined by any abstract rules beyond being able to proportion means to ends, which assumes a lot already, since there are always multiple competing ends, each subject to deliberation.
But one big thing gets in the way of clear thinking about this difficult matter: utilitarianism. And our resident Bethamite and McRib consumer is dug in on the matter, and we wander into a lot of historical examples for illumination. It gets pretty lively along the way. We'll let listeners decide if Lucretia and Steve make the case adequately.
The poet Randall Jarrell once supposedly said, "If only we could get our hands on this person named 'Society,' we could fix everything." We could easily offer the obvious paraphrase of this for John, and call it a day.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: The Democratic Nomos Aug 24, 2024

John Yoo hosts this week, and adds to his appalling hypocrisy with his admission that he is teaching a class this summer on the Law of the Sea treaty, even as he continues to embargo any and all discussion of the Clean Air Act!
Otherwise the gang in is happy spirits because we're resupplied with good spirits this week, as a fine whisky and wine outlet (Grapes and Grains—they don't even have a website up yet) has at last opened a superb branch nearby Steve's remote location. How fine? Steve has his eye on a 75-year-old single malt that is for sale at the mere price of $89,999. He decided to fill up his gas tank instead (this being California).
The big news of Friday was RFK Jr's endorsement of Trump, about which we have some actual reporting to offer listeners, along with our evaluations of the Democratic convention, which was anything but nomos or physis. It was pure nemesis.
Lucretia and Steve also smack John around a bit for his USA Today article on how the leftism of law schools threatens the survival of the Constitution was defective because it didn't go far enough!

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Kamalamamadrama? Aug 17, 2024

Lucretia hosts this week, which means 'Swift Boating' has a whole new meaning, as Taylor Swift's whirled tour on behalf of whirled peas has run into Islamic terrorism, but shhhh, you can't say that in Britain right now, so how can they let her concert series go forward? Too obvious a provocation.
Of course we have our weekly update on Kamalamamadrama, dissect the meaning of the abrupt firing of Columbia's president (with Steve arguing she is a liar in any case),
After reviewing some encourging recent legal initiatives, involving property rights, UCLA's tolerance of anti-Semitism on campus, and the ongoing legal tussle over the southern border, we finally get around to another rousing argument pitting Steve and Lucretia against John Yoo over his stubborn positivism. Is John just punking all of us? That's Steve's hypothesis. In any case, we went into overtime a bit on this one, but the episode offers some excellent improv bumper music at the end that we bet no one knows, for the hearty souls who hear us out.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Walzing or Breaking? Aug 10, 2024

John Yoo hosts this week's 500th episode of the Power Line family of podcasts, which turns out to have a common theme: dance steps. Kamalamadingdong (someone's—I won't say who but you can guess—new nickname for the Dem nominee) thinks she can Walz to the White House with a progressive twin, while the Olympics is trying to dance away from its cultural travesties with. . . break dancing?? Boeing is trying to dance around its DEI problems, and the stock market is suddenly doing the two-step around weakening economic signals, and the Biden foreign policy team is slow-waltzing us into a geopolitical dead-end in Ukraine and the Middle East. Meanwhile, Trump is keeping everyone, friend and foe alike, hopping in 6/7 time with his usual improvisations.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Human Nature and American Identity Aug 03, 2024

What do Trump's controversial appearance before black journalists, the Olympics controversy over the gender of boxers, and the protean identity of Kamala Harris have in common? Simple—they are all an aspect of what Steve believes is the central political and moral-philosophical issue of our age: human nature.
Everyone seems to think Trump blundered by questioning the authenticity of Harris's changing ethnic identity, but Steve and Lucretia—in rare heated agreement—think it was a masterstroke, albeit with Trump's usual heavy-handed and perhaps clumsy way. And we use for our article of the week the usually sound Abigail Shrier's Free Press article, "Republicans, You’re Going After Kamala All Wrong," that we think gets the matter exactly backwards.
But it when we turn to the controversy over gender identity in the Olympics that we deepen the story. Take in at your leisure the case of Caster Semenya, a genuinely "intersex" South African 800-meter runner born with female genitalia who is not allowed to compete in the Olympics track and field competition because of high male testosterone levels. This is the same extremely rare anomaly as the Algerian boxer at the center of controversy right. (Also note the holder of the women's 800 meter world record, Jarmila Kratochvílová, set back in 1983—currently the oldest track and field world record. Kratochvílová is thought to have been heavily doped up, as was common with Eastern European athletes in those days, but it is hard to say.)
Steve's theory about how the left's war on human nature also applies to why Harris is such a miserable boss—hardly a rare trait among leftists. John doesn't quite buy the metaphysical explanation, but we're used to this my now.
Finally, Steve offers a brief homily about moral education drawn from a short passage from Leo Strauss's classic essay "What Is Political Philosophy" to make a point about what's wrong with the left's narrative about the Israel-Gaza War.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Tin Foil or Popcorn? Jul 27, 2024

Like an old 80s sitcom, this episode was taped before a live audience of about 90 regular listeners who carried on a vigorous commentary and questions in the Zoom chat, and we had a special guest at the very end—John Hinderaker in the (virtual) flesh! And since we actually recorded during happy hour for a change (and not Saturday morning as has been the case for the last several weeks), we rolled out several whisky choices for the episode.
Listeners may know that Lucretia, this week's host, has been partial in the past to Glenmorangie, which the great Kingsley Amis noted "has been called delicate and mild, even faintly sweet." This is not a description anyone would ever use about Lucretia, making this a dubious match. Tonight she had two varieties of Glenfiddich on hand, which Amis called "fruity and well balanced." Maybe she's better matched with Macallan, which Amis says is "powerful yet smooth." That sounds more like it!
By popular demand, we took up a news items we didn't get to last week in the crush of shocking news stories, namely Judge Aileen Cannon's ruling that special counsel Jack Smith's appointment as special counsel to torment Trump is unconstitutional. Steve invented a special judicial scale—the Silberman Scale from 1 - 10—for John Yoo to grade the opinion, and he gave it a solid 8, which is pretty darn good.
From there—oh my! Lucretia unveiled her handcrafted tin foil cowboy hat, as we kicked around whether the loss of trust in key government institutions (cough, cough—FBI—cough, cough, or cough—Secret Service—cough) is because they are merely incompetent and negligent, or whether their carelessness is deliberate. From there John Hinderaker gave us an update on the FBI investigation of the firebombing of his office building back in January, and finally we all gave our predictions for Kamala Harris's running mate, but not until we rolled out the first of whiat is doubtless to be many weeks of ritual denunciation of Harris. So if you missed the live taping, pour yourself a nice, dry single malt and settle in.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Was That a Week or a Year? Jul 20, 2024

Well that certainly was a week. Seems more like a year now since the news that Judge Cannon declared special DoJ prosecutor Jack Smith's appointment was unconstitutional, but it was only Monday. But we didn't even get into this issue in this episode, even though weekly defense of the Constitution is in our union contract.
Is there anything new or original left to be said about the political events of the week, starting with the attempted assassination of President Trump, the nomination of J.D. Vance (allowing Lurcretia to say "I told you so!" yet again—isn't this getting monotonous by this point), and then Trump's near Castroesque-length acceptance speech? Why yes—yes there is. Steve, John, and Lucretia offer several observations we haven't yet heard from the legion of other pundits and analysts, which leads to a surprisingly sharp argument about free trade and potential tariffs under a Trump-Vance administration, which extends to a vigorous discussion of another substantial import of the moment—illegal immigrants.
Steve also explains why, if you listened carefully to Trump's speech, you'll see that Reaganism isn't quite dead yet, why it was also a Jedi-mind trick on Biden, and why many of the news stories about Biden's possible withdrawal from the race have a implicit subtext that party leaders really really don't want Kamala Harris either, but can't say so publicly. We end the week with our shopping lists: more popcorn for John and Steve, and more tin foil for Lucretia.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Rifts, Rifts Everywhere Jul 13, 2024

The prolonged agony of Joe Biden is causing rifts in the political universe similar to what a black hole does—a vortex sucking everything into a void beyond which lie quantum unknowns. This episode ponders a number of those unknowns as best we can.
First off, we note the sudden media/Democratic Party discovery of "Project 2025," and enumerate a few items we wish would be included, like year-round McRibs at McDonalds, and an end to the designated hitter rule in the National League. Then John provides an on-scene account of this week's National Conservatism conference where he was a speaker, and where he took note for the very first time of the "trad wives" movement, which really represents an implicit final rejection of immanentizing the eschaton.
From there we take up some listener requests for "explainers" about the peculiar 12th Amendment (since Trump may choose a running mate from Florida, causing confusion and uncertainty), and then the workings of the 25th Amendment, which we all agree is unlikely to work on President Biden unless he actually lapses into a coma or something. Trump can render this moot, however, if he picks Steve and Lucretia's choices for Veep; John is going for a Florida veepnom.
Beneath the surface of all these issues is the knotty problem of KAH-mala. We ponder a few possibilities on this that so far we haven't heard anyone else present.
Exit music this week, once against chosen for topicality: "Rift" from Phish, since some aspects of it sound like they almost could be thinking of Kamala:
Last night, in the moments my thoughts were adrift
And coasting a terrace, approaching a rift
Through which I could spy several glimpses beneath
Of the darkness the light from above could not reach
I spied wings of reason, herself taking flight
And upon yonder precipice saw her alight
And glared back at me one last look of dismay
As if she were the last one she thought I'd betray

The Three Whisky Happy Hour, Special July 4 Edition: Should I Stay or Should I Go? Jul 04, 2024

For your listening pleasure while you fire up the grill and align your fireworks today or over the weekend, the gang assembled for a special July 4 edition of the 3WHH, with extensive discussion—and disagreement—about whether President Biden will step aside and whether Kamala Harris will replace him. Steve says Yes, John says no, Lucretia is simply horrified at the whole scene.
Meanwhile, there's a good dad joke going around (so naturally Steve told it, but you'll have to listen to catch it—this is a no-spoiler show note zone man!) that sets up a pivot to the last couple of decisions of the Supreme Court term just ended, especially the case involving presidential immunity. John explains why both sides of the issue are getting it wrong, while Steve and Lucretia trump John's legalese with some good old political philosophy, enlisting as an expert witness Harvey Mansfield.
Picking exit music this week was a no-brainer, given the main topic: The Clash (fits, no?), "Should I Stay or Should I Go?"
Should I stay, or should I go now?
Should I stay, or should I go now?
If I go, there will be trouble
And if I stay, it will be double
So come on and let me know
This indecision's bugging me
If you don't want me, set me free
Exactly whom I'm supposed to be
Don't you know which clothes even fit me?
Come on and let me know
Should I cool it, or should I blow?

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: PM Tony Abbott Surveys the World Jul 02, 2024

Last month John Yoo and Steve Hayward, larping around central Europe in search of the rule of law, happened to make the acquaintance for former (and perhaps future?) Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who graciously agreed to sit down for a conversation about his broad gauge view of the world scene right now. We heard him give a terrific speech at the Danube Institute, which you can take in at the beginning of this YouTube video.
In our conversation Abbott ranges from the Ukraine War and the Middle East to the Climate Cult and the ruin of identity politics everywhere. We also digress to learn more about the origins of Australia's mandatory voting system, which reformers in the U.S. sometimes think we should try.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Triumph at the Court & on the Debate Stage Jun 29, 2024

Has there been a worse week for the left in the last 25 years? First "Squadster" Jamal Bowman loses his House seat, then the Supreme Court delivers blow-after-blow to the foundations of the administrative state, and then Biden didn't show up for a debate. Oh, wait—he did show up, though you had to wonder whether they really intended a Weekend at Bernie's sequel.
John Yoo hosts this week's episode, and manages both to coax some cheerfulness out of Lucretia, but also skillfully avoiding the important Supreme Court opinion involving The Statute That Cannot Be Named on This Podcast.
We break down the highlights and lowlights of both the debate and the Supreme Court opinions, with Lucretia offering some praise for Chief Justice Roberts for a change, while just about giving up hope for Justice Barrett, who seems to be angling to become the next David Souter on the Court. To be continued with a special July 4 episode next week.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Simcha Rothman on Israel's Judicial Crisis Jun 26, 2024

If you follow news out of Israel these days—and who doesn't?—you may have caught the story early this week that Israel's Supreme Court issued a ruling that the government may not exempt the haredim (Israel's ultra-orthodox community) from military service. The ruling went further, though, than just ending an exemption from service: the court ruled that government funding must be cut off from any yeshivas (schools) that do not comply with the ruling.
Aside from the legal reasoning behind this ruling is the larger question of the continuing arrogation of power by Israel's high court. Last month John Yoo and Steve Hayward, overseas for a conference on international law, sat with with Simcha Rothman, a senior member of the Knesset who, as chair of the Knesset's Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, has been deeply involved with proposals to reform and rein in the runaway judiciary. This controversy was roiling Israeli politics last year until the events of October 7 put it on the back burner, but we think Americans will be surprised to learn more about the peculiar circumstances of Israeli's judiciary. If you think America's judiciary can be activist and unaccountable, just wait till you hear from Simcha.
Toward the end we also move on to a general discussion of the Gaza War.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Nitrous Oxide from the Court Jun 22, 2024

We hadn't even planned to do a regular episode this week because John Yoo is over in Korea, Steve has been away at a three-day conference, and Lucretia is breaking in a new kitten. But we received urgent messages from listeners and readers asking us to please decode just what the Supreme Court did this week, especially in the Moore v U.S. case that dealt with the income tax. Expert commentary seems divided on just what the Court meant, but as John filed an amicus brief in that case, he's the ideal person to break it down for us.
But not before finding a new way to torment him with a successor to the Statute That Cannot Be Named—the nitrogen cycle! And really it fits if you think about it, since the Supreme Court seems to have hit the nitrous oxide a bit too hard in this week's rulings.
Finally, a look at the latest campus news, including how Columbia University is surely going to regret that Alvin Bragg dismissed charges against Columbia students who occupied and vandalized university property. Prediction: there's a 50/50 chance that Columbia doesn't even open up for in-person campus life this fall.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Above, Behind, and Below the Law Jun 15, 2024

No sooner do we have a "reunion" episode last week than travel schedules blow it all up again. With John Yoo away on another junket (supposedly teaching a summer law seminar somewhere, but really in search of more elusive McRibs), Lucretia and Steve decided to do a live episode where they pondered what might be called the "meta-narrative" (that would be "McNarrative" to John Yoo) behind the sharply differing constitutional views of left and right.
Steve argues that behind the left's primal drive for power that can explain the outcome-oriented constitutionalism of the left on display since the Progressive Era lies a more sinister but less recognized aspect of leftist politics: American leftists are basically socialist revolutionaries, but rather than conduct direct revolution (with certain isolated exceptions), they prefer to use the rule of law to subvert the rule of law. Steve thinks an important clue to understanding this dynamic (about which too many conservatives and Republicans are clueless) can be found in a reconsideration of . . . the Spanish Civil War. (See Nathan Pinkoski's fine essay reviewing the revisionist literature that essentially says everything you think you know about teh Spanish Civil War is wrong, and just imagine what Franco could have done if only he'd had some helicopters.)
Lucretia as always is less convinced by Steve's historical analogies and, having had three espressos after lunch and before taping, offers her own special sauce to understanding the problem, yet somehow omitted the usual snark about Steve's whisky of the week, Laphroaig Quarter-Cask.
Finally, in honor of Pride Month, some topical exit music this week from the great Jonathan Richman.
And thanks to the many Power Line readers who tuned in for the live taping. Sorry we didn't get to more of your questions and comments.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Reunion Episode Jun 08, 2024

The Three Whisky Happy Hour bartenders are finally back in the same time zone, and Lucretia fills in Steve and John about what happened while they were away partying in Europe. We mostly skip over doting on Biden's dotage, and take up Jed Rubenfeld's argument that Trump isn't technically a "convicted felon" yet, and might have strong case for immediate relief from the Supreme Court.
We finally have a long-postponed update on the situation in Ukraine, where there have been a number of developments over the last two weeks that make the war more volatile. The French are sending in troops ('advisers,' but that sounds too familiar), while we have apparently greenlit Ukraine to attack inside Russian with our weapons—so long as we approve the targets. What could go wrong? (And why is Hungary opposing the NATO position on Ukraine? Not for the reasons you read in the American media. . .)
Finally, for our Article of the Week we take up the issue of climate change litigation, which John wrote about a few days ago for National Review, and which Steve is working separately on an article about European lawfare in this domain.

Classic Format Edition: Scoping the European Election Scene with John O'Sullivan Jun 05, 2024

BUDAPEST, June 5: This Sunday the member states of the European Union will be going to the polls to elect their members of the European Parliament. I don't exactly know just what the European Parliament does either, and it has become boring viewing ever since Nigel Farage departed the European Parliament after Brexit. But there is intense campaigning underway. The streets of Budapest are lined with campaign posters, and there was a campaign march last Saturday with tens of thousands turning out.
Most of the polls suggest that right-of-center "populist" parties are likely to see the largest gains in this round of elections, though likely not large enough to command a coalition majority, but we'll have to see.
But wait! There's more! On July 4—an auspicuous day for Americans obviously—Britain heads to the polls for a general election, and all of the polls indicate the Conservative Party is heading for an epic wipeout at the hands of Labour. What explains the Tories' dismal prospects just five years after their largest landslide win in 70 years? To say they have underperformed the last five years under Boris Johnson and his successors is an understatement. From COVID lockdowns to Net-Zero energy madness, who needs the Tories when you can get real socialism from Labour? And just how will the Tories dust themselves off and recover?
I sat down a few days back with John O'Sullivan to sort it all out. John has had a long and distinguished career in journalism and politics, having served as editor of National Review in the late 1980s and 1990s, and as chief speechwriter for Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher for a time. Nowadays he is the president of the Danube Institute here in Budapest, where he overseas an active program of visiting journalists, academics, and political figures from all over the globe.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: "Our President Banged a Porn Star, and We Had World Peace." Jun 01, 2024

Lucretia hosts this episode from her bunker in an undisclosed bunker in the desert southwest while Steve and John are still galavanting over in Europe. And as hinted in a Power Line post, she is thermo-nuclear furious about the Trump verdict.
Rather than rehash the details of the case, which everyone has picked over thoroughly by this point, the whisky bar considers what at means, and what may or should happen next. Lucretia thinks the American republica died on May 30 (USA, 1776 to May 30, 2024, RIP), while Steve thinks this is another dismal turning point comparable to the way the demagogic attack on Robert Bork in 1987 poisoned and embittered our judicial politics ever since. The connecting thread between the two: Joe Biden, who may be the single-most destructive figure in American politics in the last 50 years—worse even than Obama, who was at least subtle in his contempt for the United States. It was Biden who gave in to the progressive left over Bork in 1987, and now giving in to the progressive left's Trump Derangement Syndrome and warping our legal order.
John looks beyond the appeals in the New York courts to a possible motion for a writ of mandamus from the U.S. Supreme Court, while all three whisky swillers agree that gane theory tells us that the only way to stop this kind of partisan lawfare is for Republicans to teach Democrats that two can play this game. And Lucretia has a list! Do Republicans have the stomach for it? Doubtful.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Eugene Konotorovich on the Lessons of Oct. 7 May 29, 2024

This week's special episode originates in Budapest, where John Yoo and I were presenting at a two-day conference on the decay of the rule of law in Europe. You think things are bad with the U.S. judiciary? It's much worse over here. (I'll post some video highlights when they are available.)
In any case, because of the time difference and other challenges, Lucretia couldn't join us, so we have a guest host holding down her spot as the third host (and also to maintain the crucial two-against-John ratio), and we have decided to give him his very own Roman-inspired pseudonym, "Hadleius Arkesius."
We indulge way too much time with our opening banter and general discussion of our experience pondering the problem of the decay of the rule of law before getting to the main event, which is a conversation with Prof. Eugene Kontorovich, who is professor of law at George Mason University's Scalia Law School, and head of the international law department at the Kohelet Policy Forum, one of Israel's largest think tanks. Prof. Kontorovich divides his time between the United States and Israel.
A few weeks back Eugene wrote a bracing article in Tablet on "The Ugly Lessons of October 7," and we review the article with him along with developments of the last week, such as the move of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Our conversation with Eugene begins around the 18 minute mark.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Bad Lawyers and Worse Decisions? May 18, 2024

Listeners want to know from John: did Justice Clarence Thomas let us down with his ruling in this week's 7 - 2 decision upholding the unique funding structure of Elizabeth Warren's Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB), which she designed precisely to avoid congressional control as much as possible? John says no, and makes a persuasive three-part case for why Thomas's opinion is thoroughgoing originalism, and good history to boot. If we want to get rid of Warren's regulatory handiwork (AND WE DO!), it will be to be done directly by Congress, rather than indirectly by the courts.
This week also marked the 70th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, which we have deplored before on account of the poor reasoning for the halfway right result, but a our Article of the Week from our friend Shep Melnick of Boston College draws our attention to some ongoing ambiguities of Brown that still afflict our civil rights law. You'd think after 70 years we might have figured it out, but no—and worse, the ambiguity is likely on purpose, because it suits the shifting strategy and tactics of the identitarian left.
Other topics covered briefly this week include the collapsing case against Trump in Manhattan, Trump's VP sweepstakes (you can scratch Kristi Noem from the list), the latest Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition and King Charles's ghastly portrait (hard to say which is worse here), Harrison Butker's cultural butt kick, and, finally, how to devise some tests to judge whether higher education is truly reversing its multi-decade slide into pernicious leftism.

Bonus Classic Episode: 'The Unprotected Class' with Jeremy Carl May 17, 2024

This classic format episode features Steve in a one-on-one conversation with with Jeremy Carl, author of a dynamite (almost literally) new book entitled The Unprotected Class: How Anti-White Racism Is Tearing America Apart. Jeremy commits heresy in this book, offerng statistics that you aren't supposed to mention, and truths that, in an earlier age, might have got you burned at the stake. In publishing this book Jeremy joins the ranks of fellow brave souls such as Heather Mac Donald, Steve Sailer, Zach Goldberg, and a handful of others who do not shrink from challenging the enforced orthodoxy that approves of anti-white discrimination and scapegoating.
It is, Jeremy rightly notes, a formula that if continued much longer will divide the nation so badly that we won't be able to live together. He thinks the old fashioned principle of basic human equality rightly understood, and old ethic of the "melting pot" that brought together different ethnicities into a common citizenship and shared national identity needs to be restored, and soon. He offers some suggestions, some difficult, some happily already starting to happen. One good sign: the book is getting a lot of attention. Maybe the ice is finally breaking.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Judges Without Judgment? May 11, 2024

John Yoo hosts this week's episode from exile in Austin, Texas, where he humors Steve and Lucretia's the extra-legal views on the Trump trials and tribulations in a Manhattan courtroom, and speculate how Trump's "Letter from the Rikers Island Jail" would read (though it will be more likely in the form of Tweets or TruthSocial posts). Have we discovered a trial judge who seems to have no judgment at all.
Certainly we have a president without judgment, and we begin with pondering the question of just when it was that Bernie Sanders became president, because it is impossible to see how a Sanders administration would differ from everything the Biden administration has done. Steve notes a recent American Conservative article that picks up on parts of the Hur report on Biden. While everybody focused on the parts of the report that dealt with Biden's senility, other parts of the report show that Biden has actually had terrible judgment for his entire political career.
Finally, we look at Steve's City-Journal article on the parallels between 1968 and today, and wonder how it is possible for so many of our "leaders" in high education to have so little good judgment or common sense about what ought to be done. (Lucretia recommends pepper-bullets, which sound like some kind of high-velocity jalapenos.)

Bonus Episode, Three Whisky After Hours: What To Make of the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act May 06, 2024

There was a lot of listener and reader interest in our too brief comments on the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act in our last episode, and we realized this issue deserved keeping the whisky bar open after the usual 2 am closing time to extend our treatment of the issue, yielding this short special episode.
To recap: Lucretia thinks it is a stupid idea (hence, "Don't murder a man who is committing suicide"), while John thought it was also unsound on basic free speech principles. Steve was, naturally, in the middle, ending up as road kill for his analysis of why Republicans thought there were some political mischief to be made.
So we decided to order another round of drinks (or, in Lucretia's case, four margaritas to honor Cinco de Mayo) and try to go through the issue more thoroughly, especially taking account of David Bernstein's observations at National Review Online that there's a lot of disinformation about what the bill does and doesn't do.
We also wanted to take up the argument Harry Jaffa argued more than 60 years ago that a free society could, under certain circumstances, curtail the speech of Nazis, Communists, and . . . anti-Semites? . . . in defense of a free society. Jaffa argued:
“Does a free society prove false to itself if it denies civil liberties to Communists, Nazis, or anyone else who would use these liberties, if he could, as a means of destroying the free society? The answer, I believe, is now plain that it does not. Is saying this I do not counsel, or even justify, any particular measure for dealing with persons of such description. What is right in any case depends on the facts of that case, and I am here dealing only with principles, not their application. However, those who think every denial of civil liberties is equally derogatory of the character of a free society, without reference to the character of the persons being denied, make this fundamental error: they confuse ends with means. . . [But] it is seldom either expedient or wise to suppress advocacy of even inhuman doctrines in a community like ours, it is not for that reason unjust.”
Does the current campus scene arise to this standard? What does prudence counsel? The normally quarrelsome threesome at the whisky bar arrive at surprising agreement on the matter. Hint: We rather like Jaffa’s conclusion to his classic essay: “The more we can accomplish by opinion, the less we will have to do by law.”

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: "Never Murder a Man Who Is Committing Suicide" May 04, 2024

Lucretia hosts this week's episode, reminding us once again that Republicans are living up to their reputation as "the stupid party" with the proposed "Anti-Semitism Awareness Act" that seems to have overlooked this quaint old thing called the First Amendment. Steve gamely tries to defend the political strategy behind it, but Lucretia is having none of it (putting her in rare alignment with the New York Times), wondering why anyone would want to distract attention away from Democrats tieing themselves in electoral hangman's knots over the anti-Semitism raging wild inside their party and their wholly-owned subsidiary college campuses. Republicans ought to impose a gag order on themselves, and crusade against the gag order on Trump in his current trial in New York. Concerning which, John has several observations.
And about that campus scene: another week, and another data point for Steve's thesis that "it's going to get worse before it gets worse." About the only sensible conclusion is that somewhere in the Great Beyond, Tom Wolfe is behind the whole current scene. Maybe we can still get a sequel from him, Bonfire of the Inanities.

Victims of Communism Memorial Day May 01, 2024

Today is May Day, but also the Victims of Communism Memorial Day, and as such today is the prefect days for this classic-hybrid format podcast, featuring Steve Hayward in a conversation with Elizabeth Spalding, chair of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. (Elizabeth is also Senior Fellow at the Pepperdine University School of Public Policy and Visiting Fellow at the Van Andel Graduate School of Government at Hillsdale College.)
The Foundation has opened the Victims of Communism Museum in downtown Washington DC, and you should put it on your itinerary for your next visit to the nation's capital.
We call this a "hybrid" format because it comes in two parts. Following the conversation with Elizabeth, this episode offers Steve's recent speech at the Victims of Communism Museum about Reagan and Churchill on the Cold War, a major part of Steve's book about the two great statesmen.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Sober Thoughts on Immunity Apr 26, 2024

We're going up a day earlier than usual this week, partly because our constantly irregular travel schedules complicated things again, but more importantly to be timely, as John, Steve, and Lucretia have LOTS of thoughts on the Supreme Court argument Thursday about whether ex-presidents should enjoy broad immunity for any or all acts they took while in office. Steve and Lucretia think the president does, while John thinks textual support for the proposition is lacking. Steve and Lucretia respond with an appeal to first principles, and enlist as an expert witness Harvey Mansfield, because of his unique book on the inherent ambivalence of executive power even in a constitutional republic, Taming the Prince. As usual, we fought to a draw.
Our second subject is the ongoing Kristalnacht on campus. There's not much new to say except to calibrate how cowardly university administrators continue to be, and note that even some liberals, like George Packer in The Atlantic (who provides our article of the week, "The Campus-Left Occupation That Broke Higher Education") are starting to figure out what conservatives have known about higher education for two generations now. It's as if no one ever bothered to notice Closing of the American Mind.

The Two Whisky Happy Hour: Will It Get Worse Before It Gets Worse? Apr 20, 2024

This week's ad-free episode is probably better thought of as a Two Whisky Happy Hour, because John Yoo is away on a lecture- and Philly-cheesesteak-procurement tour back east, and Lucretia is out of action right now, too, though she appears in this episode by proxy, so to speak. So two whiskies it is.
Last weekend, Lucretia and I offered a keynote session for Ammo Grrrll's annual CommenterCon conference in Phoenix, which is an annual gathering of Ammo Grrrll's best friends and devoted fans from around the country. My theme was "Will it get worse before it gets worse?", and Lucretia offered some thoughts on the future of free speech.
We had some technical difficulties with our sound recording devices, so the recording has a sudden and noticeable quality shift right in the middle, and you can't always make out the audience questions perfectly, but we think listeners will still enjoy most of it.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Letter from the Birmingham Starbucks Edition Apr 14, 2024

Steve hosts this crisp episode despite his creaky voice from a springtime bug (and Lucretia is partly hobbled, too) covering a lot of ground, starting with a brief recap of the latest (unanimous!) property rights victory at the Supreme Court, but then moving quickly on to initial reactions to the outbreak of World War III yesterday. What to make of Iran's attack on Israel? Many things are not clear about this impetuous scene.
Closely related, while the Biden Administration seems determined to tamp down the prospect of a wider war in the Middle East, it seems to be inviting one with Antony (Blank) Blinken saying a week ago that Ukraine should or would become a member of NATO. Are they trying to make Russia dig in, or draw the U.S. more directly into the war (which NATO membership would require)? We also ponder J.D. Vance's very clear-headed New York Times op-ed that reviews the grim math of the Ukranian battle scene, making us wonder whether the Biden Administration has any strategy at all beyond "fight to the last Ukranian."
Then we ponder briefly the astounding scene of the anti-Semitic protests in the back yard of Berkeley Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, with Steve arging that to see this incident as a matter of the limits of free speech is woefully inadequate.
But the bulk of the episode is devoted to analyzing the latest abortion controversies, starting with the Arizona Supreme Court decision upholding the validity of Arizona's pre-Roe statutes, and observing as usual the way this narrow and largely technical ruling is being mis-reported in the media and misrepresented by the left. The main portion of this segment, though, is devoted to Trump's announcement that he does not support federal legislation of abortion and wants to leave the issue iup to the states. Does this make him the modern-day equivalent of Stephen Douglas, as John Davidson argues in our Article of the Week over at The Federalist? Lucretia will startle many regular listeners with her analysis of the matter, to which John and Steve largely agree.
In fact, it is an amazing how much agreement we had this week, but perhaps because we recorded in the morning sans-whisky, and with Steve and Lucretia ailing.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: On Earthquakes, Physical and Political Apr 06, 2024

John Yoo takes command of host duties this week, as Steve was on the road at an academic conference at City University of New York, where a knowledgeable faculty member remarked that he was surprised Steve didn't need an armed guard. The conference was largely devoted to the intellectual history of the liberal tradition, and was designed perfectly to induce a scornful snort from Lucretia who disdains all such flim-flummery. The bonus was that Steve apparenlty brought an earthquake with him, and we're not referring to his conference paper!
Aside from these unexpected things, there were fresh tremors for Trump's legal problems, Biden's long-expected turn against Israel that was designed to appear to a constituency of one (hint: the person insists on being called DOKTOR), fresh encomiums for Mitch McConnell (okay—it was not unanimous), and finally into some tremors for the income tax.
As Stan Evans liked to say, "Any country that can land a man on the moon can abolish the income tax," and now a member of the House has proposed repealing the 16th Amendment. Especially salient in light of the pending Supreme Court case that might allow the government to tax unrealized asset gains (a back-door wealth tax), which will guarantee that the government will adopt a de facto policy of 10 percent inflation forever.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: To Obscenity and Beyond Mar 29, 2024

This week's episode has it all, starting with the lamentable fact that when you hear "porn is everywhere these days," it included even the Powerline website this week, and then proceeding to the obscenity of the John Eastman disbarment, the disappointment with the 5th Circuit's decision preventing Texas from securing its territorial integrity, on how best to squash squatters, and a vigorous argument about the legacy of the recently deceased Joe Lieberman. (Steve and John give Lieberman a thumbs-up, while Lucretia. . .)
All three of us independently chose the same article for our picks for Article of the Week—Walter Russell Mead's Tablet magazine piece entitled "Twilight of the Wonks." It has some magnificently harsh language about the leaders of our elite educational institutions, such as "moral jellyfish," and leaders who are "careerist mediocrities who specialize in uttering the approved platitudes of the moment." We're less sure about Mead's diagnosis about the role of narrow specialization in the decay of our universities.
At least we have Krispy Kreme donuts coming soon to McDonald's to look forward to.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour—With a Twist! Mar 23, 2024

This episode could be mistaken for the Three Martini Happy Hour, because this week's episode comes with a tangy twist. John Yoo is away this week, so we brought in a ringer to take his place: Prof. Hadley Arkes! Thus this episode become a Positivism-Free Zone, in which we review the deepest ground of the natural law unencumbered by John's usual alarums, excursions, and errors.
The episode comes in three parts: Hadley made some news yesterday, celebrating the retirement of the noted Notre Dame Law professor Gerard V. Bradley, who will be joining Hadley at the James Wilson Institute on Natural Law and the American Founding.
From there Hadley proceeds to answering the question that we've been kicking around ever since the Dobbs decision, namely, just how should pro-life politicians break out of their self-imposed muteness about abortion. Hadley has the strategy.
Finally, we spend some time toward the end getting down some of Hadley's "origin story" that brought him to Leo Strauss's classroom at the University of Chicago back in the 1960s, and key friendships made along the way—especially our late friend and unsung hero Michael Uhlmann.
Note: We had some internet glitches while recording this episode that weren't easily edited or smoothed over, so we ask listeners' indulgence with these hiccups, in return for which we'll present this installment ad-free.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Hur, Harried, Hopeless, and Fiery! Mar 16, 2024

Move over "Republicans pounce" as the favorite media deflection. We now know that when an old man yells at clouds—or members of Congress—the media fall in line and declare it "fiery."
Well the 3WHH is authentically fiery! Four habanero spicy! This week more than ever.
After dissecting the Hur testimony and its missed opportunities, we take on the issue of whether Biden is playing senile on purpose, what to make of the Tik-Tok forced sale proposal, what to make of Chuck Schumer's proposal for an putsch in Israel, and finally, another round in the ring on constitutional originalism, prompted by Frank DiVito's article out this week, "Can Constitutional Originalism Overcome Our Crisis?"

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Normalizing Dishonesty Edition Mar 09, 2024

Lucretia hosts this week's episode, which we recorded in the morning over coffee instead of whisky because travel schedules prevented the normal and proper Friday evening happy hour, and guess what? We're even worse without whisky!
Among the news and issues treated this week: Why Biden isn't FDR (he's not even Harry Truman); why this was the worst SOTU (Lucretia offers a different acronym) speech ever; whether there are signs of life for the GOP in California after all; how immigration and abortion are playing out in the campaign cycle so far; how to think about the Supreme Court decision in the Colorado case dealing with Trump's eligibility for the ballot (hint—it ain't over till it's over); and finally, can Harvard be serious in asking for a government bailout? The unifying theme here is galloping dishonesty, which is being normalized more and more every day.
Our articles of the week are (from Steve): Daniel Patrick Moynihan's classic essay "Defining Deviancy Down," newly salient in an age of truth-denying euphemisms like "justice-involved youth" and "newcomers" instead of "migrants" (which was a substitute for "illegal alien"); Lucretia ponders the challenges of Alex Berenson's Substack article on new threats to free speech; And John draws our attention to the original 14th Amendment article from Baude and Paulson that brought us to the Supreme Court steps earlier this week, plus responses (also here) that got overlooked at the time, now largely vindicated.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Eye-Bleach Edition Feb 24, 2024

This episode has everything: a how-to guerilla guide to improving your McDonald's hamburger experience; a spirited discussion of the Alabama Supreme Court decision that defines frozen embryos as persons (Steve thinks the media is willfully misreporting the decision—John is not so sure); those crazy new presidential rankings from political scientists—and even some soft-core porn!
Say what?
Well, it turns out that that Judge Arthur Engoron, who oversaw Trump's alleged fraud trial in New York City, apparently has a case of Anthony Weiner envy, and posted some rather racy locker room pics of himself some years back. And right in the middle of our discussion Lucretia flashed the pictures up on the Zoom screen, sending John and Steve rushing for some eye-bleach. There must be something in the bottled water Manhattan Democrats drink. (And doesn't Engoron sound like the name of a dwarve or elve who goes bad in Lord of the Rings?) Click through the link here if you are brave.
In any case, we do finally get around to a new segment of the 3WHH, where we note three articles from the last week for what they can tell us about something. John chose those stupid presidential rankings; Lucretia chose an MSNBC article from leftist columnist Paul Waldman that unwittingly admits that everything conservatives say about the administrative state is completely true; and Steve picked Karol Markowitz's NY Post column reflecting on how recent social science that ratifies the conservative view that two-parent families are the best way to raise children is so contoversial with the left, which is no surprise.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Real Prosecutors of Atlanta Unreality Show Feb 16, 2024

We're up a day early with this week's episode because of schedule problems, but mostly to get a drop on the streaming services with our new (un)reality TV show, "The Real Prosecutors of Atlanta," starring Big Fani Willis. OMG, is this not the best television since last week's Super Bowl?
Steve show up, however, with a gin martini instead of peaty whisky, which drew a rebuke from You Know Who, who had three proper whiskies on hand for the episode.
But this episode isn't all fun and giggles. We also rake up the ongoing immigration saga in Washington, complete now with an impeachment! And also analysis of Trump's supposed attack on NATO and surrender to Putin, though some of us think this is another sign of Trump's peculiar genius.
Finally, can we really be so lucky that a week later the Hur report is the gift that keeps on giving?

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: The 25th Hour Feb 10, 2024

The Twenty-Fifth Hour is the 1950 novel by the Romanian writer C. Virgil Gheorghiu that weaves a tangled, early post-modern tale of central Europe and the Balkans in World War II. It is justly forgotten today, but the title is back in a manner of speaking because it highlights the great irony of the Left's Ahab-like pursuit of the Great Orange Whale (to mix literary references).
Anyone else recall back in 2017 how a concerted mob of concerned citizens suggested the presidential disability clause of the 25th Amendment be invoked to remove President Trump from office? Think of it as a 25th Hour moment. This week ended with the 25th Hour being invoked to remove Joe Biden from office because of his obvious and rapidly advancing senility. Yet one more example of how a strategy to get Trump, like the Me Too movement, has circled around like a rogue torpedo to explode in the face of the Left.
The week began with such promise for the anti-Trump crusade. The walls were closing in on the breaking dam that would drown the freshly roosting chickens! Bam: no immunity for you! And the Supreme Court might allow Trump to be banned from the ballot! Except that didn't go according to script. And then the report of the greatest Hur since Ben Hur, declaring that Biden isn't competent to stand trial for the very same "willful" crime for which Trump is being prosecuted, but is somehow competent to remain president? The Left should have taken a lesson from those failed exploding cigars they tried to use on Castro 60 years ago.
But about that disability clause in the 25th Amendment: we take a closer look, and note that Section 4 in particular is not as clear cut and simple as it sounds. Meaning we're likely stuck so long as Edith Wilson. . ., er, we mean, DOCTOR Jill Biden has anything to say about it.
And finally, we close out this week's epsiode with happy 64th birthday wishes to Lucretia, so the exit bumper music is fairly predictable, isn't it? (Though I chose a rendition from an obscure artist just to annoy this week's host!)

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Civil War and the Fire This Time Feb 03, 2024

John Yoo is where?? Mexico!?!? So after all that talk the last couple weeks saying the situation at the southern border did not constitute an "invasion," now he's in Mexico on some undisclosed clandestine mission. Which makes no sense: they don't even have McRibb there.
Taking John's place this week is Inez Stepman of the Independent Women's Forum, frequent contributor to the New York Post, First Things, The Federalist, and other premier outlets, and co-host of the High Noon podcast on the Ricochet network. She was more than game to join Lucretia in beating up on Steve.
We invited Inez to weigh in on the long-running debate we've been having here about the Civil War, how to understand it correctly, and how presidential candidates like Nikki Haley should talk about it. From the we take a look of David Frum's quixotic attempt in The Atlantic to "uncancel Woodrow Wilson," to which were in heated agreement that David is off his rocker.
Then John Hinderaker joins us to give us the latest news about the firebombing of his office this past week, plus a few summary impressions of the Michael Mann vs. Mark Steyn cage match playing out in court in Washington DC, where John sat in on the trial several days last week. Does this politically-motivated arson fire presage a return to the bad old days of the Weather Underground of the late 1960s?
Thematic exit music this week is "Burning Up My Time" by Pigeons Playing Ping Pong.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Civil War at the Border Special Edition Jan 26, 2024

This special ad-free edition, posted a day ahead of the usual schedule because of the urgency of events at the southern border, finds the 3WHH hosts engaging in their own civil war over the question of whether states have any remedy when the federal government abdicates is responsibility to protect the border. Steve and Lucretia were in rare accord—well maybe not quite complete accord*—against John's positivist position of federal supremacy uber alles.
Our normally genteel whisky-sipping salon became more of a bourbon-swilling barroom brawl, and indeed we were tempted to call this episode "Showdown at the Positive Law Corral." Steve thinks the crisis over Texas's assertion of its right to defend the border, and the demand of the Biden Administration that Texas back down by tomorrow, represents the kind of "right of revolution" moment contemplated in the Declaration of Independence, especially since the governors of 25 other states have signaled their agreement with Texas.
But the rare concord between Steve and Lucretia breaks down when the subject turns to the Haley-Trump cage match in New Hampshire primary.
(*To paraphrase an old Bill Buckley line, if you think it is hard to argue with Lucretia, just try agreeing with her. It's nearly impossible.)

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Inside John's Briefs, Plus the Civil War Over the Civil War Jan 20, 2024

This week's episode covers more ground more quickly than a Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes passing attack. Which the Philadephia Eagles won't get to experience because they flopped in the first round of the playoffs last weekend, falsifying one of John Yoo's predictions for 2024 that the Eagles would make the Super Bowl. We're hoping his brief to the Supreme Court in the case of Trump's place on the Colorado ballot is more on the mark.
We mostly skip over the fine points of John's brief and take in a wider look at the entire pool of briefs filed in this case, wondering, for example, why the world needs an Amicus brief from the Ryan Binkley for President campaign. This prompts us into wider still observations about other current issues involving the administrative state, which somehow managed to bring up the Statute usually banned from mention on this podcast, John Locke, and the weaknesses of modern property rights theory.
Which ultimately brings us to the question heldover from the last two weeks: Nikki Haley and the Civil War. It is now apparent that Haley's momentum in the nomination contest halted abruptly with her flub of the Civil War question, and alas some of our friends are still not getting the question right, such as our good friend Dan Oliver. We go over the matter from Square One, and try—not for the first time—to school John on the issue of prudence. Oh, and we also make our prediction for the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries coming up.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Iowa Stubborn Edition Jan 13, 2024

On the eve of the Iowa caucuses Monday, we got to wondering just who or what lives up to the description of "Iowa Stubborn" in Meredith Wilson's "Music Man":
And we're so by God stubborn
We can stand touching noses
For a week at a time
And never see eye to eye!
Is it Trump, DeSantis, Haley—or the legions of lawyers waging endless lawfare against Trump? It's a trick question. Lucretia—the host for this week's episode—actually hails originally from Mason City, Iowa, which is the inspiration for "River City" in the Broadway play, which explains a lot about our Lucretia when you think about it.
Anyway, John and Steve declare their picks if they were caucusgoers, but then the episode turns quickly to the latest frontiers of the lawfare against Trump, from which we have an inside perch of sorts: John is busy spending the weekend workng up an amicus brief for the upcoming Supreme Court hearing on the case involving Colorado's attempt to ban Trump from the ballot on grounds he is an "insurrectionist." (Trump, not John.) And since the brief have to be turned in next Thursday for this fast-track case, it's very fresh in mind.
We also consider the latest developments in other Trump cases, too. Did Trump's lawyers really claim that in fact he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue if he was back in the White House. (Short answer: No.) And what accounts for Hunter Biden's reversal of his refusal to submit to a House subpoena for a deposition? Has Texas first the first shot of a new rebellion by taking over part of the souther border? Has the Supreme Court signaled that enough is enough with rampant urban homelessness by granting cert in an appeal of lower court rulings that the homeless have 8th Amendment (that's right, 8th Amendment) rights to sleep on the streets wherever they want? (The Court had previously declined to hear this issue.)
All that and our usual good cheer and raspberries, including the fact that we recorded on Edmund Burke's birthday. To paraphrase the great lyric from our title tune, "Oh, there's nothin' halfway/About the Whisky way we treat you/If we treat you/Which we may not do at all."

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Happy Insurrection Day Edition Jan 06, 2024

Ronald Reagan used to joke that for Republicans, every day is the 4th of July, while for Democrats every day is April 15. Today we need to update that contrast by noting that the favorite new holiday for Democrats is January 6—"Insurrection Day."
We'll get to Joe Biden in due course, but the real insurrection this week took place at Harvard, where, as John Yoo predicted last week (we have receipts!) Claudine Gay was ousted in a right-wing putsch, a vertiable academic insurrection against all that is true and good (if you believe the left and Gay's causal explanation). A harbinger of things to come? Our panel weighs the chances, but the key clue to real change will be whether Harvard starts by reforming its governing board, currently dominated by political hacks. And who will be the next president of Harvard? We offer some guesses. . .
Then we turn to Biden's demagogic campaign speech warning about the "end of democracy," and are undecided whether it deserves a sneer or a snort, but above all wondering if will backfire on Biden. Clearly Democrats hope to bait Trump into making crazy statements, but Trump's way-outside-the-box comments are fairly well discounted by now. Is this the best they've got? Well, at least they are securing their base of NPR listeners.
We also take up the late-breaking news that the Supreme Court will take up on an expedited schedule the Colorado ruling throwing Trump off the ballot, with a few early thoughts, though we'll be all over this story in depth right after the oral argument next month.
And finally, a few quick closing thoughts on the latest Jeffrey Epstein non-revelations.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Gala New Year's Edition Dec 30, 2023

Who needs a rockin new year's party when you have the Three Whisky Happy Hour in peak form, dishing out on the top stories of 2023, and, in the spirit of the late financial analyst Byron Wein, offering a range of potential low-probability surprises (rather than firm predictions) for 2024.
What's the difference between a prediction and a surprise? Well think about it this way: who would have predicted, at year end 2022, that right now our favorite Democratic Senator would be . . . John Fetterman? Black swans everywhere are saying, "I did NOT see that coming!"
But before getting started with your 2024 Bingo card we take note of the dumbest controversy of the week, which is seeing some conservatives upset at the "Conservative Dad's Real Women of America" 2024 calendar, which features fetching photos of leading conservative heroines such as Riley Gaines in fetching outfits. Along the way we learn that somewhere in a box in her garage, Lucretia has some modeling photos from her time doing the Jane Fonda workout back in the 1980s, and so we're committing ourselves to producing a 3WHH calendar at some point.
And speaking of attractive women in unattractive poses, Nikki Haley got her second strike this week (her first being the blunder several weeks ago of proposing to ban anonymous accounts on social media) when she completely flubbed the "planted" question about the cause of the Civil War. We deplore her Kamala-esque answer and attempts a cleaning it up, but are relieved that at least she didn't say "tariffs."
And as befits any fast-moving party conversation, we take surprising digressions, such as a detour into the legacy of Edward Tufte, who reminds us that Stalin had the greatest Power Point presentations ("no one has bullet points like Stalin's bullet points!") and also the single greatest chart of all time.
Eventually we get down to business with our picks for Story of the Year for 2023 (hint: Steve says "party like it's 1954!"), and our surprises for 2024. Get your Bingo cards ready. And also enjoy our exit bumper music this week from Spike Jones. Happy new year!

A Conversation with Will Inboden Dec 27, 2023

This special holiday week bonus episode features a conversation between Steve and Will Inboden, author of a fabulous recent book based on the very latest declassified files of the Reagan presidency entitled Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, the Cold War, and the World on the Brink. (Steve reviewed the book favorably in the Free Beacon.)
In his distinguished career Inboden has worked on Captiol Hill and at the National Security Council under President George W. Bush. He was professor and director of the Willian Clements Center for National Security at the University of Texas at Austin, but is now the brand new director of the Hamilton Center for Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida, which is one of the brand new initiatives several states have set in motion at their public universities to generate some actual intellectual diversity on campus.
This two-part conversation covers both topics—Reagan's statesmanship, and the problems of higher education today. And because this episode features The Gipper, it ends with a departure from the usual closing bumper music.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Live Holiday Edition Dec 23, 2023

This week's special, ad-free edition of the 3WHH was recorded in live webinar format with about 80 of our most loyal listeners tuning in and heckling us MST3K style (IYKYK) in the chat room, but for a holiday episode it partook more of Judgment Day at times, as we reckoned with some lingering issues from our Cage Match about J6 and the Ukraine War two weeks ago, along with a thoroughly judgmental detour into "Lookism." Steve, in particular, recalls Taki's old case from the 1980s that Jane Fonda was the ugliest woman in America, while we reveal Lucretia's guilty secret that she in fact once owned the Jane Fonda Workout video from that glorious era.
But if the judgment of our three bartenders remains divided, we are unanimous in scorn for the Colorado Supreme Court, who somehow think that safeguarding us from "threat to democracy" requires preventing political parties from choosing their nominees, and since when did Orwell don judicial robes?

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: In Context Dec 16, 2023

The cleaning crew is still scrubbing the blood off the floor from last week's cage match about Ukraine and January 6, and already Ali and Frazier (that is, Lucretia and John) want to go for a sequel—maybe "Rumble in the Faculty Club Food Court" or something. (And yes, since we recorded in the morning instead of evening happy hour like we are supposed to, talk turned to McDonald's and breakfast meats. Steve blames John for McDonald's stock slumping this week while the broad market had a monster rally.)
While we await Don King's promotion for Cage Match 2 next week, we devote this episode to catching up on the other news of the moment, especially the rot in higher education as fully revealed by last week's ignominious appearance of the presidents of three Poison Ivy League universities (boy did we call it or what).
But then we also note the curious legal cases that popped up this week, especially Jack Smith's Hail Mary pass to the Supreme Court to try Trump as soon as possible, but the equally inside-out coverage of what a novelist might call "The President's Heart Is a Lonely Hunter Biden." Somehow we ended up with a digression into religious liberty, and pondering whether the Hell's Angels might be a bona fide religion that might be useful in some circumstances.
Next week, back to the Cage for Round Two!

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Cage Match Edition Dec 09, 2023

We finally get around to our promised but delayed cage match about Ukraine and unanswered questions about January 6, and alas, all of Steve's attempts to cheer up Lucretia with the week's great news—the Hunter Biden indictment, the embarrassment of Ivy League presidents, Kevin McCarthy resigning, Trump winning Tom Friedman's vote—proved unavailing. Futile, even. Why Lucretia even trashed McDonald's, which is really fightin' words for John.
But then we get down to business, with the bruising cage match. Steve did his best to play a "neutral" Sean Hannity, posing challenges to both John and Lucretia about both topics, but occasionally donning a Hershey's Kiss-sized tin foil hat on a couple of points. Score the jabs about roundhouse blows at home, and send in your point total in the comment threads.
John and Lucretia were united on one topic, though: Both attacked Steve for his fondness for classic Genesis, which Steve discussed at length this week on Steve Gosney's Rumble channel here (or YouTube version here) if you have the proper tastes in "rock music that went to college," to quote Jody Bottum on prog rock. Natually, Steve takes out revenge with the exit music, with a fragment of a classic Genesis song that includes the fitting lyric, "Even academics, searching printed word. . ." Who can name that song without looking it up?
Note: We haad a few technical glitches recording this episode, with some abrupt edits and incomplete thoughts in a couple places, but listeners should be able to make out the main threads.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: John Yoo One-on-One with...Charles Barkley?? Dec 02, 2023

So we had promised last week that this episode would feature a cage match between Lucretia and John about realism versus idealism as applied to the Ukraine War (especially since John baited Lucretia by calling her a neocon, which is fighting words not just in the desert west), as well as the problem of January 6, but the passing of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and Henry Kissinger diverted us, along with the DeSantis-Newsom debate.
Along the way we were treated to an extraordinary tale—John Yoo, as a young Supreme Court clerk, going one-on-one with the visiting Charles Barkley at the Supreme Court's own basketball court, which is known as the highest court in the land because it is located on the upper story of the Supreme Court building. Can you guess how it went? (Barkley was still playing in the NBA for the Phoenix Suns at the time.) It was the surprise revelation of this episode.
We had lots of critical (though respectful) things to say about both Justice O'Connor and Henry the K, and I suspect as usual listeners will find our contentions unique and not widely mentioned in the torrents of encomiums for both historic figures this week.
And we promise we'll go the cage match next week, or your money back. (Though we did do a small preview with a brief argument about why the cause of Israel should rank higher than the cause of Ukraine.)

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Deciding Between Bad and Worse Nov 25, 2023

While most other podcasts are taking the Thanksgiving holiday off, your three bartenders behind the Three Whisky Happy Hour remain on the job, because no one wants leftover podcasts for the long weekend. Steve and Lucretia had traditional home-cooked feasts, while John, naturally, dined Thursday at a yacht club, sweater knotted properly around his neck.
In the middle of this episode that ranges from the metaphysics of free speech to Nikki Haley's chances to the Argentinian and Dutch election results along with the Israel-Hamas deal, Steve recalls hearing Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu in person in Washington several years back explaining that the reality of the Middle East is that often the choice is between bad and worse, and this becomes the unifying theme for several of our disparate topic today.
In some ways, this episode turned into previews of coming attractions, as we set up a clash of the titans (that is, Lucretia against all comers) next week on the ongoing dispute about January 6, and the essence of "neoconservative" foreign policy. Consider these teases as a placeholder, along with our custom exit music, "Am I Very Wrong?" (to which question Lucretia typically answers "YES!"), a 1967 tune by a then-obscure combo whose name will not be uttered here:
Am I very wrong
To hide behind the glare of an open minded stare
Am I very wrong
To wander in the fear of a never ending lie
Am I very wrong
To try to close my ears to the sound they play so loud

The Three Whisky Happy Hour, on Students for (In)Justice in Palestine Nov 18, 2023

Hoo-boy—pour yourself three-fingers of your favorite high-proof single malt for this episode of the Three Whisky Happy Hour, as Steve, John, and Lucretia throw down hard on the limits of free speech in theory and practice. A lot of people—some of them conservatives (and, ahem, John at times!)—think that banning student chapters of the pro-Hamas Students for (In)Justice in Palestine, as Governor DeSantis has done in Florida, represents right-wing "cancel culture" and is therefore hypocritical. Steve and Lucretia argue that two generations of flabby jurisprudence from the Supreme Court about the First Amendment has left us illiterate about the first principles of the matter.
Thus, we recur to some older writings of David Lowenthal and Harry Jaffa on this point, and suggest that is it not difficult at all in principle to distinguish between political speech that deserves protection and speech from would-be tyrants who, if successful, would take away everyone else's right to speech (if not right to life in the case of Jews) if they gained power. Whether to do so is a matter of prudence and circumstance, but one of the lessons of history is that if a nation waits too long (cough, cough—Germany in the 1930s—cough, cough) to assert its right of self-preservation against the barbarians in its midst, a free society is lost.
The question of barbarism is central to the second part of today's episode, where we sort out some of the basic issues of the laws of war and just war theory. And we use Angelo Codevilla as one of our expert witnesses on this subject, which shouldn't be that hard to sort out, but somehow is if you only read the New York Times or some other pre-school level source.

FDR and Civil Liberties, with David Beito Nov 15, 2023

Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal are back in fashion these days, featuring some truly strange bedfellows. Liberal intellectuals told President Biden that he could become the next FDR if he simply spent like a convention of drunken sailors, but some of the "national conservatives" also suddenly like FDR and think we should emulate the New Deal's economic policies, which surely has Milton Friedman and William F. Buckley rolling over in their graves.
Meanwhile, historians have neglected FDR's record on civil liberties, with the conspicuous exception of the internment of Japanese Americans in World War II because that is too large a blot to be ignored (though even that story is not understood fully or accurately). Historian David Beito explores this forgotten aspect of FDR and the New Deal in his new book, The New Deal's War on the Bill of Rights: The Untold Story of FDR's Concentration Camps, Censorship, and Mass Surveilance. There's probably a connection between the New Deal's political economy and constitutionalism and these offenses to civil liberties—the point Hayek made in his misunderstood Road to Serfdom—that modern-day FDR admirers ought to keep in mind

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: The Return of the King Nov 11, 2023

With John Yoo, who accuses Lucretia and Steve of being closet monarchists, back from his jungle adventures in South America (albeit without any archeological relics to satify his Indiana Jones fantasies) and sitting in the host chair this week, the gang offers its two cents on the latest GOP debate (someone—guess who?—is not impressed with Nikki Haley), and the disappointing election results, which, Steve suggests, is like Twain's remark on Wagner's music ("it's better than it sounds"), though with the key takeaway that the GOP is doomed to more election night disappointments as long as it has a deer-in-the-headlines problem when it comes to abortion.
After reviewing a few new legal developments in the largehr Trump saga, we get down to exploring the mounting crisis of anti-Semitism, with an analysis of why this current eruption of anti-Semitism we're seeing nwo is not your grandfather's anti-Semitism, but is in fact ax expression of a much deeper problem with the maliganancy of the progressive left. College administrators who think they can weather the storm and wait for the fury to abate on its own are deluded.
We're going to retur next week with a sequel, and explain to everyone why a wholesale purge of leftist institutions is not a violation of free speech rightly understood, or merely "right-wing cancel culture," as the left and too many simple-minded libertarians think. Fire away (heh).

The Three Whisky Happy Hour, with Special Guest Amy Wax Nov 04, 2023

With John Yoo still away somewhere in the jungles of South America, Steve and Lucretia are delighted to be joined by a very special guest, Prof. Amy Wax of Penn Law School. Followers of the campus scene may be familiar with Penn Law's crusade to fire Prof. Wax for the sin of offending against campus orthodoxies on race and immigration, at the same time Penn so conspicuously tolerates anti-Semitism.
Prof. Wax isn't at liberty to discuss the details of her ongoing ordeal, but we do get into the thick of several pertinent questions, such as:
—Does the current crisis of tolerance for anti-Semitism on campus represent a possible inflection point to turn back “wokery” at last, or will this episode prove that higher education has passed the point of no return?
—Is there any evidence that the high-profile donor revolt at Penn and elsewhere is having an effect?
—On a wider note, many conservative law professors are leaving their posts because of the increasing ideological hostility. This seems another bad omen for academia.

America's Proxy Wars: A Conversation with Col. Austin Bay Nov 02, 2023

Another bonus classic format edition, this time featuring Steve in extended conversation with Col. Austin Bay, one of the proprietors of the indispensable Strategy Page, columnist for Creators Syndicate, and author of the splendid Cocktails from Hell: Five Complex Wars Shaping the 21st Century.
His column last week is a brief and lucid tour through the proxy wars America is currently confronting (against Russia and Iran, by way of Ukraine and Israel), and our conversation goes into much greater depth on both of these conflicts as well as our potential conflict with rapidly-arming China.
Can Ukraine defeat Russia? What must Israel do to prevail, and what are the risks of a wider war? Some of what Col. Bay lays out will curl your hair and make you want to buy a lot of canned goods, but he also gets into detail about how combined arms work on the battlefield and especially in the kind of urban warfare U.S. forces faced in Iraq and Israel is facing now in Gaza.
The biggest risk of the moment, Bay agrees, is with America's pathetic leadership class, making him more worried for the fate of the country than at any time in the last 20 years.

A Conversation with Hadley Arkes about Natural Law Oct 30, 2023

Way back in 1960, Leo Strauss wrote in the Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences that "Natural law, which was for many centuries the basis of the predominant Western political thought, is rejected in our time by almost all students of society who are not Roman Catholics." In the decades since then, however, natural law has enjoyed a revival of sorts, and is implicated today in the rise of constitutional originalism at the Supreme Court.
But it is also a confusing subject, because many so-called "new natural law" theories seem to concede too much to modern philosophy, as if the great tradition of natural law begins with Bentham. To be sure, the classical authors such as Aristotle, Cicero, and Aquinas were not simple thinkers on the subject, but their work tends not bog down with specialized jargon or abstruse theory.
One person stands out for rescuing the older tradition of natural law: Hadley Arkes, author of Mere Natural Law: Originalism and the Anchoring Truths of the Constitution. In this conversation, Steve Hayward draws out the basics of the argument from Prof. Arkes, and extends the line of reasoning to today's controversies about free speech and "cancel culture," which are more confused than ever with the sudden eruption of anti-Semitism on college campuses.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Crowd-Pleaser Edition Oct 28, 2023

With John Yoo away this week on a junket to South America, Steve and Lucretia reverted to old times and scheduled a live taping where we fielded questions and comments in a webinar format.
We talked about the reasons to be bullish about the new Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, along with discussion of the strategic challenges facing Israel and the United States, and more—always more—on the rot in our universities.
In between these three main topics we took up listener questions about social contract theory, whether the U.S. could realistically find itself in a real civil war some time soon, and whether the general challenges of political leadership in a time of deep polarization can be overcome.
A real crowd-pleaser, we hope.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Campus Conundrums Over Hamas and Frankie Five-Angels Returns? Oct 21, 2023

The only thing more predictable than a sunrise in the east is a Hamas claim that Israel bombed a Gaza hospital and that the Western media would report it as dictated because the story was just too good to check, though we always thought the mainstream media employed—or so they told us in 2004—"layer and layers of fact-checkers." Once again, we see whose side our media is on. And it's not ours—or Israel's.
Topic 2: Time to "decolonize" all the academic departments that won't shut up about "colonialism." Full stop.
And has anyone in DC figured out yet that the move by renegade Republicans to oust Speaker McCarthy and leave the Speaker's chair empty was a clever plot to get Democrats to vote for a de facto government shutdown, and stymie aid to Ukraine? Who are the dumb guys now?
And what to make of the plea deals of Sydney Powell and Kenneth Cheesebro in the Georgia prosecutions of the supposed Trump RICO conspiracy? We speculate that both Powell and Cheesebro might reprise the great star turn of Frankie Pentangelo in Godfather II.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Hamas on Campus Oct 14, 2023

Never mind Hamas in Gaza: what do we do with Hamas ideology on American college campuses? On top of the pusillanmous responses of college presidents we can clearly see the emerging theme of moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas, out of which the next step is certain: any attempts to curtail Hamas ideology on campus will be called "cancel culture," and will be said to prove the hypocrisy of everyone who has been attacking cancel culture over the last few years. And thus nothing will change. At the least, Jews should boycott Harvard, and perhaps the entire Ivy League. Steve suggests a more robust alternative way of thinking about the problem, but John and Lucretia are not convinced.
Topic two is the domestic political scene. Who needs a Speaker of the House anyway? But more curious is the case of RFK Jr., who has now decided to run as an independent nex year. Is there a chance he could actually win, say, for instance, if Biden tumbles down the stairs of Air Force One in early October, and can't be replaced on the ballot—never mind the prospect that he might draw more votes from Trump than from Biden. The point is, black swan events are becoming so much more common than maybe it is time to bring back white swan events.
We do live up to our name at the open, however, with some whisky recommendations from the GoodSpirit whisky bar in Budapest.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: The Dog Days of the Biden Presidency Oct 07, 2023

Lucretia, freshly back in the U.S. from her adventures with Steve in Budapest, is in the host chair for this week's episode, and she's not in a good mood. And it's not jet lag. Looking out at the concurrent disasters at home and abroad at the moment—high inflation, an undefended southern border, and now war in Israel—she poses a straightforward question: Would any of this be happening if Trump was still president? And more acute to a certified dog-lover: While Trump has many personal flaws, would he kick a dog? The evidence accumulates that Joe Biden is not just a terrible president, but a terrible human being.
From there we take up the inner desires of Kamp Kommandant Hillary Klinton, the good news (for John) of the return of the McRibb, and the demise of Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Which somehow leads to a discussion of President James K. Polk, whom John thinks is an executive to be highly esteemed, drawing immediate 50-cal fire from Lucretia. And we also marvel afresh at the feral genius of Trump's method of contesting the kangaroo court fraud trial under way in New York.
But it isn't all bad news. We celebrate the fact that apparently women, too, think a lot about the Roman Empire, though Lucretia prefers to think of the Roman Republic instead, since she founded it.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Phila-Pest Edition Sep 30, 2023

Settle in with your best chilled Hungarian dessert wine and Philly cheese steak for this cosmopolitan issue, which finds John Yoo—host for this week's episode—tired out from looting in his home town of Philadelphia, while Lucretia and Steve are together in Budapest carrying on with more conspiracies against the international rules-based order.
John gives us on-scene reports from ground-zero of the "recreational shopping" going on in Philadelphia, plus an update on his three days of testimony in the incredible John Eastman disbarrment trial going on in California. We also cover the aftermath of our event with Heather Mac Donald at Berkeley Law, which made it all the way to Jesse Watter's show on Fox News, and has gained something like 3 million views online.
But that's nothing compared to our beat down on the implosion of Ibram X. Kendi (Sen. John Kennedy's favorite "butthole professor"), which was not only predictable, but was predicted! By Glenn Loury, among others, whose profanity-laced rant about Kendi to John McWhorter we excerpt here for its news value, but also underscore the main point that the academic exaltation of an intellectual fraud like Kendi is another indication of the corruption and deep politicization of our universities today.
Government shutdown? GOP debate? The rest of the Supreme Court docket for the new term beginning Monday. Yes—we cover all that too. Better get a second bottle of Hungarian wine.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: No Qualified Whisky Immunity Sep 23, 2023

This circuitious episode, hosted by Steve in Budapest with John Yoo in Dallas and Lucretia in her undisclosed desert location, starts off with the entirely predictable news that David Brooks drinks his whisky on the rocks (insert shudders and horror here), and quickly moves on to the news that hasn't broken yet, so we'll fix it: Gavin Newson is running for president. We know—he hasn't offically announced, but he's behaving like a candidate more and more every day. And why has no one noticed that Newsom would also solve the Democrats' Kamala problem? (See the Constitution, Article II, Section 1, especially the passage that reads, "The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves." That rules out Kamala as Newsom's running mate, which is okay because Newsom and Harris hate each other.
We also devote too much time to the sartorial severity that is the Fetterman Senate Dress code, and you'll just need to listen to hear who Lucretia calls "Senator Stripper Boots."
From there Steve gives a central European "sit rep" on attitudes there about the Ukraine War, American policy about the war, and general political matters, all gleaned from Steve's conversations with highly placed (and very smart) Hungarian sources.
We've been wanting to talk about a legal issue that's been our mind for a while, and we finally get to it in this episode in depth: qualified immunity. We don't quite reach a firm conlusion about how the doctrine should be reformed, but you'll feel smarter for our dissection of it.
Finally, a few quick notes on the Kendi implosion, missing jet fighters, and other fun matters. But not to worry—we're still drinking our whisky neat, even if David Brooks kills his with four ice cubes. In an airport.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Cognitive Infrastructure Crisis Sep 16, 2023

Lucretia hosts this week, as the fearsome threesome give a brief summary of a recent law school seminar on natural law and the Constitution we presented last week at Berkeley Law before a group of somewhat skeptical students, and then moving on to assaying the Biden impeachment inquiry and Hunter Biden's smoking gun charge, asking why all the White House spokespeople seem to have come from Nerd Central (we mean you, Ian Sams!), and explaining the fundamental asymmetry of the Administrative State in Democratic and Republican presidencies.
And isn't it nice that Virginia Democrats have offered us a whole new definition of a "working family"? Who knew that Only Fans might become a new source for campaign contributions. Also: once again the question—are Biden and Harris both on the Democrats' chopping block for next year?
Get this: the latest rationale for federal government censorship of the internet is protecting "cognitive infrastructure," which sounds beyond the perverse imagination even of Orwell. And you know how well things go when the government gets interested in infrastructure! But I now have an excuse for the next time I forget something: "My memory hit a pothole in my cognitive infrastructure!"
Finally, we close out with some actual news, namely, John Yoo sharing some perspective on his expert witness testimony in the ongoing disbarment proceeding against John Eastman this week.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Return of the Branch Covidians Sep 10, 2023

We're a day late and a person short this week, as we're missing John Yoo because of schedule conflicts. Over morning coffee instead of evening single malt, this shortened, ad-free epiode finds Lucretia and Steve wondering if the Branch Covidians can really be getting ready to impose a mask mandate on all of us again, and pondering whether the COVID case of the multiply-boosted DOKTOR Jill Biden should make us wonder whether anyone knows anything anymore.
Could this all be a sign of the deepening panic among Democrats over the latest polls showing Donald Trump stronger than ever, and ever increasing doubts about Joe Biden?
And speaking of Democrats, who knew that Democrats have become Carl Schmitt fans, as is seemingly the case with New Mexico Governor Grisham declaring that an "emergency" gives her the power to suspend the 2nd Amendment. This comes on the heels of the latest 5th Circuit Court ruling that the Biden Administration trampled the 1st Amendment with its Covid censorship regime.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Saving Our Gerontocracy Sep 02, 2023

Never mind saving “our democracy"—who's going to save our gerontocracy! With Mitch McConnell and Joe Biden in a contest for Greatest Brain Freeze Moment, while Dianne Feinstein and John Fetterman look on with envy, we are starting to long for the good old days of the youthful vigor of the Soviet Politburo. Is it time for age limits for high federal office (though Sen. Chuck Grassley, still firing on all cylinders two weeks before his 90th birthday, might want a word with us), or do we just need cognitive tests for office?
Equally alarming is how the Baude-Paulsen argument for disqualiftying Trump for the presidency under the 14th Amendment is gaining traction. Could a county registrar of voters in some deep blue percinct throw the 2024 election into complete chaos? John has a good article on this scene suggesting the answer is a hard No, which we review.
Meanwhile, the whole Georgia case gets curiouser and curiouser, as you'd expect in our current Alice in Wonderland world of "verdict first, trial later" phase of Trump-specific law enforcement. But also some good news: the forces of decency are fighting back against the left's demagogic attack on Clarence Thomas.

My Address to Incoming Grad Students Aug 29, 2023

This classic format episode of the Power Line podcast features Steve Hayward all by himself, and breaks some news: Steve is returning to Pepperdine University this academic year as the Edward Gaylord Visiting Professor at the School of Public Policy. Steve will be filling the large shoes of the late Ted McAllister, who passed away earlier this year, leaving a big hole in the SPP program.
Pepperdine's SPP Dean Pete Peterson asked Steve to offer the faculty address to this year's incoming class of graduate students during orientation last week, and he spoke on the relevant contemporary lessons from Max Weber's famous lecture "Politics as a Vocation," which intersects perfectly with Karl Rove's Wall Street Journal essay over the weekend on how America has sometimes been in much worse shape than today. True, but not exhaustive, and supposing natural cycles of history will take us out of our current funk is likely a mistake, akin to fiddling while Rome burns.
In one sentence, Steve's message to incoming students is that they'll need to step up their game even more than they might have thought. That's what Weber told students in 1919, and his lesson didn't fully take.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Mugged by Reality Aug 26, 2023

Wondering what to make of the first GOP debate, Trump's arrest and mug shot, and the apparently deteriorating battlefield situation in Ukraine? Then you've come to the right place. John Yoo hosts this week while we break it all down in crisp fashion, partly because our schedules this week prevented us from recording at a time suitable to have our whisky glasses filled. Next week, we promise!

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Ricochet Overtime Edition Aug 19, 2023

As loyal listeners know, yesterday Steve, John, and Lucretia took over the flagship Ricochet podcast in the absence of both Peter Robinson (still somewhere in the Witness Protection Program) and Rob Long (out walking a Hollywood picket line somewhere), and we made James Lileks' life completely miserable.
We decided that a couple of issues we brought up deserved some extended discussion in this bonus episode, starting with the "trust" question: why do Americans now hold nearly all major institutions, both public and private, in such low regard? We run through a number of factors, from ideology, competence, and corruption, but also wonder about whether our ruling elites today don't have the same kind of noblesse oblige that characterized the elites of the 1950s (the Dulles brothers get a special shout-out).
Next, we return to the question of "human rights" versus the natural rights of the American Founding, and the mischief that the rise of "human rights" has entailed in modern times. Steve had intended to nitpick John's understanding of Thomas Hobbes, but the Learned Lucretia shows up in force, with marvelous renditions of Locke and Hobbes, casting doubt on Steve's proposition that maybe there exists a "Hobbistotle" to go with Tom West's "Lockistotle." It's not as wonky and esoteric as it sounds! Well actually maybe it is, but we think you'll still enjoy this Trump and Biden-free episode (and ad-free, too!)
Our thanks, by the way, to the Ricochet team for the honor of occupying their show, and to James Lileks for his indulgence.
But because Lucretia and John once again wrongly dismiss Steve's embrace of prog rock ("Rock and roll that went to college," as Jody Bottum calls it), the exit music for this episode is an excerpt from "The Chamber of 32 Doors," which is the Prog Rock version of "Rich Men North of Richmond" which we discuss briefly in this episode.
I'd rather trust a countryman than a townman
You can judge by his eyes, take a look if you can
He'll smile through his guard, survival trains hard
I'd rather trust a man who works with his hands
He looks at you once, you know he understands
Don't need any shield, when you're out in the field. . .
The priest and the magician
Singin' all the chants that they have ever heard
And they're all calling out my name
Even academics, searching printed word
Maybe the academics will figure it out someday, but judging by the elite culture's reaction to "Rich Men North of Richmond," today is not that day.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Screwball Edition Aug 12, 2023

The late week news was so screwball that Steve surrendered to Screwball Peanut Butter Whiskey to cope while Lucretia the Lightweight settled for Irish coffee while John, out of place as usual, passed on a liquid lunch to have a real one. (By the way, the Screwball Peanut Butter Whiskey is not recommended.)
And what a lot of screwball news, starting with the designation of a DoJ special counsel to deal with Hunter Biden's special needs, a trial date and mini-gag order for Trump, and the flurry over the proposal of two conservative law professors to ban Trump's eligility for the ballot under Section III of the 14th Amendment about "insurrection." (If you are a glutton for the punishment of a 126-page law review article, you can view the whole thing here.) There's just one problem with this scenario: Trump hasn't been charged with fomenting insurrection or rebellion. Maybe the special counsel is waiting for another bad news dump on Hunter?
After some observations about the failed Ohio referendum this week we finallky getr down to some wider topics, including reflections on the astonishing interview last week with Obama biographer David Garrow in The Tablet, which presents about as unflattering a portrait of "the lightworker" as can be imagined. (If you haven't read the Garrow interview, do so at your earliest convenience.) And we also ponder the latest notable offerings on the state of the country from Victor Davis Hanson ("Who Will Say No to the Current Madness") and Jacob Howland ("America Is Now a Zombie State"). Steve, naturally, sees some signs of life while Lucretia, naturally, finds him to be too infernally optimistic.
Finally, a few suggestions for great general reading about politics, with Steve recommending a title from Kenneth Minogue and John recommending two titles from Daniel Bell. Lucretia is sticking with Calvin and Hobbes—the comic strip, not the 16th and 17th century authors!

The *Two* Whisky Happy Hour: The View from Europe, with Edoardo Raffiotta Aug 06, 2023

This isn’t our normal 3WHH; John isn’t here, just Steve and Lucretia. So maybe a 2WHH. The occasion for today’s extra episode—since we moved up our usual weekly offering on account of the latest weekly Trump indictment, is to take note of two related items.
First, did you know that Italy’s new and very popular prime minister Giorgia Meloni recently visited Washington and had a brief meeting with President Biden? I missed this too, as the meeting took place behind closed doors, probably to cover up the fact that Biden either fell asleep or sniffed PM Meloni’s blonde hair, and there was apparently no press availability or public photo op. Of course, Biden called Meloni a fascist when she was first elected, so I expect there was no enthusiasm for noting her visit.
The second item is an article in National Review ("The Italian Option") recently on Meloni, where Dalibor Rohac argues that Meloni is a better model for nationalist conservatives than Hungary’s Viktor Orban, because Meloni’s positions on various matters are more congenial to Americans. Maybe so, though I note Rohac’s article neglects to mention that Meloni is fond of Orban, having met with him a number of times. And Rohac is a defender of the European Union, which makes us suspicious right there.
Leaving aside the whole Hungary question for another day, this seems like an occasion to roll out at last a conversation Lucretia and Steve had recently with one of our favorite Italians thinkers—and part-time opera singer—Edoardo Raffiotta. Edoardo is professor of law at the University of Milan, where we first made his acquaintance last year at a conference. He specializes in European constitutional law, and especially the problems of emergency powers (hence is occasional interest in Carl Schmitt). He is also actively involved in legal issues pertaining to cyber-security and the fast-moving field of artificial intelligence, which of course are specialities of Lucretia. We wanted to hear first hand from Edoardo about Meloni and other topics—including opera. Stick around after we finish with Edoardo, because Lucretia and I will come back with a “postgame” show of sorts where we offer some additional reflections about the wider scene—and make a small news announcement.
And we manage to sneak in a few bars of Edoardo's favoite Puccini opera, La Rondine, at the end.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Special Mid-Week Episode on the Trump Indictment Aug 02, 2023

Our normal weekend rendezvous at the whisky bar was convened early this week to get out our fresh reactions to the Trump indictment for his role in the events of January 6, and our general reaction after reading the filing is—is this all there is? Where is incitement? Where is conspiring with violent groups like the Proud Boys and Barbie and Ken? There is very little if any new evidence or facts in the filing, and there are some stunning assumptions of fact that will surely fall apart in the courtroom.
More seriously, John Yoo rightly describes this filing as the most serious political-criminal trial since the trial of Aaron Burr way back in 1807—a trial that, keep in mind—acquitted Burr on the charge opf treason. And the timing, coming amidst a lot of new revelations of Biden corruption this week—seems suspicious.
Where do we go from here? Should the GOP House move right away to an impeachment investigation of Biden, before the Justice Department names a special counsel that would ironically lock down a House investigation into an "ongoing investigation" by Justice?
We do, finally, get back to our leisurely summer stroll through best books, this week laying out criteria for what makes a good biography, with each of us offering up some representative picks, such as Lord Charnwood's Lincoln, Jean Edward Smith on John Marshall, and Plutarch. You'll have to listen to see which of us recommended what book or author—you may be surprised!

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: A PIG Goes to Market & The "L-Word" Jul 29, 2023

After clearing the decks of the latest headlines from the week involving Biden trials and Trump tribulations, we get down to business discussing John's new book The Politically-Incorrect Guide to the Supreme Court (co-authored with Robert Delahunty). Naturally Steve and Lucretia have some issues to pick with John.
Steve manages to annoy everyone by noting the Statute-That-Cannot-Be-Named-On-This-Podcast (rhymes with Lean Fair Fact) and connecting it to the "L-Word," meaning the Lochner case. You thought it meant something else? How old fashioned and quaint in this Age of Infinite Pronouns.
And did Kamala Harris set a new low in hypocrisy and bad faith this week with her attack on Florida's African-American history standards? Let us count the ways. . .

Special Episode: William B. Allen on VP Harris's Demagoguery Jul 26, 2023

I knew when I saw news of Vice President Kamala Harris claiming that Florida's new African-American history standards for public schools taught that "enslaved people benefitted from slavery," I knew instinctively that this was a lie of unusual medacity even for her. Don't take my word for it: read the curriculum guide for yourself, especially page six, where Harris and the rest of the race-obsessed educrat-complex twists one sentence in the most grotesque way imaginable.
The real sin of the curriculum guide, from the left's demented point of view, actually can be seen page eight, where the curriculum mentions including the history of slavery before 1619. Ah—there's the rub. The real reason Harris attacks the Florida curriculum is that it dares to correct the distortions and omissions of the 1619 Project, which has become the platform for saying that America was, and is, purely a slavocracy, and that American capitalism practically invented slavery.
One of my principal teachers in graduate school (and a past guest on this podcast), William B. Allen, was one of the authors of the new Florida curriculum guide, and he's been in high demand this week refuting the calumnies of our vice president. I managed to catch up with him this morning to note the obvious irony that the party of Calhoun would be reviving Calhounism just now, but trying to deflect it onto the other party. (Because of course the real reason for this attack is that Joe Biden might face Ron DeSantis as a candidate next year, so better start calling him a racist now.)

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: "Eternal Infernal Optimism" Jul 22, 2023

Are the anticipated coming Trump indictments serious? Defrauding the federal government? Obstructing Congress? Violating the Ku Klux Klan Act? This is indeed John McEnroe territory—"You cannot be serious!" But is it going to work?
Let's just say this episode revisits the events of January 6 with considerable disagreement among the panel about how it should be understood, what we still don't know, and how it is afftecting the next election cycle, concerning which, Luretia road-tests her latest outlandish theory. ("We're going to get comments on this one!", she promises.)
Then we assay the state of the widening Biden scandals, with Lucretia scorning Steve's "eternal infernal optimism" that sooner or later the media is going to jump on this scandal. Lucretia and John are skeptical. . .
Finally, are the dividends of the Harvard affirmation action admissions ruling already growing and spreading to the private sector? Have you noticed the news of the growing number of layoffs and shrinkages of corporate DEI offices? Who says there isn't any good news these days.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour, on 'The Narrow Passage' by Glenn Ellmers Jul 15, 2023

John Yoo is away overseas this week, so Steve and Lucretia are joined by Glenn Ellmers, author of the brand new book The Narrow Passage: Plato, Foucault, and the Possibilty of Political Philosophy. Do not be intimidated by the mention of Foucault or anything else in the title, as this crispy-written and very accessible book comes in at a reader-friendly 79 pages (Glenn admits that it began as an essay that grew a little out of control). It sheds a lot of light on our current culture war, which is really a continuation of the ructions in the country from the left that began in the 1960s but fooled us by receding briefly in the shadows for a time when the Cold War ended. More than that, though, the roots of our current contentions trace all the way back to Plato, and from whom we may also find some answers. As as we say, all this in 79 pages!
Steve and Lucretia also dilate the Farce of the Week in Washington, the latest lower court rulings that look like promising attacks on the administrative state, and why the Equal Protection Clause was such a mess at the Supreme Court for 150 years, contra Alan Dershowitz's argument that Earl Warren had it right all along. No sale!

The (Uncensorable) Three Whisky Happy Hour: Still Loitering at the Courthouse Jul 08, 2023

You've heard of the Avengers. And the Incredibles. We at the 3WHH consider ourselves The Uncensorables. (Only because Justice League is taken.) In any case, just when you thought it was safe to pass by the courthouse and law library because the Supreme Court term has finished, along comes a bracing district court opinion slapping the Biden Administration hard for its collaborating with social media companies to censor COVID dissenters who turned out to be right about nearly everything.
We also work through the aftermath of the Harvard/UNC decision, which is forcing the left to transfer their hated for Citizens United to this case. And what's up with the left's complaint that the 303 Creative case was a phony case? What's phony is the left's argument, which John Yoo (this week's show host) dispatches with ease, while Steve reminds us that the left has been contriving phony cases for decades.
Finally, since it was Fourth of July week, we reflect on the holiday this year, Steve gives a foerboding prediction for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration in 2026, and we offer up recommendations for the best books about the Declaration for our slowly developing reading list of essential whisky-wisdom pairings.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: That's a Wrap! Jul 01, 2023

It's over. The fat lady has sung. The Supreme Court ended its current term with a big bang, delivering a long-overdue smackdown of affirmative action that with any luck history will say was a turning point for restoring the proper understanding of equality in our Constitution, though the follow up to overcome ther massive resistance of universities and their epigones in HR and DEI departments everywhere will be crucial—and exhausting.
But wait! There's more! The Court also smacked down Biden's student loan power grab, and vindicated the principle of free speech the right of conscience in turning back the coercive identitarian demand that a Christian website designer must be compelled to produce offensive products.
The 3WHH hosts were actually together in person this week for this episode, and marked the end of the Supreme Court term with a several nice rounds of Makers Mark. Next week we'll be back to our more "diverse" (heh) scope of wine, whisky, and wonkery, and we'll also get back to our slow-rolling "best books" deliberation.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Standing Down? Jun 24, 2023

The submersible that is the Biden presidency looks to be under as much increasing pressure as the Trump reboot tour, and maybe both will implode? And when is the Supreme Court going to end the suspense and deliver the rulings on the big cases we've all been waiting for?
The Court did deliver a disappointment of sorts in U.S. v. Texas, which rejected the state challenge to the Biden Administration's complete implosion of border enforcement, ruling that while states along the border have indeed suffered injury, they lack standing to sue, and/or the Court lacks a remedy it can supply, so the Biden Administration wins this round. But we break down the convoluted reasoning of the majority opinion (can it really be right that if the executive branch arrested just one person crossing the border instead of zero, states would lose standing to sue, or the Court any remedy whatsoever?), and wonder whether the case is nearly as good for liberals as they think, and whether the next item on the agenda for conservative jurisprudence is to develop a new doctrine of standing, as it did with the "major questions doctrine" promulgated last year.
We also look at the latest attacks on Supreme Court justices from the left. Justice Barrett sold her house to—gasp!—a conservative! Can you believe it? And finally we explore the state of abortion one year after Dobbs.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Pardon Me?!?! Jun 17, 2023

By the end of the week when our three bartenders assembled, the Trump indictment had been pretty well munched and masticated, so there wasn't much left to say about the matter for the moment. But John Yoo has a wild idea to resolve the controversy: President Biden, he says, should pardon Trump right now, and say "Let's put everything before the voters next year on the issues."
Of course the last thing Biden wants to do right now is run on the issues, since he's doing such a dreadul job, and in any case there is no chance Trump will agree to any conditions for a pardon (such as admitting guilt or agreeing to drop out of the presidential election altogether). And it is doubtful Biden has either the statesmanship or the cynical wit to see the mischievous possibilities of a pardon.
From there the gang tries to read the tea leaves at the Supreme Court, which handed down another puzzling ruling this week regarding Indian adoptions, and finally we continue our "best of" recommended reading list with some nominations for best satirical fiction.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Bringing the Smoke and the Fire Jun 10, 2023

Who needs Steve's peaty, smoky whisky this week when Canada is supplying a surplus for half the nation? (But it ain't Canadian Club they're serving.) After clearing the smoke from our eyes—and our whisky glasses, we get down to business on what is known so far about the Trump indictment (we recorded before the full details of the indictment were released), and wonder if the Dept. of Justice isn't blowing a lot of smoke.
And just how did the Supreme Court manage to botch the Voting Rights Act case?
Finally, we begin rolling out our listener-requested Essential Reading List, starting with a couple titles for the category of philosophy. Naturally Steve and Lucretia divide on a title to recommend. Next week we'll either do histort or biography, which are also difficult categories, but that's part of the fun.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Always Look on the Bright Side of Life Jun 03, 2023

John Yoo is away traveling this weekend, so the 3WHH reverts to its old form, with Lucretia pummeling Steve like a chiropractor working on a stiff neck for his conventional thinking about the debt ceiling deal. But otherwise we're in a jolly mood this week, as we see signs that a "Revolt of the Normies"—that is sensible middle class Americans—against gender wokery is finally underway. Just ask the sales manager for Bud Light, or shareholders of Target. (We could have alternately called this episode "Pride Month Goeth Before the Fall.")
Then, in response to some listener requests, we begin a preliminary excursion into a "Best Books" list, though we want to await John's return for an orderly treatment of this question. For this episode Steve and Lucretia talk about political novels, and why some are enduring, like Orwell's 1984 or Koestler's Darkness at Noon, and why others have been forgotten, like Andre Malraux's Man's Fate, or Wyndham Lewis's Revenge for Love (which Steve is reading right now). As usual Steve and Lucretia come at this subject from different directions, and finally settle together on . . . Shakespeare.

Marx, Neoliberalism, and the 1619 Project, with Phil Magness Jun 01, 2023

Phil Magness of the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER) is one of the most productive—and provocative—working scholars today (with emphasis on working, as his output is prodigious).
This classic format episode features Steve Hayward and Phil in a one-on-one conversation about three of Phil's major areas of current research, starting with his co-authored article that breaks new ground in the history of Marxism, "The Mainstreaming of Marx: Measuring the Effect of the Russian Revolution on Karl Marx’s Influence," published recently in the Journal of Political Economy, one of the premier journals in economics. The article is causing heads to explode on the left, which means he must have hit a nerve.
From there we talk about the history of the intellectual left's favorite epithet today, "neoliberalism," but also about how the term has been embraced with almost the same pejorative meaning by some leading thinkers on the right. Is this a good idea?
Finally, as Phil has been one of the pre-eminent critics of the 1619 Project from the moment it first appeared four years ago, we catch up on the latest iterations of that popular leftist propaganda effort.
Everyone should follow Phil on Twitter, @PhilWMagness, and you'll see how he lives rent-free every day inside the heads of leftists.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Supreme Court Touchdowns May 27, 2023

It's late in the 4th quarter for this year's Supreme Court season, and the Justices are starting to score with some long bombs. Our 3WHH bartenders celebrated with entire flights of whisky (our kind of diversity!) while pondering Thursday's clean sweep of two 9 - 0 decisions that reinvigorate the "takings clause" of the 5th Amendment, and clip the wings of the EPA without once mentioning either the Chevron doctrine, or a certain other statute that is banned from this podcast.
But wait! There's more! We also dispatch with prejudice the crazy idea of President Biden using the 14th Amendment to raise the debt ceiling, preview a couple of brand new cases that may start to undo the DEI regime, and puzzle over a head-scratching case from a few weeks ago involving California's extra-territorial imposition of regulations of pig-farming. As this poses an existential threat both to the availability of bacon supplies and McRibbs in California going forward, this is a matter of deep concern and outrage.
Speaking of pigs, John Yoo is about to come out with his own PIG book to go on your bookshelf right next to Steve's PIG book. That is, John and co-author Robert Delahunty are about to come out with The Politically-Incorrect Guide to the Supreme Court, which will make a nice pairing with both a good whisky and Steve's Politically-Incorrect Guide to the Presidents, from Wilson to Obama. We discuss the common points of interest between the two books, though Steve alleges that John and his co-author got the Lochner case wrong, as everyone usually does.
There is no truth to the rumor that Lucretia is writing The Politically-Incorrect Guide to Political Incorrectness, though she's the obvious choice for the title.

The Woke War in Hollywood, With Christian Toto May 25, 2023

The hiatus in Hollywood brought on by the current writers strike seemed a good occasion to check in with Christian Toto, proprietor of the indispensable HollywoodInToto website, as well as a podcast, and a terrific recent book, Virtue Bombs: How Hollywood Got Woke and Lost Its Soul.
Our conversation ranges widely from the problems of streaming services, the leftward lurch that has nearly killed off late night talk shows, why Top Gun: Maverick was snubbed at the Oscars, and above all whether a backlash against wokery in Hollywood is approaching critical mass. There are some signs that it is. Stay tuned, but listen here and bookmark Christian's site and podcast.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: The Lowdown on RFK Jr with KJT May 20, 2023

With Steve Hayward back in the host chair this week, the 3WHH actually breaks some real news with special guest Kelly Janes Torrance, the op-ed editor of the indispensible New York Post. This week Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is attracting surprising interest from many conservatives, visited the Post for a grilling from the Post's editorial board, and Kelly Jane opened up her reporter's notebook to share previously unreported statements RFK Jr offered at their 90-minute meeting. You won't want to miss her scoops shared exclusively with the 3WHH podcast.
John Yoo was late joining us—apparently he got stuck in an extra long McDonald's drive-through line right before show time—but did manage to break down the Durham report, and also gets in on the sequels with Kelly Jane, who has a lot of thoughts on the Ukraine situation from her experiences as an election watcher in recent years.
Since KJT is Canadian, we decided to honor her guest turn with exit music from the Barenaked Ladies, "New Kid on the Block," since we're definitely going to have her back on 3WHH. As mentioned early in this episode, she may not be a neat whisky drinker, but she has an epic cocktail game.
We're got a short pre-roll excerpt from John on the Ricochet podcast that we think is appropriate to share with our listeners, though I think Rob Long was not amused!

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Wot Corruption? May 13, 2023

Lucretia hosts this week's episode, and as Hamilton predicted about how executive power would promote sobriety, the awesome responsibility of the host chair led Lucretia to praise Kevin McCarthy for the second week in a row, and she even has nice things to say about Steve!
After the smelling salts were passed round to John and Steve (and fresh glasses of whisky poured), the bartenders get down to business, breaking down the rising anti-Semitism in the Democratic Party; Lucretia's first-hand report from the border in the immediate aftermath of the end of Title 42 and where the immigration disaster will go next (and once again, the responsible Lucretia surprises with her sympathy for asylum seekers); the travesty of the criminal indictment of Marine veteran Daniel Penny for his justified act of self-defense on the New York subway (just think of it as the attempt to run George Floyd 2.0); what to make of Trump's humiliation of CNN; what to make of the week's revelations of the Biden Family Crime Syndicate; and what to make of the Supreme Court interposing itself—by a rare 9 - 0 vote—between federal corruption probes of the states.
Because we're waiting on a serious corruption probe into the Bidens, and to go with our thoughts on how the country is repeating the worst of the 1970s, exit music this week is an old 70s-era Ambrosia tune, "Time Waits for No One."
Why am I searching and when will I know?
Are the years that I've waited with nothing to show?
I'm ready to listen I'm ready to win
But I can't wait much longer before we begin
Time waits for no one
Time waits for no one
No one, no one

The Three Whiskey Happy Hour: A Triple Shot of News May 06, 2023

With all three bartenders back together and John Yoo in the host chair, the gang wonders why it is that Robert F. Kennedy Jr is so far making the most sense in the 2024 presidential race, how it is that Kevin McCarthy has (stop the presses!) actually impressed Lucretia, and why the obviously political attacks on Justice Clarence Thomas expose the left at their power-grasping worst.
But then we get back to school, with John expressing his usual faux-puzzlement about the New York Times's genuine puzzlement of why conservatives "still" like Aristotle. Too bad there isn't an Aristotle for Dummies title we can send the Times, but we do manage to sort out John.
Finally, we round out this episode with some mockery of the high octane decadence of the ruling class as seen by the scheduing of the Met Gala and the White House Correspondents Dinner within 48 hours of each other last week. It must be exhausting for our rulers to keep up this kind of social schedule, not to mention the expense of the wardrobe. Tune in for Piers Morgan's fantastic headline about the scene, and grab a can of Raid.

When Race Trumps Merit, with Heather Mac Donald May 03, 2023

Heather Mac Donald may be the most fearless journalist in America. She is relentless in her reporting, bracing in her truth-telling, and ferocious in arguing her case. Her new book, When Race Trumps Merit: How the Pursuit of Equity Sacrifices Excellence, Destroys Beauty, and Threatens Lives, explores how the current attack on meritocracy in the name of "equity" is rampaging through almost all American institutions, in particular arts and culture, but also higher education and corporate America.
Her bleak inventory includes the degredation of the sciences as well, which will if continued will exact a high cost. But our conversation also takes some unusual twists and turns, delving into some of the deeper aspects of the issues of race and merit that are typically neglected. We conclude our conversation with a discussion of Heather's recommendations for remedies, which will require some serious backbone on the part of the nation's political leadership that appears to be in short supply just now.

Celebrating Judge Carlos Bea Apr 29, 2023

Who is the only federal judge to have played basketball in the Olympics for Cuba? Who is the only federal judge known for driving around town in a 1960s-era convertable Rolls Royce? Who is the only federal judge who was nearly deported?
The answer is an n of 1, as statisticians would say: Judge Carlos T. Bea of Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, who the Los Angeles Daily Journal was correct to call "the most interesting judge on the 9th Circuit." Born in San Sebastian, Spain in 1934, his family left Spain for North America after the Spanish Civil War and on the eve of World War II. And the story only gets more interesting from there.
Judge Bea recently took senior status on the 9th Circuit, and the San Francisco chapter of the Federalist Society decided to throw a reception and celebration of his long and distinguished career in the law, inviting me to serve as an interlocutor with Judge Bea for a conversation that covers the highlights of his colorful life story along with his views on jurisprudence. He also supplies lessons on how to survive and prosper as a Republican in San Francisco.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Almost Live, from Commenter-Con II Apr 25, 2023

This week we took the 3WHH on the road for a special ad-free episode, as Lucretia and Steve recorded before a live audience at Commenter-Con II in Phoenix. Commenter-Con II is the inspiration of 'Ammo Grrrll" (known in real life as Susan Vass), with Power Line readers from 27 states turning up. It also coincides roughly with the 40th anniversary of Lucretia and Steve's very first argument, which, Steve now admits, Lucretia was right about after all.
After we kick around the stunning news about Tucker Carlson's startling exit from Fox News, and a few other background questions about favorite books, reasons for the never-ending whisky divide, and related, we turn to audience questions, in particular our nominees for who we'd like to lock up if we had genuine prosecutorial powers.
(John Yoo wasn't able to join us as he had to be in the classroom for the last week of his classes at Berkeley Law, but sent along a note: "I wish I were there, but on the advice of counsel, I've been warned against showing up anywhere where people calling themselves 'Ammo Grrrll' and 'Lucretia' are in attendance. Steve Hayward, not so much."

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: The Devil and Miss Lucretia? Apr 22, 2023

In what may be the most wide-ranging episode of the 3WHH yet, the troika ranges from the implications of the Fox News settlement with Dominion for the defective NY Times v. Sullivan doctrine, to an extended discussion of the natural law arguments on abortion—the topic aborted last week for lack of time—and lastly to a look at notable political movies with the unlikely offering from Lucretia that an underrated moral-political movie worthy of note is . . . The Devil in Miss Jones??!!
Needless to say John and Steve didn't see that coming, and didn't know quite what to say. And this doesn't include our new segment, "Lucretia's Featured Rant of the Week," which debuted with a much deserved blast at the Department of Justice.
Steve gets his revenge at the very end, with exit music drawn from his favorite recent political movie that John and Lucretia have embargoed from further mention on the 3WHH.

Religious Liberty and the American Founding, with Phil Munoz Apr 20, 2023

This week the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Groff vs. Dejoy, involving a Post Office mail carrier named Gerald Groff, who, for religious reasons, wished not to work on Sundays. Previously the postal service had granted this accommodation, which was easy back when the Post Office didn’t do mail delivery on Sundays. But a few years ago the Post Office started contracting with Amazon and other package delvery services to do Sunday deliveries, though they still granted Groff his religious accommodation. But then the Post Office changed its mind and compelled Groff to work Sundays. Hence this case, raising again an aspect of the First Amendment’s free exercise clause.
You would think after all these decades of both religious liberty cases and employment law cases that such a situation would be well-settled, but you would be wrong. In fact the First Amendment’s clauses related to the establishment and free exercise of religious remain highly contested and unsettled.
One person who has a deep grasp of the broader issue is Vincent Phillip Munoz, who is the Tocqueville Associate Professor of political science and law at the University of Notre Dame. His most recent book is “Religious Liberty and the American Founding: Natural Rights and the Original Meanings of the First Amendment’s Religion Clauses.” Phil’s work has been cited in several Supreme Court opinions on the issue.
Phil sat down recently with John Yoo and me to discuss the issue, and the wider issue of how constitutional originalism should be understood today. You could think of this episode as a “two-whisky happy hour,” as we wanted to have Lucretia Zoom in, but she wasn’t able to, so Phil got off the hook. But in any case, let’s turn to Phil now.
Note: Apologies for the background static and other sound issues. We had our communal microphone on the wrong settings, and it was not amenable to a post-production fix.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: No Leaking Here Apr 15, 2023

Lucretia hosts the bar this week, as Steve and John extol the virtues of Japanese whisky while trolling the left for its latest futile attempt to take down Justice Clarence Thomas. Lucretia celebrates a brew pub in Arizona that stood up to the braying mob that resents real beer drinkers who like the Federalist Society, which deserves to go with a lighter highland malt. And in our "This Week in Democrats" segment, which pairs well with a dusty, peaty whisky, we wonder why the left is suddenly trying to push out Dianne Feinstein, and the problem this creates for Gov. Winsome Newsom, among other amusements and free entertainment Democrats provided this week.
John then walks us through the puzzles of the fast-moving case involving the revocation (stayed for the moment) of the aboritificent drug mifepristone, which turns quickly to a too-brief discussion of natural law and abortion, and why, to borrow once again Stan Evans's great line now more applicable than ever, it is a good thing Republicans are pro-life, since they spend so much time in the fetal position, unable to offer even the simplest public argument for their stance on the issue. (To be continued. . .)
Finally, Steve and Lucretia wonder why the leak of classified documents showing that the situation in Ukraine is very different from what we've been told (some people might call the party line a "lie," but that's just some people) isn't seen as the equivalent of the Pentagon Papers and Vietnam. Instead, we're being treated to a spectacle of government secrets unveiled by the cast of High School Musical: Gamer Sequel.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Peak Crazy Achieved? Apr 08, 2023

You know how people who think they can top something crazy like to say, "Hold my beer"? Well, this week Budweiser decided to try to top Alvin Bragg's bogus indictment of Donald Trump by rebranding their "light" beer such that no one want to hold it even for Alvin Bragg. What explains this dumbest marketing move since the New Coke? And does the Biden Administration have a political death wish by deciding to use Title IX as a trans-cudgel? ("Trans-cudgel" is one of the 159 genders isn't it?) Yes, this week was that crazy, and we haven't even got to the elections in Chicago and Wisconsin yet.
John Yoo hosts this week's episode, which is good since Steve is under the weather with yet another bug of some kind, necessitating at least three whiskies, while Lucretia adds to her "Moron of the Week" designation with yet another new feature (which will rotate amongst the three of us every week) on . . . political philosophy! Don't groan—it's going to be fun. Especially since Steve demonstrates in this episode how it is possible to sneak up on John unawares with a reference to . . . the verboten Clean Air Act!

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Israel's Judicial Coup? Apr 01, 2023

Lot going on this week, including Steve successfully completing his mandatory online "Abusive Conduct Training," otherwise known as Lucretia's How-To Guide to Blunt Speaking. Did you know abusive conduct ias bad? How would we have known without an online training module?
The good news for Lucretia is that "making unpopular statements about controversial issues" is not considered abusive. The bad news is that "making egregious statements about a person's lifestyle" is considered abusive, so we have to stop ragging on John for his McRibb fixation.
The main subject this week is the turmoil in Israel about proposed reforms to its judiciary. Somehow this is an international story, as it involves possible interference from the United States, and with might be called the Internationale of the Administrative State. Did you know Israel doesn't have a written constitution? This is a large part of the problem. While the judicial reform package Netanyahu's government put forward may have some defects, its defeat—and defeat is what has occurred, make no mistake—is a loss for the cause of constitutional government everywhere.
We also get in some observations about the Nashville shooting, the proposed Census question about whether someone is a descendant of slaves, and a new feature: Lucretia's Stupid Person of the Week.

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Alvin (Bragg) and the Chipmunks Mar 26, 2023

We’re a day late getting to the whisky bar this week on account of complicated travel schedules. Lucretia sits in the host chair as Steve was still feeling light-headed from too much high-altitude skiing while John is his usual jaunty self, baiting Lucretia with his thoughts in the Boston Globe about how Alvin Bragg and the other chipmunks of the left are blowing it with their attempt to bring... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Silicon Death Valley Days Mar 18, 2023

John and Steve are off galavanting in Florida, up to all kinds of mischief and boozy dinners, so this episode was recorded sans whisky but after a lot of fine wines. So this episode really could have been called “the three Bordeaux happy hour,” plus steak. We picked up where we left off last week, with some follow up thoughts on the defects of the criminal justice system especially when it comes... Source

The Return of Willmoore Kendall Mar 15, 2023

Willmoore Kendall Willmoore Kendall was one of the great political scientists of the postwar era, and has been back on our minds lately for a number of reasons. As a heterodox champion of Joe McCarthy in the 1950s, a critic of the place of John Locke in American political thought, and a defender of majoritarian deliberation, his provocative ideas are making a comeback in the age of nationalist... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Uniparty On Mar 11, 2023

The unifying theme to this week’s episode (recorded before a live Zoom audience) is that Republicans had a pretty good week, except for Sen. Mitch McConnell, who preceded falling down a stairway (Lucretia swears she didn’t push him, but we’re waiting for the video footage!) by falling for the liberal line that releasing the January 6 video footage is somehow a threat to the republic—almost as big... Source

The Nature of the Administrative State, with John Marini, Part 2 Mar 08, 2023

John Marini was one of the first conservative thinkers in 2016 to recognize that Donald Trump posed an existential threat to the administrative state, in a series of articles that are included in a recent collection we highly recommend, Unmasking the Administrative State: The Crisis of American Politics in the Twenty-First Century. In this second half of our conversation (take in the first part... Source

Power Line University: Judicial Review and the Bill of Rights Mar 06, 2023

Our ninth and final seminar of our series on The Federalist concludes our discussion of judicial review, with a detour to the famous case of Marbury v. Madison in 1803 that supposedly settled the matter, though Lucretia draws some fine and original distinctions between what John Marshall did in Marbury and what the Supreme Court did afterwards. From there we consider Hamilton’s argument in... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Tackling All the Major Questions Mar 04, 2023

You mean I can get these in triplicate now!?! This week the Three Whisky Happy Hour tackles not only the “major questions” doctrine at the Supreme Court, but the major question about McDonald’s new (but unadvertised) triple-cheeseburger, whether the Democrats’ decision to hold their first primary of 2024 in South Carolina is a major or minor question, who is the All-Time Worst/ Source

The Origin of the Administrative State, with John Marini, Part 1 Mar 01, 2023

The “administrative state” is an obscure and ungainly phrase, but in recent years the term has burst out into general use, though it is often conflated with another term currently popular—the “deep state.” They are not the same thing, though they do overlap, and “deep state” does enjoy the advantage of being shorter and pithier. What is “the administrative state”? It is a mistake to confuse it... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: A Grand Week Indeed Feb 25, 2023

The spectacle of Georgia’s grand jury forepermix is enough to induce a grand mal seizure, but we move on quickly from that spectacle to the specter of the Supreme Court pondering the Heisenberg Uncertainty Point of the Constitution: is the vice president, as first in line of succession, part of the executive branch, or, as president of the Senate, part of the legislative branch? The answer is Yes. Source

Power Line University, Session 8: The Federalist & the Judiciary Feb 19, 2023

Settle down class, time for our next lesson. This week we take up how The Federalist explains Article III, the judiciary, and especially the nowadays familiar power of judicial review, which is nowhere specified in the text of the Constitution, and was in fact an issue of controversy and confusion at the time of the founding. So we start our investigation with Federalist #78... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Are You Fully AANAPISI Yet? Feb 18, 2023

John showing off his gourmet dinner. Getting together at the bar was a bit tricky this week since we’re all scattered to the wind and John Yoo thought it essential that he swing through a McDonald’s takeout window for the double-cheeseburger special with large fries, so he was late joining us. We were halfway through learning about the newest acronym in higher education—AANAPISI—when he finally... Source

The Fab Four for the 400th Feb 17, 2023

Can it really be possible that this is the 400th episode of this ramshackle podcast? With such a milestone, it seemed a good occasion to get the Fantastic Four who work the site every day together at once (never simple to do), and we decided to do a dry run with a special Zoom webinar for our VIP subscribers. Savor this rare occasion, as Steve, Scott Johnson, Joe Malchow and John Hinderaker... Source

Power Line University, Lesson 7: The Federalist on the Presidency Feb 13, 2023

Session 7 of our PLU short course on The Federalist met on Saturday this week, and took up Hamilton’s defense of the presidency from the anti-Federalist critics starting with Federalist 70, the paper where he discusses the famous phrase “energy in the executive.” Included in the usual inventory of Hamiltonian paeans to the executive is a look at his often overlooked views on the proper... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Super Week Before the Super Bowl? Feb 11, 2023

Lucretia hosts this week’s episode, though this does not let Steve and John off the hook for their Stockholm Syndrome symptoms in any way. The run-up to America’s most holy secular observance—the Super Bowl—found Steve having his own Bill & Ted-style excellent adventure with Gov. Ron DeSantis, Lucretia pondering Sy Hersh’s latest purported scoop on who blew up the Nordstream 2 pipeline... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Memphis Blues Again Feb 04, 2023

John Yoo assumes the host chair for this week’s episode, and despite declaring this week to be a Ukraine-Free Zone, Lucretia still manages to get in a sequel to some of last week’s discussion threads. But the main event for the first third of this episode is reviewing the dreadful events in Memphis last week, though John has to go a stretch to reach the Dylanesque heights of “Memphis Blues Again”... Source

Power Line University, Lesson 6: The Progressive Attack on the Federalist Feb 02, 2023

This week’s Power Line University seminar on The Federalist completes our discussion of the separation of powers in Federalists 47 – 51, and then takes an extended detour into the Progressive Era attack on the separation of powers and other basic principles embedded in The Federalist—and by extension, in the Constitution. There are few things more fun than beating up Woodrow Wilson... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Tanking Ukraine Jan 28, 2023

Many of The Federalist Papers bear the title, “The Same Subject Continued,” and with a lot of news about the Ukrainian situation coming out this week, we decided to continue last week’s vigorous argument over Ukraine with some of the new facts, such as how much of our own munitions inventory is being drawn down to supply Ukraine (see chart below), the decision to send Abrams tanks... Source

Power Line University, Lesson 5: Federalist 47 – 51 and the Separation of Powers Jan 27, 2023

We continue our leisurely stroll through The Federalist with an extended look at Federalist numbers 47 through 51, which explain the key concept of the separation of powers—a phrase that is nowhere found in the text of the Constitution, but which is clearly implied by the design and structure of the text. But Madison and Hamilton leave nothing to chance, citing “the celebrated Montesquieu” as a... Source

Jean Yarbrough & Dan Lowenstein on the Liberal Arts Jan 25, 2023

This classic format episode features a conversation with Dan Lowenstein, professor emeritus at UCLA Law School and, more importantly, the impresario of UCLA’s Center for the Liberal Arts and Free Institutions ( CLAFI), which he founded, along with one of our favorites at Power Line, Jean Yarbrough of Bowdoin College. Prof. Yarbrough was in town for three days to deliver a fabulous lecture... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Freaks, Geeks, Leaks, and Ukrainamania Jan 21, 2023

This week’s raucous episode, recorded well after conventional happy hour ends, ranged from Biden’s dementia to the failed Dobbs leak investigation, to Kevin McCarthy’s (relatively) good week, the post hockey ergo propter hockey fallacy, bidding good riddance to one of the premier COVID cultists, a defense of cat-calling (even when it’s done to our Lucretia), and then . . . a big fat argument about... Source

Power Line University, Lesson 4: Federalists 33 – 45 Jan 20, 2023

This week’s class resumes our leisurely stroll through The Federalist starting with Federalists #33 and #37, and the “partly federal, partly national” character of the Union under the proposed Constitution—a subject that remains as confusing and contentious today as it was then. Lucretia walks us through how the issue began to settle out starting with the landmark 1819 case of McCulloch v. Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour Rummages Joe's Garage and Celebrates Paul Johnson Jan 14, 2023

John Yoo is away this week, so Hillsdale historian Richard Samuelson joins the Three Whisky Happy Hour for an extended discussion of the passing of Paul Johnson, and especially why he deserves to be considered one of the premier historians of all time. But first we rummage around in Joe’s garage (Joe Biden that is), where the lyrics to Frank Zappa’s tune by that name seem appropriate: This is the... Source

Power Line University, Lesson 3: Federalist 11-23 Jan 12, 2023

Yesterday’s third class session of Power Line University went through Federalist 11 through 23, drawing out in particular some of Hamilton’s reflections on taxation that remain relevant to some of our tax debates today (especially Lizzie Warren’s proposed wealth tax), and also Hamilton’s very spirited attack on European politics (and colonialism!) that none of today’s ridiculous “de-colonizers”... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: The Last Pope, the Next Speaker, and Hobbes Jan 06, 2023

Only the 3WHH bartenders could possibly draw the connecting thread between the subjects of the passing of Pope Benedict XVI, the drama over the next Speaker of the House, and Thomas Hobbes. But with the help of a little fine whisky, we’re up to the job! Steve and Lucretia give the Protestant John Yoo a tutorial (the first of two this episode) on why Benedict may have been the most serious... Source

Power Line University, Lesson 2: Federalist 10 Jan 05, 2023

Yesterday we held our second class session of Power Line University, this time taking up the famous Federalist #10, drawing out key points of James Madison’s views on how an “extended republic”—long thought impossible—was a solution for the perpetual defects and eventual failures of republican governments. His views on equality and property come in for special attention. For those who may wish to... Source

Scott Atlas on Our COVID Mistakes Jan 04, 2023

The response to COVID is arguably the single greatest public policy mistake in American history, which in turn became a global catastrophe since so many other nations followed the United States with foolish lockdowns, school closures, and other authoritarian measures that were ineffective and heedless of adverse tradeoffs. Dr. Scott Atlas of Stanford’s Hoover Institution has been vilified for his... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour Celebrates New Years Dec 31, 2022

John Yoo serves as lead bartender for this gala new year’s eve edition of the Three Whisky Happy Hour, though he was nearly deposed for arriving late and then taunting us with pics of his Korean new year’s feast (see nearby). To ring out 2022 and look ahead to 2023, we cover some new whisky choices (which in John’s case included some very old port by special exemption discovered in the emanations... Source

Michael Anton Picks Up the Gauntlet Dec 30, 2022

“Human rights do not exist,” claims an anonymous dissident conservative writer, but when he (at least we’re going to identify the author as a “he”—heh) added some animadversions about our pal Michael Anton, the fight was on! Anton has responded at length to this provocation with a true tour de force over at American Greatness, entitled “Natural Right and the Traditional Reproach. Source

Power Line University, Lesson One, The Federalist Dec 29, 2022

Lucretia and I held the first “classroom” for PLU (Power Line University) yesterday, with 110 people ultimately tuning in live for our first formal session on The Federalist Papers. We had a couple of technical difficulties—for some reason we kept failing to get the Chat window working right—and we had some hiccups admitting some live questions and comments from viewers, but we hope to have these... Source

A Sci-Fi-Palooza: Star Trek vs. Woke Trek Dec 28, 2022

Who knew that John Yoo is a total science fiction geek?! I’m going to have to go back and scour his law review article footnotes to see if I can detect esoteric references to Sci-Fi classics, which, it turns out, he has thoroughly familiarity. Ken Green channeling Jayne Cobb. Some time last year I did a podcast on science fiction with my old AEI writing partner Ken Green (who turned up with this... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour Celebrates Stanford's Christmas List Dec 24, 2022

As you may have heard, Stanford “University” embarrassed itself this week by issuing a list of 160 words or phrases that you shouldn’t use because they are not sufficiently “inclusive” or sensitive, including even “trigger warning,” because, Stanford helpfully explained, “The phrase can cause stress about what’s to follow. Additionally, one can never know what may or may not trigger a particular... Source

Introducing "Power Line University" Dec 22, 2022

We get a steady stream of emails from readers and listeners who want to know if any of my or Lucretia’s college courses are webcast or otherwise available online, and unfortunately the answer is No, partly for legal reasons but also for some technical reasons (streaming live classes is not as easy as it might seem, and the recording quality is often poor). But we have for the longest time been... Source

Carpe Diem, with Mark Perry Dec 21, 2022

What do you do when you wake up and see the news story of how the University of North Carolina is once again violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with a scholarship that specifically excludes white students from eligibility? Your first thought is that you need to call Mark Perry, except he’s already on the job! Perry, professor emeritus of economics and finance at the University of Michigan/ Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Can Elections Be Fixed (and Not Just Rigged)? Dec 17, 2022

John Yoo is back at last from yet another Italian junket—yes, Lucretia let him back across the border unharmed!—and hosts this week’s episode in which we clarify some of the over-hasty arguments from last week’s highly thymotic episode about exactly when and how it is legitimate to contest the Supreme Court over the application of the Constitution. This opening elided nicely into the sequels from... Source

Michael Walsh: "Against the Great Reset" Dec 15, 2022

We live in a time of “crisis addicts,” in which the left cannot shake its addiction to what might be called “crisis porn.” Remember Rahm Emanuel proclaiming in 2009, “Never let a good crisis go to waste”? He was merely stating openly what has been obvious for a century now—that governments use a “crisis” to expand its power and reach permanently, never entirely relinquishing new powers and higher... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: "You Went Full Lincoln, John—Never Go Full Lincoln!" Dec 10, 2022

Hoo boy, this week’s happy hour very nearly descended into a full-scale bar room brawl, even though we recorded in the morning over coffee instead of single-malts because John Yoo is still over in Rome! (And may not come back after this episode!) After noting a few late breaking news stories, such as Harvey Mansfield’s retirement and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s surprise announcement that she’s becoming... Source

Ilya Shapiro on the Supreme Court Dec 08, 2022

With the new Supreme Court term under way, and with several potential landmark oral arguments already in the can, I decided to catch up with Ilya Shapiro, director of constitutional studies at the Manhattan Institute, and author of Supreme Disorder: Judicial Nominations and the Politics of America’s Highest Court. It turns out that the kind of confirmation battles that have become famous ever... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour, on the Crisis of Our Time Dec 03, 2022

The whisky bar is short one bartender this week as John Yoo is overseas yet again to Italy for some nefarious purpose, so it’s just Steve and Lucretia slinging the 180-proof analysis of the Twitter revelations and other news headlines of the end of the week. But the main topic is following up on the mid-week conversation with Glenn Ellmers on “Hard Truths & Radical Possibilities... Source

Glenn Ellmers on "Hard Truths & Radical Possibilities" Nov 29, 2022

Glenn Ellmers has done it again, with a new provocation that “the constitutional republic created by our founders no longer exists.” His article posted at American Greatness, “ Hard Truths and Radical Possibilities,” backs up this startling proposition with five very stark supporting arguments, starting with the fact that elections no longer suffice to control our government (even if they are fair... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Special Non-Crypto Thanksgiving Edition Nov 25, 2022

In this special Thanksgiving long weekend edition with John Yoo sitting in the rotating host chair, the 3WHH bartenders share some wine, whisky and food pairings from the big meal. Steve supplemented his usual fare with popovers, washed down with some 2015 Trump Meritage red, expecting that it was likely past its prime, and although it had indeed lost its fruit, the depth and complexity surprised... Source

On European Conservatism, with Alvino-Mario Fantini Nov 23, 2022

One of my favorite journals these days is The European Conservative, edited by the intrepid Alvino-Mario Fantini out of Vienna. Printed on heavy stock paper, its articles are adorned with fabulous reproductions of classic art, making it the kind of journal you’d happily put out on your coffee table alongside your gallery books from the Met or wherever. Back in September I wrote on Power Line about... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Back to School of Athens Nov 18, 2022

Your Three Whisky Happy Hour bartenders wandered to Milan this week where we recorded a rare in-person episode, and since we met in Italy, naturally we taste-tested Austrian single-malt whisky, described on the label as “dark” and “peated.” You’ll have to listen to find out the complete verdict, though one hint is that we don’t think we’ll be rushing to import any Waldvietler whisky any time soon. Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: The McRib Election? Nov 12, 2022

Some smart aleck wag at the Daily Caller has decided this midterm was the “McRib” election, saying “Democracy is like the McRib: It comes and goes mysteriously every two years or so and it is confusing. And, like politicians, once the McRib is reintroduced with a big ad campaign, you remember months later why you didn’t like it in the first place.” Needless to say, with lingering threats by... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Final Election Analysis and Predictions Nov 05, 2022

With John Yoo in the host chair this week, the 3WHH bartenders enjoy some four-finger pours of mostly American whisky ahead of Tuesday’s midterm election, which Steve and Lucretia think is going to be a wave of tsunami proportions. In addition to reviewing the still-volatile findings of the latest polls, we offer ranges of GOP pickups in the House and Senate (you’ll just have to listen to mark... Source

Baseball and the Midterms with Henry Olsen Nov 03, 2022

With the World Series knotted at 2-2, and the mid-term election just days away, it seemed the perfect time to catch up with Henry Olsen, the premier psephologist (trying saying that word fast just once, never mind seven times) of all things data-related when it comes to politics—and also baseball. We disagree about the decision to remove a starting pitcher working on a no-hitter into the 7th... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: The Supreme Court the Day After Nov 01, 2022

That was an extraordinary five hours at the Supreme Court yesterday—twice as long as the oral arguments were originally scheduled to last—and the longer the argument went on, the worse it seemed to get for the defenders of raced-based admissions for higher education. Maybe that was by design on the part of Chief Justice Roberts, who was sarcastic in his open scorn for what he has previously called... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Affirmative Action Game Day at the Supreme Court Oct 29, 2022

On Monday the Supreme Court takes up the Harvard and University of North Carolina affirmative action cases in what is the Super Bowl of civil rights litigation—arguably the biggest moment for the Court since Brown v. Board of Education. Naturally that is the focus of this episode, though we do briefly review a couple of the key news stories of the week, such as Fetterman’s collapse... Source

Classified, With David Bernstein Oct 27, 2022

Next Monday the Supreme Court takes up the Harvard and University of North Carolina affirmative action admissions cases, but before getting to the constitutional doctrine of the matter, there is a vexing matter that is often overlooked: if we’re going to be giving out racial preferences for admissions (and government contracts, etc), who counts as a member of which minority group? Source

The *Two* Whisky Happy Hour: Cleanup on Aisle 1776 Oct 26, 2022

Lucretia and Steve gave John Yoo the day off for this special interstitial (and abbreviated) episode that we’ll just call the *Two* Whisky Happy Hour, in which Lucretia and Steve clear up some confusion from our most recent fast-paced episode, where a few main points got muddled. Several new listeners want us to clear up exactly what we mean by natural right, how natural right (especially its... Source

Richard Epstein, Censored by YouTube Oct 24, 2022

Last February John Yoo and I hosted Richard Epstein, who needs no introduction for Ricochet members and listeners, for a lecture at Berkeley Law on his most recent book, The Dubious Morality of Modern Administrative Law. Given that we were still under a mask mandate on campus at the time, Richard decided to talk about our COVID misadventures as a prime example of the administrative state run amok. Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Burke, Natural Right, and Free Speech Oct 22, 2022

Hoo boy! This week’s fiery episode takes up the argument leftover from last week about whether conservatism—and especially the new “national” variety that is sparking so much energy and enthusiasm right now—should conceive of its mission as Burkean in character, as “restorationist” or revolutionary. We cover a lot of ground, with Lucretia beating up on Steve for his suspicious Burkean sympathies... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Biggest Farce Contest Oct 15, 2022

With John Yoo in the host chair this week, we get off to a rocky start because a certain friend of ours made a favorable reference to Edmund Burke in a draft article shared with us in advance of publication, and Lucretia immediately went to DefCon1. To be continued next week! Anyway, after introducing our whiskies of the week, we get down to business with ranking the biggest farce of the week... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Juris-Thermo-Armageddon Edition Oct 08, 2022

For the left, we have arrived at juris-thermo-geddon. If the Ruskies don’t nuke us, then the Supreme Court is going to nuke the Constitution! The Doomsday Clock at leftist institutions everywhere is striking midnight, yet somehow the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists “official” Doomsday Clock hasn’t budged, because apparently it is just a climate change clock now. Anyway, before taking up the legal... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: From Command and Control to Fascism Oct 01, 2022

This week offers a hybrid car of an episode—almost literally as it turns out—as John Yoo was traveling midweek when Lucretia and Steve gathered in person with Richard Samuelson to record the first half, reviewing his reflections on the significance of the “Washington Football Team” deciding to name themselves the “ Commanders,” which rather fits the administrative state today, no? From there we go... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: From Star Wars to Law Wars Sep 23, 2022

This week the gang revisits the taxonomy of which Star Wars characters map properly onto the domain of the New Rebel Alliance, aka, the “national conservatives” we discussed in some detail last week, chiefly because John and Steve knew it would annoy Lucretia, who declined to accept the open position as the Princess Leia of the NatCons. But this was all just preface for her on-the-scene report of... Source

Cleveland Rocks, with Troy Senik Sep 20, 2022

Move over Calvin Coolidge: Grover Cleveland has a valid claim to being regarded as the most constitutionally faithful and fiscally frugal president since the Civil War—a case made splendidly in Troy Senik’s new biography that is being published today, A Man of Iron: The Turbulent Life and Improbable Presidency of Grover Cleveland. What explains this outlier of a politician, who is so unlike... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Drink Up for Constitution Day! Sep 17, 2022

Today is Constitution Day, so naturally conversation at the 3WHH bar turned directly to the question of whether the state-mandated observances of Constitution Day in public colleges and universities are unconstitutional! Naturally there is division on this issue that maps with our ongoing division over the perspicacity of peated whisky. John (left) appears less than convinced here. Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: God Save the Queen Sep 09, 2022

With John Yoo sitting in the host chair this week, we decided to post this episode a day early partly on account of travel schedules (John and Steve are head for the NatCon conference in Miami), and partly because of the breaking news of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. Also because it turns out that the favorite whisky of King Charles III is reportedly Laphroaig 15, which counts as a point in... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Behind Biden's F-Bomb Sep 03, 2022

The setting for Biden’s speech was so bad that it rivals Michael Dukakis’s tank ride for disastrous visuals, but that’s noting compared to the egregious content, which makes Jimmy Carter’s dreadful “malaise” speech seem like Demosthenes by comparison. Speaking of the demos, Biden’s speech can be seen an as especially inartful presumption of anti-republican principles that have been at the center... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Back to School Aug 27, 2022

Once again the three-host Three Whisky Happy Hour didn’t get around to any whisky reviews, distracted once again by important breaking fast-food news. But the main first topic of this back-to-school special edition is the role education is playing in this election cycle. On the K-12 level, the same dynamic that propelled Glenn Youngkin to victory in Virginia last year seems to have legs... Source

Two Cheers for the Climate Bill? Alex Trembath Explains Aug 25, 2022

The heart of the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act” (IRA) is a massive increase in subsidies for “green energy,” which normally summons a gag reflex from most conservatives. But the iconoclasts at the Breakthrough Institute, who are not automatic or uncritical fans of wind and solar power, think the climate parts of the IRA represent a break from historic climate orthodoxy that most people haven’... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour, Raiding Everything Aug 20, 2022

John Yoo assumes the rotating host chair for this week’s episode, since Steve was on the road much of the week and didn’t keep up with news that didn’t involve whisky (and mermaids). We review what to make of Liz Cheney’s huge defeat in Wyoming, and Steve gamely attempts to defend the shrewdness of Mitch McConnell from Lucretia’s scorn. Then we turn to the still-unfolding story and fallout from... Source

"America Never Existed"—Say What!? Aug 16, 2022

Glenn Ellmers has done it again, with a fresh provocation entitled “ America Never Existed.” Say what?!?! Did he drink some 1619 Moonshine or something? Here’s his lede: It is possible (not certain, but possible) that within the next 20 years or so, the United States will no longer exist. . . The end of the American republic would most likely mean the end of self-government all over the globe—the... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour, Now With Three Hosts! Aug 13, 2022

With this episode of the Three Whisky Happy Hour, the great John Yoo joins up as a permanent co-host along with Steve and Lucretia, having spent the last several weeks in Triple-A podcast instructional league while Steve was drinking his way across the British Isles. Perfect timing, since John worked in the Justice Department once upon a time, and has insights into its internal political dynamics... Source

The Three McRibb Happy Meal Podcast, Crashed Again Aug 06, 2022

If I stay overseas any longer, it’s pretty clear the usurpation of the 3wHH will morph into the “The McRibb Happy Meal Podcast” if I don’t put a stop to it, so I made sure to disrupt this week’s episode once again from London, this time while finishing off a bottle of Poit Dhubh (potch-goo), as fits the real show. I didn’t stick around for long as it was the dinner hour over here in London... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Coup and Counter-Coup! Jul 30, 2022

I can’t believe I had to crash my own podcast today to blunt the slow-rolling coup that Lucretia and John Yoo started last week in my absence, but by the miracle of the internet I did just that, dropping in for a few minutes between drams of whisky and dishes of haggis. We kick around the Joe Manchin news, whether the White House will invent a new term for economic distress—”recessionyx”... Source

The Three-Whisky Happy Hour, with Guest Bartender John Yoo Jul 23, 2022

I can’t believe I left the car keys to the podcast sitting on the kitchen counter when I left for overseas, and now Lucretia and John Yoo have snatched them up and usurped the usufructs of the 3WHH. After they finally get clear of their ritualistic but obligatory abuse of me, they get down to important subjects, like Philly cheese steaks and other delectables, President Biden’s latest ailments and... Source

Everything You Know About Watergate Is Wrong, Part 2 Jul 05, 2022

In this second half of my conversation with Geoff Shepard (part 1 here, if you missed it), we walk through the famous “smoking gun” Oval Office tape of June 23, 1972, which was the final straw that led to Nixon’s resignation in August, 1974. Except we’ve got the facts all wrong about what was actually being discussed. Shepard walks through the matter, and then moves on to his devastating evidence... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Clarence>Cassidy Jul 02, 2022

The big news story this week was the appearance of the fetching Fawn Hall Cassidy Hutchinson before the Watergate January 6 select committee, which somehow put us in the frame of mind of “Cassidy” by the renowned poetic duo of Weir/Barlow: Lost now on the country miles in his Cadillac I can tell by the way you smile, he is rolling back [to the West Wing] Come wash the nighttime clean Come grow the... Source

Everything You Know About Watergate Is Wrong, Part 1 Jul 01, 2022

Writing about the Watergate scandal in the 1980s, political scientist John Marini said “The passage of time has not resulted in greater clarity concerning what it is we should have learned from the event, perhaps because we still lack an authoritative account of it.” Having reached the 50th anniversary of the most famous “burglary” in history, we may be coming closer to have a complete... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour on The Supreme Court's Banner Week, with John Yoo Jun 25, 2022

Has there been a more momentous week for the Supreme Court ever? The Court went three-for-three on the key cases this week ( Carson, on school choice; Bruen, on gun rights: and Dobbs, overturning Roe and Casey), not simply on the decision of the specific cases at hand, but the broader reasoning behind the decisions. Indeed this week may come some day to be be seen as the equivalent of the infamous... Source

A Rant About Biden's Energy Policy, with Robert Bryce Jun 23, 2022

When it comes to energy, is the Biden administration simply stupid, or blindly ideological? Yes—we should embrace the power of “and,” because these possibilities are not mutually exclusive. Indeed the Bidenistas appear to be both dumb and ideological. Yesterday I ran into energy expert extraordinaire Robert Bryce—we’re at a murky gathering at an undisclosed location—and we sat down for a hearty... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Jean Yarbrough for the Tie-Breaker Jun 18, 2022

With Steve and Lucretia still locked in mortal combat over how best to understand equality, equity, prudence and related issues, and divided as bitterly over Edmund Burke as they are over whisky styles (with Steve recklessly wading in with a new piece on the Burke question just this week), this week’s episode brings on a neutral party to serve as a tie-breaker: Jean Yarbrough, the Gary M. Pendy Sr. Source

More Stan Evans, on Theology and Internal Security Jun 14, 2022

The penultimate chapter of my recent biography, M. Stanton Evans: Conservative Wit, Apostle of Freedom, summarizes the enduring literary, philosophical, and historical contributions of his last two books, The Theme Is Freedom, and Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Sen. Joseph McCarthy. Digging into the audio archives of the Philadelphia Society, I found two talks Stan gave—one in 1994... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Equality Versus Equity, Continued Jun 11, 2022

A frequent recurrence to the fundamental principles of the Constitution, and a constant adherence to those of piety, justice, moderation, temperance, industry, and frugality, are absolutely necessary, to preserve the advantages of liberty, and to maintain a free government. —Massachusetts Constitution of 1780 This week’s conversation offers up some new whisky choices while continuing with a... Source

Justice Clint Bolick, An Origin Story Jun 08, 2022

When Arizona Governor Doug Ducey appointed the noted libertarian lawyer Clint Bolick to the Arizona Supreme Court in 2016, the left freaked out (so what else is new), calling his appointment “chilling.” The Center for American Progress gasped, “Mr. Bolick has spent the last quarter century working — at times quite successfully — to make the law more friendly to anti-government conservatives. Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: What Is Conservatism Conserving, Anyway? Jun 04, 2022

Two favorite guests and friends join us at the bar for this week’s happy hour, to hash out bar fights they started in less reputable watering holes. Jeremy Carl argues in The American Conservative that there needs to be “A Republican Counter-Elite,” while Glenn Ellmers continues to spark controversy with his article a year ago, “Conservatism Is No Longer Enough,” and now, last week... Source

Happy Anniversary: Power Line Celebrates 20 Years Jun 03, 2022

The 20th anniversary is known as the “China anniversary,” and can you still use that if your predominant mode is breaking China? In any case, the Power Line crew assembled for a live (by Zoom) VIP webcast this week that featured a rare appearance by our technical director Joe Malchow, who is usually our behind-the-screen Wizard of Oz figure. Among other things, Joe shared a sacred relic... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Ticketron, and Other Defunct Superheroes May 28, 2022

This week’s review of the news is more wide-ranging than usual, starting with the question of whether the release of Top Gun: Maverick will turn out to be one more small indicator that the backlash against the cultural left is gaining steam. After all, the left hated the original Top Gun in the 1980s, because it was said to be an emblem of Reaganite jingoism, and since the sequel involves... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: What's In the News Today, Oh Boy! May 21, 2022

This is the week we learned that there is a reason we’ll miss Jen Psaki at the White House (plus a shout out to the forgotten Dee Dee Myers, who looks pretty good in retrospect); that the Anthony Scaramucci duration-in-office scale remains useful for marking the tenure in office of Nina Jankowitz (who nonetheless lasted longer than CNN+); that the Defense Production Act can apparently solve our... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Mulish Voting Edition May 14, 2022

There are so many things that seem . . . wrong about the 2020 election, and now comes the new documentary film “2000 Mules” offering some visually compelling circumstantial evidence, along with a few examples of direct testimony of voting misbehavior in nursing homes and other locales. A lot of readers and listeners have been asking about the film, so Lucretia and both took it in this week... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Special Leakgate Edition May 05, 2022

Owing partly to travel schedules that prevent our normal and proper Friday evening happy hour to debrief the week, combined with the shocking leak of the prospective Supreme Court opinion in the Dobbs case, we decided to declare a special mid-week happy hour with Scott and John joining in the libations, along with a special guest, the noted Whisky-McRibb pairing expert, John Yoo, coming to us from... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Dezinformatsiya Edition Apr 30, 2022

This is the week the world was introduced to the O’Brien of the 21st century, Ms. Nina Jankowicz, aka the “Mary Poppins of disinformation” (her own term), who is going to lead the Biden Administration’s new Ministry of Truth in the Department of Homeland Security—the very same government agency that leftists once despised because it might be able to spy on our library books because of the Patriot... Source

Stan Evans in His Own Words Apr 28, 2022

Now that my biography of M. Stanton Evans is out, time to go back and take in Stan in his own words in podcast form. A previous podcast featured several of Stan’s greatest comedy chops, so this one highlights some of his serious work. I decided to highlight here just four aspects of many that draw chiefly from one of his enduring books that everyone should have on their shelf of indispensable... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Glenn Ellmers on the Jordan Peterson Phenomenon Apr 23, 2022

Jordan Peterson took the intellectual world by storm in 2016, bursting on the scene in a way not seen by a non-leftist thinker since Allan Bloom in the late 1980s. His idiosyncratic mix of Jungian psychology, existential philosophy, and common-sense self-help advice (also lobsters!) as expressed in his best-seller 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, is hard to sort out at times. Glenn Ellmers... Source

Geopolitical Risk After Ukraine, with Terry Hallmark Apr 19, 2022

Suddenly energy security and geopolitical risk is on everyone’s mind again, so we decided to consult a true expert on the subject— Terry Hallmark of the University of Houston. He currently teaches ancient, medieval and early modern political philosophy, American political thought, American foreign policy and energy studies in the Honors College at the U. of H, but in a prior life was an... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: CRT & Mad Max in the Classroom Apr 16, 2022

First, we are pleased to appoint Lance Izumi, a previous guest on this show, to be the official whisky master of the 3WHH, even though he doesn’t drink whisky (or anything else for that matter), because anyone who can pull off this look deserves the recognition. And we’ll have him back soon to talk about the latest on K-12 education. (Notice Laphraoig front and center in his lineup—a point for... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Mad Max Postponed Apr 09, 2022

Steve and Lucretia intended to head back into the seminar room in this episode, with a treatment of Critical Race Theory (because why should the 1619 Project get all the love?), and some reflections on the puzzle presented by the head-scratching fact that Bill Clinton claims that Max Weber’s famous 1919 lecture “Politics as a Vocation” is his favorite “book” about political life. But we never got... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour, With Richard Samuelson on Harvard's April Fool's Prank Apr 02, 2022

Historian Richard Samuelson turned up for Friday evening happy hour this week, with 14-year-old Oban in hand, to kick around this week’s less-than-neat headlines. Is it merely a coincidence that Jen Psaki chose April Fools’ Day to have the news come out that she’s going to join MSNBC? Irony is truly dead. Meanwhile, on the great existential question of the week—”Team Smith” or “Team Rock”—Lucretia... Source

Phil Magness on the Latest 1619 Project Absurdity Mar 30, 2022

It would be easier at this point to start a list that names of everything that is not caused or tainted by racism, because it is becoming absurd. The latest from Nikole Hannah-Jones is that tipping is a legacy of slavery. No, she really said this, on Twitter last week: This brought a hearty guffaw from economic historian Phil Magness, who has more than once prompted Hannah-Jones to take down a... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Judge KB Jackson—Originalist? Mar 26, 2022

Is Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson an originalist? Of course not. In no possible universe will we get a Justice Jackson who turns out to be a closet moderate or even conservative. The last Democratic Supreme Court pick who moved to the right was Byron White, appointed by President Kennedy. But for some reason she felt compelled to say this in her confirmation hearing: “I believe that the Constitution... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: On the Greatness of Stan Evans Mar 19, 2022

Freshly resupplied with Laphraoig and Glen Livet, Lucretia assumes hosting duties this week to examine—and cross-examine—Steve about his new biography M. Stanton Evans: Conservative Wit, Apostle of Freedom, which comes out officially on Monday. Lucretia walks Steve through how he came to know Evans (41 years ago now!), and why he think Evans is “the perfect conservative,” both in theoretical and... Source

The "Claremont Question," with Charles Kesler and John Yoo Mar 17, 2022

Prof. Charles Kesler, editor of the Claremont Review of Books, and author, most recently, of The Crisis of the Two Constitutions, recently visited Berkeley to give a lecture on his book, and sit down with John Yoo and me to discuss what we’re calling the “Claremont Question,” which is really just a headline for several controversies. The largest is the “Trump question” and the character of... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Perfect Storm Gathering Against the Left? Mar 12, 2022

Lucretia and Steve review the week’s news, and conclude that there’s a gathering storm of doom for the left. First, the incompetence of the Biden Administration from top to bottom is impossible to disguise effectively much longer. The attempt to blame inflation on Putin (because they can’t blame it on Trump after claiming for so long that it was merely a “transitory” supply chain issue) is... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Michael Anton on the Ukraine Crisis Mar 05, 2022

The Ukraine crisis isn’t going away, and with recriminations on all sides making the rounds here at home, it seemed propitious to check in with Michael Anton, who, among other things, served on the National Security Council in two administrations. To say Michael is not happy with the state of play here at home is an understatement, and Lucretia and I fully join in. It doesn’t take long for us to... Source

Taking Tyrants (Like Putin) Seriously, with Waller Newell Mar 04, 2022

A common theme making the rounds is that Vladimir Putin must be crazy or has badly miscalculated his interests, and therefore is extremely dangerous. In fact the problem may be much worse than that. Putin is not merely a tyrant as understood by the classics (though not modern political science or theorists of international relations, who no longer recognize tyranny as a distinct political... Source

A Sit. Rep. on Ukraine with Col. Austin Bay Mar 03, 2022

The “fog of war” is even foggier in the age of 24/7 news and social media, so it is impossible to know what the hell is happening on the ground in the Ukraine, let alone in Moscow. High time, then, to check in with Col. Austin Bay, author of Cocktails From Hell and other books, Creators Syndicate columnist, and contributor to StrategyPage. I was delighted to discover that we’re both fans of... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Getting Right with the 14th Amendment, with Randy Barnett Feb 26, 2022

Lucretia added to her intrepid legend by venturing into the asylum at Berkeley this week to record this episode in person with Georgetown Law Professor Randy Barnett about his new book (co-authored with Evan Bernick), The Original Meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment: Its Letter and Spirit. To remind listeners, Barnett argued the Gonzalez v. Raich case that challenged the unlimited reach of the... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Not This Again!, with Richard Samuelson Feb 18, 2022

This week we’re joined once again by the historian, political theorist, and borscht-belt comedian Richard Samuelson to break the 3WHH deadlock on “the FDR Question.” But fear not weary listeners, we dispose of that question in short order, and move on to other things. (“Team Lucretia” will be pleased with his tie-breaking verdict.) Among our other topics include the San Francisco school board... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Keep on (Not) Truckin' Feb 12, 2022

Even without the Canadian truckers providing the St. Crispin’s Day rally point against the Branch COVIDians, you have the feeling that this was the week the edifice started to crumble, when our betters started to contemplate the fate of Nicolae Ceaușescu when they look in the mirror. The science changed, you say? I think that must mean opinion polling science. Steve and Lucretia also have a polite... Source

From Hollyweird to Hollywoke: ‘Virtue Bombs' with Christian Toto Feb 11, 2022

Hollywood has been liberal to far-left for decades, but in recent years it has become fully Hollywoke. Christian Toto, proprietor of the invaluable Hollywood-in-Toto website, is out with a new book surveying the wreckage of Hollywokeness: Virtue Bombs: How Hollywood Got Woke and Lost Its Soul. I come to the conclusion that wokeism in Hollywood is arguably worse than wokism on the university campus... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Back to the Ring on "the FDR Question" Feb 05, 2022

Last week’s episode with Conrad Black defending his pro-FDR thesis generated a lot of reader interest and comments, so Lucretia and I decided to return to the boxing ring to argue out the matter de novo. It will not be a surprise to regular listeners to hear that Lucretia is not persuaded, even by the serious arguments of another of our favorite thinkers after Lord Black, the late scholar John... Source

Is There a "Generation Gap" on the Right? The "Based" Think So Feb 03, 2022

Almost completely ignored by conservative media, there is a growing generation gap emerging within young conservatives that in some ways resembles the “generation gap” of the 1960s which saw the new left “hippie” generation emerge from liberal homes, as Midge Decter explained in her early book Liberal Parents, Radical Children. Now it is happening on the right. I started picking up on this story... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: "The FDR Question," with Conrad Black Jan 29, 2022

As regular listeners will know, Lucretia and I have debated “the FDR question” a lot, amidst a flurry of new reconsiderations among a few thinkers and places on the right who think we should hold FDR in higher esteem. But over and over again in this running argument we keep coming back to Conrad Black’s magisterial biography, Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom . While there have been... Source

A Conversation with Charles Murray and Steve Sailer, Pt. 2 Jan 27, 2022

After we recorded and posted part 1 of this conversation last week, the news came out that the Supreme Court will hear the Harvard/University of North Carolina affirmative action admissions cases. It has been solidly demonstrated that the universities don’t just use race as a minor, tie-breaking “plus” factor, but indeed put both feet on the scale in favor of blacks and to a lesser degree... Source

A Conversation with Charles Murray and Steve Sailer, Pt. 1 Jan 23, 2022

The idea for this episode was born on Twitter. Someone wondered if Charles Murray would be willing to do a podcast with journalist Steve Sailer, who, like Charles, is willing to confront openly the most delicate aspects of race and class in America—and gets the same treatment from liberals everywhere: complete demonization. I offered to host, and Charles and Steve, who have never met, agreed. Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour, on DMLA Syndrome, and Other Defects of Modernity Jan 22, 2022

This week Lucretia really takes it to Steve for his advanced case of DMLAS (Deficient Meat Loaf Awareness Syndrome—and we’re not talking the baked dish here), which surely must make the next edition of the DSM. But from there we quickly pivot to a recap and demolition of the highlights of this week’s news, starting with Biden’s disastrous press conference, but moving quickly to the heart of the... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour, On Biden's Horrible No Good Very Bad Week Jan 15, 2022

Both Steve and Lucretia get through three different whiskys each in this gala episode, recorded with a live audience on Zoom, celebrating the Biden-Harris administration’s worst week in office yet, though as the noted political analyst Homer Simpson might say, “their worst week— so far.” It took Jimmy Carter three years to hit bottom in the summer of 1979, when even The New Republic declared that... Source

Roy Spencer on Climate Change Censorship, and Cool Satellites Jan 13, 2022

Dr. Roy Spencer of NASA and the University of Alabama at Huntsville is one of the nation’s most accomplished climate scientists, having won awards for his work developing the satellite monitoring system that provides some of the best weather and climate trend data available. But because he is modest about what climate science actually knows about the future, he dissents from the extreme apocalypse... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Why the Jan. 6 Narrative is Like Climate Change Jan 08, 2022

We open this first episode of the 3WHH of 2022 with the existential question: why is Lucretia so mean to Steve? Actually she has a really good reason, but you have to get all the way to the end for the reward—or is it a redemption? (Steve attempts to mellow Lucretia with a Snickers Bar of an op-ed in the middle, with some success.) In any case, we try to offer some original and comparative... Source

Steve Hayward on "America's Nervous Breakdown" Jan 06, 2022

With today’s leftist Ahab-like obsession with the “insurrection” of January 6, it seems like as good a time as any to post the lecture I gave last summer in Budapest (cue scary Dracula music here) last summer on “What’s Going on in America?” My summary answer: America is having a nervous breakdown. Slightly longer summary: we’ve seen this before in many ways, and sometimes worse, such as in the... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: The State of American Democracy at Year End, with Richard Samuelson Dec 31, 2021

For what turns out to be the 300th Power Line podcast as well as the last episode of 2021, we decided to revert to full three-whisky mode with a live audience on Zoom, and an extended conversation with historian Richard Samuelson about the left’s distorted and impoverished understanding of democracy. Steve had his usual Islay peat bombs and Lucretia polished off a bottle of Glenfiddich... Source

The Daily Whisky Shot: Winners & Losers of 2021 Dec 30, 2021

Today’s episode offers up our picks for losers and winners of the year. I won’t spill them here—you’ll just have to listen to find out—but they do fall within the obvious range, though Steve’s winner of the year provides the pivot for answering a listener question about energy. Plus we offer yet another new “Let’s Go Brandon” exit music tune—this one from ab ad hoc country group strangely named... Source

The Daily Whisky Shot: COVID Politics at Year End Dec 29, 2021

Today’s minicast takes in the observation of an unlikely source—Nate Silver—about how our politicized “public health” establishment worked assiduously to delay the approval of COVID vaccines last year until after the election so as to help defeat Trump, even though this delay might have cost many thousands of lives. Silver has this letter, signed by dozens of doctors, in mind... Source

The Daily Whisky Shot: Restoring Election Integrity Dec 28, 2021

The historical record notes that George Washington used to include ample supplies of whisky to distribute to voters and campaign workers in the elections of the 1790s, so the subject of election integrity is perfect for this week’s one-off Whisky Shot casts. Steve and Lucretia review what is gradually coming into sharper focus: the very targeted intervention of nearly $500 million from Mark... Source

This Week Only: The Daily Whisky Show Dec 27, 2021

The week after Christmas is the interregnum where we attempt to resume a more moderate level of eating and drinking before the football-anchored binge of New Year’s Eve, and so instead of one three-whisky podcast, Lucretia and I decided—for this week only—to do a short, daily single-shot whiskycast, focusing on just one topic for just 20 minutes or so. So you can binge-listen, even if you can’t... Source

What's Wrong with Star Trek: TNG, and Other Sci-Fi Thoughts, with Ken Green Dec 22, 2021

Okay, this episode, intended as a respite from all-issues-all-the-time for the holiday week, also doubles as pure James Lileks bait. Back when Ken Green and I were resident scholars at the American Enterprise Institute, lunchtime conversation often turned to science fiction, and especially our favorite hobby horse—how much we both hated “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” TOS is the only Trek worthy... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: 2022 Predictions, with "Adam Mill" Dec 18, 2021

For what may be our last episode of the year (since next weekend in Christmas),Steve is quaffing Bunnahabhain for this week’s peaty Islay whisky, mostly in the vain hope that “Bunnahabhain” could be added to the National Spelling Bee, just for grins and giggles. But after the usual whisky reviews and insults, we get down to business with special guest “Adam Mill,” whose fine work you can take in... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Staring Down Stare Decisis, with Guest Bartender John Yoo Dec 10, 2021

This week’s episode is going up a day early as we had to call Happy Hour for Thursday evening on account of scheduling problems, and Steve and Lucretia welcome to the bar the noted Bourbon drinker and McRibb connoisseur John Yoo. (He’s also apparently a law professor somewhere.) We review a few of the tea leaves from last week’s Supreme Court oral argument in the Dobbs case, but use this momentous... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: What the Latest Hoax Teaches about Liberalism Dec 04, 2021

This special end-of-semester episode features Steve and Lucretia reflecting on the latest academic hoax that Steve highlighted earlier in the week on Power Line ( here and here), and which may have contributed to Higher Education Quarterly having to retract the fake article on how “right wing money” is supposedly pushing colleges and universities to the right and intimidating faculty and... Source

A Classic Format Episode about Classic Prog Rock Dec 03, 2021

As Monty Python used to say, “And now for something completely different.” I decided to do a one-off episode about my favorite topic with which to annoy anyone of taste and refinement—a reflection on prog rock, which Jody Bottum once aptly described as “rock and roll gone to college.” It turns out that 2021 marks the 50th anniversary of some of the classic albums from the golden age of Prog Rock... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Thinking About Crime in 2021 Nov 27, 2021

Back in the sixties Ronald Reagan liked to quip, “A liberal’s idea of being tough on crime is giving longer suspended sentences.” Today’s liberals don’t even bother with lenient sentences; instead, in our current “defund the police, empty the prisons” mania, they don’t even bother charging many crimes or applying significant bail, as we saw in Wisconsin a few days ago. This week Steve and Lucretia... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Wobbling Wheels Edition Nov 20, 2021

This week’s review of the news begins with the two huge stories that broke Friday—the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse (which is causing grief counselors for leftists to work overtime again), and the House passage of Biden’s so-called “Build Back Better” spendathon. The latter story may seem like a Biden/Democrat triumph, but in fact a closer look shows that this may come to be seen as the week when... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: The New Misery Index Edition Nov 13, 2021

Steve actually turned up for this week’s show with three different whiskys in hand (Finlaggan, Lagavulin 8, and Bunnahabhain 12—in other words, Islay All the Way!), along with a sampling of the worst-reviewed whiskys ever, though these reviews pale in comparison to the reviews this episode’s panel gives to Democrats just now. Historian Richard Samuelson joined Steve and Lucretia for this week’s... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Election Schadenfreude Edition Nov 06, 2021

This week’s edition of the Three Whisky VERY Happy Hour revels in schadenfreude over the spectacle of the left freaking out over the election results on Tuesday. As political philosophers we try to go beyond the usual political punditry to get at the heart of the matter, explaining why the left’s dime-store Hegelian historicism (“the side of history”) that informs their moral smugness makes it... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Let's Go Bruno Edition Oct 30, 2021

The title of this week’s episode—”Let’s go Bruno”—requires some explanation, though you’d be right in assuming that “Bruno” fills the same place as “Brandon” in the more familiar slogan of the moment. In this case it refers to the famous and celebrated child psychologist Bruno Bettelheim. Lucretia was struck by Ann Bauer’s searing article in The Tablet, “I Have Been Through This Before... Source

The Three (No) Whisky Happy Hour: Gonzo Beach Edition Oct 27, 2021

Unfortunately we weren’t able to fix up the usual online recording session for this week’s Three Whisky Happy Hour, and attempted to assemble in person ahead of the Claremont Institute’s annual dinner at Huntington Beach, this year with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (who was terrific, by the way). But we were outside, with not enough time to get organized—and without any whisky!—and the result was... Source

Why Biden is Whiffing, and Other Baseball Analysis with Henry Olsen Oct 22, 2021

What do baseball and politics have in common? I have no idea, but Henry Olsen does. Actually, the kinds of data measurements we use in baseball can be applied to politics as well, and few do it better than Henry. So in this “classic format” episode, we talk about why President Biden is just biding his time in office, having squandered his election by mis-reading the public mood, and how this may... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Go Brandon Edition Oct 16, 2021

Lucretia, looking typically unconvinced by one of Steve’s arguments. This week’s episode, recorded with a live audience on Zoom, was off the hook a little more than usual, as Lucretia was in a grumpy mood (despite Steve changing up his whisky selection in a futile attempt at appeasement), and audience questions and comments came flying in fast and furious. Yet somehow we managed to cover a lot of... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: What's In the News Today, Oh Boy! Oct 09, 2021

This week’s episode is sans-guests and sans-metaphysics, as Lucretia and Steve kick around the news of the week, which is a mix of the usual ominous portents from Washington, along with some evidence that Democrats are in free-fall with the public. First up is a look at the egregious Department of Justice letter identifying parents protesting at local school board meetings as a threat to the... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Alice Cooper ("School's Out") Vindicated, with Lance Izumi Oct 03, 2021

We’re a day late with this week’s episode because Lucretia and Steve had the opportunity to catch up live with the Pacific Research Institute’s education expert extraordinaire Lance Izumi in San Francisco, to talk about what’s going on in the world of K-12. Lance is the author of the forthcoming book entitled The Homeschool Boom, but also helpfully fills us in on the backstory of how Japanese... Source

The Crisis in Civilian-Military Relations, with Mackubin Owens Sep 30, 2021

With all the controversy over General Mark Milley’s direct contacts with senior Chinese military leaders, his apparently extensive contacts with journalists, and the confusion or contradictions over what advice he and others gave to President Biden about our endgame in Afghanistan, I decided to reach out to Mackubin T. Owens, decorated Vietnam War vet, long time friend of Power Line... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: The End of History, with Richard Samuelson Sep 26, 2021

We’re a day late because of travel problems, and Steve is working on a backup computer because he left his laptop behind at his office on Friday, but this allowed us finally to book historian Richard Samuelson to join the happy hour to talk about . . . history. Specifically, what the hell has happened to history? It’s not just that the academic field has gone left like everything else... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Do "Experts" Know Anything? Sep 18, 2021

Steve’s happy place! Steve returns as host this week, and after some of the ritual lover’s quarrel over whisky (including a celebration of Steve’s happy place—see nearby pic), Steve and Lucretia get down to the main business, which is slagging the left, and taking on the problem of “scientific expertise” in modern government. We begin with an update on the egregious 1619 Project, with a look at a... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: 9/11 Reflections, CA Recall Predictions, and More Sep 11, 2021

Lucretia assumes hosting duties for this week’s potpourri of a show because Steve is recovering from major surgery, which he relates at the show opening today. (It includes a theological dimension!) But while Steve is improving, the recall effort against California Gov. Gavin Newsom appears not to be. Steve explains the reasons why the polls show a strong turnaround in Newsom’s favor over the last... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: ‘The Soul of Politics,' with Glenn Ellmers Sep 04, 2021

Next Tuesday, Encounter Books will publish Glenn Ellmers’ magisterial intellectual biography The Soul of Politics: Harry Jaffa and the Fight for America, and Glenn joins us this week to walk through some of the highlights in the book in what is turning out to be a month-long “Jaffapalooza.” Naturally, we draw Glenn into our running argument about the problems of communicating the proper... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: On Equality, Consent, and the Difficulty of Self-Government Aug 28, 2021

This week’s episode is a Biden-free zone, so if you’re looking to avoid the Biden-Afghan collapse story, this is the show for you. Instead we decided to circle back return to an argument Steve was losing badly at the end of last week’s episode with Michael Anton, and go into greater depth on the meaning of equality in American political thought. To recap, Steve argued that the critics of “all men... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour, with Guest Bartender Michael Anton Aug 21, 2021

We’re not done thrashing the Afghanistan disgrace, so we coaxed Michael Anton (the Power Line podcast’s most frequent guest it turns out) to join us for a few quaffs. We use three of his recent articles to launch our discussion, starting with “ Afghanistan: Doomed from the Start.” But we use a section from the middle of this essay, on the blunders of our advisers in the Middle East who don’t... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour, with Afghan Vet Spencer Case Aug 19, 2021

We weren’t able to do an episode for our regular Saturday time slot last weekend because Steve was on the road, so we’re doing this mid-week show with a special return guest, philosopher Spencer Case, who in a previous life served in the U.S. Army in deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan. While supportive of our military mission, he had misgivings about how it was all going during his Afghan... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Can We Please Have a Second Political Party? Aug 07, 2021

Lucretia takes over hosting duties for this episode (which seems only truth-in-advertising, since most listeners think she is charge every week), as we contemplate the question: wouldn’t it be nice if we actually had two political parties? We use as our text for the subject one of Harry Jaffa’s earliest essays, “The Nature and Origin of the American Party System,” where he explains why at its core... Source

Ted Gaines for Governor! Aug 05, 2021

As everyone knows, California is having another fun-filled recall election next month, and some recent polls show that Governor Gavin Gruesom is in trouble and may well lose. The way California’s recall works is that if a majority votes to recall the governor, the second step on the ballot is to choose a successor, and right now the list of people who have qualified for the replacement field is... Source

Kevin Roche on coronamania Aug 03, 2021

When it comes to COVID, Power Line’s go-to source for making sense of the subject is Kevin Roche, who brings his years of experience in the health care field to his very useful website, healthy-skeptic.com. Scott Johnson follows Kevin’s work closely on Power Line (here, here, and here, for example), but we decided it was time to hear from Kevin directly in podcast form. Among his other pithy... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Fight Club Sequel With a Twist of FDR Jul 31, 2021

We’re back! After a hiatus for a week while Steve was overseas, we return to the bar with some new whiskies and a sequel to our last episode that talked about the hysterical attacks on our friends at the Claremont Institute. Little did we know the liberal hysteria was just getting started! Damon Linker, the columnist at The Week and a previous guest on this podcast, thinks our Claremont friends... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour, Almost Live from Budapest Jul 17, 2021

Steve figured a nine time zone distance might provide a margin of safety from Lucretia’s rear-end kicking over Steve’s article “ What the Hell Happened to Bill Kristol?“, which Lucretia finds sorely wanting. And his attempts to mollify Lucretia with tales of how great Hungary’s conservatives are was mostly unavailing, even if true. Anyway, in this slightly abbreviated episode (because Steve had to... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Putting CRT Under a CRT Jul 10, 2021

Once upon a time, “CRT” stood for “cathode ray tube,” sometimes known as “television,” but also oscilloscopes, computer screens, some x-rays, and certain other technical devices designed for testing and calibration. Cathode ray tubes went the way of the Dodo bird quite some time ago, and nowadays CRT means something else: Critical Race Theory. There is one way in which today’s CRT resembles the... Source

After Nationalism, with Samuel Goldman Jul 09, 2021

Who knew that that hottest new thing in the early 21st century would be an old thing—the nation state? Nationalism acquired a foul odor in the 20th century, but ever since Brexit and Trump upset the cosmopolites from Berkeley to Brussels, the idea of nationalism has crept back into favor, at least with many conservatives. I’ve written my own short overview of the issue a couple years ago now... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour, July 4 Roundup Edition Jul 03, 2021

After a week off for travel and for Steve to recover from the pummeling he took at the hands of “Lucretia” in our last episode two weeks ago, the 3WHH is back with some fresh malts and fresh looks at the news of the week. We start with what appears to be the White House cat fight between First Doctor Jill Biden and Veep Kaaaaammmaaala Harris, and then proceed to examine the special House January 6... Source

Downeast, with Gigi Georges Jul 01, 2021

If you only go by the major media or your local college sociology department, you’d think rural America is a hopeless domain of drug and alcohol addiction, downward mobility, and dysfunction. Far from it, at least in rural Maine, where author Gigi Georges decided to spend several years getting to know and tracking several young women as they made their way through the challenges of their small... Source

The Crisis of the Two Constitutions, with Charles Kesler Jun 24, 2021

This week’s Power Line Classic format show features Prof. Charles R. Kesler, editor of the Claremont Review of Books, talking about his brand new book, Crisis of the Two Constitutions: The Rise, Decline, and Recovery of American Greatness. Crisis collects several of Kesler’s old and new essays and details how we got to and what is at stake in our increasingly divided America. Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Burke—Hero or Goat? (Or GOAT) Jun 19, 2021

We get letters. And one from a regular listener baited us with the proposition that since FDR’s New Deal—decried here on a recent episode—is now nearly 90 years old, the duty of Burkean conservatives is now to preserve the New Deal rather than pine romantically for the good old days of Calvin Coolidge. To which Steve responded, well, I guess we should do a seminar-style episode about Edmund Burke... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: What Would Machiavelli Do?, with Michael Anton Jun 12, 2021

Pour a double for this weeks 3WHH, as Lucretia and Steve host Michael Anton to talk about his extraordinary new article, “ The Art of Spiritual War, Or, How to (Posthumously) Conquer the World from Your Desk.” The author of the famous (or infamous) “Flight 93 Election” article in 2016 covers an amazing amount of ground in a short space, which includes rehabilitating Machiavelli in a certain way... Source

How Progressives Transformed America, with R.J. Pestritto Jun 10, 2021

As regular listeners know, we never tire of beating up on Progressivism—both the old kind and today’s high-octane version—and we especially like to beat up on Woodrow Wilson. Most of what we know about Wilson’s perfidy comes from the ur-text of Wilson criticism, Ronald J. Pestritto’s Woodrow Wilson and the Roots of Modern Liberalism from 2005. R.J. (as he is known to his friends), is out this week... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Should Conservatives Like FDR?? Jun 05, 2021

The modern conservative movement born in the 1950s had two main objects: It was anti-Communist, and anti-New Deal. Lately, however, some conservatives have warmed up to both FDR and the New Deal, which has to have Robert Taft rolling over in his grave—and maybe William F. Buckley, Jr. too. Conrad Black, an esteemed man of the right, has long championed FDR as a “champion of freedom” (the subtitle... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: School's Out Episode May 29, 2021

This week Lucretia and I decide to take a break from our recent seminar format—in other words, no schoolwork this week—and just review some of the week’s news instead. Or perhaps we should say non-news, since most of the “news” items we review turn into examples of what’s wrong with journalism today. Call it “The Age of Al Hunt,” in homage to Evelyn Waugh’s device about “the Age of Hooper” in... Source

Fred Barnes on a Life in Journalism May 26, 2021

Fred Barnes recently announced his retirement after more than 50 years as a working journalist, having served as a reporter for the Baltimore Sun, the Washington Star, The New Republic, the Weekly Standard, and the Washington Examiner. He contributed to countless other publications such as The American Spectator and Reader’s Digest, but many people will remember him for his frequent turns on The... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour, on Our (Non)-Color Blind Constitution May 22, 2021

All it took was a NY Times op-ed article on the (misunderstood) legacy of Justice John Marshall Harlan’s famous dissent in the 1896 Plessy (“separate but equal”) case to set off a classic “Lucretia” rant: I find the NYT piece more damaging to the cause of equality before the law even than critical race theory. I think [the author] perpetuates that subterfuge that makes it possible for milquetoast... Source

Robert Bryce on Pipelines, Windmills, and Grids, Oh My! May 21, 2021

With this episode of the Power Line Show, I’m returning to what I call “Power Line Classic” format, featuring interviews and conversations with interests thinkers, writers, and doers. I took a hiatus from this format last year while I was working on my book, and using the Three Whisky Happy Hour format as a substitute because “Lucretia” does all the work (except for selecting my whisky)... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Mission to Moscow May 15, 2021

This “mission to Moscow” is not to be confused with the infamous Joseph Davies 1941 book, Mission to Moscow, which Steve calls a “novel” at the opening of this episode, because its pro-Stalinist viewpoint was fiction indeed. Our use of “mission to Moscow” serves a dual-use purpose today: while it isn’t clear whether there was Russian involvement in the ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Footnote Fourplay May 08, 2021

This week we decided to play “clean up on Supreme Court aisle [footnote] four,” and explain further why we think 1938’s Carolene Products decision was actually the most significant of the New Deal era decisions that distorted the Constitution and our subsequent politics. Many of the perversions of modern civil rights politics actually descend from this case that was about adulterated milk... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Supreme Court Coup Edition May 01, 2021

Hoo boy, is this episode off the hook! First, “Lucretia” staged a coup, usurping Steve’s host role, and punishing him for his bad puns, but we finally get to the main event, which is a long conversation with the great Charles Lipson about his recent article, “ Packing the Court, Then and Now.” We take a while to get to the subject, however, in favor of a long prologue about high school whisky... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Glen Livet and Glenn Ellmers Apr 23, 2021

This special 250th episode of the Power Line podcast offers a twist on our Three Whisky Happy Hour format, as Lucretia and I put aside our Glen Livet in favor of talking with Glenn Ellmers. Glenn is a senior fellow of the Claremont Institute, research fellow at Hillsdale College, author of a forthcoming biography of Harry Jaffa entitled The Soul of Politics, and author of several recent articles... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Riot Season Opens Early Apr 17, 2021

Good grief! “Lucretia” and I take a week off, and everything goes to hell. Minneapolis starts rioting again, and Democrats in Washington start their own riot over court-packing. Meanwhile, the officer who mistook her service revolver for a taser and shot Daunte Wright was publicly identified within 48 hours (Kim Potter), lost her job, and now faces criminal charges, while we have passed Day 100... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Democracy at Easter Apr 03, 2021

Winston Churchill wrote that “No two cities have counted more with mankind than Athens and Jerusalem. Their messages in religion, philosophy, and art have been the main guiding lights of modern faith and culture.” For Easter and Passover Steve and Lucretia decided to take up the Jerusalem side of this theme with the help of a forgotten figure who was a major influence on the young Churchill—the... Source

The Power Line Show: VIP Highlights Mar 31, 2021

Last night we had one of our special live Zoom events for Power Line VIP subscribers, but a gremlin seems to have prevented many VIPs from getting timely notice of the link to the event. So we decided to post up the audio of the event for VIPs who didn’t get a link or who were unable to join us for whatever reason–and for any curious listeners who want to hear what they’re missing! Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Lowering the Boom on the Boomers Mar 29, 2021

So we’re a day late getting this episode ready because we went on location, and recorded live in a real bar, located in an undisclosed location in the Free State of Texas. Here as we do show prep I’m having a glass of Oban 14, and Lucretia is having some Glenlivet, and for our recording segment I switched to one of her favorites, MacCallan 18, which, I had to admit, I liked a fair bit... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Tubthumping Edition Mar 20, 2021

In honor of “President” Biden’s attempt to imitate Chevy Chase imitating Gerald Ford on the steps of Air Farce One, this week’s episode launches with some appropriate custom bumper music (the headline should give you a clue), and then “Lucretia” and I resume arguing whether our format should put metaphysics ahead of malts—in other words, business before pleasure—or whether whisky malts are... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Cocktails Against Communism? Mar 13, 2021

So for this episode “Lucretia” and I were going to discuss, and ask for audience input on, whether we should change the name of our format to “Cocktails Against Communism,” but owing to some technical glitches that we seamlessly fixed over an extra glass of single malt so that you won’t even be able to guess where the patches are, we completely forgot! Maybe next week. In the meantime... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Where Meta-Malts and Metaphysics Meet Mar 07, 2021

This episode rolls out our new motto for the 3WHH format—”The podcast dedicated to meta-malts and metaphysics!” “Lucretia” isn’t so sure, but we’ll roll with that until we change to a sports-talk format, which will happen on the 4th of Never. Anyway, after reviewing a surprisingly busy week in important whisky news, we introduce three new short regular segments: the Magic Numbers... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Suds for Spuds, Studs, and Duds Feb 27, 2021

This week has something for everybody, as our three segments (we actually stick to format this week!) range from Mr. Potato Head (now Zir Potatx Head apparently) to Winston Churchill, with a detour to throw some rotten tomatoes at Smith College, and then on to a sequel of sorts to last week’s seminar, in which we point out how today’s leftist racism is the direct descendant of the “scientific... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Originalism, Old and New Feb 20, 2021

This week we shake up the format a bit, and skip over our gratuitous whisky reviews and commentary on the top news stories of the week, and head straight in to the classroom for our long-postponed seminar on constitutional originalism, rightly understood. We do this by focusing in on four “mystery passages” about constitutional interpretation from prominent jurists, and ponder what are some... Source

The The Whisky Happy Hour: The Elites vs. Consent of the Governed Feb 13, 2021

Well, we had planned to continue our tutorial on the natural law basis for genuine constitutional originalism, but we two professors reverted to form and didn’t prepare! And we’ve got standards, so we’re not going to fake it. Instead, we got distracted by the news of the week, including France—France!—deploring the wokeness of American university culture and calling it a threat to French culture. Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: The Two Thomases and Natural Law Feb 06, 2021

Another week, another dismal article in The New Republic (a former magazine) to beat up. We promise not to make a habit of this, lest TNR get an anti-stalking injunction, but this week’s TNR howler, “Originalism Is Dead; Long Live Catholic Natural Law,” is so stupid that we had to smack it around as another stepping stone to our ongoing conversation about constitutional originalism. Key question... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Examining the Cycles of American History Jan 30, 2021

What episode offers you “spice that ramps up the palate, carried forward by the full body, hearty proof, and mouth-coating texture”? This edition of the Three Whisky Happy Hour, if the latest reviews of our choices in the Whisky Advocate are any indication. Alas, we remain unable to resolve our “peat-versus-sweet” single malt debate. In any case, we know the magazine is just a shill for Big Whisky... Source

Back to Wuhan, With Spencer Case Jan 28, 2021

Almost exactly a year ago I had Spencer Case on the show from Wuhan, China, where he had a front row seat to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Spencer is now back in Wuhan, finishing up a post-doc fellowship at Wuhan University, where he is working on two books and a pile of academic articles. Spencer has also started his own podcast, Micro-Digressions, and it is worth a listen if you have... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Dominatrix Lucretia Takes Over Jan 23, 2021

By popular demand from listeners, “Lucretia” takes over hosting duties this week and gives Steve another thrashing about election fraud issues. But along the way we review the extremely ominous first 72 hours of the the Harris-Biden Administration, and conclude that the Harris-Biden presidency is going to be several notches to the left of the Obama Administration. On the never-ending question of... Source

The Three Whiskey Happy Hour: The Metaphysics of the Election Jan 16, 2021

Settle in with your favorite single malt for this extra-long episode that offers a deep dive into the election results with Henry Olsen, the Trump-sympathetic analyst who concludes that Democrat voter fraud did not determine the outcome of the election. He fields a lot of fastballs and curveballs from me and “Lucretia” about why so many Americans can harbor reasonable doubts that the election was... Source

Special Edition: Should Trump Be Impeached? Jan 10, 2021

I was caught up short yesterday when I spotted, on the generally very pro-Trump American Greatness website, William B. Allen’s article entitled “Let Us Impeach Him.” It pays to read past the headline of this article, because the argument is not what you think: it’s not a “get-him-out-office-as-fast-as-we-can” manifesto. Rather, Prof. Allen argues that we should take our time and impeach Trump... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Open Mic Edition Jan 09, 2021

Lucretia and I decided to pour triple shots and host an open bar episode of our regular whisky-drenched dialogue with two special guests, Power Line co-founder John Hinderaker, and Charles Lipson, frequent contributor to The Spectator and other publications. Partly this is because Steve wanted some company in the weekly “getting-thrashed-by-Lucretia” moments. And also because we taped this episode... Source

Some Needed Comic Relief from Stan Evans Jan 07, 2021

For anyone looking for some welcome comic relief from the dreadful scene of this week, here is the episode for you! M. Stanton Evans As a few select people know, I am currently writing a biography of the late, great M. Stanton Evans, who passed away in 2015. Stan was one of the key figures in the conservative movement from the late 1950s (he was the principal author of the “Sharon Statement” that... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: The Liberal Learning Curve is Flat Jan 03, 2021

We begin the New Year by examining three breaking news stories (to go with three shots of whisky, of course), all of which add up to the conclusion that the liberal learning curve is flat. First, Portland’s Mayor Ted Wheeler is finally starting to understand that Antifa is an anarchist group that you can’t reason with like a teenager. Second, Nancy Pelosi’s fancy home in San Francisco was... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: 2020 in Review Dec 26, 2020

This week’s whisky In another wide ranging episode (our last for the year), “Lucretia” and I review the best and worst Christmas movies, the best and worst Christmas music, the rank order of the best Will Ferrell movies, whether blended whisky is ever acceptable, why Finnish rock music sounds like a whale being tortured, and whether we can deduct the cost of our whisky under the tax changes of the... Source

Is "Australian Wine Snob" an Oxymoron? Dec 19, 2020

This is without doubt The. Most. Gozno. Episode. Ever. My sampler for the episode. This week “Lucretia” (“That’s DoctorLucretia to you, kiddo!”) and I put down our whisky and take up Australian red wines instead (with brief consideration about whether the banana daiquiri represented the nadir of the West during the Cold War), as we range from Hegel to Snoop Dogg (“That’s Mister Dogg to you, kiddo!”... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Our Pirate Ruling Class Dec 13, 2020

A suitable whisky for a foggy Saturday evening. So there we were, armed with a fresh bottle of 10-year-old Ardbeg Islay whisky (not quite as peaty as Laphroaig or Talisker), and all set to plunge back into political philosophy again and escape yet another thrashing at the hands of Lucretia, but then the Supreme Court laid an egg, politicians acted stupidly again about COVID (in other words... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: College Shop Talk Dec 06, 2020

“Lucretia” and I had fully intended to work through our long-promised (or is it that threatened?) and now thrice-postponed seminar on the philosophical roots of leftist snobbishness and condescension, but we got diverted—strange that this keeps happening—by some notable campus news stories from last week. Naturally there were several stories of colleges disgracing themselves... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Counting Courts Nov 28, 2020

At one point during the livecast recording of this week’s episode on Zoom, a commenter said the score was “Lucretia 6, Hayward 0,” so naturally I thought I was only behind by two field goals, and thus easy to make up in the 4th Quarter. But then the commenter clarified that he was using soccer scoring, which meant that I was getting crushed. “Ask Paul,” he added unnecessarily. Oh well. Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: "Snobbish Snobology" Postponed Nov 21, 2020

After getting a review of new and unpronounceable whiskies out of the way (such as the one posted here) along with the miseries of the week just past that compel several drams of whisky, “Lucretia” and I had planned to talk about an obscure but profound essay from way back in 1973 that explores the serious philosophical roots of how today’s progressive left is best explained by the left’s formal... Source

Can We Transition? Charles Lipson Says Yes, We Can! Nov 16, 2020

Charles Lipson Can American democracy walk and chew bubble gum at the same time? Charles Lipson thinks so, arguing in the Wall Street Journal today that normal transition activities can and should take place even as President Trump pursues his legal challenges to the election results. Lipson, professor emeritus of Political Science at the University of Chicago, is no shrinking violet when it comes... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Milk The Trump Dividend! Nov 14, 2020

This week Steve and “Lucretia” survey the dismal scene of uphill recount prospects (and why game theory says Trump should fight on even past January 20), the impending COVID tyranny (“Lockdown II: This Time It’s Personal!”), and the latest social science nonsense, and decide the only sensible thing to do is pour another whisky and contemplate whether the long-term “Trump dividend” will offer a... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Election Metaphysics Nov 07, 2020

Hoo boy! I’m not sure three whiskies are enough this week. Fortunately I procured a relatively cheap Islay single malt—Finlaggan—to get me through the travails of Election Overtime. The election is still a fast moving scene, so I decided that “Lucretia” and I should take a longer term view of the scene, and ponder the “metaphysics” of the election, which are not comforting to the left. Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Uhlmann to the Rescue Oct 31, 2020

If Trump wins the electoral college again on Tuesday while losing the popular vote (perhaps by a bigger margin than he did in 2016), the left will lose its mind. Well that’s a given, but they’ll really lose their mind about the electoral college. After hoisting a couple of toasts to the passing of Sean Connery and a second sour whisky shot for Britain going back on COVID lockdown... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour, with Guest Drinker Henry Olsen Oct 27, 2020

Better late than never, “Lucretia” and I team up to review what’s going on in the news along with drinking to the confirmation of Justice Barrett, but are most interested in thinking a bit about what is “metaphysically” wrong with the election scene, with poll after poll showing a solid Biden lead against lots of sense perception—and several historical examples—that argues for a different outcome. Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Weiss-Cracking Oct 18, 2020

Steve settles in with some Japanese whisky while “Lucretia” abandons her “whisky cougar” ways with a bona fide Glenlivet 18 so we can celebrate Amy Coney Barrett’s start turn driving Democrats to embarrass themselves last week. The hearings illustrate what’s wrong with the “side of history” liberals, as expressed in an especially lazy column from Nick Kristof in the New York Times, and a series of... Source

Carpe Diem Indeed! Mark Perry Shows How to Fight Back on Campus Oct 17, 2020

If you aren’t following Mark Perry’s Carpe Diem blog every day you’re missing out on one of the best sources for common sense analysis of current economic and social controversies. Mark, an economist at the University of Michigan and scholar at AEI, specializes in debunking economic fallacies (such as the perennial feminist talking point that women only earn 78 cents for every dollar a man earns)... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: A Victory Lap, a Beatdown, and Still More Liberal Education! Oct 10, 2020

The basics. This week’s recap starts off with a challenge to find the most unpronounceable scotch whisky you’ve never heard of (like Poit Dhubh, which is unavailable in the U.S.), plus a review of the 10 health benefits of drinking scotch whisky (some of which need a controlled experiment to validate properly, which we’re happy to conduct ourselves). Once suitably lubricated, we take a victory lap... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Liberal Education and Responsibility (With a Side of Biden) Oct 04, 2020

Lots of things to pour whisky shots for this week. Before returning to our short course on Leo Strauss’s perspectives on liberal education, “Lucretia” and Steve reflect on Joe Biden’s long career as a chameleon (if you didn’t know better, you’d almost think Biden had read Richard Weaver’s famous Ideas Have Consequences, since he thinks Antifa is an “idea,” and one that certainly has consequences)... Source

The Recovery of Family Life, with Scott Yenor Sep 28, 2020

We’re delighted to bring Scott Yenor to the show this week to discuss his important new book, The Recovery of Family Life: Exposing the Limits of Modern Ideologies, which is being officially released tomorrow from Baylor University Press. Unlike many other fine books on the family today that rely chiefly on social science, Scott also brings his immense learning in political philosophy to bear on... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Liberal Education and the Court Sep 26, 2020

Freshly resupplied with a shipment of Laphraoig, Talisker, and “Murdered Out” dark roast from Black Rifle Coffee, Steve and “Lucretia” drink to the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court, smack around Biden a little (but only a little because otherwise it would be elder abuse), and then resume our discussion from two weeks about about liberal education and Leo Strauss’s famous... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: "The Frigate 93 Election?" Sep 20, 2020

I know we promised listeners that last week’s episode would be the beginning of a three-part series on liberal education rightly understood, but the passing of Justice Ginsburg has thrown us off our plan. But rather than go in for the usual punditry about confirmation battles and the effect this will have on the election, Lucretia and I decided to step back and take on a truly radical perspective... Source

Trump's Democrats Sep 19, 2020

Is there room for another book on the rural voters who delivered the surprising outcome of the 2016 election? Yes, there is, when the book is Trump’s Democrats, by Stephanie Muravchik and Jon A. Shields, just out from the Brookings Institution. Muravchik and Shields do something unusual in this book; rather than do yet another excursion into survey data and statistical mumbo-jumbo... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour: What Is Liberal Education? (Part 1) Sep 12, 2020

Well now we’ve done it! This week Lucretia and I decided to take a break from downing whisky shots over the latest crazy news headlines and drag listeners back into the classroom for a new mini-series. I get lots of emails and comments from listeners and readers about why we surrender the term “liberal” to deep leftists who are profoundly illiberal. It’s a great question, and so Lucretia and I... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour, Percentages Edition Sep 07, 2020

This week’s three whisky happy hour centers around three percentage numbers: 99, 93, and 100. In looking at the latest craziness from higher education, Lucretia and I conclude scientifically that 99 percent of all college professors give the other 1 percent a bad name (sort of like lawyers); the “93 percent of protests are peaceful” sounds about as meaningful as “the Japanese flyover of Pearl... Source

"The Stakes," with Michael Anton Sep 05, 2020

Today is the 4th anniversary of the appearance of one of the most memorable political essays in American history, “ The Flight 93 Election,” written by the pseudonymous author “Decius.” It began with this memorable attention-grabber: 2016 is the Flight 93 election: charge the cockpit or you die. You may die anyway. You—or the leader of your party—may make it into the cockpit and not know how to... Source

The Left Goes Postal Aug 31, 2020

As I’m sure you’ve heard, Trump the Dictator is messing with the U.S. Post Office in an attempt to steal the election. He’s removing blue boxes from corners! He’s taking mail processing machines out of service! He’s tying the shoelaces of mail carriers! Can artificial snowstorms be far behind? Or genetically modified super dogs to chase mail carriers away? This is one of those frenzied stories... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour, Winners and Losers Edition Aug 29, 2020

After a one week hiatus for jury duty, the Three Whisky Happy Hour with Steve and Lucretia is back, but with a role-reversal: Lucretia bartends this week! Partly this is so Lucretia can school Steve on how to think about vigilantism and the case of Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old who has been charged with murder for what appears to have been self-defense in the Kenosha riots earlier this week. Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour, with Guest Bartender Charles Lipson Aug 17, 2020

This week’s Power Line Three Whisky Happy Hour finds Charles Lipson bellying up to the bar for a flight of whiskys that begins with a tale of his mis-spent youth discovering the “bootleggers and Baptists” hypothesis in the course of violating numerous federal and state laws, as well as his legendary Henry Kissinger impression. We take up three topics to go with three shots of whisky: the rapid... Source

"Nils, We Need to Talk!" Are We Headed for Electoral Disaster in November? Aug 09, 2020

Are we possibly headed to a complete electoral and political meltdown in November, complete with riots in the streets and threats of secession by some states? Last week something called the Transition Integrity Project (TIP) made huge news with a 22-page report on a simulation exercise of scenarios of what might happen in the event we have a contested election in November. A bipartisan groups of... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour, Flight 6 Aug 08, 2020

This especially fast-paced edition of the Three Whisky Happy Hour with “Lucretia,” Power Line’s International Woman of Mystery, gets off track right at the start, when an incidental mention of the famous 1978 Bakke case turned into an extended revisionist “what if?” thought experiment. From there we turn our attention to logging the accelerating BGR (short for “Biden Gaffe Rate”)... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour, Flight 5 Aug 02, 2020

America’s newspaper of record—which is the Babylon Bee of course—is out with the headline, “Biden Campaign Says He Is So Close to a VP Pick He Can Smell Her.” The Bee really needs to stop scooping the New York Times. In any case, in this episode of the weekend happy hour Lucretia and I survey the box canyon Biden has got himself into by pledging to pick a woman running mate who essentially has to... Source

Avoiding "Suicide by University," with Arthur Milikh Aug 01, 2020

I’m starting to come to the view that having K-12 education and colleges and universities shrink because of COVID-19 might be one of the bits of good news arising out of the pandemic. Our universities are the principal source of the noxious ideas that are plaguing the country right now, and decades of conservative attempts to reverse this slide or reform campuses have proven largely unavailing. Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour, with Guest Bartender John Yoo Jul 25, 2020

Lucretia and I are already departing from our nascent Islay-Highland-Irish whisky flight format because we have a guest bartender and malt master on with us for this weekend’s episode—John Yoo! John not only knows the deep history of fine Japanese whiskies, but also the Constitution and presidential power. He has a terrific new book coming out on Tuesday, Defender in Chief: Donald Trump’s Fight... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour, Flight 3 Jul 19, 2020

The estimable New York Post reports on a clear example of “expert” junk science that purports to prove that “men should limit alcohol to just one drink per day.” This is clearly the first step to full communism, plus an obvious ham-handed attempt to shut down our brand new Three Whisky Happy hour. Lucretia and I counter with the supreme wisdom of Lady Thatcher, who once wrote a friend... Source

Happy 200th To Us! Jul 18, 2020

For our 200th podcast, we assembled all four Power Line Beatles, John, Paul, George and Ringo Steve and Scott, to kick around various current topics, including Steve’s own experience with cancel culture, the state of the presidential race, whether the United States might actually break up after this election regardless of who wins, and above all some reflections on 18 years of Power Line... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour, Flight #2 Jul 11, 2020

Steve and “Lucretia” are back with another “Three Whisky Happy Hour” to end the week, dishing out a sweet Irish whisky to go with our idea for the attack ad we hope the Trump campaign will run against the Democrats, a mild American bourbon whisky for the uneven Harper’s magazine statement opposing “cancel culture;” and a bracing peaty/smoky Scotch whisky to ponder the question of whether... Source

A Few Minutes with Gov. Kristi Noem Jul 10, 2020

Gov. Kristi Noem The centerpiece of this week’s show is an in-depth interview John Hinderaker conducted this week with South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, who has charted her own course in managing the COVID-19 pandemic in her state, refusing to shut down the state’s economy, and getting out ahead of the virus with a common sense approach. Gov. Noem is getting high marks for her steady and... Source

The Three Whisky Happy Hour, Take One Jul 04, 2020

By popular demand we’re bringing “Lucretia,” Power Line’s International Woman of Mystery, back to the show, and we’ve decided to start our own “Three Whisky Happy Hour,” because why should Greg Corombos and Jim Geraghty have all the fun (and the booze) with their Three Martini Lunch. As Lucretia is a champion whisky drinker, we decided to offer up American bourbon, Scotch (the more bracing Islay... Source

Needed: "A Gaullist Moment with Churchillian Fortitude"—Dan Mahoney Jul 02, 2020

Daniel Mahoney of Assumption College has a short and compelling essay up today at Real Clear Politics on “What Does Our Nation Mean to Us? Rejecting the Culture of Hate.” I decided to post our regular weekly podcast a couple days ahead of schedule to match up with Dan’s article because it meshes perfectly with the conclusion of our wide-ranging conversation about the roots of our present... Source

Toppling Teddy Roosevelt the Right Way, with Jean Yarbrough Jul 01, 2020

When I heard the news that the nihilist mob plans to take down the statue of Theodore Roosevelt astride his horse in front the Natural History Museum in New York City, I knew I had to ring up Jean Yarbrough, the Gary Pendy Sr. Professor of Social Sciences at Bowdoin College, and author of the best book on TR’s political thought and legacy, Theodore Roosevelt and the American Political Tradition. Source

Power Line's Fab Four on Our Crazy World Jun 26, 2020

On Wednesday, “The Beatles” (John, Paul, George and Ringo Scott, and Steve) got together for a live online VIP chat session, covering everything from the riot scene, the fall election, statue-tipping, The NASCARash, and other sports. A lot of VIP members who couldn’t make the show asked if we’d make available a recording, and we decided to make a highlight reel into a podcast and offer it to the... Source

"Apocalypse Never," with Michael Shellenberger Jun 21, 2020

This week’s guest is Michael Shellenberger, the founder and president of Environmental Progress, and author of an important new book, Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All. Most books about the environment typically feature breathless panic about how the world is coming to an end. Michael’s book is a rare outlier that debunks the extremism of most such apocalyptic claims... Source

"The Coming of Neo-Feudalism," with Joel Kotkin Jun 13, 2020

Joel Kotkin is one of America’s premier analysts of urbanism, urban economics, demographic change, and social trends. His brand new book, The Coming of Neo-Feudalism: A Warning to the Global Middle Class, turns upside down the conventional liberal narrative about why the middle and working classes are under pressure. It’s not capitalism and markets, but their perversions, especially in the hands... Source

"The Sixties Never Ended"—Fred Siegel Reflects on Our Mob Rule Moment Jun 10, 2020

When our cities start to come apart and people say it seems like 1968 all over again, that can only mean one thing: time to get in touch with Fred Siegel. Among Fred’s many fine books is The Future Once Happened Here: New York, LA, DC, and the Fate of America’s Big Cities, which explained the high cost of incompetent liberal rule of our major cities in the 1960s and 1970s... Source

Riots, Viruses, "Epistocracy," and Other Social Diseases Jun 03, 2020

Funny how the COVID-19 crisis has nearly disappeared from the news, after having been the subject of wall-to-wall media attention for three months. Riots have a way of doing that, though the mass rioting doesn’t seem to have concentrated the mind of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio very much, fueling further rumors that he really has shot his brains with his heavy reported dope-smoking. Source

Ross Douthat on "The Decadent Society" May 30, 2020

“Decadence” is one of those familiar terms that is trivialized or rendered comic by overuse—perhaps you’d say from decadence itself. And while most people think decadent is mostly a synonym for “sumptuous,” it has a wider and deeper meaning, which is the subject of Ross Douthat’s new book, The Decadent Society: How We Became the Victims of Our Own Success. Douthat, a columnist for the New York... Source

"This Cannot Go On"—The Breakdown of Higher Education, with John Ellis May 23, 2020

John Ellis John M. Ellis, distinguished professor emeritus of German literature at UC Santa Cruz, is out with a terrific new book, The Breakdown of Higher Education: How It Happened, The Damage It Does, & What Can Be Done About It. This slim book makes for depressing reading indeed, covering the landscape of our ideologically corrupt colleges and universities. What needs to happen to change things? Source

Freedom of the Press in an Era of Fake News, with Zach Wood May 16, 2020

Zachary Wood This episode flips the format, with my guest interviewing me for a change. Zachary Wood is a graduate of Williams College, where he was the president of a student group called “Uncomfortable Learning,” whose mission was to invite to campus outside speakers with a heterodox perspective (which is code for “conservative” for the most part). Invitees included Charles Murray... Source

Trumping Obama's Legacy, with Charles Lipson May 12, 2020

Barack who? Is it just me, or is Obama the incredibly shrinking president, destined already to be remembered in the same league as John Tyler or Warren Harding? Charles Lipson, emeritus professor of politics at the University of Chicago, is out today with a terrific article at RealClearPolitics, “ Trump’s Methodical Destruction of Obama’s Legacy,” that walks through how President Trump is step-by... Source

Breaking: Facebook's "Supreme Court"? (With a Side of the Flynn Case) May 07, 2020

Michael McConnell John Hinderaker joined me today to co-host this special edition of the show. Yesterday Facebook announced the creation of a 20-member oversight board that some media accounts describe as a “supreme court” to advise and in some cases rule on what kind of material can be taken down from the popular global site. Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been talking about this... Source

The 1619 Project Pulitzer and Other Outrages: A Phil Magness Omnibus May 05, 2020

Phil Magness When the news broke yesterday that the New York Times‘s egregious “1619 Project” had won a Pulitzer Prize for commentary, I knew the only thing to do was get Phillip W. Magness on the line. Magness, a senior research fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research, is the author of a brand new and indispensable book answering the factual errors and gross interpretive... Source

Do Lockdowns Save Lives? The Data Say No Apr 27, 2020

Joe Malchow The Wall Street Journal this morning includes an article from T.J. Rodgers, the retired founder and CEO of Cypress Semiconductors, with the provocative title, “Do Lockdowns Save Lives? In Most Places, the Data Say No.” Rodgers mentions in the first paragraph that much of the statistical work behind his article was done by our own Joe Malchow, who is Power Line’s Wizard of Oz behind the... Source

Earth Day at 50, with Terry Anderson Apr 22, 2020

Terry Anderson It’s Earth Day today—and not just any old Earth Day, but the 50th anniversary. It’s passing rather more quietly than in many previous years because the coronavirus crisis is eclipsing everything at the moment. But a lot has changed since the first Earth Day. Not only is the environment in the United States, and in most places around the world, in much better condition than it was in... Source

Eight Reasons to End the Lockdowns ASAP Apr 15, 2020

Last week Dr. Jonathan Geach, an anesthesiologist treating some COVID-19 patients in Tennessee, wrote an article on Medium that created a sensation: “ Eight Reasons to End the Lockdowns as Soon as Possible.” Dr. Geach joined us today to review the article, and, since the COVID-19 story is moving so fast, preview a sequel on “Moving Goalposts” that he is readying for publication. Source

From the White House Press Room to the Hospital Emergency Room Apr 12, 2020

This week’s show features two guests who just happen to be married, which certainly makes recording convenient! Our first guest is Debra J. Saunders, the White House correspondent for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and former opinion columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. President Trump called on Debra last Friday in his daily virus briefing, and beyond the immediate story I was most... Source

A Question of Power, with Robert Bryce Apr 07, 2020

This special mid-week edition offers an alternative to the all-virus/all-the-time coverage currently smothering all other topics right now, this time featuring Robert Bryce talking about his brand new book A Question of Power: Electricity and the Wealth of Nations. The book is a companion to his documentary film Juice: How Electricity Explains the World that will be available on streaming services... Source

Around the World in 80 Months? Jeremy Carl's Epic Apr 04, 2020

My guest this week is Jeremy Carl, currently a senior fellow at the Claremont Institute, and formerly a research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford, where he directed the Shultz-Stephenson Task Force on Energy Policy. His political writing and commentary has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, National Review, Politico, the Economist... Source

FDR—Conservative Hero?, and Other Reader Questions Apr 01, 2020

Conrad Black argued this week that Franklin Roosevelt deserves to be regarded as a conservative champion, or at least that conservatives should steal him away from Democrats. FDR himself argued that Democrats should steal Lincoln from Republicans, so why not return the favor? Steve takes up this exotic perspective with Power Line’s International Woman of Mystery, “Lucretia... Source

The World on Lockdown: A View from Eastern Europe Mar 28, 2020

Cliff Bates Our parochial news media seem only interested in reporting on the state of things here in the U.S. and in their favorite European vacation spots like France and Italy, but of course the COVID-19 pandemic extends into Eastern Europe as well, where most countries are also on some degree of quarantine or lockdown. I decided to check in with Clifford Angell Bates, a friend based in Warsaw... Source

The Green Nude Eel and Other Heterodoxies, with Sarah Hunt Mar 25, 2020

Sarah Hunt There’s gonzo, and then there’s Sarah Hunt. Hunt is the humorist/policy activist who came up with the moniker “Green Nude Eel” in response to the preposterous extravagances of the utopian environmental left and in particular a certain freshperson congresscritter whose name shall not be uttered here. But Hunt, the founder of the Joseph Rainey Center, a boutique Washington think tank... Source

A Look at COVID-19 Data, with Brian Sullivan Mar 21, 2020

Brian Sullivan This bonus episode features the insights and observations of Brian Sullivan, a serial entrepreneur in the domain of health care and medical device innovation. He is the founder and CEO of Celcuity, a biomedical research firm currently working on highly specialized cancer research. Brian, a long time friend of Power Line in Minnesota, has been sending along his unique thoughts on the... Source

A Beat Down on China, with Michael Auslin Mar 18, 2020

It may be too strong to say that China and the United States are engaged in “germ warfare,” but the Chinese propaganda effort, aided by our own irrepressible fifth column in the media that seems to want to take China’s side against the U.S., reveals that the COVID-19 episode may prove an inflection point—a crisis for the Chinese regime akin to the Chernobyl disaster in the Soviet Union—that... Source

Breaking Down the Oil Price War and the Coronavirus with Mark Mills Mar 12, 2020

Mark Mills I’m posting this week’s episode a couple days ahead of our usual weekend schedule to keep up with the fast-moving news cycle of the most important story of the week—no, not necessarily the coronavirus, but rather the oil price war that broke out last weekend between Saudi Arabia and Russia. The timing may not be purely coincidental, as I discuss with my guest this week... Source

Wot Happened? Who Knows the Thing? Mar 07, 2020

How in the heck did Joe Biden’s mummified campaign come back to life? Or is it just back to zombie status—still dead, but up and moving and menacing the living? That’s the main subject of this week’s fast-paced, high energy episode featuring Power Line’s own John Hinderaker and listener favorite “Lucretia.” (Our conclusion is that Democrats decided they are more the party of creeping socialism... Source

The Agony of a Liberal, With Damon Linker Feb 29, 2020

What do you do if you are a center-left thinker confronting the train wreck of the Democratic nomination contest just now, with the strong possibility that socialist Bernie Sanders will be the nominee? Might we actually have an election where some liberals will leave the country if they win? This week’s episode takes up the scene with Damon Linker, senior correspondent for The Week... Source

Berniemania: The Coronavirus of the Democratic Party Feb 23, 2020

This week’s episode, featuring listener favorite Lucretia, Power Line’s International Woman of Mystery, was taped while the Nevada caucuses were in process, but now we know that Bernie Sanders has crushed it. He’s the Coronavirus of the Democratic Party—a long latency period that has now broken out into an unstoppable epidemic. It’s over: the only question now is who Sanders will pick as his... Source

Fight! Fight! In the White House No Less! Feb 15, 2020

This week we violate the legendary first rule of Fight Club with Tevi Troy, author of the wonderfully gossipy new book Fight House: Rivalries in the White House from Truman to Trump. Troy, a veteran of the George W. Bush White House and author of several previous books about overlooked aspects of the presidency, takes us on a tour of some of the legendary feuds and personality and power clashes in... Source

The Lost History of Western Civilization, with Stanley Kurtz Feb 09, 2020

Stanley Kurtz It is not news that the humanities and social sciences have been degraded by the sustained assault from the left for several decades now, but Stanley Kurtz of the Ethics and Public Policy Center provides illuminating new details and perspectives in his recent report for the National Association of Scholars entitled The Lost History of Western Civilization. The broad outlines of this... Source

America's Revolutionary Mind, With C. Bradley Thompson Feb 01, 2020

Brad Thompson Prof. C. Bradley Thompson of Clemson University has written a superb new book, the first of two volumes, about the American Founding, America’s Revolutionary Mind: A Moral History of the American Revolution and the Declaration That Defined It. In my opinion this book deserves to take its place alongside Bernard Bailyn’s Ideological Origins of the American Revolution and Gordon Wood’s... Source

A Primer on Impeachment Jan 22, 2020

This special edition of the Power Line Show offers a panel discussion on impeachment held this week at Berkeley Law School, which Steve moderated. Its purpose was not to rehash or thrash out the specific issues of the Trump impeachment as much as to illuminate what the founders had in mind when they wrote impeachment into the Constitution, and what we have learned from the two rare instances of... Source

Martin Luther King Jr., Yesterday and Today Jan 20, 2020

Peter Myers The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is always a good occasion to ponder his legacy, which shifts with the lengthening of history and the dramatic changes in the racial politics of our moment. And who better to comment than “Lucretia,” Power Line’s international woman of mystery, along with special guest Peter C. Myers, who is professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin... Source

Stephen Knott on "The Lost Soul of the American Presidency" Jan 13, 2020

This week’s guest is Stephen F. Knott of the Naval War College, discussing his terrific new book, The Lost Soul of the American Presidency: The Decline into Demagoguery and the Prospects for Renewal, just out from University Press of Kansas. Knott, one of the nation’s pre-eminent scholars of Alexander Hamilton, thinks the American presidency has slipped from the modest republican design of the... Source

"You Run the Show or the Show Runs You"—The Strategic Perspective of Harold Rood Jan 06, 2020

Harold Rood The fuss over President Trump’s decision to kill Iranian General Qasem Soleimani is causing the usual hair-on-fire reaction among the media and foreign policy elites. Everyone is playing the parlor game of wondering how Iran might respond, and how we might respond to Iran’s well-develop capacity for “asymmetric warfare.” Steve Hayward gets to wondering what the late professor of... Source

Power Line's Year in Review and 2020 Preview Dec 29, 2019

Our final episode of 2019 brings together the entire Power Line gang—John, Paul, Scott, and Steve, along with “Ammo Grrll” Susan Vass—for a look at the current scene and a look ahead to next year. Consisting of excerpts from a recent Power Line VIP member live video chat, John Hinderaker hosts as we review the farce of impeachment, the state of the Democratic nomination contest (including how big... Source

Come Again? The "1619 Project" Divides the Left?! Dec 23, 2019

There are several new wrinkles in the saga of the New York Times‘s egregious and ideological “1619 Project,” which can only mean one thing: time for another episode with “Lucretia,” Power Line’s International Woman of Mystery, and scourge of all things politically correct. New developments in the story include a stinging letter to the editor of the New York Times magazine from five eminent... Source

The Most Gonzo Episode Ever Dec 17, 2019

Nils Gilman Is it possible for conservatives and left-of-center thinkers to have a civil and substantive conversation in the Era of Trump? Steve Hayward decided to find out, and the result is this completely gonzo episode. Steve sat down for a long and appropriately boozy dinner recently with Nils Gilman of the Berggruen Institute, and Ted Nordhaus of the Breakthrough Institute, for a grand tour... Source

OK Boomer: Let's Cross the Streams! Is Reagan Relevant to Millennials!?!? Dec 08, 2019

This episode is either an excursion into intergenerational conflict, or the pilot for a 21st century version of The Odd Couple, where Oscar and Felix are a Millennial and an aging Baby Boomer. This week’s episode is actually a crossover show with The Young Americans, hosted by Millennial sports and wonk prodigy Jack Butler of the American Enterprise Institute. Jack recently read Steve Hayward’s... Source

Breaking Down the 1619 Project, Part 5 Dec 04, 2019

A few days late because of the holiday week, “Lucretia,” Power Line’s international woman of mystery, joins Steve Hayward once again to resume their series critiquing the “1619 Project,” this time taking up the examples of Alexander Stephens, Booker T. Washington, and W.E. B DuBois, among other thinkers, as well as noting the peculiar objections to the 1619 Project coming from . Source

Looking Back at the Great Society, with Amity Shlaes Nov 22, 2019

More than 50 years after Lyndon Johnson launched the “Great Society” and its “war on poverty” that its architects said would eliminate all poverty in America in ten years, we still have poverty and a legacy of failed experiments in social engineering (Model Cities, anyone?) Author Amity Shlaes is out this week with her latest book, Great Society: A New History, that gives us a fine-grained look... Source

Henry Olsen with the Inside Baseball on Politics and . . . Baseball Nov 17, 2019

This week Steve Hayward hosts Henry Olsen going through the inside baseball of the unfolding Democratic presidential primary season, but also the inside baseball about . . . baseball! Did you know that the Houston Astros colluded with the Russians and Ukrainians to steal the 2017 World Series! So runs the allegation, with hearings no doubt to follow. In any case, Steve actually stumps Henry by... Source

They're Both Wrong, with John Tamny Nov 08, 2019

John Tamny of Freedom Works and RealClearMarkets joins Steve Hayward this week to discuss his provocative new book, They’re Both Wrong: A Policy Guide for America’s Frustrated Independent Thinkers, just out this week from our friends at the American Institute for Economic Research. Tamny is one of the great imaginative and original contrarian thinkers of our time on matters of economics and policy... Source

Tackling the Opioid Crisis and the Vapid Vaping Debate, with Sally Satel Nov 02, 2019

Dr. Sally Satel The opioid crisis has been prominent in the news for the last several years, while more recently the controversy over vaping has erupted to new heights, with the Trump Administration proposing to ban many vaping products. There are some glaring contradictions and ironies between our attitudes and policy responses to both issues, but it takes someone of Sally Satel’s perception to... Source

Phase Three for the Conservative Movement? Oct 26, 2019

Whither American conservatism is the question on everyone’s mind these days. Recently I gave a short talk about this topic with the central thought that the American conservative movement was now entering a distinct third phase of its modern existence, though I took the opportunity to say a few words about my first mentor, the late M. Stanton Evans, and what can be learned from his disposition... Source

Impeach This! With John Yoo and "Lucretia" Oct 18, 2019

What do you get when you combine “Lucretia,” Power Line’s ever popular international woman of mystery, with John Yoo, whose only mystery is his fondness for McDonalds? You get an episode that talks about fake burgers, the evils of soy, the importance of cooking with fat, fast cars, and even Starsky & Hutch. Oh, we also go into the impeachment circus currently unfolding in Washington... Source

Bonus Episode: Bronze Age Decius? Oct 13, 2019

Michael Anton at Machiavelli’s tomb. This special bonus double-episode tests the proposition that a good podcast format is a conversation among friends at a bar—because that’s exactly what the first segment of this show offers. Last week I was overseas on the joint cruise of the Claremont Institute and the Pacific Research Institute, both celebrating their 40th anniversary this fall. Source

Age of Iron: On National Conservatism, with Colin Dueck Oct 11, 2019

Nationalism is the subject of the moment, and both the term and the idea come with more baggage than Paris Hilton and Khloe Kardashian after an afternoon of shopping on Rodeo Drive. I’ve had a few things to say about this controversial topic myself, but I am delighted to feature as this week’s special guest Colin Dueck of George Mason University, who is the author of a new book coming out from... Source

A Few Minutes with Hadley Arkes Oct 04, 2019

Last week I caught up with Hadley Arkes, Edward N. Ney Professor of Jurisprudence and American Institutions emeritus at Amherst College and the founder and director of the James Wilson Institute on Natural Rights & the American Founding, for a wide-ranging conversation about free speech, moral relativism, abortion, and other constitutional questions. Hadley is the author of numerous indispensable... Source

Breaking Down the 1619 Project, Pt. 4, with Lucas Morel Sep 29, 2019

Lucas Morel This week “Lucretia,” Power Line’s international woman of mystery, gets promoted to co-host as she and Steve Hayward welcome Lucas Morel to our special series on the 1619 Project. Morel is professor of politics and head of the politics department at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, where he teaches and writes on racial issues in American politics and history. Source

Reagan in the 1960s, and the Lessons for Today Sep 20, 2019

Last week I was honored once again to be the after dinner speaker for the fall meeting of the Friends of Ronald Reagan, a local civic group in Los Angeles that meets at the California Club to celebrate the enduring greatness and example of the Gipper. It’s always a fun evening, usually capped off with brandy and cigars out on the patio when dinner concludes. I decided to talk about how Reagan... Source

"Guilt Is The Greatest Form of Self-Indulgence"—Breaking Down the 1619 Project, Part 3 Sep 13, 2019

“Lucretia,” Power Line’s international woman of mystery, is back with Steve again this week with the third installment in our special series confronting the pernicious New York Times “1619 Project,” this time taking on the argument that slavery is the central factor in the rise of modern industrial capitalism—a proposal so laughable that we actually spend a lot of our time talking about entirely... Source

Heather Mac Donald's Greatest Hits Sep 06, 2019

This special double-length episode features a wide-ranging conversation with best-selling author and iconoclast Heather Mac Donald of the Manhattan Institute, with special focus on her new book, The Diversity Delusion: How Race and Gender Pandering Corrupt the University and Undermine Our Culture. I hosted Heather this week at . . . UC Berkeley (!!), and we decided that rather than going with a... Source

Special Edition: Breaking Down the "1619 Project," Part 2 Sep 03, 2019

We have a new theory about the mainstream media: they have decided to work without editors any more. How else to explain how the Washington Post slandered J.D. Vance with the claim that he decried the “falling white birth rate” (he said no such thing, and the Post had to correct the story), or MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell going to air with a completely uncorroborated story about Trump’s supposed... Source

The "Primal Screams" of the Sexual Revolution Aug 30, 2019

The old saying is that “sex sells,” and after the sexual revolution of the last several decades who can dispute that? Meanwhile, “identity politics” is the obsession of the current moment. Is there a connection? Yes, argues Mary Eberstadt in her new book Primal Screams: How the Sexual Revolution Created Identity Politics. Eberstadt, currently a senior research fellow at the Faith & Source

Special Edition: Breaking Down the "1619 Project," Part 1 Aug 27, 2019

As promised in our last episode, we return early this week with the first in a series of bonus episodes devoted to a deep dive into the New York Times‘s agitprop “1619 Project” that seeks to place slavery and racism as the central fact of the American story. In this first installment, Power Line’s International Woman of Mystery, “Lucretia” (who happens to teach political philosophy and American... Source

A Double-Header: The 1619 Project, and Our Rotten Universities Aug 24, 2019

This special double-header-end-of-summer Power Line Show features Steve Hayward and Power Line co-founder John Hinderaker venting about the “1619 Project” along with “Lucretia,” Power Line’s International Woman of Mystery. The “1619 Project” is so badly flawed that in the coming weeks we’re going to produce a series of special shows going point-by-point through its poisonous defects... Source

The Crisis in Darwinism? Aug 16, 2019

Readers of Thomas Kuhn’s famous book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions will know his central thesis that when anomalies and contradictions arise in a reigning scientific theory it creates a crisis out of which new theories emerge to replace the old. We may be seeing the beginnings of such a crisis for modern Darwinism, which appears to have gaps and contradictions that can’t be explained or... Source

Burke, Lincoln, and the Politics of Prudence, with Greg Weiner Aug 09, 2019

“Prudence” is not just something Dana Carvey liked to lampoon back when President George H.W. Bush was in office. Rather, it is the highest and most essential quality of those superb human beings we used to call “statesmen” before political science and history banished both terms in a fit of egalitarian madness that has yet to abate in our leading intellectual circles. One antidote to this... Source

From Ukraine to the Border, with Power Line's Female All-Stars Jul 30, 2019

By popular demand from listeners, this special edition of the Power Line Show features both Kelly Jane Torrance of the Washington Examiner and “Lucretia,” Power Line’s International Woman of Mystery. Kelly Jane is just back from serving as an official election watcher over in Ukraine, and lays out a delightful political scene that does Donald Trump one better in the TV entertainment division. Plus... Source

Judicial Fortitude, with Peter Wallison Jul 26, 2019

In recent years an arcane term from political science—the “administrative state”—has become a prominent part of everyday discussion. The administrative state refers to the trend, decades in the making, of transferring lawmaking power away from the legislative branch of government to permanent, unelected bureaucrats and executive agencies. The administrative state undermines a central principle of... Source

A Nationalist Revival? Jul 19, 2019

To paraphrase Karl Marx, a specter is haunting . . . well, just about everybody: the specter of a revival of nationalism. This week Steve Hayward attended the National Conservatism Conference in Washington, which was sponsored by the brand new Edmund Burke Institute. As Christopher DeMuth put it, “who knew that the next big thing would be the nation-state.” Of course if you say you are in favor of... Source

Andrew Roberts Unplugged, on Brexit, Churchill, Trump, and Historiography Jul 12, 2019

One of my teachers in graduate school, the great constitutional historian Leonard Levy, insisted that “a history must serve its readers with explanations that suit the horizons of their curiosity and with writing that entertains and stirs them.” No one exemplifies that vivid style of biography and history better than Andrew Roberts. I caught up with Andrew in San Francisco this week... Source

Five Things to Know About the Declaration This July 4, with "Lucretia" Jul 04, 2019

By popular demand from listeners, we’re bringing back “Lucretia,” Power Line’s International Woman of Mystery, on this special edition for the July 4 holiday. Many listeners asked us to offer up mini-tutorials on various aspects of the American Founding and political thought in general, so we break down the Declaration of Independence, drawing notice to five key features—including how some of the... Source

A Full-Tilt Rant-Fest with "Lucretia" Jun 29, 2019

You could be forgiven for thinking this week’s Democratic debates were straight out of an old Monty Python sketch, which prompted Steve Hayward to ring up Power Line’s International Woman of Mystery, “Lucretia,” for a full-tilt boogie rant-fest about what ought to be the two main “Freeport questions” that could unravel the Democratic Party between now and election day next year. Source

Fables of the Cuyahoga River Fire, with Jonathan Adler Jun 21, 2019

The Cuyahoga River on fire. But not when you think. This Saturday, June 22, marks the 50th anniversary of one of the iconic moments of the modern environmental history—the infamous Cuyahoga River fire in Cleveland. Things were so bad, the legend goes, that rivers were catching fire! But most of what you think you know about that story is incomplete or inaccurate, argues Jonathan H. Adler... Source

"Cocktails From Hell," With Col. Austin Bay Jun 15, 2019

This week’s special guest is Col. Austin Bay, author of a lively new book on foreign affairs and grand strategy, Cocktails From Hell: Five Complex Wars Shaping the 21st Century. Austin Bay has an extraordinary biography, including earning a Bronze Star for his service in the Iraq War. But that is only the beginning. Austin is the author or co-author of more than a dozen books (including a novel or... Source

The Noor Sentencing Hearing, and, What Kind of Country Are We Anyway!? Jun 07, 2019

This week’s two-part episode features Power Line’s own Scott Johnson reporting on the verdict today in the Mohammed Noor case—the Minneapolis police officer who was convicted last month for murder in the shooting of Justine Damond. Then we shift focus dramatically, talking with Prof. Joshua Dunn of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and Matthew Peterson, vice president for educational... Source

Everything You Know About the Enron Story Is Wrong: A Conversation with Rob Bradley May 31, 2019

This week my guest is the person who deserves to be known as the Robert Caro of energy history—Robert L. Bradley Jr. Rob is the founder of the Institute for Energy Research, one of the best go-to sources for information and analysis about energy (and especially debunking the nonsense energy romanticism of the left), but most important for our purposes is the author of several astounding histories... Source

"Populism" Marches on Overseas: Henry Olsen on Elections in the EU and Australia May 24, 2019

I’ve decided that “populism” is when the wrong person or party wins a democratic election. Certainly the way the media and liberal elites have reacted to the Liberal Party’s upset win in Australia bears this out (keep in mind that the Liberal Party in Australia is the conservative party, but what do you expect from a country in the southern hemisphere). The media horror over Australia has been... Source

The Antidote to Howard Zinn? "Land of Hope" with Wilfred McClay May 18, 2019

Lo and behold, I opened up this morning’s Wall Street Journal to see a weekend interview with this week’s guest, historian Wilfred M. McClay of the University of Oklahoma, about his brand new book Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story. In the course of our conversation, we cover not only what’s wrong (but also partly right) about Howard Zinn, but how Bill got the audacious idea... Source

"Cracks in the Ivory Tower": A Conversation with Phil Magness May 11, 2019

This week Steve Hayward talks with economic historian Phillip Magness, co-author (along with Jason Brennan) of a brilliant new book, Cracks in the Ivory Tower: The Moral Mess of Higher Education. This splendidly written and fast-paced book vindicates Stan Evans’s first rule of insufficient paranoia—no matter how bad you think things are, when you look closer, you find out it’s even worse than you... Source

"No Ad Hominem Arguments": A Conversation with Charles Lipson May 04, 2019

This week Steve Hayward talks with Charles Lipson, the Peter Ritzma Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Chicago, about how to talk and argue about matters amidst the increasingly bitter polarization of our time. But along the way we revisit his idiosyncratic intellectual odyssey that brought him from rural Mississippi to the Ivy leagues. In addition to his academic work on... Source

The Noor Trial Verdict Apr 30, 2019

Justine Damond Scott Johnson has been covering the trial of Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor, who was charged in the fatal 2017 shooting of Justine Damond. This afternoon the jury returned a guilty verdict on the counts of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. This trial has been closely watched because of the suspicion that officer Noor was accredited as a police officer for... Source

An Elephant and Its Trump: Populism, Nationalism and Conservatism Apr 27, 2019

I’ll bet you didn’t know you need a federal disaster management plan for your pet rabbit if you use your pet rabbit as part of a magic act for birthday parties. Well, you did, until the U.S. Department of Agriculture got embarrassed by the adverse publicity for this abject stupidity, but it is of a piece with the proposed European Union regulation on the proper length and curvature of bananas... Source

Reckoning With Race: America's Failure Apr 21, 2019

Gene Dattel is Steven Hayward’s extraordinary guest on this week’s show. Gene is the author of a book that deserves to be much better known—Reckoning With Race: America’s Failure (Encounter Books). This remarkably compact book is brimming with details about and revisions to the standard narratives of race relations in America from the colonial era right down to the present. Gene’s complete command... Source

"An Extended Discourse"—An Origin Story with William B. Allen Apr 14, 2019

This very special edition of the Power Line Show features Steve Hayward and two guest hosts—John and Elizabeth Eastman—in an extended conversation with William B. Allen, a teacher and thinker who defies easy description. All three of us were students of Bill Allen way back in the 1980s, and when chance and/or Providence put us all together again with Bill this week in Boulder, Colorado... Source

How "Progressive" Is Progressivism? Apr 07, 2019

How “Progressive” is Progressivism? Is there actually a “side of history,” or is that just the lazy formula of presumptive socialists who think they have a monopoly on the truth and don’t need to argue with or persuade anyone? In another of Steve Hayward’s lecture series for the William F. Buckley Jr. Program at Yale, Steve walks through more of the details of Progressivism then and now... Source

Where Joe Biden Meets Bryce Harper: A Henry Olsen Omnibus Mar 29, 2019

Have you had enough of the Mueller Report? Done smoldering over Smollett? Jazzed at opening day for MLB? Then have we got the show for you! This episode features a conversation with Henry Olsen about the lessons of the 2018 midterm, how the Democratic presidential field for 2020 is shaping up (with lots of mockery of course), a genteel argument about Henry’s views about why conservatives should... Source

How Much Do We Hate Woodrow Wilson? Let Us Count the Ways! Mar 23, 2019

Ask any knowledgeable conservative to identify their least-favorite president, and more and more the answer these days will come back: Woodrow Wilson! But this was not always so. For a long time FDR held the crown, but in the last generation a number of closer looks have come to recognize that Wilson, and the broader current of Progressive ideology he did so much to champion, is the real turning... Source

The Endless Quest for Social Equality Mar 17, 2019

By popular demand (with some listeners anyway), this episode features another lecture from Steve Hayward’s periodic series for the William F. Buckley Program at Yale, this time on the topic of “The Endless Quest for Social Equality.” This talk ranges widely from the contentions over income inequality that Thomas Piketty’s book ignited into the current bonfire of Bernie Sanders’s socialist vanity... Source

Fred Siegel—An Origin Story, Part 2 Mar 10, 2019

In this second part of our long conversation with Fred Siegel, Steve Hayward walks him through the final decay of New York in the 1980s after four decades of unrelenting liberal governance, how Rudy Giuliani turned it around in the 1990s, and what the prospects are for Mayor de Blasio. (Remember that this interview was originally recorded for video four years ago). From there we have a long... Source

The Row Over Rao, and CPAC Wrap-Up Mar 04, 2019

In this special double-episode, Steve Hayward takes the occasion of the last-minute hesitation over the nomination of Neomi Rao for the DC Circuit Court of Appeals to talk once again with “Lucretia,” Power Line’s International Woman of Mystery, about the issue of “substantive due process” that apparently worried a couple of Republican senators, and then we bring on our own John Hinderaker for a... Source

Fred Siegel—An Origin Story, Part 1 Feb 22, 2019

Steve Hayward goes back into the archives for an audio file from a video interview he conducted with Fred Siegel a few years back in which Fred explains how he came to shed the liberalism of his youth. Along the way, he provides a grand tour of some of the leading intellectuals he knew or read in the 1960s and 1970s, how he regarded the Vietnam War, what it was like working as a field rep for... Source

C.S. Lewis on Politics and the Natural Law Feb 15, 2019

Just in time for the long holiday weekend, an early edition of the Power Line Show, with special guest Justin Buckley Dyer of the University of Missouri. Prof. Dyer is the co-author (with Micah Watson) of a terrific book on C.S. Lewis on Politics and the Natural Law. Though Lewis was known as a literary critic and Christian apologist, a lot of his work bears on the deepest political and... Source

After the Flight 93 Election Feb 10, 2019

Michael Anton’s controversial 2016 essay “ The Flight 93 Election” was compared to Tom Paine’s Common Sense as a tract that grabbed the public imagination. Michael is back now with a new book, After the Flight 93 Election: The Vote That Saved America and What We Still Have to Lose. Steve Hayward talked with Michael Sunday afternoon, bringing us up to date on the Flight 93 thesis two years into the... Source

Lucretia, Unplugged Feb 03, 2019

Readers have been asking when we’ll have back Power Line’s International Woman of Mystery, “Lucretia,” and your wish is our command. “Lucretia” joins us again with some choice rants about the whole Ralph Northam affair and the Democrat’s “Calhoun moment” on abortion, the invincible ignorance of the new socialists like AOC, and the Wall. But then we turn to the really important subjects: wine... Source

Touring Hot Spots: Venezuela and Iran Jan 29, 2019

Venezuela has been slowly falling apart for more than a decade, but when matters reached a seeming crisis point last week, Steve Hayward decided it was high time to catch up with Mark Falcoff, the longtime Latin American expert now retired from the American Enterprise Institute, to walk us through the scene (including some terrific trivia about the structure of the Venezuelan army). Source

Is "New Originalism" an Oxymoron? Jan 24, 2019

Constitutional originalism is the cornerstone of conservative jurisprudence today, but there are several rival versions of originalism, and sometimes you even hear about the “new” originalism, which sounds more like an old Spinal Tap joke. This week Steve Hayward caught up with John Eastman, the Salvatori Professor of Law at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law and senior fellow at the... Source

Equality and Its Discontents Jan 17, 2019

This episode offers another of Steve Hayward’s lectures for the William F. Buckley Program at Yale, this time on the subject of equality. Borrowing from the taxonomy of the legendary political scientist Aaron Wildavsky, Steve explains why 600 percent of the American people are victims of oppression! Steve also reviews some of the disagreements among prominent conservative thinkers about the... Source

The World According to Chris DeMuth, Pt. 2 Jan 09, 2019

This second installment of Steve Hayward’s conversation with Chris DeMuth takes up Chris’s “origin story” with his work on regulatory reform starting in the Reagan Administration, and taking the story of neoconservatism through its transformations in the 1990s and 2000s. Our conversation ends with Chris’s observations on the current hot button phenomena of populism, nationalism... Source

The World According to Chris DeMuth, Part 1 Jan 02, 2019

Steve Hayward recently sat down to conduct another “origin story” interview with Christopher DeMuth, who is nowadays a distinguished fellow at the Hudson Institute, where he writes actively about government regulation and the administrative state. Prior to coming to Hudson, Chris was the long time president of the American Enterprise Institute, and served in senior positions in the Nixon and... Source

A New Year's Eve Reunion for "The Beatles" Dec 27, 2018

Getting Power Line’s own “fab four” (John, Paul , George and Ringo, Scott and Steve) together at once is almost as hard as getting The Beatles back together, even though all of the Power Line Fab Four are still living. But we did better than that: For our special year-end wrap-up and prediction show, we also assembled “Yoko Ono” (Susan Vass, aka “Ammo Grrrll”) and “Brian Epstein” (aka, Joe Malchow... Source

Justice Without Hyphens, or, Is "Post-Modern Conservatism" an Oxymoron? Dec 23, 2018

This week you’re really in for it, as Steve Hayward presents another of his lectures on conservative thought at Yale for the William F. Buckley Program. Steve decides to tackle the “P-word”—Postmodernism. The term is overused, vague, and, like so many other things, badly corrupted by the left. In fact, the useable parts of it are actually old conservative ideas in some respects—a fresh vindication... Source

Special Doubleheader: Campaign Finance and Yuval Levin Dec 16, 2018

This special doubleheader edition takes up the question of whether President Trump’s hush money payments to his temporary girlfriends is indeed a campaign finance violation with campaign finance law expert and California Fair Political Practices Commission member Allison R. Hayward (and in case you’re wondering, the answer is Yes). It’s not so clear cut as many in the media are saying... Source

"Historians in Cars": Andrew Roberts on Historical Writing and Churchill Dec 05, 2018

The distinguished British historian and biographer Andrew Roberts has just released Churchill: Walking With Destiny, which the New York Times (along with several other prominent publications) has called “the best one-volume biography of Churchill ever written.” Steve Hayward borrowed a page from Jerry Seinfeld’s “Comedians in Cars” and interviewed Andrew during a car ride (maybe we should start a... Source

Talking Economic Liberty with Chip Mellor Nov 30, 2018

This week the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Timbs v. Indiana, concerning the widespread practice of “civil asset forfeiture,” in which law enforcement will seize your property upon arrest (sometimes even without an arrest and criminal charge) and keep the money or asset for themselves. By coincidence this week Steve Hayward ran into the person who helped to make this case (and... Source

Talking Civil Rights With Gail Heriot Nov 21, 2018

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is out with a new report this week on Police Use of Force, and you know what that means—another sprightly dissent from commission member Gail Heriot. You can read Gail’s take on the report, and how the media misrepresented her views (as usual) here. Gail Heriot is professor of law at the University of San Diego, and has a long track record in the area of civil... Source

Conservative Fight Club! Nov 16, 2018

Now I know what you’re thinking, and you’d be wrong: the first rule of Conservative Fight Club is that you never shut up about Conservative Fight Club! In this recent lecture for the William F. Buckley Jr Program at Yale (originally titled “Varieties of Conservative Experience” in homage to the famous William James title), Steve Hayward explains the five major subdivisions on the right... Source

On the Firing Line with Ammo Grrrll Nov 12, 2018

Scott Johnson joins host Steve Hayward this week for a podcast book party celebrating the launch of a collection of columns from “Ammo Grrrll,” Power Line’s Friday morning humor writer, Susan Vass. Ammo Grrrll Hits the Target is a collection of the first year of Susan’s Power Line columns, which have become a hit with readers. Susan is a retired stand-up comic, and this episode talks about the... Source

Henry Olsen's Midterm Outlook Nov 01, 2018

We’re up early with this week’s edition of the Power Line Show, because Steve Hayward (his voice finally back to about 90 percent) cornered Henry Olsen to get Henry’s Jedi-like outlook on the mid-term election next week. Henry’s not ready yet to make many specific calls—his detailed race-by-race forecast will go up at National Review Online this Sunday night or next Monday morning—but right how he... Source

Edmund Burke: The First Conservative Oct 28, 2018

While Steve Hayward continues to nurse his voice back to full strength, this episode of the Power Line Show offers another of Steve’s Yale lectures on conservative philosophy, this time on the topic “Edmund Burke: The First Conservative.” Unfortunately Burke wasn’t available for an interview, so it’s just Steve’s introductory thoughts on why Burke’s writings remain highly relevant to our own times... Source

Conservatism and Its Enemies Oct 20, 2018

A slight departure for the Power Line Show this week: Steve Hayward has lost his voice (bringing cheer to his critics and enemies), and couldn’t do the author interview planned for this week, so John Hinderaker stepped in to host this episode with special guest. . . Steve Hayward! Just how does that work, you say? Well, Steve is currently giving a series of periodic lectures on conservatism at... Source

"We can win this thing!" Revisiting the Cold War with Herbert Meyer Oct 13, 2018

Herbert Meyer, a senior CIA official during the Reagan years and occasional contributor to Ricochet, suffered a serious bicycle accident recently and remains hospitalized. Herb was one of the first persons in the Reagan Administration who began to think out loud what Reagan had thought more privately—we can win the Cold War with the Soviet Union! With several new books about Reagan and the Cold... Source

The Deep End of the (Lord) Liverpool Oct 06, 2018

The Power Line Show takes a break from the All-Kavanaugh-All-the-Time format of recent weeks, and sits down with historian William Anthony Hay, author of a brand new biography of Robert Banks Jenkinson. What? You’ve never heard of Robert Banks Jenkinson? You might recognize him better by his “stage name,” Lord Liverpool, Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1812-1827, during the windup of the... Source

#NotMeToo! Sep 21, 2018

With the Kavanaugh-Ford sexual assault controversy reaching a climax in the next few days, Steve Hayward decided to check in with “Lucretia,” Power Line’s “International Woman of Mystery,” and Julie Kelly, frequent contributor to American Greatness and other sites, to see what they make of the situation. To say they are “not impressed” with Ford’s allegations against Kavanaugh would be a Cat 5... Source

"Breaking Away" with Reagan, Trump, and the Midterms Sep 15, 2018

This episode features the address Steve Hayward delivered this week to the Friends of Ronald Reagan at the California Club in Los Angeles, reflecting back on how Reagan weathered two tough mid-term elections and what lessons it might hold for Trump and Republicans this November. Dennis Quaid, who has signed recently to star as Reagan in an upcoming biopic, was in the audience... Source

She's Ba-aack! "Lucretia" on Cyber-Security Sep 10, 2018

Between the incessant controversy about Russia hacking our elections, and the recent recommendation of several U.S. science academies that we return to paper ballots, we thought it was high time to devote an episode to cyber-security issues. And we have just the person for the topic: “Lucretia,” Power Line’s International Woman of Mystery. In addition to being an expert on the Constitution... Source

The Power Line Show Ep 86: November's Coming! Sep 02, 2018

With two more weeks of primary election results to pick over, Steve Hayward checks in with Henry Olsen to see how things look. Florida increasingly appears to be the most interesting battleground state, with very competitive races for both governor and U.S. Senator. Henry also puts down his political polling data and puts on his Bill James hat to look ahead to the baseball playoff season starting... Source

Vietnam Revisited, With Mackubin T. Owens Aug 26, 2018

After receiving a query from a young person about why the U.S. didn’t aim for victory in Vietnam, Steve Hayward decided to put the question to Mackubin T. Owens, a Marine Corps veteran of Vietnam and long time professor of strategic studies at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. Mac has also written for National Review, the New York Post, and numerous other publications... Source

Blue Wave or Red Tide? Aug 20, 2018

Will the November election produce a (Democratic) blue wave or a (Republican) red tide? Pre-election opinion polls this year seem more volatile than ever, and beyond the horse-race aspect, there are lots of problems with opinion polling in the age of cell phones and the internet. Steve Hayward sat down with Karlyn Bowman, public opinion specialist at AEI and author of recent article on “ Is... Source

The University We Need? Aug 15, 2018

Steve Hayward, just back from a regional meeting of the National Association of Scholars, sits down with Warren Treadgold, author of brand new book, The University We Need, which offers a bold idea: because colleges and universities are so far gone and likely unfixable, the time has come to found a brand new elite university that not only departs from the dreary orthodoxy of campus leftism... Source

"Born American, But in the Wrong Place"—Remembering Peter Schramm Aug 06, 2018

In this very special episode, Steve Hayward uses some unaired material from a long interview with the late Peter Schramm of the Ashbrook Center. Peter passed away in August 2015, and left a legacy of brilliant and inspirational teaching to a generation of students at Ashland University. This Hungarian immigrant is best known from his lecture and essay on how he became an American, “Born American... Source

Iran Primed for Revolution? Jul 30, 2018

If a thuggish regime fell in the forest and the New York Times didn’t report it, did it make a sound? This week Steve Hayward talks with Kelly Jane Torrance of the Weekly Standard about what is going on in Iran, where the Trump Administration’s heavy pressure may be straining the regime to the breaking point. But the mainstream U.S. media seem to be ignoring the tidings of increasing unrest and... Source

The 14th Amendment at 150, Part 2 Jul 22, 2018

Steve Hayward and his pseudonymous mystery guest “Lucretia” return for the second half of their conversation about the meaning and interpretation of the 14th Amendment. Building on last week’s analysis of the “equal protection clause,” this episode goes on to the other three important clauses in Section 1—the “citizenship clause,” the “privileges and immunities clause,” and the “due process clause. Source

The 14th Amendment at 150, Part 1 Jul 16, 2018

This month marks the 150th anniversary of the enactment of the 14th Amendment, which has been abused perhaps more than any other part of the Constitution. Steve Hayward welcomes back to the show the pseudonymous mystery guest from last week, “Professor X,” who knows more about the 14th Amendment than the Power Line crew has forgotten. In this first of a two-part series, Steve and “Prof. Source

Here Comes Da Judge! Jul 09, 2018

With the ascent of “democratic socialism” in the Democratic party and a Supreme Court confirmation fight commencing this week, Steve Hayward checks in for the latest on how this may play out in the midterm election with Henry Olsen, and also introduces us to a new special, anonymous (and soon to be regular) mystery guest, “Professor X.” She teaches at a major public university, and argues that we... Source

Bulldog Edition Jul 02, 2018

Steve Hayward talks with two proud Yale bulldog alumni—James Kirchick of the Brookings Institution and Jeremy Carl of the Hoover Institution, about the mess in higher education and the mess at our border. It’s a coin flip between which is the bigger mess today—immigration or college campus madness, and maybe there is a connecting thread. But stick around, we have a side dish of energy policy... Source

Killer Tomatoes and the Electricity Grid Jun 25, 2018

What could the cult-camp classic “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes” have to do with the electricity grid? A lot, as it turns out, and Steve Hayward ponders this gonzo crossover topic with three experts on energy policy, Lynne Kiesling of Purdue University, author Robert Bryce, and author/activist Tisha Schuller. Not only does this episode feature killer garden produce, but it also has Steve Martin... Source

The IG Report, and the Latest Big Wave Surf Forecast Jun 16, 2018

Steve Hayward is joined this week by Power Line’s own John Hinderaker and Power Line’s eminence grise behind the curtain, Joe Malchow, to dissect the key takeaways of the Inspector General’s findings about the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton. The second half of this episode features Henry Olsen with his latest “surf report” about where the Democrats’ “blue wave” stands at the moment. Source

"The Suicide of the University" Revisited, with Charles Copeland Jun 12, 2018

This week’s episode offers a conversation between Steve Hayward and Charles Copeland, president of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute ( ISI) about the crisis of the university, especially Steve’s favorite theme that universities are slowly committing intellectual suicide. This discussion took place at the recent Western Conservative Summit in Denver. Source

Michael Walsh's Fiery Angel Jun 03, 2018

Steve Hayward talks this week with author Michael Walsh about his new book, The Fiery Angel: Art, Culture, Sex, Politics, and the Struggle for the Soul of the West. Walsh has encyclopedic knowledge of high culture from Homer to Rocky IV, with detours to opera, novels, fine art, and classical music along the way, revealing deep layers of political and cultural meaning and explaining why the... Source

Is Progress Making Progress? May 29, 2018

Steve Hayward caught up with the noted author Matt Ridley and energy entrepreneur Chris Wright in a hotel lobby in Denver last week, and decided to make a podcast of it! Matt Ridley (nowadays Lord Ridley!) is the author of many fine books, including The Rational Optimist and The Evolution of Everything: How New Ideas Emerge. Ridley is one of the leading “lukewarmers”—the band of people who believe... Source

A Hard Look at Hard Power May 22, 2018

Steve Hayward sits down with Rebecca Heinrichs of the Hudson Institute to survey the scene with regard to defense spending, middle defense, what Russia and China are up to, how the North Korea talks may go, and why Trump, like Mark Twain’s comment on Wagner’s music, is better than he looks when it comes to foreign and defense policy. Special shout out to Peter Schramm, our mutual teacher and... Source

The "Flight 93 Election" Comes in for a Landing May 14, 2018

Steve Hayward and John Hinderaker interviewed Michael Anton, former senior staffer at Trump’s National Security Council and author of the controversial “ Flight 93 Election” article from September 2016, at the Ricochet Podcast Summit in Washington. Anton revisited the infamous article, shared his insights about Trump’s political character, and also regaled the live audience with a great tale of... Source

The Suicide of the University May 07, 2018

This week Steve Hayward talks with . . . Steve Hayward! Well, not exactly. This special edition of the Power Line show features a keynote lecture Steve delivered at Arizona State University back in February on “The Suicide of the University.” Maybe coming next as a book and feature film. Source

Helping Henry May 01, 2018

Who can make the connection between an obscure and bizarre British kids TV show and contemporary U.S. political analysis? The Power Line Show, that’s who! “Henry, were helping Henry and were telling Henry everything we know, Henry, were helping Henry, but we’ve still got a long long way too go!”—is the refrain of “Helping Henry,” but in this episode, Henry Olsen of the Ethics and Public Policy... Source

Speak Freely, and Other Heresies Apr 26, 2018

The controversies surrounding free speech and academic freedom opened a new front last week with the execrable comments about the late First Lady Barbara Bush from Fresno State University professor Randa Jarrar. Steve Hayward talks here with Keith Whittington of Princeton University, author of a new book, “Speak Freely: Why Universities Must Defend Free Speech.” But as Whittington is also a... Source

The Telos of Teles Apr 16, 2018

Steven Teles of Johns Hopkins University is a rare liberal who writes with great perception and fairness about conservatism and conservative ideas. In this episode, Steve Hayward talks with Teles about his fine new book (co-authored with Brink Lindsay) “The Captured Economy,” and also about liberalism, intellectual history, and especially about the need for more conservatives in higher education. Source

The Lives of the Constitution Apr 10, 2018

Claremont Institute fellow Joseph Tartakovsky is out this week with a fascinating new book that illuminates the Constitution with a unique approach: “The Lives of the Constitution” explores the meaning of our central political document through the stories of ten important figures in the story—some familiar, like Alexander Hamilton, but some less well known, like James Wilson and Stephen Field. Source

Finding Nino: A Celebration of Justice Scalia Apr 03, 2018

Steve Hayward talks with Ed Whelan, president of of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, author of “Bench Memos” on National Review Online, and co-editor of “Scalia Speaks: Reflections on Law, Faith, and a Live Well Lived.” In addition to recalling the rich legacy of Justice Scalia, Steve and Ed talk about the problems of jurisprudence today, and in this season of new controversy over the 2nd... Source

How Charles Murray Became Charles Murray Mar 27, 2018

In this very special episode, Steve Hayward gets an origin story out of Charles Murray, surveying the sweep of his life from childhood in Iowa through Harvard, the Peace Corps in Asia, and evaluating social programs in the 1970s where his growing doubts and misgivings started him on the road to his many pathbreaking books. Along the way, Steve and Charles also talk about NASA and the Apollo... Source

Help Us Obi-Wan Henry—You're Our Only Hope Mar 19, 2018

In our regular bi-weekly checkup with Henry Olsen, the Obi-Wan Kenobi of election analysts, Steve Hayward and Henry cover the fallout from the special election in House district 18 in Pennsylvania, how the tariff issue might play out, what to expect in the aftermath of the recent chaotic Italian election, plus a look ahead to November, including some of the key governor’s races like Bruce Rauner... Source

American Women's Day Mar 12, 2018

We decided to transcend the recent International Women’s Day by declaring our own American Women’s Day with Julie Ponzi and Julie Kelly, stalwarts of AmericanGreatness. Steve Hayward draws out their views on how to come to grips with Trump, why the culture wars are more important in the short run than the budget deficit, and who they hope the Democrats will be foolish enough to nominate in 2020. Source

The Future of Free Speech on Campus Mar 06, 2018

In this short episode, Steve Hayward shares his recent short lecture at Claremont McKenna College on the campus threats to free speech, analyzing the pincer movement of the wholesale postmodernist rejection of the liberal tradition and recent social science that purports to establish that speech constitutes literal violence. If either of these attacks take firm hold, the liberal tradition is over... Source

Populism Sweeping Europe? Feb 28, 2018

Steve Hayward catches up with Henry Olsen in London, ahead of the upcoming general election in Italy where populist parties are expected to do well, and where German politics remain in disarray because of the populist eruption in their last general election. Meanwhile, Brexit continues to be a non-stop agony for British PM Theresa May, while the best performing government in western Europe right... Source

CPAC Recap and Shooting Aftermath Feb 26, 2018

Power Line co-founder John Hinderaker joins Steve Hayward to offer up a recap on the just-concluded annual CPAC meeting, and to analyze the aftermath of the Florida school shooting, where media distortion and liberal virtue-signalling are reaching Olympic gold medal proportions. Source

Fred Siegel Explains It All Feb 20, 2018

Steve Hayward sits down with author Fred Siegel about a wide range of topics, from Trump and the Democrats, to how to think about leading intellectuals including H.L. Mencken, Arthur Schlesinger, Richard Rorty, Michel Foucault, and Mark Lilla, and the problems of the coastal elites in California and New York. Source

The Missing Linker Feb 12, 2018

Is it possible to be a liberal but not a “Progressive”? Steve Hayward sat down with Damon Linker, author and columnist for The Week, to discuss this and related questions, such as why Linker defected from the right to become a moderate liberal (hence “the missing Linker”), and his thoughts about religion and politics. Source

Fee, Fi, Fo, FISA Feb 08, 2018

With news breaking of the possible involvement of President Obama in the FBI investigation of Carter Page along with Sidney Blumenthal slithering from the sewer yet again, Steve Hayward asked John Yoo some questions about how the FISA process actually works—especially the three renewals of the Page warrant that required new probable cause. What could that evidence have been? Possibly nothing. Source

The Second Iranian Revolution? Feb 06, 2018

Steve Hayward talks with Kelly Jane Torrance, deputy managing editor of the Weekly Standard, about the protests in Iran and the Iranian dissident movement in exile, which is being ignored by nearly all of the mainstream media. Torrance is one of the only journalists covering this story closely, while still making time to keep up her title as the Cocktail Queen of Washington. Source

Regarding Henry Jan 29, 2018

Steve Hayward sits down with Henry Olsen, author and senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, but also a premier practicioner of “psephology” (try pronouncing that fast three times—or just once!), which we define as reading the entrails of public opinion polls to figure out what the heck is going on. Henry was one of the very few to predict Trump’s 2016 victory in detail. Source

Getting Tired of All the Greatness! Jan 25, 2018

Steve Hayward is joined by the triumvirate behind American Greatness ( amgreatness.com)—Chris Buskirk, Ben Boychuk and Julie Ponzi—to talk more about what the MAGA agenda means in practice, the shape of the fast-moving debate over immigration reform, whether the decline of California is irreversible, what lessons should be learned from the dramatic fall of Steve Bannon. And Steve debuts Power Line’... Source

The Lighter Side of Deeble Jan 10, 2018

Steve Hayward reached all the way across the Atlantic to track down comedian/magician (and occasional Ricochet contributor) David Deeble to talk about comedy, why most comics (and actors and most other artists) are liberal, and the challenges of comedy in Germany, which isn’t exactly known for its appreciation of comedy. If you’ve never seen David in action, look him up at his website (... Source

Life After Franken in Minnesota Jan 04, 2018

Steve Hayward and John Hinderaker take note of the exit of Al Franken from the Senate, and how it has thrown Minnesota politics into a state of turmoil, making it ground zero for the mid-term election later this year. Unnoticed by the national media, Minnesota has been slowly turning into a red state—Trump nearly won it in 2016—and this year will see two Senate races as well as a governor’s race. Source

Celebrating a Year of American Greatness Dec 29, 2017

In this year-end episode, Steve Hayward checks in with Ben Boychuk, columnist for the Sacramento Bee and managing editor of the American Greatness website, about how to think about Trump—yes, we’re still trying to figure him out too—and looking ahead to next year. Conservatives are mostly pleased with Trump’s first year. What might go wrong for Trump in 2018? Source

Shedding Light on "Darkest Hour" Dec 21, 2017

“Darkest Hour,” the new Churchill biopic that comes out in general release this week, has generated some controversy about its accuracy and depiction of Churchill in the crucial weeks of May 1940. Steven Hayward, who liked the film, and Scott Johnson, who disliked it, argue it over and break it down for us, and end with a list of Churchill books everyone should read. Source

Two Cheers for Tammany Hall! May 17, 2017

Steve Hayward sits down with Jonathan Rauch of the Atlantic Monthly and Brookings Institution to discuss Jon’s latest ebook, Political Realism, and also the parlous state of free speech on college campuses. Jon offers the counter-intuitive thesis that decades of political reform have made our government worse! Then since Jon was visiting Steve at Berkeley, the conversation pivots to the problem of... Source

The Next Broadway Hit for the Trump Era: Madison?! Feb 09, 2017

In this episode of the Power Line Show, Steve Hayward converses with John Yoo about the early days of the Trump Administration, the immigration order, the Gorsuch nomination, and especially how the time is ripe for the obvious Broadway sequel to “Hamilton,” namely, a hip-hop ode to that great advocate of limiting executive power—James Madison. In this episode of the Power Line Show... Source

Back to the Beach (Boys) with Michael Anton Dec 09, 2016

With the election over, we can get back to important things. Like the Beach Boys. Except, like everything else, the left has politicized the Beach Boys too. In this episode of the Power Line Show, Steve Hayward talks with writer and native Californian Michael Anton about the Beach Boys, the decline of California into a center-left state, and even Machiavelli. Source

Strange Times Oct 19, 2016

Tonight, John, Scott and Steve got together to talk about the strangest political season of modern times. Questions abound: Does Trump still have a chance? Will tomorrow night’s debate matter? Will the Hillary Clinton scandals that have come out recently give Trump a shot in the campaign’s waning days? How about the Senate? Can the Republicans hold it? If Hillary wins and the Senate is 50/50... Source

Rising Stars on the Right Sep 02, 2016

This edition of the Power Line Show features Steve Hayward in conversation with Jeremy Carl of the Hoover Institution. Jeremy helps direct the Shultz-Stephenson Task Force on Energy Policy at Hoover, and write frequently on American politics for National Review Online and other publications. Jeremy explains his interest in the environment, as well as why and how we all missed the Trump wake up... Source

Decoding Evangelical Politics with Mike Cromartie Aug 04, 2016

One of the surprises of the GOP primary campaign season was the strong support Donald Trump received from many—though not all—evangelical Christian voters. Maybe the so-called “religious right” isn’t as monolithic as the media supposes. In this edition of the Power Line Show, Steve Hayward interviews one of the most insightful observers of the religious right, Michael Cromartie of the Ethics and... Source

The DNC, Scott & Charlie at the Spa, and Yuval Levin Jul 26, 2016

This edition of the Power Line Show offers our quick reacts to the opening of the fractious Democratic National Convention, Scott’s bonding with Charlie Rangel at a Trump health spa in Florida (!!), and our interview with Yuval Levin, author of Our Fractured Republic. Source

The Shape of the Race, And the Omens of Brexit, with Henry Olsen Jul 15, 2016

We caught up with Henry Olsen on the eve of the GOP convention in Cleveland to discuss the shape of the race right now, and the prospects for a return of ticket-splitting in down-ballot races if Trump loses. Also, one more victory lap for the fabulous Brexit vote, with a look at the surprising fallout in the British government under new PM Theresa May... Source

Has Energy Ended 40 Years in the Wilderness? Jul 09, 2016

In this special edition of the Power Line Show, Steve Hayward talks with author Robert Bryce about the new world of global oil prices which has ended, probably forever, OPEC’s 40-year dominance. They also talk about the perverse subsidies for and output from “renewable” energy, and why nuclear power may be poised for a comeback. Source

Moral Narcissism, with Roger Simon Jun 21, 2016

Tonight John, Paul, and Steve kicked around some of the major news stories of the day, including the terrorist attack in Orlando and the Democrats’ effort to change the subject to gun control. Also, Donald Trump’s train wreck of a campaign: can it get back on track? They were joined by Roger Simon, author of the just-released I Know Best: How Moral Narcissism Is Destroying Our Republic, If It Hasn’... Source

Frankfurters All the Way Down May 19, 2016

This episode of the Power Line podcast features an interview with Michael Walsh about his recent book The Devil’s Pleasure Palace: The Cult of Critical Theory and the Subversion of the West. Walsh explains how most of the nihilistic radicalism of our time derives from the “Frankfurt School,” the group of mid-20th century emigre philosophers whose eclectic post-Marxist thought can be found at the... Source

Dangerous Doctrine May 13, 2016

John Hinderaker, Steve Hayward, and Scott Johnson got together in person for this episode, which features Steve’s interview with Robert Kaufman, author of Dangerous Doctrine: How Obama’s Grand Strategy Weakened America, and Scott’s reporting direct from the courtroom of the trial of the three “Minnesota Men.”... Source

Back In the Arena! Apr 30, 2016

The show has been on hiatus while John toured Australia and the Caribbean. But he’s back now, and this afternoon John, Scott, and Steve recorded Episode 34 of the Power Line Show. Their guest was Pete Hegseth, an old friend from his days in the military and with Vets For Freedom. Pete’s new book is called In the Arena. He talked about his experiences as a soldier in Guantanamo Bay... Source

Please Stop Helping Us Feb 18, 2016

John, Paul, and Steve got together for Episode 33 of the Power Line Show. They were joined by Jason Riley, author of Please Stop Helping Us: How Liberals Make It Harder for Blacks to Succeed. It is a terrific book, and Riley was an excellent guest. Among other things, they talked about the fact that blacks made more economic and educational progress prior to the civil rights era and the dawn of... Source

Never Say "Trump" Again Jan 30, 2016

This afternoon Paul, Steve, and John got together for a guest-free edition of the Power Line Show. Topic number one was, of course, last night’s GOP debate in Iowa and the state of the races in both parties. Steve and Paul ventured predictions on New Hampshire. They found time for a few more stories in the news, including the latest on Hillary’s home email server, possibly the worst IT decision in... Source

Sen. Sessions and The State of the Union or a Root Canal? Jan 12, 2016

John, Scott, and Steve got together for a new edition of Power Line. Paul was unable to join due to a dentist appointment, which raises the question: would you rather get a root canal, or watch tonight’s State of the Union speech? Topics include the epidemic of mass sexual assault in Europe, and the podcast winds up with a terrific interview with Senator Jeff Sessions, which covers tonight’s... Source

San Bernardino and The Hate Crimes Hoax Dec 04, 2015

The whole Power Line crew assembled to discuss the issues of the day—specifically, the terrorist attack in San Bernardino, the crazed liberal responses thereto, and the attack’s public policy implications with respect to, most notably, immigration. And also, of course, the incident’s potential impact on the 2016 presidential race. The remainder of the show was devoted to campus craziness in its... Source

A Dark Day Around the World, with Dan Polisar Nov 14, 2015

As the terror attacks in Paris unfolded, John, Scott and Steve hosted Episode 29 of the Power Line Show. The attacks threw both halves of the show into sharp relief. We started by interviewing Dan Polisar, author of in important article in titled “ What Do Palestinians Want?” Polisar reviewed years’ worth of public opinion polling of Palestinians. He found several common themes... Source

Phantom Bias and The Incarceration Myth Oct 30, 2015

The Manhattan Institute’s Heather Mac Donald joins John and Steve to discuss her poltically incorrect (and therefore quite thought provoking) new piece in City Journal titled, “The Decriminalization Delusion.” Heather describes the “phantom bias” that the press and academics are trying to root out, because, as she notes in her article, “At the state and city levels, hardly a single criminal... Source

Lawless Oct 23, 2015

This morning Paul, Scott, and John got together for Episode 28 of the Power Line Show. They were joined by law professor David Bernstein to talk about his new book Lawless: The Obama Administration’s Unprecedented Assault on the Constitution and the Rule of Law. This is a can’t-miss conversation and a must-read book. For the rest of the show, the PL crew talked about Hillary Clinton’s committee... Source

Let The Felons Go! Oct 09, 2015

Today, John, Paul and Scott got together for Episode 27 of the Power Line Show. They were joined by former federal prosecutor Bill Otis, and discussed the criminal justice “reform” bill that is being rushed through the Senate. If you have wondered whether it is really a good idea to let a lot of convicted felons out of federal prisons on the ground that their drug dealing was “non-violent... Source

Truth and Rathergate Sep 11, 2015

The entire Power Line gang gathered for the latest episode of the Power Line Show. They talked about Rathergate and the absurd new movie mis-titled Truth, which just opened in Toronto. Harry MacDougald, the famous “Buckhead” of the Rathergate story, joined the group and related his part in one of the biggest journalism stories of modern times. From Rathergate, the gang moved on to Iran and the... Source

Donald and the 16 Dwarfs Aug 28, 2015

Today John, Paul, and Steve got together for Episode 24 of Power Line. They’re joined by Eliana Johnson, Washington Editor for the National Review. They kicked around the latest news and Washington gossip about the presidential race on both sides of the aisle. The remainder of the podcast was spent talking about the Vester Flanagan murders and related topics such as, the political misuse of mass... Source

The Selfie Vote and Keeping Up With Millennials Aug 12, 2015

Join John, Paul, and Steve for Episode 23 of Power Line. In this episode they are joined by Kristen Soltis Anderson, of Echelon Insights and author of The Selfie Vote: Where Millennials Are Leading America (And How Republicans Can Keep Up). It was a wide-ranging interview with one of America’s most interesting young conservatives. The interview was followed by a spirited discussion of two of the... Source

The Lion, The Donald, and The Video Tapes Aug 01, 2015

The entire crew — Scott, Paul, Steve and John — assembled for this episode of Power Line. They kicked around the issues of the day, including the pros and cons of Donald Trump, Cecil the lion, the seemingly bipartisan criminal justice “reform” movement, and the Planned Parenthood videos. The discussion was lively, to say the least. If you haven’t been listening to the Power Line Show... Source

The Coalition of the Unwilling Jul 15, 2015

The Power Line crew joins the Coalition of the Unwilling in finding nothing to cheer in the Iran nuclear arms deal that was announced today. But the first half of the show features a conversation with Stanley Kurtz, author of several important books including, most recently, Spreading the Wealth: How Obama is Robbing the Suburbs to Pay for the Cities. Stanley has been all over the unfolding... Source

Good News and Bad News With Dana Perino and SCOTUS Jun 27, 2015

This afternoon John Hinderaker, Steve Hayward, and Paul Mirengoff got together to record Episode 20 of the Power Line show. They talked with Dana Perino about her new book, And the Good News Is… Lessons and Advice from the Bright Side, her experience as press secretary for President George W. Bush, and her starring role on Fox News’s The Five. Then it was on to the news of the day... Source

How Obama Abandoned Israel Jun 19, 2015

In this episode of Power Line we welcome Israel’s former ambassador to the United States Michael Oren. Ambassador Oren’s new book is Ally: My Journey Across the American Israeli Divide. Oren’s June 15 Wall Street Journal column “How Obama Abandoned Israel,” drawn from the book, has already elicited a demand from the Obama administration that Prime Minister Netanyahu denounce it. No kidding. Source

Making History By Changing History Jun 17, 2015

Steve, Paul, and John present Episode 19 of Power Line. They are joined by Professor Charles Kesler of Claremont McKenna College, the editor of the Claremont Review of Books. Professor Kesler is one of the scholars who signed a letter objecting to the College Board’s new standards for teaching American history to advanced placement high school students. The standards require teachers to put... Source

Making History By Changing History Jun 17, 2015

Steve, Paul, and John present Episode 19 of Power Line. They are joined by Professor Charles Kesler of Claremont McKenna College, the editor of the Claremont Review of Books. Professor Kesler is one of the scholars who signed a letter objecting to the College Board’s new standards for teaching American history to advanced placement high school students. The standards require teachers to put... Source

Peter Wehner on Obama’s Cataclysmic Foreign Policy Failures May 30, 2015

Power Line welcomes Peter Wehner to the show this week to discuss a recent column where Whener asks, “What are the worst foreign policy failures of Barack Obama’s presidency?“ In a wide ranging conversation, the gang talks about the rise of ISIS, losing the war in Iraq, failing to aid Iran’s Green Revolution and triggering a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. (And that’s only half of what... Source

More Chases than "The Fugitive," Exciting Like "The French Connection" May 19, 2015

What do The Weathermen, The Symbionese Liberation Army, The FALN, and The Black Liberation Army all have in common? Well, besides being a swell bunch of fellas, they’re all featured in-depth throughout Bryan Burrough’s great new book, Days of Rage: America’s Radical Underground, the FBI, and the Forgotten Age of Revolutionary Violence. The original Power Line crew welcomes Burrough to the show and... Source

The Stories Inside "Clinton Cash" May 09, 2015

Unless you’re waking from a long coma* you’ve likely heard that the philanthropic endeavors of the Clinton Foundation may not just be for the common good. But while TV’s talking heads have been discussing the book’s details, they’ve largely overlooked some of the fascinating stories inside Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary... Source

Gov. Scott Walker Apr 25, 2015

Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wisconsin) addressed the Freedom Club’s annual dinner in Minnesota. Walker made time between photos and the dinner for a Power Line interview. From Power Line’s John Hinderacker: How was his speech? It was terrific. I have wondered whether Walker would be dynamic enough to succeed on the national stage. His low-key style has served him well in Wisconsin, but would he be able... Source

Hillary, Scooby, and the Burrito Bowl Incident Apr 17, 2015

Last night, three of the PL crew (John, Paul, and Steve) got together for a review of the presidential race as it currently stands. A principal topic was Hillary Clinton’s bizarre rollout, complete with her incognito Chipotle appearance, “common man” meetings with Democratic Party officials, parking the “Scooby” van in a handicapped space, and more. Compared to that, Marco Rubio’s launch was... Source

John Yoo on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act Apr 05, 2015

The whole PL gang assembled this afternoon to tape Episode 13 of the Power Line Show. They discuss Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the controversy that followed its passage. Law Professor John Yoo of Berkeley joined us for an extensive discussion of the legal issues relating to RFRA — and, trust me, the conversation is entertaining as well as informative. The crew then goes on to... Source

Netanyahu's Win, Iran, Rubio, and GOP Frontrunners Mar 19, 2015

John, Paul, and Steve talk about Benjamin Netanyahu’s stunning win and the American Left’s reaction to it. Iran was also front and center, along with the latest on the budget front. Then they’re joined by Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) for a short but enlightening interview; Rubio explained his thinking behind the famous open letter to the mullahs, and elaborated on his interview with the Associated... Source

Queen Hillary's Emails and the Feds Bust Sen. Menendez Mar 07, 2015

The Power Line team gets down to business with the latest Democrat scandals: Hillary Clinton’s “clear cut” violation of State Department rules and the Justice Department’s criminal corruption charges against Senator Robert Menendez. The team expires several important questions. Did the White House know about ClintonEmail.com since August? What’s Clinton’s most ludicrous claim about her email? Source

William Bennett, Going to Pot, and Underestimating Islamic Threats Feb 21, 2015

William Bennett and Robert White join Power Line to discuss their new book, Going to Pot: Why the Rush to Legalize Marijuana is Harming America. Bennett and White trace how marijuana has gone from the days of Reefer Madness to being legalized in four states, with more expected to follow. Their research-driven book has some disturbing information about how marijuana leads to abnormal brain... Source

Corruption in Washington and Lies in the Media Feb 07, 2015

It’s been 10 years since the Dan Rather scandal ruined the CBS newsman’s career (for a short while, at least). How much has changed over the past decade? Don’t let the answer ruin your weekend as the Power Line team discusses whether or not Brian Williams can salvage his career. The Weekly Standard’s Jay Cost also joins Power Line to discuss his soon-to-be released book, A Republic No More: Big... Source

The Great Conservative Feud Jan 24, 2015

PowerLine is back with frontline details of a decades-long war among conservatives. This isn’t a debate about same-sex marriage, drug legalization, or conservatives vs. libertarians, it’s the great battle between Harry Jaffa and Walter Berns. Their vibrant and vigorous debates about the Declaration and the Constitution are credited with revitalizing the right. Steven F. Source

Follow Up: Claire Berlinski With the Latest from Paris Jan 09, 2015

Claire Berlinski follows up her eye-witness report from Paris on yesterday’s Ricochet Podcast with the latest developments from a full day of breaking news in France. Claire suggests it’s time for tough questions to be asked and that it’s unbelievable for France to be so unprepared these attacks after years of warnings. She also persuasively argues why this is just the beginning of a new kind of... Source

Who Beat Up Harry Reid? And Announcing the #KirbyDelauter Awards Jan 07, 2015

Power Line’s John Hinderacker and Steven Hayward follow up yesterday’s BREAKING NEWS Power Line show with analysis of the big interview with former CBS reporter Shayrl Atkisson. Then we find out that Speaker John Boehner’s job might not be as easy as some pundits would like you to think. Seriously, no matter what the guy does, he ticks off a significant percentage of Republicans. But then again... Source

Who Beat Up Harry Reid? And Announcing the #KirbyDelauter Awards Jan 07, 2015

Power Line’s John Hinderacker and Steven Hayward follow up yesterday’s BREAKING NEWS Power Line show with analysis of the big interview with former CBS reporter Shayrl Atkisson. Then we find out that Speaker John Boehner’s job might not be as easy as some pundits would like you to think. Seriously, no matter what the guy does, he ticks off a significant percentage of Republicans. But then again... Source

Stonewalled: Sharyl Attkisson's Fight for the Truth Jan 05, 2015

Power Line is back for an in-depth interview with former CBS reporter Sharyl Attkisson to discuss how she found out the Obama Administration was spying on her while she was investigating several scandals throughout the government. Attkisson also gives the show some breaking news about a new lawsuit she’s filing against the government over illegal wire taps. Her book, Stonewalled: My Fight for... Source

Stonewalled: Sharyl Attkisson's Fight for the Truth Jan 05, 2015

Power Line is back for an in-depth interview with former CBS reporter Sharyl Attkisson to discuss how she found out the Obama Administration was spying on her while she was investigating several scandals throughout the government. Attkisson also gives the show some breaking news about a new lawsuit she’s filing against the government over illegal wire taps. Her book, Stonewalled: My Fight for... Source

The Top Stories (And Underreported Stories) Of the Year Dec 31, 2014

What does 2014 look like in the rear view mirror for Power Line? The Democrats had a bad year. Iran had a great year. And three-card monte is back on the streets of New York. The chronic liberal dilemma continues to plague our country, but at least 2014 is over. Then the Power Line guys go on the record to predict what will happen politically and geopolitically in 2015. Here’s a pro tip from... Source

Excessive Force and America in Retreat Dec 05, 2014

On Episode 3 of Power Line, John, Paul, and Scott welcome Pulitzer Prize winning, Wall Street Journal columnist Bret Stephens. They discuss his new book, America in Retreat, and how policy decisions are hurting the United States, while inviting greater chaos from bad actors. The Power Line team also digs into the issues surrounding the grand jury decisions not to prosecute police officers in... Source

Rep. Tom Cotton Nov 22, 2014

Cotton Executive Orders, Abuse of Power or Good Intentions, What’s the Biggest Threat to our Republic? In the latest episode of Power Line, John, Paul, Steven, and Scott talk with Representative (and Senator-elet) Tom Cotton about immigration reform, Bill Voegeli, the author of Pity Party, about the failed promise of the liberal compassion. The Power Line team also covers the latest on 30... Source

Introducing Power Line: Obama's Gift to Republicans Nov 10, 2014

You read them. You love them. And now they have their very own show. In their first episode, John Hinderaker, Scott Johnson, Paul Mirengoff, and Steven Hayward are joined by Michael Barone to dissect the numbers behind the GOP’s historic election. Is President Barack Obama the gift that going to keep on giving to Republicans? Source

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