Paul Kengor
Tue, September 07, 2010
When Ford Snubbed Solzehenitsyn
Editor's note: A lengthier version of this article first appeared in The American Spectator.
It was 35 years ago this summer that the conservative movement found ...
Wed, September 01, 2010
President Obama's Faith Protectors
I got the email in late afternoon. "In a major liberal initiative to curtail discussion of President Obama's religious identity," the email began, "over 70 Christian leaders and ...
Tue, August 24, 2010
Obama Invites Confusion About His Faith
Editor's note: This article first appeared in USA Today.
The recent poll by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life is generating much discussion over its provocative finding that an ...
Tue, August 17, 2010
President Obama Cites Bush and Christ - Sort Of
The blogosphere is burning red, consumed with fury over President Obama's
announcement—made at the end of the news cycle, with talk-radio on weekend
break—that he supports the construction ...
Fri, August 06, 2010
When They Dropped the Bomb
This week marks 65 years since the United States dropped the atomic bomb. On August 6, 1945, President Harry Truman delivered a "rain of ruin" upon Hiroshima, Japan, with Nagasaki hit three ...
Tue, July 27, 2010
Newsflash: Stalin Liberates Normandy
Call it another Twilight Zone moment; another ignominious contribution to the
"you-can't-make-this-up" category. First, Mao Tse-tung was honored by oblivious
New Yorkers, with ...
Wed, July 21, 2010
'Economic Justice' as 'Social Justice'
Editor's Note: A longer version of this article first appeared in American Thinker.
Historically, social justice has meant different things to different people, ...
Wed, July 14, 2010
The Blood of the TEA Party
I've never participated in a Tea Party rally. My natural habitat is a classroom or behind a keyboard. That said, I've had a lot of contact with Tea Party people, and, of course, I hear the angry ...
Tue, June 29, 2010
Whatever Happened to 'General Betray Us?'
I was in Washington last week, meaning I was able to observe, on-site and up close, the reaction to President Obama's remarkable switch in leadership in Afghanistan from the bizarre General Stanley ...
Sat, June 19, 2010
Yea, Though I Walk Through the Valley . . .
Editor's Note: This article was first published by The Center for Vision & Values on June 18, 2009.
"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will ...
Fri, June 11, 2010
Helen Thomas Angers Media - Finally
This week veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas announced her sudden "retirement." The source was an insight shared by Thomas outside the White House during a Jewish-American ...
Fri, May 28, 2010
The Forgotten Battle of WWII: The Aleutian Campaign
Editor's Note: This article was first published by The Center for Vision & Values on November 6, 2009.
Every Memorial Day presents an opportunity to ...
Tue, May 25, 2010
Don't Ignore PA-3
"Today Is the Beginning," beamed the subject head in my email box the morning after last Tuesday's election. It was a rally cry from the office of Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper (D-PA), a freshman ...
Fri, May 21, 2010
Social Justice, the Needy, and the Wealthy
Recently, The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College has tackled the issue of "social justice," with articles by Gary Smith, J. D. Wyneken, Mark Hendrickson, and Shawn ...
Fri, May 14, 2010
Commemorating Mao, but Not Mother
Where's Anita Dunn when you need her?
Recall Anita Dunn, who resigned as President Obama's communications director not long after Glenn Beck had the temerity to ...
Tue, May 11, 2010
Pro-Life, Pro-Death: Revisited
In November 2008, just after the historic election of Barack Obama, I wrote a piece titled, "Pro-Life Death?" I noted that America's choice of Obama as president and, equally important, of ...
Mon, May 10, 2010
Death's Progress
Editor's note: A longer version of this article first appeared in American Thinker.
Progressivism is all-the-rage nowadays, with liberals having jettisoned the ...
Fri, April 30, 2010
A Manifesto on the Manifesto
I knew the time would come. America's public schools and ideologically monolithic universities have spawned a generation woefully uninformed in the most elementary facts about free markets, ...
Thu, April 22, 2010
Poland: Remembering Two Tragedies
As Americans get on with the daily business of their comfortable lives, enjoying the blossoming of spring, thinking about their summer vacations, somewhere else, half way across the world, a ...
Wed, April 21, 2010
Speaking Truth to History: A Perfect Game
I'm not one to bother with the latest alleged blockbuster buzzing from the salons of Hollywood high culture. Over the course of two valuable hours, I can only take so many car chases, explosions, and ...
Wed, April 14, 2010
Poland: Remembering Two Tragedies
"The crash of a Polish airplane in the Russian territory of Smolensk last weekend is a stunning tragedy, taking the life of Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife, and high-level figures in ...
Thu, April 08, 2010
Buchenwald and the Totalitarian Century
Editor's note: A longer version of this article first appeared at The American Spectator.
This spring 2010 marks some sordid anniversaries: 65 years since the discovery of the Nazi ...
Tue, March 23, 2010
God Gets His Health Care Bill
Editor's note: This is one of many coming articles from The Center for Vision & Values dealing with the topic of our April 15-16 conference on "The Progressives." Click here for ...
Wed, March 10, 2010
Gorbachev vs. The Evil Empire
The media jumps at anniversaries of historical figures and events. For those of us who write about history, we, too, seize these opportunities to teach history, especially history Americans should ...
Mon, March 08, 2010
In Memoriam:
The Beichman Library Closes
Editor's note: A longer version of this article first appeared in The American Spectator.
Some 2,000 years ago, the great Ancient Library in Alexandria, Egypt ...
Fri, February 26, 2010
Hillary Clinton and the Mother Teresa Home for Infant Children
Editor's note: A longer version of this article first appeared in The Weekly Standard.
A few years ago, I wrote a book on the faith of Hillary Clinton. Released in ...
Tue, February 23, 2010
In Memoriam: Al Haig's Charge
Editor's note: This article first appeared at The American Spectator, February 22, 2010.
Alexander Haig passed away over the weekend at the age of 85. A military ...
Tue, February 16, 2010
V&V Q&A: Outrageous Public Debt
Editor's Note: The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College. In this latest Q&A, Dr. Paul Kengor, executive director of the Center, ...
Tue, February 09, 2010
Reagan & Joe
Editor's note: This article first appeared at National Review, February 6, 2010.
This February 6 marks the 99th anniversary of Ronald Reagan's birth. In a telling development, Republicans around ...
Mon, February 08, 2010
God and Man at the National Prayer Breakfast
President Obama spoke last week at the National Prayer Breakfast. I've long studied the sitting president's remarks at these breakfasts, particularly President George W. Bush, President Bill Clinton, ...
Tue, February 02, 2010
Taxpayers Fund Abortions, Not School Vouchers
In my last article, a somber remembrance of Roe v. Wade, I called attention to something that shocked readers: I noted that the Obama administration and Democratic Congress "rejected funding for ...
Wed, January 27, 2010
Mixed Up World: Abortion, Yes; School Choice, No
Recently, on January 22 to be exact, over 300,000 pro-lifers marched in Washington to somberly mark the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, source of the legalized abortion of over 40 million unborn human ...
Thu, January 21, 2010
Remembering Roe: A Forgotten Warning from Ronald Reagan
Given the somber anniversary of Roe v. Wade—source of 40 million abortions since 1973—I thought I'd share an excellent but forgotten speech by President Ronald Reagan. The speechwriter was Peter ...
Tue, January 12, 2010
Hanging Mao on the Tree?
With Christmas over, it may seem late to comment on something that happened over the holiday. Quite the contrary, what happened at the Obama White House this Christmas reaches far beyond the festive ...
Thu, December 24, 2009
A Candle for Iran?
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at American Thinker.
Twice in this space last summer, I wrote about Iran -- specifically, the dramatic June protests against the ...
Mon, December 14, 2009
O' Unity Tree, O' Unity Tree
'Tis the season…. That is, to not refer to the Christmas Season as the "Christmas Season."
Of course, that's old news. But what's new news, or recent news, is the bewildering ...
Wed, December 09, 2009
V & V Q & A With Dinesh D'Souza on Life After Death: The Evidence
Dr. Paul Kengor: Dinesh, your last book was "What's So Great About Christianity," which did quite well, and which we profiled in a series of Q&As last year (Part I). It led to, among other ...
Fri, December 04, 2009
The Berlin Wall and Me: Reflections on the Fall
Reflections by Thomas O'Boyle
Editor's note: As part of its Freedom Readers lecture series, Center for Vision & Values' Executive Director and Ronald Reagan biographer, Dr.
Paul Kengor, interviewed Thomas F. O'Boyle on ...
Mon, November 23, 2009
Obama and Reagan Go to China
Obama actually gave a pretty good speech, one directed at Chinese college
students. I was pleasantly surprised to hear him refer to basic American values of liberty and free enterprise. Obama ...
Thu, November 19, 2009
Mr. Obama, Go To That Wall!
In my previous commentary for American Radio Journal, I commended the
profound historical event that was fall of the Berlin Wall, the 20th
anniversary of which took place on November 9. The ...
Wed, November 18, 2009
Who Was Nels Konnerup?
America honors its deceased presidents, its fallen troops, its late senators, and even its musicians and movie stars. But what about its veterinarians?
Well, theres one veterinarian who ...
Thu, November 12, 2009
Vision & Values Q & A
V&V Q&A:
George Schroeder, M.D.:
Witness to the Wall and to Socialized Medicine
Editor's Note: The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from The ...
Mon, November 09, 2009
The Forgotten Battle of World War II
Every Veterans Day presents an opportunity to commemorate those who served in some faraway place long ago, many of whom paid that ultimate sacrifice. World War II offers its share of remembrances: ...
Fri, November 06, 2009
Berlin Wall Fell 20 Years Ago
The credit for that collapse goes to multiple players: Lech Walesa and his Solidarity movement in Poland, Vaclav Havel and his Charter 77 movement in Czechoslovakia, dissidents like Alexander ...
Fri, October 23, 2009
The Philosophy of Mao and Mother Teresa?
"[T]he death of ten to twenty million people is nothing to be afraid of."
—Mao Tse-tung
"Human rights are not a privilege conferred by ...
Wed, October 21, 2009
Vision & Value Q & A with Dr. Charles Hull Wolfe
Editor's Note: The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College. Each issue will present an interview with an intriguing thinker or ...
Fri, October 09, 2009
The Nobel Committee Dishonors Itself
Even CNN was shocked. Even the Obama White House was shocked.
"Only nine months into his presidency," reported a baffled CNN news anchor this morning. ...
Mon, October 05, 2009
A Teachable Moment on Communist China
When I first heard it, I didn't believe it. Alas, it's true.
Last week, New York City's Empire State Building was aglow in red and yellow. Why? To commemorate the ...
Tue, September 29, 2009
Got Hope? The Theological Virtue of Obama
As someone who teaches and writes about international politics, I can confidently say that last week was one of the strangest in memory, from the G-20 circus in my backyard (Pittsburgh) to the ...
Wed, September 23, 2009
Vision & Values Q & A With Dr. John J. Fry
Editor's Note: The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College. Each issue will present an interview with an intriguing thinker or ...
Mon, September 14, 2009
America Remains a Conservative Country
The huge "9/12" protest in Washington was the latest expression of discontent over President Obama's leftward policy thrust. The discord is evident from the "Tea Party" movement ...
Fri, September 04, 2009
On Kennedy, Andropov, and KAL 007
Over the last week-and-a-half I've gotten an overwhelming number of inquiries relating to the death of Senator Ted Kennedy. Why me? Because of my report back in 2006 of Kennedy's confidential offer ...
Fri, August 28, 2009
Round Two on Bush and AIDS
Last week I wrote about former President George W. Bush's unprecedented work on behalf of the African AIDS epidemic. That $15 billion package, first proposed in January 2003, was entirely Bush's ...
Thu, August 20, 2009
Bush Quietly Saved a Million Lives
Editor's note: This article first appeared at NCRegister.com.
What if a president, on his own initiative, under no demands from staff or from supporters or ...
Wed, August 12, 2009
Saving Obama from Himself
The Machiavellian thing vs. the moral thing on health care
The late Republican political strategist, Lee Atwater, a brilliant Machiavellian, used to invoke what he called "The Napoleonic Maxim:" Never interfere with the enemy when he's in the ...
Wed, July 22, 2009
Iranian Aftermath: Can Obama Close the Deal?
Editor's note: A longer version of this article first appeared in American Thinker.
On December 7, 1978, President Jimmy Carter was asked if he thought the Shah of ...
Mon, July 13, 2009
Gore Unhinged
"How can ANYONE take this man seriously?" writes Marilyn, a frequent reader of our Center for Vision & Values articles.
Attached to Marilyn's email ...
Thu, July 02, 2009
Prudence at the American Founding - And Today
Will you be celebrating prudence this July 4th? Maybe you should. Or, at the least, it's worth pausing to think about.
Prudence is a timeless virtue never more ...
Tue, June 23, 2009
Bush Unplugged and Unappreciated
Editor's Note: Attention readers, please check out Paul Kengor's weekend exclusive from American Thinker, "'Freedom Fighters' and the American President."
Thu, June 18, 2009
With Father, Through the Valley of Death
"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me." (Psalm 23:4)
My family and I drove aside the ...
Mon, June 15, 2009
Talking Jesus: Obama vs. Bush
There's an important article in the Politico, titled, "Obama invokes Jesus more than Bush." President Barack Obama, says the article, has mentioned Jesus Christ "in a number of ...
Mon, June 08, 2009
What I Saw at the Rotunda
Carrying the torch for America, the beautiful
I was at the Rotunda at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, June 3, for the dedication of the statue to President Ronald Reagan. I was there because Bill Clark was there. Judge Clark, as readers of my ...
Thu, May 14, 2009
Obama, Notre Dame, and the Character Thing
In May 1995, his first year as Pennsylvania governor, Tom Ridge was invited by Gannon University, a Catholic college in Erie, Pa., to give the commencement address and receive an honorary degree. But ...
Tue, May 05, 2009
When Biden and Rudman Wept
Is he pro-life or pro-choice? That was the giant unknown hanging in the balance one day in 1990 as President George H. W. Bush nominated a mystery man named David Souter for a Supreme Court seat. ...
Thu, April 30, 2009
Joan Clark, a 20th Century Life
Joan Clark, a 20th Century Life
By Dr. Paul Kengor
Every American, obviously, has heard of Ronald Reagan, and Reagan historians have heard of Bill Clark. Clark ...
Wed, April 22, 2009
Tom Dillon vs. the Relativists
Last week, as we at Grove City College held a conference on "Faith, Freedom, and Higher Education," in which we underscored the struggle against rampant secular relativism in our ...
Tue, April 14, 2009
V&V Q&A
With Dr. Jason R. Edwards
Editor's Note: The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College. Each issue will present an interview with an intriguing thinker or ...
Tue, April 14, 2009
Why Not Manage Universities, Mr. President?
I hear it repeatedly, even from pro-business conservatives:
Hey, I have no sympathy for AIG and the automakers and banks. When you take government money, you can ...
Wed, April 08, 2009
Economic Stimulus 101: Reaganomics vs. Obamanomics
President Obama says the economy is the worst since the Great Depression. Actually, it is the worst since the Reagan recession of 1982-83. Further, the 2009 market crash is not the worst since 1929 ...
Thu, April 02, 2009
God and Man at Notre Dame
This May, Notre Dame University will host President Barack Obama to inspire its graduates as they are sent into the world. Obama will be awarded an honorary degree. For the record, this will be a ...
Mon, March 23, 2009
Communicating Obama's Fiscal Disaster
Newsflash, March 20, 2009: The Congressional Budget Office today forecast a U.S. budget deficit of $1.8 trillion for this year.
For many Americans, including some ...
Mon, March 23, 2009
V & V Q & A with Dr. Jeffrey M. Herbener
On Booms, Busts, and America
Editor's Note: The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College. Each issue will present an interview with an intriguing thinker or ...
Wed, March 11, 2009
Crisis, What Crisis?
"Dear Iranians, your children have put the first indigenous satellite into orbit…. [T]he Islamic Republic of Iran has officially achieved a presence in space."
—Iranian leader Mahmoud ...
Thu, March 05, 2009
Where Have You Gone, Bill Casey?
"We win and they lose."
—Ronald Reagan, January 1977
As an unprecedented, colossal "stimulus" package was passed by the new president and ...
Mon, February 23, 2009
Hugs and Kisses from Iran
Arguably, the world's leading apostle of hate is Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad—few do the task better, especially toward Jews. On Dec. 12, 2006, at a two-day gathering of Holocaust deniers, ...
Fri, February 20, 2009
V&V Q&A: On Fed Distortions and Bailouts
Editor's Note: The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College. Each issue will present an interview with an intriguing thinker or ...
Fri, February 13, 2009
An Obama-Reagan Presidency?
What's the state of the republic—and its citizens—this Presidents' Day 2009? It is a state of deep confusion. Here are some polls to ponder, as America considers presidents past and new. Brace ...
Wed, February 04, 2009
Freedom Works:
Speaker Pelosi's teachable moment
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) recently provided a stark illustration of the fundamentally divergent worldviews of big-government liberalism and free-market conservatism. She told ABC's ...
Fri, January 30, 2009
V & V Q & A: Dr. Jeffrey Hebener
On Economic Depressions—Then and Now?
Editor's Note: The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City ...
Wed, January 28, 2009
Viva La Revolucion
Viva La Revolucion
By Dr. Paul Kengor
Editor's note: An earlier version of this article first appeared in American Thinker.
Thu, January 22, 2009
A Tale of Two Inaugrals
Watching the inauguration of President Barack Obama, I was impressed by the graciousness and civility by the two presidents at the platform during the transition. To tepid applause, Obama began his ...
Wed, January 21, 2009
Media Lied, Kids Died?
I first heard it in an email from a professor in Illinois. We were arguing about something I wrote on Barack Obama. I asked if he agreed that the media had been breathlessly, transparently biased in ...
Fri, January 16, 2009
Not the Great Communicator:
On Bush, Berlin, and Moses
As the country considers the inauguration of Barack Obama, I'm mindful of another inauguration that seems a long time ago, and which speaks volumes to the presidential transition we are about to ...
Wed, December 31, 2008
Safe, Legal and Rare?
The common mantra of pro-choice politicians is that they do not favor abortion. Quite the contrary, they want abortion to be "safe, legal, and rare." Pro-choicers generally hold to this ...
Tue, December 16, 2008
Obama's Abortion Socialism
Conservatives rightly fear that President Obama will produce the Democrat Party's third great expansion of the welfare state, extending Leviathan beyond FDR's and LBJ's most fertile imaginations. ...
Mon, December 15, 2008
Remembering an Unknown Hero
Morris Childs, America's Greatest Cold War Spy
If you're looking for a book as a Christmas gift, I suggest an oldie but goodie, and in honor of the fact that it was 20 years ago that this nation quietly honored the subject of the book: a hero, a ...
Thu, December 11, 2008
Five Years Ago:
The Beginning of the End for Saddam
Five years ago this week, something remarkable happened, which has been conveniently forgotten: On December 13, 2003, one of history's worst dictators, Saddam Hussein, was captured by U.S. ...
Fri, December 05, 2008
Shades of Reagan: Sarah and the Leakers
The trashing of Sarah Palin continues. Some of the shots have been downright ugly, such as the "Retarded Republican Babies for Sarah Palin" t-shirts. Equally notable, however, is the odd ...
Wed, November 19, 2008
Barack and the Bishops
A potential big battle has begun, one of special interest to all Christians and guaranteed to generate a lot of attention from all Americans.
The United States ...
Tue, November 11, 2008
I'm Pagan and I Vote
Old Town Alexandria, Northern Virginia—Jogging through this gorgeous, historic town the first Saturday after the Tuesday vote, which elected the most leftist presidential candidate in American ...
Thu, November 06, 2008
Pro-life Death?
The victory for Barack Obama and the Democratic Party on Tuesday is the death of the pro-life movement as we know it. The pro-life movement has sought to reverse abortion through legislative action ...
Mon, October 27, 2008
Can Obama Win the Values Voter?
Editor's note: This is part two of a two-part series on Barack Obama and Christian voters.
In 2000 and 2004, it was the churchgoing moral-religious "values ...
Fri, October 24, 2008
God & Barack Obama
Editor's Note: This is part one of a two-part series on Barack Obama, his faith, and Christian voters.
Let me begin with what I hope is a credibility enhancer: For ...
Fri, October 17, 2008
Red Herring: The Great Depreession and the American Communist Party
(Editor's Note: "It goes without saying that the Great Depression was the worst economic crisis in American history, and no doubt one of the worst crises ever to face the nation—wars included. ...
Wed, October 15, 2008
Joe Biden's Church Troubles
Certain elements in the news media are attacking Sarah Palin's religious beliefs. This has included several bizarre articles, in mainstream publications, highly critical of her local church. One ...
Wed, October 15, 2008
Vision & Values Q & A with Dr. Steve Jones
Palin, Pentecostals, and Evangelicals
Editor's Note: The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from the Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College. Each issue will present an interview with an intriguing thinker or ...
Wed, October 08, 2008
Message to Obama: We Were Greeted as Liberators
A casualty of the left's hatred for President George W. Bush has been a destructive inability to separate fact from fiction in the ongoing history of the war in Iraq. The latest case, which, sadly, ...
Fri, October 03, 2008
V&V Q&A with Earl Tilford
Editor's Note: The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from the Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College. Each issue will present an interview with an intriguing thinker or ...
Thu, October 02, 2008
Governor, Who's the Leader of Angola?
Biden prepares for Palin
I would like to share a story on Senator Joe Biden that happened 27 years ago. It involved his international humiliation of a good man, and it became a habit for Biden. I'm confident Biden will ...
Fri, September 26, 2008
V & V Q & A
An Interview on America's Founding Fathers
V&V Q&A:
"Where Have You Gone, Thomas Jefferson?"
(An Interview on America's Founding Fathers and Modern Presidents)
With Dr. Paul Kengor
...
Tue, September 16, 2008
Hating Palin: Words of Wisdom from Ronald Reagan
It has taken me a couple of weeks but I think I've finally gotten handle on why Sarah Palin's bravado Republican convention speech was such a smash among conservatives: After nearly eight years of ...
